Sydney Crosby Signs Five Year Extension

The Pittsburgh Penguins and Sydney Crosby agreed to a five year, $43.5M contract extension this morning. His cap hit this season will still be $850,000+bonuses but starting next year, he's a 9 million dollar man (or close enough anyways). After winning the Art Ross and Hart trophies in only his second year of play, it's an obvious move on the part of the Penguins.

Crosby was said to be pushing the Penguins to give him assurances that Evgeni Malkin and Jordan Staal would remain vital cogs in the Penguins re-birth. Crosby is smart enough to realize that no matter how great a player he is, he needs a supporting cast to head for the Cup. With a trio down the middle of Crosby, Malkin and Staal, they're well on their way.

This signing was rumoured for a while and isn't much of a shock, particularly after the Vanek offer sheet. There is no way Pittsburgh wouldn't have matched whatever a team threw at Crosby and you can almost guarantee a team would throw the league max of just over $10M.