Sidney Crosby Inks Huge Deal with Penguins

Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins have  agreed upon a mega-deal that will secure the all-star’s future with the Penguins through the 2024-25 season. ESPN reports the deal is worth $104.4 million over the next 12 years.

“This is a great day for hockey and tremendous news for the Pittsburgh Penguins and our fans,” co-owners Mario Lemieux and Ron Burkle said in a joint statement. “We are grateful for all that Sidney Crosby has done for our franchise since coming to Pittsburgh in 2005, both on and off the ice, and we look forward to having him in a Penguins uniform for the rest of his career.”

Crosby will play the 2012-13 season under his current contract which he signed in 2007. He is due $7.5 million next season, until his new contract begins which will increase his annual salary to $8.7 million.

“In an era when players often move from team to team, it’s gratifying to see a young man who is so committed to one city and one franchise,” Penguins president and chief executive David Morehouse said in a release. “He’s meant so much to the Penguins, to the growth of youth hockey in Pittsburgh, and to the NHL and the game of hockey in general.”

The 24-year-old phenom played only 22 regular-season games during the 2010-11 season due to concussion-related injuries. He was injured in January 2011 and missed the rest of the 2010-11 season before returning in November of 2011, where he only played eight games before lagging symptoms of his concussion forced him to sit on the sidelines until March 15th of this year. Crosby still managed eight goals and 29 assists in the 22 regular-season games he played in, and added three goals and five assists in six playoff appearances before the Penguins were eliminated by Philadelphia in the first round.

Crosby has am impressive 223 goals and 386 assists in his 434 career games.

via National Post