Darren Dreger envisions potential Sidney Crosby trade for next season!

With the arrival of new general manager Ron Hextall in Pittsburgh, many fans believe significant changes are coming to the Penguins’ roster. According to insider Elliotte Friedman, Hextall reached out to Sidney Crosby to talk about what could be coming next. The Penguins co-owners Mario Lemieux and Ron Burkle made it clear that they want another championship and many pundits have started to wonder if that will be done with the core players of Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang. 

Recent chatter got louder that the Penguins might ask Crosby, Malkin and Letang to join the conversation in the front office to see if they are interested in taking part in the pending major changes.  Crosby could be asked if he wants to take part in a team rebuild or if he would prefer to chase a Stanley Cup elsewhere.  This would be a tough blow for the Penguins, who basically won the lottery back in 2005 when they come out on top of the draft order and were given Crosby as the strongest rebuilding tool. Now that he’s been the face of the franchise for 16 seasons, it would be so weird to see him wear the colours of a different NHL club. However, if he looks to win another Stanley Cup before hanging up the skates he might not get a choice. 

This prompted TSN’s Darren Dreger to speculate about where Crosby could end up, and he explained how a move to the Colorado Avalanche makes the most sense. Dreger mentioned that he would not be at all surprised if Crosby asked the Penguins’ management to trade him if a rebuild were to take place in Pittsburgh, he who would otherwise be forced to end his career with a club that no longer has a chance of winning the Stanley Cup.

Crosby loves to win and it is believed that he would probably prefer to go and try to hoist the Cup one more time elsewhere and, consequently, helping the Penguins accelerate their rebuild with the return they would receive in such a transaction. 

The face of the franchise would basically decide his faith, he would holds a full no-move clause. However, Dreger claims he can see how Crosby would accept a move to Colorado to join Nova Scotia buddy Nathan MacKinnon and form an amazing duo on ice. 

The cost for the Avalanche to get Crosby would however have quite the price tag! According to Colorado Hockey Now reporter Adrian Dater who listened to Dreger’s suggestion, it seems clear that in order to get his hands on a player of Crosby's caliber,  GM Joe Sakic would have to give up at least one of their best prospects up front in Alex Newhook or a talented young defenseman like Bowen Byram, on top of first-round picks and maybe even an additional player.

In short, it would certainly be a huge transaction! 

There is no doubt it will be a tough challenge ahead for Hextall, especially if he is expected to dismantle the Crosby, Malkin and Letang trio. Malkin and Letang can be extended this summer. Crosby has four more years under contract. While it is generally believe Crosby wants to retire with the Penguins, we all know anything can happen.

After all, Wayne Gretzky himself was traded.