Sidney Crosby Addresses Penguins' Big Three Future After Playoff Exit

The Pittsburgh Penguins saw their season end in a 1-0 overtime loss to the Philadelphia Flyers on Wednesday in Game 6 of their first-round series.

Pittsburgh outshot Philadelphia 42-32 and controlled the puck for most of the 17:32 of overtime play, but ultimately fell short of forcing Game 7 in a series that Philadelphia led 3-0.

A lack of scoring, with just 11 goals across six games in the series, doomed the aging Penguins in their matchup with the up-and-coming Flyers.

The loss officially ended a run that saw the Penguins return to the playoffs for the first time since 2022, finishing the year at 41-25-16 behind their veteran big three of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang.

Crosby addressed the future of the franchise’s core following elimination, with Malkin now set to become an unrestricted free agent and Letang nearing 40 years old.

“It might be a little early for that,” Crosby said. “We’ll have a few days to digest everything, evaluate stuff. But I think it’s probably a little too early.”

The Penguins captain also reflected on the group’s two-decade run together, with Malkin joining the organization in the 2004 draft, one year before Crosby and Letang joined by way of the 2005 draft. Crosby debuted in 2005, while the other two did so a year later.

“It’s probably hard to put into words, honestly,” Crosby said. “I think they’re like family. That’s the best way to describe it. We’ve had some great wins, some tough losses like this. Ultimately, though, that’s a long time that we’ve played together and just so appreciative for the opportunity to be able to play with them as long as we have, and, hopefully, we can keep going.”

Crosby led the Penguins with five points in the series, while Malkin added three and Letang contributed two.

Crosby wrapped up his 21st NHL season with 74 points in 68 games, while Letang put up 34 points across 74 regular-season games.

Malkin, 39, is coming off a 61-point regular season and has publicly expressed his desire to remain in Pittsburgh.