If I had a crystal ball, I would probably project that Cydney Crosby would be calling up Nathan McKinnon and being like, Hey, you want to play at least a year or two together?

He's got to probably look himself in the mirror this summer. Obviously, you have chats with people close to him that matters, but it's like, Do you want to play these last couple of years where you're still at a high? I know a big carrot for Crosby is that he's going to get to now play best on best again. That'll be cool for him, whether it's at the Four Nations or the 2026 Olympics. That's all locked in. But do you want to be toiling in mediocrity? Do you want your season to end on April 10th? The answer is no, but I just don't see the path back to the playoffs quickly for the penguins. I don't see the path back to really contending. None of this is meant to suggest he's gone or anything like that. It's just I'm looking at the landscape and I'm looking at the fact he hasn't signed his new deal. I'll say this, I'm willing to bet he's not signing for 8.7 million to ride out the career.