Way-Too-Early 2025 NHL Trade-Deadline Landing Spots for Sidney Crosby

It's the playoffs.

So there's plenty to keep hockey fans busy between now and mid-June when one of 16 teams will take the most celebratory parade lap imaginable.

But if you allow yourself to fast-forward a few months to next winter, it'll be buckle-up time.

Sidney Crosby, you know, the first overall pick from 2005 who just completed one of the greatest seasons in old-guy history—he's 36 years old and had 94 points in 82 games—could be in his final days with the only team with which he's ever suited up, the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Unless he signs an extension that'll keep him in the Steel City past the expiration of the 12-year, $104.4 million blockbuster next summer, there's a real chance he'll be on the move when the 2025 trade deadline arrives in early March.

And where, oh where, could he go?

The possibilities seem endless and the B/R hockey team is on the case, pondering way-too-early landing spots for one of the greatest players in league history. Take a look at what we came up with and drop a thought or two, and maybe a suggestion, in the comments section.

We turned it on its side, flipped it on its head, and rolled it around a few times.

And from every potential Crosby trade angle, Colorado made sense.

Given the likes of fellow Nova Scotian and likely MVP Nathan MacKinnon, Norris Trophy winner Cale Makar, and other high-profilers on the roster, the Avalanche will be on the short list of teams in serious contention for the Cup in 2025.

This means Crosby would at least have reason to consider waiving a full no-movement clause while chasing a fourth career championship, and it's hard to imagine a more powerful 1-2 punch at center than Nos. 29 and 87.

It'll take some creative accounting to get it done, but how could it not be worth it?

There are combinations. And then there are combinations.

Given Crosby's status as the best player of the 21st century and Connor McDavid's typical ranking as the best player at the moment, it'd be about as dynamic a force as can be constructed in a trade-deadline situation.

McDavid's Edmonton Oilers have been a dud through No. 97's first five playoff appearances, so, unless they break through this spring with his first title run, the "Cup or Bust" volume will be turned to 11 as the captain's penultimate contract run approaches next March.

Meanwhile, it'll be Leon Draisaitl's final run unless there's an extension signed, too, which presents an opportunity to field a playoff All-Star team in northern Alberta by rounding things out with a guy who's got unmatched banner-hanging street cred.

Bottom line: All trade ideas should be considered to facilitate a Cup hand-off from McDavid to "Sid the Kid."

OK, here goes with the internet-breaker.

The Maple Leafs are in the rarest of quicksands with several players signed to deals that'll pay them north of $10 million next season. The $8.7 million that Crosby is due would make him just the fifth-highest-paid forward on the roster.

So it would make precisely zero sense from a bookkeeping standpoint.

But for a franchise without a championship since 20 years before "The Kid" was born, it's not about the bookkeeping.

It's about the earth-shattering paradigm shift that bringing a proven winner like Crosby in would provide, the jolt of confidence it'd yield for a team beaten down by years of failure, and the guaranteed attention it'd bring to every game in Canada's biggest city.

Boxing champions get 25 percent better the instant they win a title belt and maybe it'd mean the same thing for the guys in the blue and white sweaters.

Mark us down among those who'd love to find out.

The Canadian drought may end this spring.

In fact, three of DraftKings' top 10 betting picks to win the Stanley Cup are based in Canada, including the Winnipeg Jets going off these days as a cool 30-to-1 shot.

Yes, those Winnipeg Jets.

The franchise that looked sure to offload stalwarts Mark Scheifele and Connor Hellebuyck before they headed into the final years of their contracts instead broke character, signed them to matching seven-year, $59.5 million extensions and cruised through the 2023-24 season with 52 wins and a fourth-place overall finish.

It was a surprise reintroduction to the post-Atlanta version of the Jets, who, with a cadre of prime-aged forwards and a Vezina-quality goalie, appear poised to reside among the contenders for the next several years.

As with all the other teams at the top, squeezing a guy like Crosby into the fold won't be an easy task. But adding his still-prolific production and playoff pedigree to a locker room that's not neared a championship can't help but be a good thing no matter how long it lasts.

Oh, Canada (in a good way)!