Despite nearly being 40 years old, Pittsburgh Penguins icon Sidney Crosby has all-but-confirmed he isn't ready to retire anytime soon. The Penguins captain is chasing hockey's all-time scoring legends, so what's in the future for one of the sport's living legends?
For 21 years, Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby has been one of hockey’s most talented, accomplished and decorated players. The 38-year-old center is having a strong performance at the 2026 IIHF World Championship, and in an interview with The Athletic, Crosby spoke about his future – and his future almost certainly includes multiple more NHL seasons.
"Not at all," Crosby said regarding next season being his last.
He also noted that he’ll consider a year-to-year commitment when his current contract expires at the end of next season.
"It’s pretty obvious why I would just go year-to-year with the contracts," he said. "At the end of the day, I’m just going to do what’s best for the team. It’s got nothing to do with how long I want to play. It’s not like that at all."
In the same interview, Crosby was asked if he might have another five years in the NHL left in him.
"That would be nice," Crosby said.
Indeed, another half-decade of Crosby would be a gift not just to Penguins fans but to hockey fans in general. And even just completing his 21st season, he's still a star in this league.
Here’s why Crosby’s on-ice production hasn’t taken a hit despite his advanced age.
In 68 games this past season, he produced 45 assists and 74 points, despite having his ice time average cut by more than a minute, from 20:22 in 2024-25 to 19:14 this season. And if Crosby goes the Jaromir Jagr route and plays well into his 40s, his ascent through the ranks of the NHL’s top point-getters will continue.
Right now, Crosby has 1,107 assists and 1,761 points in 1,420 regular-season games, putting him in seventh place on the all-time list of NHL points.
Next season, he’ll likely pass sixth-place Marcel Dionne (1,771 points) and fifth-place Ron Francis (1,798).
Passing fourth-place Gordie Howe (1,850), third-place Mark Messier (1,887), and second-place Jagr (1,921) will take multiple seasons for Crosby. But if he produces at least 50 points per season for the next four or five years, Crosby could ascend to second place in the all-time points list.
Catching first-place Wayne Gretzky (2,857) is never going to happen for Crosby or anyone else. But there’s a clear path for Crosby to second all-time, and that would underscore his status as a top-five NHLer in the league’s history.
Crosby winning a fourth Stanley Cup probably isn’t in the cards for himself and a mediocre Penguins team that’s transitioning to a new era. But when we’re talking about a living legend, we should want to see them compete for as long as they feel worthy of competing with their ‘A’ game night in and night out.
No. 87 has been one of the sport’s most stunningly skilled competitors, so we really shouldn’t be stunned that he still has many more years ahead and will be around for a good long time to come.
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