Future "What if...?": Crosby's Final Years

[Soundwave]

In Edmonton he'd probably have to take a little less, but it also probably would be offset somewhat by a marketing bonanza in Canada. Lots of endorsement deal possibilities for commercials with McDavid + Crosby together. Hockey has a larger marketing footprint in Canada than the US because it remains the no.1 sport and having two generational Canadian players like that would be on the cover of every magazine, etc. etc.

You gotta figure that he could net an extra couple of mill per year from that alone (hello Rogers, CIBC, McDonalds Canada, Hyundai Canada, Boston Pizza, Lululemon, Canadian Tire, wider deal with PepsiCo Canada, maybe something with a Cineplex, etc.). I'm sure if his agent called any of these companies and said "hey would you like to do a marketing campaign with Sidney Crosby and Connor McDavid together", they would get a fair amount of interest.

I'd put the marketing potential there at least at a 2 mill/year gain.

 

[Golden_Jet]

if he went to Montreal next year, what makes you think it wouldn't be for a cup.

Slaf - Suzuki - Caufield
Laine - Crosby - Demidov
Newhook - Dach - Roy
Anderson - Kapanen/Beck - Gally

feel free to try and flame that lineup....but that would be at or near the top of the league.

Drinking the koolaid again. He will be retired before they compete for a cup.

 

[Voight]

Because of legacy, or because he has achieves litteraly everything he could and the last box to check is to wear the most prestigious hockey jersey by far in the sport?

Delete



History and Legacy is important

And Montréal is about to Exit their rebuild anyway

Playing for Montreal has zero impact on his legacy nor changes it at all.

 

[Voight]

if he went to Montreal next year, what makes you think it wouldn't be for a cup.

Slaf - Suzuki - Caufield
Laine - Crosby - Demidov
Newhook - Dach - Roy
Anderson - Kapanen/Beck - Gally

feel free to try and flame that lineup....but that would be at or near the top of the league.

Definitely not. Crosby, Suzuki and Laine are the only players in that lineup who have scored at least 70 points.

 

[waitin425]

We’ll see how the young guys progress, but considering Montreal iced only one top 4 dman last year, I’m not sure I’d be talking Cup just yet

Our defence is better than the Oilers....so there's that.

 

[Soundwave]

Our defence is better than the Oilers....so there's that.

The Oilers D held all of Dallas, Vancouver, LA, and even Florida to 2 goals or less per game in back half of every playoff round, under Knoblough they were also 6th best in goals against in the regular season ... you seriously think Montreal's D is mature enough to do that kind of work right now?

 

[waitin425]

The Oilers D held all of Dallas, Vancouver, LA, and even Florida to 2 goals or less per game in back half of every playoff round ... you seriously think Montreal's D back end is mature enough to do that kind of work right now?

Guhle has worked pretty well against McDavid. Yes I do believe our D is better than the Oilers.

 

[Soundwave]

Guhle has worked pretty well against McDavid. Yes I do believe our D is better than the Oilers.

I think you're lying to yourself, the Oilers were one of the top defensive teams in the league last year and got better in bigger pressure and the best comp.

Ekholm is the best defensive D-Man in Canada by a wide margin IMO.

This is one of those HFBoards blind spots like "Florida's D sucks, Treliving took Florida to the cleaners getting Weegar back too!" which was all the rage here not long ago until they were forced to shut up on that.

 

[bambamcam4ever]

if he went to Montreal next year, what makes you think it wouldn't be for a cup.

Slaf - Suzuki - Caufield
Laine - Crosby - Demidov
Newhook - Dach - Roy
Anderson - Kapanen/Beck - Gally

feel free to try and flame that lineup....but that would be at or near the top of the league.

Are you putting Crosby on the second line behind Nick Suzuki lol?

 

[Bourne Endeavor]

Lol why would he go play for Montreal?

If he's leaving Pittsburgh, it's to try to win more cups.

The only way I could ever see Crosby considering the Habs is if he wanted to do it for fun since they were his favorite team as a kid. Kind of doubt he cares all that much about it nowadays though.

Vancouver. Ex-Pens management. Entering window.

With what money? Unless Crosby's signing for 2M, we can't afford him.

 

[Soundwave]

The fit with Montreal just isn't there, the only reason for Crosby to leave Pittsburgh would be the win another Cup and then it becomes a question of which situation is the most tempting/attractive for his legacy in that scenario.

Montreal will be a fun team to watch this year most likely but they're 2-3 years probably too raw to be where Sid would want a team to be at. The timing just isn't there for him at age 37/38.

 

[Bouboumaster]

Playing for Montreal has zero impact on his legacy nor changes it at all.

Maybe for him it does?

I don't know man, playing for the "local team", Pajama Boy litteraly backstabbed his former team to do just that

Crosby's history and legacy in Pittsburgh is far more important in this case.

The thread is about "what If Crosby wanted to leave, where would he go"

Oviously, I would have voted and would currently defend the "Crosby ain't leaving" position, if it was an option in this thread

It ain't

 

[Bouboumaster]

That forward lineup is nowhere even close to competing for a cup, and that's not touching on Montreal's defense or goaltending either.

Could it be good enough one day? Sure, if Demidov hits his upside and their young top line continues to progress. But that's a huge if at this point.

Montréal's goaltending ain't really a problem lol
Montembeault and Primeau ain't the creme of the crop, but Monty at least is reliable (Primeau was solid last year but we will have to wait and see if he can keep up)
Montréal's defense last year was garbage, arguably the worst defense in the league, but this too, is about to be a thing of the past
Lane Hutson might play this year, and we are one year away from Mailloux/Reinbacher/Engrstöm to come

 

[Ocoee]

I think he should come to Denver.

 

[DrDangles]

Crosby grew up idolizing Yzerman. There's like a 1% chance he leaves Pittsburgh, if that.

 

[Richard]

Crosby to montreal ??????

Crosby is 99% pens 1% colorado.

Thats it

 

[Video Nasty]

According to MacKinnon, Crosby and McDavid meet up at his summer league and insist on playing together on the same line and they just dominate everyone else including MacK's squad, lol.

If Crosby was willing to take less and this is more about legacy, Edmonton probably could hold some appeal.

1.) Bringing the first Cup back to Canada since 1993 would cement Sid's legacy as one of the greatest Canadian players ever. Scored the golden goal in 2010 and ended Canada's drought ... that's not too shabby of two career book ends.

2.) Can be a Wayne to Mario Canada Cup '87 type moment where everyone (at least in Canada) was thrilled to see the two of them team up and even be on the same line. It's a pretty legendary part of both of their careers.

3.) He can take some credit for helping Connor get his first Cup. They haven't won yet so if he comes and helps them win, then the narrative (rightly or wrongly) will always be "Sid taught them how to be winners!".

4.) They will probably get closer as the co-captains of the next Team Canada.

5.) You gotta figure there probably would be a few million bucks in extra marketing dollars both Crosby and McDavid would score, it would be the biggest sports story in Canada in forever and a lot of big sponsors in the country would want them for deals here (ie: McDonalds Canada, they could also piggy back off each other's marketing, like McDavid getting Tim Horton's, and Crosby getting Rogers and CIBC deals).


Now Edmonton would have to dump some salary to make room for Crosby (notably Kane), but again if he's at the stage of his career where he's made plenty of money and just wants another Cup, winning one in Edmonton and ending the Canadian Cup drought would be a pretty nice feather in the cap to wind up one's career with.

He could then honestly go back to Pittsburgh and retire for good there, I think he should finish his career there. Montreal just isn't at the point where adding him put's that team over the top for a Cup, they might not even make the playoffs.

McDavid doesn’t need Crosby riding his coattails. It’s over man…Crosby will forever rank behind McDavid in the all-time rankings. We don’t need to make up new fantasies to try and keep them close.

The most helpful thing Crosby can do for himself is to spend his entire career wearing one sweater. Sentimental fans love that shit and it’s worth more than desperately trying to win another Cup with the guy who came in, dethroned you, and reminded the world what a true generational player looks like.

 

[Luigi Lemieux]

McDavid doesn’t need Crosby riding his coattails. It’s over man…Crosby will forever rank behind McDavid in the all-time rankings. We don’t need to make up new fantasies to try and keep them close.

The most helpful thing Crosby can do for himself is to spend his entire career wearing one sweater. Sentimental fans love that shit and it’s worth more than desperately trying to win another Cup with the guy who came in, dethroned you, and reminded the world what a true generational player looks like.

Only people who think like that are chronically online fanboys. Would bet Mcdavid would be thrilled to have Crosby join them.

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

Only people who think like that are chronically online fanboys. Would bet Mcdavid would be thrilled to have Crosby join them.

That poster's got a weird obsession with posting negatively in every single Crosby thread. I don't think they represent the opinions of the Oilers' players or the overall fanbase in the least.

 

[Video Nasty]

Only people who think like that are chronically online fanboys. Would bet Mcdavid would be thrilled to have Crosby join them.

That poster's got a weird obsession with posting negatively in every single Crosby thread. I don't think they represent the opinions of the Oilers' players or the overall fanbase in the least.

When two posters named after Lemieux and Sidney say it, by god, it must be true.

 

[KingsFan7824]

He's not chasing a Cup, and he'll be 38 next year. I think if he keeps playing, he signs wherever he feels like, just to do it. If he's second fiddle to some younger superstar, does that do anything for his legacy if he wins the Cup there? No, which may be why he would sign in Colorado. If he doesn't win another Cup, does that do anything to his legacy? No, which is why he might sign with Montreal if he was a fan of them as a kid.

Any career pressure on Crosby went away in 2017, if not 2016. He's playing with house money at this point.

 

[carjackmalone]

Vancouver Edmonton are the most realistic options for the Kid

Vancouver does have prospects to dangle as does Edmonton

 

[Voight]

Maybe for him it does?

I don't know man, playing for the "local team", Pajama Boy litteraly backstabbed his former team to do just that



The thread is about "what If Crosby wanted to leave, where would he go"

Oviously, I would have voted and would currently defend the "Crosby ain't leaving" position, if it was an option in this thread

It ain't

That still has nothing to do with his legacy, which has already been defined and is more or less set in stone (a few things here and there could change it, but playing for the Habs is not one of them). Playing in Montreal will not change how the hockey world looks at him when he retires.

Backstabbed or exercised his rights as an unrestricted fee agent?

 

[Soundwave]

He's not chasing a Cup, and he'll be 38 next year. I think if he keeps playing, he signs wherever he feels like, just to do it. If he's second fiddle to some younger superstar, does that do anything for his legacy if he wins the Cup there? No, which may be why he would sign in Colorado. If he doesn't win another Cup, does that do anything to his legacy? No, which is why he might sign with Montreal if he was a fan of them as a kid.

Any career pressure on Crosby went away in 2017, if not 2016. He's playing with house money at this point.

If you're still playing at a high level, why limit yourself based on age.

We're seeing in other sports the rise of top end athletes playing well into their mid/late 30s and even 40s. LeBron James is turning 40 this season. Steph Curry is only like 7 months younger than Crosby. Tom Brady was competing for Superbowls at age 40/41 also. A sport that used to be like "you turn 30 and you're finished" like tennis now has Djokovic at age 37 still being a top player.

Look there's a perfectly reasonable argument for staying put for Sid, but if it's a 100% slam dunk, I think he would've signed by now. What's the hold up? I don't think never playing in the playoffs again while he's still a high level player is something he'd be thrilled with.

 

[On The Prowl]

That poster's got a weird obsession with posting negatively in every single Crosby thread. I don't think they represent the opinions of the Oilers' players or the overall fanbase in the least.

Any Oilers fan would be thrilled to have Crosby, it's a pipe dream anyways as I see him staying in Pittsburgh.