Penguins Entering Final Two Seasons With Big Three?

Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Kris Letang don't have much time left as Pittsburgh Penguins teammates.

Feb 20, 2022; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Kris Letang (58) and center Evgeni Malkin (71) present center Sidney Crosby (87) with a commemorative stick and plaque in honor of his 500th career NHL goal before the game against the Carolina Hurricanes at PPG Paints Arena. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports / Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

The Pittsburgh Penguins have been led by their core of veteran leaders for nearly 20 years. Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Kris Letang have been three of the NHL’s top players and must-see faces for the Penguins since their debuts in the mid-2000s.

As the NHL looks ahead to the upcoming 2024-25 season, the Penguins are looking inward. Crosby, Malkin, and Letang aren’t kids anymore and are nearing the end of their storied careers. Exactly how much longer can fans expect to see North American sports’ most tenured trio share a uniform?

According to Rob Rossi of the Athletic, Crosby, Malkin, and Letang don’t have much time left in Pittsburgh.

“The Big Three is down to two more seasons.”

That’s not to say they’re all retiring at the end of the 2025-26 season; Crosby is nearing an extension that has long been speculated to be around three years, and Letang still has four years left on his deal.

Malkin is the only one of the three likely to leave the NHL in two years, but that’s because he’s outlined a plan to play in his native Russia before he officially retires from the sport.

As to why Rossi speculated the days are numbered, you have to look at how the Malkin and Letang contracts line up. Malkin’s deal will expire after the 2025-26 season; he will be going on 40 years old and likely looking to make that jump to Russia.

At the same time, Letang’s full no-trade clause turns into a 10-team no-trade list. If the Penguins are staring down the abyss of a deep rebuild by then, they’ll have a much easier time trying to trade Letang.

Crosby will still be with the Penguins, no matter what. He may lose his longtime running mates, officially putting an end to the core, but the captain will always be around.

New president and general manager Kyle Dubas arrived in Pittsburgh with a clear plan: Be competitive while the veterans are in their final years and build for the future. The win-now portion hasn’t worked out yet, but Dubas has already started building a prospect pipeline that could keep the Penguins successful in the future.

“If you look closely at what Dubas has done this offseason by not adding players with lengthy term,” Rossi said. “The writing is on the wall.”

Of the NHL players Dubas added this offseason, none of them have contracts that exceed the 2025-26 season. Forward Blake Lazotte signed a two-year deal; goalie Alex Nedeljkovic signed for two more years, and defenseman Matt Grzelcyk got just a single year.

Top defensive defenseman Marcus Pettersson is due for an extension, but he hasn’t signed. If the Penguins are rebuilding, that’s a great trade piece.

Dubas has locked in key prospects to three-year entry-level deals, but that’s looking toward the future.

If the Penguins want one more crack at the Stanley Cup with the Big Three, they’ll need to do it quickly. 2026 very much seems like the expiration date for the Penguins core.

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