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Sidney Crosby signed a two-year, $17.4 million contract with the Pittsburgh Penguins on Monday. The contract, which has an average annual value of $8.7 million, begins in the 2025-26 season.

The center is entering the final season of a 12-year, $104.4 million contract he signed July 1, 2012. Crosby turned 37 on Aug. 7. That contract also had an AAV of $8.7 million. In fact, other than his entry level contact, Crosby, who wears No. 87, has made $8.7 million annually since the 2008-09 season.

“There are no words to properly describe what Sidney Crosby means to the game of hockey, the city of Pittsburgh and the Penguins organization,” Penguins general manager Kyle Dubas said. “Sidney is the greatest player of his generation and one of the greatest players in the history of the game. His actions today show why he is one of hockey’s greatest winners and leaders. Sid is making a tremendous personal sacrifice in an effort to help the Penguins win, both now and in the future, as he has done for his entire career.”

THE CAPTAIN IS COMMITTED.

The Penguins have re-signed Sidney Crosby to a two-year contract extension, running through the 2026.27 season and carrying an average annual value of $8.7 million.

Details: https://t.co/13N1vhbR2S pic.twitter.com/zgLb01EpgY

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) September 16, 2024

Asked at the NHL North American Player Media Tour in Las Vegas last week about how long he’d like to play for, Crosby chuckled.

“As long as I possibly can,” he said. “I mean, I don’t think until you’re really in that position where you’re contemplating whether you’re going to play or not, well, I don’t think you really know until that point.

“Right now, I feel really good. My body feels good. I have the same passion as I did when I came in the League to play, so hopefully that’s something that can help me continue to play and play at a high level.”

Crosby had 94 points (42 goals, 52 assists) in 82 games last season to lead the Penguins and finish in a tie for 12th in the NHL scoring race. It was his highest goal total since he had 44 in 2016-17 when he led the Penguins to their second consecutive Stanley Cup championship.

He said his goal remains to help the Penguins regularly make the Stanley Cup Playoffs again after a two-season absence.

“How I approach it isn’t going to change,” he said. “I mean, I want to win every time I step onto the ice. And regardless of the words you want to use, whether it’s rebuild, retool, even if you want to use another word to describe it, or use the phrase ‘going young,’ that doesn’t change what I’m trying to do as a player and competing every night to win hockey games.”

To that end, he said he understands what Dubas’ agenda is in an effort to get the Penguins younger and faster.

“Kyle’s got a job to do, and I respect that,” Crosby said. “I’ve been around for a long time. I know how it works. That’s how I look at it.

“At the same time, I want to win obviously every single night. Whether that’s being part of a young team and being in that state or coming off our Stanley Cup win in 2016 and wanting to do it again the next year, my mentality doesn’t change.

“I think we’ve had that as part of our culture for a long time. And I don’t think you just turn that off.”

Selected No. 1 by the Penguins in the 2005 NHL Draft, Crosby ranks 10th in NHL history with 1,596 points (592 goals, 1004 assists). Despite the team missing the postseason the past two seasons and winning just one round since winning the Cup seven years ago, it appears Crosby is intent on finishing his career with the Penguins, however long that might be.

“We’ve been close the past couple of years,” he said. “I think we all feel really good about that.

NHL.com staff writer Mike Zeisberger contributed to this report