Sure, he knows that the Pittsburgh Penguins are one of the NHL’s oldest teams.
And, yeah, he’s aware that they have missed the Stanley Cup playoffs for two years in a row and haven’t won a postseason series since 2018.
He also understands that they often must deal with significant constraints imposed by the NHL’s salary cap.
Doesn’t matter.
Not enough, anyway, to disabuse Rick Curran — one of hockey’s most veteran and respected player agents — of the idea that Pittsburgh is an especially attractive landing spot for free agents.
While that might seem counterintuitive to some, Curran’s rationale is rooted in a number of strongly held beliefs.
His list starts — as do so many things with this franchise — with Sidney Crosby.
“The fact is, Sidney Crosby’s getting older, but even though he’s getting older, look at the season he just had,” Curran said Friday. “From an ability standpoint, from a performance standpoint, he’s still as good as — if not better than — most of the guys in the National Hockey League.
“My feeling would be that, if you’re a team knocking on the door for a Cup, you’re going to attract the type of free agent who’s probably played 15 to 20 years, never won a Cup (but have) come close, and may feel that this is an opportunity to grab something before the curtain falls, which is within another year or two. You’ll recognize that category of free agent because it’s obvious — they’re older guys and they’d all like to be like (longtime Boston defenseman Raymond) Bourque, who went to Colorado and won a Stanley Cup. It’s a feel-good situation, and there’s nothing wrong with it.”
Curran was quick to note, however, that Crosby’s allure is not limited to players looking to write a final chapter in their careers.
“We have a couple of young free agents and our take on it is, for one of those young players, the opportunity to play with someone like Sidney Crosby — to play with him as a teammate, to learn from him, as a person — I just think that’s invaluable,” he said. “If you’re 27, 28 years old and you have an opportunity to go to a franchise that’s going through a bit of a transition, the opportunity to play with a guy like Sidney Crosby, to me that would be invaluable.
“And also recognize that, with the right attitude, that 27- or 28-year-old who would go with Pittsburgh and learn from Sidney might find himself being maybe one of the cornerstones of their transition. So there might be a wonderful opportunity for him.”
