Nathan MacKinnon makes surprising comment about Sidney Crosby's extension in Pittsburgh

Crosby has always received a lot of attention as one of the best players to ever lace up the skates in the NHL. However, the last year or so has been even more hectic for him that usual as the Penguins have been forced to decide whether they are going to rebuild or push to contend into their core's twilight years. This summer we got a good idea of which direction the team is going though as they elected to re-sign Crosby to a two year contract. The deal, much like the last major extension of his career, carries a cap hit of 8.7 million dollars, representing his famous number 87. Apparently this became a topic of discussion for Crosby and MacKinnon, who have become close friends since MacKinnon joined the league.

With that being said, the Penguins offseason was relatively quiet. In fact, aside from Crosby's extension, the next biggest move came when the team traded veteran forward Rielly Smith to the New York Rangers in exchange for a 5th round draft pick. As such, the team practically did more downsizing than anything this offseason.

Clearly, the roster was not good enough to win last season, so considering the fact that this year's team is largely the same, expectations in Pittsburgh are not as high as they normally have been in the Crosby-Malkin era. While the team's core is still together, they are now the oldest team in the league, a fact that will only continue as Malkin, Crosby, Letang, and Karlsson slowly age out of the NHL altogether. Hopefully, we will get at least one more chance to see Sid the kid play in the playoffs before his career is over, but even if we don't it was surly one heck of a career for number 87.