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The Real Cause of Crosby Trade Talks: Key Member of His Team Aggressively Pushing Him to Leave Pittsburgh
Photo credit: Jess Starr / Hockey Writers
The real reason behind the trade talks surrounding Sidney Crosby emerged, and it appears that a member of his team, agent Pat Brisson, is aggressively pushing him.
Sidney Crosby's fate with the Pittsburgh Penguins has been the talk of the town across the entire NHL over the past weeks.
He comes off three straight seasons of reaching the 90-point mark, showing he can still help a team win despite being 38 years old.
That matter has been interesting to follow as it evolved a lot over the past days.
Josh Yohe Believes Crosby's Agent Could Be Pressuring Kyle Dubas To Trade His Client
Crosby never shied away from saying he wants to win and isn't interested in competing for a team that wants to tank:
"You play to win. That's how I view it, and you're not going to convince me otherwise. If you're one of those people that believe that, then you're entitled to believe that, but that's not why I signed up to play the game. That's not the game that I know."
"If you want to look at it that way, I guess you can. That's one perspective. But that's not really one that resonates with me. It's kind of hard to understand."
"If you want to look at it that way, I guess you can. That's one perspective. But that's not really one that resonates with me. It's kind of hard to understand."
With the Gavin McKenna draft lottery coming up, the Penguins could make massive moves early in the season, including parting ways with Crosby, especially if they don't have a strong start to the season.
If the Penguins aren't in a position to compete for a playoff spot entering 2026, he could be traded.
His agent, Pat Brisson, has openly discussed that possibility, as he wants to see his client make the playoffs every year, and Crosby has missed them for the last three years in Pittsburgh.
Here's what he said in an interview with The Athletic:
"It's always a possibility, you know? It's been three years they haven't made the playoffs. It all depends on how Sid is going to be and how the team is going to do.
We want Sidney to be in the playoffs every year. We want him to hopefully win another Cup or two. So each year the team he's playing for fails to make the playoffs, it creates a lot of speculation.
In reality, he's not getting any younger. We're here to support him. It's the beginning of the season here. Let's see how things are going. Hopefully, they have a great season and the speculation will go away."
We want Sidney to be in the playoffs every year. We want him to hopefully win another Cup or two. So each year the team he's playing for fails to make the playoffs, it creates a lot of speculation.
In reality, he's not getting any younger. We're here to support him. It's the beginning of the season here. Let's see how things are going. Hopefully, they have a great season and the speculation will go away."
Josh Yohe of the same media called out Brisson's tactics, going as far as saying the agent was publicly pressuring Dubas to trade him before losing more of Crosby's time.
"Brisson seemed to be publicly pressuring Dubas. Crosby is 38. The Penguins are in the early stages of a long-game rebuild. The clock is ticking, and Brisson is well aware."
Making that declaration to the media was a calculated move by Brisson, who would have much to gain by seeing his client join a big market like the Montreal Canadiens.
| POLL | ||
SEPTEMBRE 16 | 47 ANSWERS The Real Cause of Crosby Trade Talks: Key Member of His Team Aggressively Pushing Him to Leave Pittsburgh Do you think Pat Brisson is pressuring Kyle Dubas to trade Sidney rosby? | ||
| Yes | 18 | 38.3 % |
| No | 29 | 61.7 % |
| List of polls | ||