Pittsburgh Penguin, Sidney Crosby Agree To 12 Year Contract Extension

Sidney Crosby will get closer to being a Pittsburgh Penguin for life Sunday. The Penguins announced Thursday that they have agreed to terms with Crosby on a 12-year contract extension worth $104.4 million.

According to the collective bargaining agreement, Crosby, 24, can’t sign a new deal until the free agency period opens at noon ET on July 1 because he already is under contract for the 2012-13 season. That’s the final season of the current five-year, $43.5 million contract he signed July 10, 2007. His new contract will take effect starting with the 2013-14 season.

Crosby’s current contract has an annual average value of $8.7 million. That will also be the average annual value of his new contract if the reported figures are accurate.

“This is a great day for hockey and tremendous news for the Pittsburgh Penguins and our fans,” Penguins co-owners Mario Lemieux and Ron Burkle said in a joint statement. “We are grateful for all that Sidney Crosby has done for our franchise since coming to Pittsburgh in 2005, both on and off the ice, and we look forward to having him in a Penguins uniform for the rest of his career. He is an excellent player and an even better person, and he is a great ambassador for the Penguins and for Pittsburgh.”

So far under his current contract the Penguins have won the Eastern Conference in 2008 and the Stanley Cup in 2009 with Crosby, then 21, becoming the youngest captain to lead his team to the championship. Crosby also scored the overtime goal for Canada in the gold-medal game at the 2010 Winter Olympics.

In addition to the Stanley Cup and an Olympic gold, Crosby has already won the Hart Trophy, Art Ross Trophy, Rocket Richard Trophy and Ted Lindsay Award.

“In an era when players often move from team to team, it’s gratifying to see a young man who is so committed to one city and one franchise,” Penguins CEO and President David Morehouse said in a statement. “He’s meant so much to the Penguins, to the growth of youth hockey in Pittsburgh, and to the NHL and the game of hockey in general. It’s a tremendous feeling to know he’ll be here through 2025.”