NHL Rumor Mill – August 19, 2026
Check out the latest on Penguins captain Sidney Crosby and Ducks winger Cutter Gauthier in today’s NHL Rumor Mill.
THE ATHLETIC: Josh Yohe reports Sidney Crosby is entering the final season of his two-year contract with the Pittsburgh Penguins. The 39-year-old center will be eligible to become an unrestricted free agent next July.
Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby (NHL Images).
Yohe acknowledged that the longer Crosby goes unsigned, the more speculation will grow about his future in Pittsburgh, just like what happened before he signed his current deal.
However, Yohe believes Crosby will sign another extension with the Penguins. He indicated that Crosby’s agent, Pat Brisson, said there is an understanding that his camp will discuss a new contract before the summer is over.
Yohe speculated that Crosby’s next contract will likely be a one- or two-year deal. He’s never been one to push for as much money as he could get. Whatever the term and price, the Penguins will likely accept it.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Crosby has long maintained that he doesn’t want to play anywhere else. Nevertheless, some pundits seemed to delight in musing over potential trade destinations for the future Hall of Famer, even insisting that the Penguins owed it to Crosby and the rest of the league to trade him to a playoff contender.
Crosby isn’t going anywhere. He’ll finish his career with the Penguins. Hopefully, the two sides will get a deal done quickly and spare us another season of silly Crosby trade speculation.
THE HOCKEY NEWS: Ryan Lambert cited a recent report by NHL Network Radio contributor Paul Shaheen, who recently claimed that Cutter Gauthier rejected a four-year contract proposal from the Anaheim Ducks that would’ve paid him an average annual value of $13 million.
Lambert noted that the validity of Shaheen’s reporting remains unclear, but noted that the longer Gauthier remains unsigned, the more questions will be raised. He noted how Leo Carlsson’s new contract left the Ducks with just over $9 million in cap space, meaning they’ll likely have to shed salary to re-sign the talented young winger.
According to Lambert, general manager Pat Verbeek is to blame for creating this situation. His reputation for playing hardball with young players coming off entry-level contracts left the club vulnerable to Carlsson becoming an offer-sheet candidate, resulting in them matching an offer from the Philadelphia Flyers despite it being worth far more than they had originally anticipated signing him for going into this offseason.
Lambert noted that the only leverage Gauthier has is to withhold his services. However, the Ducks have to realize they cannot continue playing hardball like this, especially if doing so costs Gauthier some games or adversely affects his performance this season.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: There hasn’t been much real news about Gauthier’s negotiations with the Ducks. That’s generated plenty of rumors, including one claiming he wouldn’t accept a penny less than the $18 million AAV that Carlsson got on his new contract.
It remains to be seen how much Gauthier gets on his next contract, but it certainly won’t be less than $9 million. If Shaheen’s report is correct, my guess is he won’t accept anything less than $14 million annually.
As with Crosby, the longer Gauthier remains unsigned, the more conjecture will arise about what his new deal could look like, and which players will be trade candidates to ensure the Ducks become cap-compliant for the coming season.
It will take 15 to sign CG, times 5 or 6 years, is my best guess. With that being said, Verbeek(while being an idiot) isnt the one that gave the 18m to Carlsson, so a fair deal with CG should probably be in the 12-13 range times 5
But Verbeek is the one who matched the offer, and he bears responsibility for not getting Carlsson re-signed before July 1.
Verbeek is “the idiot” who plays hardball. He could have easily resigned Carlsson last summer for less. While I have an ingrained hatred for the habs ( I have a birth defect, I’m a laughs fan), I respect the hell out of what their gm is doing. Smart business there.
Player contracts are certainly exploding at a shocking rate. The cost to fans will almost assuredly price some out. I think the owners saw this coming and that is why they have been looking at expansion. They need that infusion of cash .
Gary: Contracts are “exploding” because they’re tied to hockey-related revenue. The combination of ticket sales, corporate sponsorships, new media and broadcasting deals, and other revenue streams such as gambling are the main reasons, with most of those deals done several years ago.
Gary, hockey related revenue is split 50/50 between owners and players. Thus any rise in across the board player salaries has in essence already been budgeted for.
Besides, this coming season sees a return to 84 games, with as Lyle pointed out revenue from a number of game related streams.
Who really would have thought that contracts would have exploded to recent levels? I am sure Verbeek isn’t the only GM that’s played hardball, he just waited too long and got blind sided by Philly.
But I am certain that other GMs will learn from his actions.
Barring a flurry of last-minute deals, what you see is pretty much what you get when it comes to roster adjustments by team since last season. So, which among the 16 worst last season in goals allowed and in goals scored have done the most to improve in those categories … and which, in your view, are potentially worse off?
MOST GOALS ALLOWED (also showing final league standing)
Vancouver 316 (32); Toronto 299 (28); San Jose 292 (24); Anaheim 288 (18); Florida 276 (25); Chicago 275 (31); Edmonton 269 (14); Nashville 269 (23); Pittsburgh 268 (10); Seattle 263 (27); Winnipeg 260 (26); Calgary 259 (29); Detroit 258 (16); St. Louis 258 (22); Montreal 256 (6); New Jersey 254 (21)
IMO Toronto, Florida, Montreal and, because they can’t possibly be even worse, Vancouver, will show the most improvement, with Pittsburgh, Calgary & New Jersey maybe regressing.
LEAST GOALS SCORED (also showing final league standing)
Calgary 212 (29); Chicago 213 (31); Vancouver 216 (32); Los Angeles 225 (20); Seattle 226 (27); New Jersey 230 (21); St. Louis 231 (22); Winnipeg 231 (26); New York Islanders 233 (19); New York Rangers 238 (30); Detroit 241 (16); Nashville 247 (23); Philadelphia 250 (11); San Jose 251 (24); Florida 251 (25); Toronto 253 (28)
Here I can see the biggest improvements being made by Florida, Toronto, the NYR, Philadelphia, San Jose, with Detroit, St. Louis, Winnipeg going the other way.
Lyle, your opinion would be welcome here as well.
To date George, the Habs haven’t done anything to improve, as surprised as I am by their GAA.
But then, Montembeault had a bad season last year and in 25 games had a GAA of .872 and he won’t be around for 25 games if this coming season is more of the same. That alone will improve this stat.
Elias Pettersson and a 1st and 2nd to Ana for vatrano and CG?
Pettersson is done.! CG is worth way more than that as this kid is about to be a superstar.!
George, Florida added Brady but also traded away a bunch of 30 point guys. Their biggest improvements will come from getting injured players back and not going into massive tank job to keep their top 10 protected 1st rounder from last draft.
Hey Specs, does anyone in the industry take Hockeybuzz seriously.?
This guy is delusional. Just asking.