The Colorado Avalanche and Pittsburgh Penguins are worlds apart from each other in terms of competing for a Stanley Cup championship. The Avs own the best record in the league and most points, and while nobody is technically close to them, the Penguins have 59 points, which puts them in sixth place in the Eastern Conference.
With that being said, they are far from guaranteed a trip to the postseason. With the aging Sidney Crosby locked in for the rest of this season plus another year at $8.7 million, perhaps the Penguins would be willing to do Crosby a favour and send him to a contender for the conclusion of his career as he seeks a fourth Stanley Cup.
Crosby would also reunite with his friend from his Halifax days, Nathan MacKinnon. That connection has been documented plenty of times. Heck, they’ve even done multiple commercials together, for what that’s worth.
Crosby could be looking to finish his career somewhere that he is able to win another championship, and Pittsburgh doesn’t appear to be that team as they are in the rebuilding stages. That would indicate that they would listen to trade offers for some of their star players, and Crosby is certainly an intriguing player the Avalanche should inquire about.
While the Avalanche don’t have much in terms of reasonable draft pick capital for this upcoming draft, perhaps they could send the Penguins a second-round pick in the 2027 NHL Entry Draft, along with a roster player. Maybe this would be the year that the Avs ship off defenseman Sam Girard. Though that would create a hole on the defensive side of things, adding a strong scoring threat like Crosby would be worth it.
The draft pick would be a huge key in this trade given this next part. With Crosby’s salary cap hit at $8.7 million for 2026-27, it would be wise for the Avalanche to ask the Penguins to retain a good percentage of that contract. That’s what the Avs did when they traded Ryan Johansen to the Flyers for Sean Walker and a fifth-round pick; They added the first-round pick in compensation for the fact that trading Johansen was a salary dump.
Similarly, sending the Penguins a high draft pick would be compensation for taking on a percentage of Crosby’s cap hit.