Sidney Crosby has a new contract before his 20th birthday and his eye on the Stanley Cup for the Pittsburgh Penguins.
The NHL MVP and scoring champion signed a five-year extension through the 2012-13 season worth $43.5 million. The deal leaves room for the team to re-sign other young stars, such as Evgeni Malkin and Jordan Staal, in the coming seasons.
“It feels great, especially with the group of guys we have, to know I’m going to be able to grow with these guys and spend awhile with them,” Crosby said Tuesday. “To have that sense of security, it definitely feels good.”
Crosby, who turns 20 next month, won the Hart Trophy last month to become the league’s youngest MVP since Wayne Gretzky.
The Penguins made Crosby the youngest captain in league history after last season, when he led the NHL with 120 points (36 goals, 84 assists). He helped the Penguins win 47 games after they won only 22 the previous season.
The Penguins’ 47-point improvement was the fourth best in NHL history. They were eliminated in five games by eventual Eastern Conference champion Ottawa in the first round of the playoffs.
“Individual honors and scoring championships are great, but my No. 1 goal is to win the Stanley Cup,” Crosby said. “I’d love to be a part of bringing the Cup back here to Pittsburgh.”
Crosby’s deal includes a signing bonus of more than $5 million and is front-loaded. That means he’ll make more in the early years, though a yearly breakdown was not immediately available. Crosby’s salary cap value each year of the deal is $8.7 million.
The number has other significance: Crosby wears No. 87 and was born Aug. 7, 1987.
“It seems like a pretty good number. I thought it was kind of unique so I’m happy with that,” said Crosby, who said he’s celebrating the deal by spending some time with his parents.
Rangers: Left winger Brendan Shanahan, who had 29 goals and 62 points last season, agreed to a one-year deal to remain with New York.
Shanahan, 38, will receive $2.5 million in base salary next season and can earn an additional $2.8 million in bonuses. Under the collective bargaining agreement, players over 35 can sign one-year deals with bonuses that may push a team over the cap.
Now that Shanahan is in the fold, the Rangers will seek to make deals with goalie Henrik Lundqvist and gritty forward Sean Avery – who spent time on Shanahan’s line after being acquired from the Los Angeles Kings. Lundqvist and Avery are restricted free agents slated for salary arbitration. New York is about $5.6 million under the cap.
Devils: Defenseman Vitaly Vishnevski signed a $1.4 million contract. Vishnevski, 27, split last season between the Atlanta Thrashers (52 games) and Nashville Predators (15), recording three goals and 10 assists. He was acquired by the Predators in a trade for center Eric Belanger on Feb. 10.
Capitals: Washington signed free-agent forward Joe Motzko to a two-year contract. Motzko, 27, was a member of the 2007 Stanley Cup champion Anaheim Ducks after being traded in January by the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Superstardom: The first two years
Pittsburgh Penguins star Sidney Crosby signed a five-year contract extension Tuesday worth $43.5 million. Crosby, the NHL’s most valuable player last season, has been compared to Hall of Famer Wayne Gretzky. Below is a look at the players’ first two seasons in the NHL:
Sidney Crosby
(Season Team GP G A Pts Shots)
2005-06 Pittsburgh 81 39 63 102 278
2006-07 Pittsburgh 79 36 84 120 250
First two seasons 16075 147 222 528
Wayne Gretzky
(Season Team GP G A Pts Shots)
1979-80 Edmonton 79 51 86 137 284
1980-81 Edmonton 80 55 109 164 261
First two seasons 159 106 195 301 545
