NHL Rumors: Penguins Would Be Unwise to Sign Sidney Crosby to Huge 10-Year Deal

The Pittsburgh Penguins could sign Sidney Crosby to a monster contract when they are able to officially complete a new deal for their superstar center when free agency begins on July 1, according to Elliotte Friedman of CBC (via James Mirtle).

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So @FriedgeHNIC reports on Satellite Hotstove Crosby will likely get something close to 10-year deal near July 1. ... m.tmi.me/rpgNX

— James Mirtle (@mirtle) June 10, 2012"

The salary cap hit in the new deal may reportedly reach $9 million per season, which would be a massive amount of money for a player with a serious injury history that involves head and neck issues.

If you are judging Crosby's value to the Penguins when healthy, then there's no question that he's worth $90-plus million over 10 seasons.

A new contract for Crosby would affect the Penguins roster in a number of ways, one of which would be the team's ability to re-sign star centers Evgeni Malkin and Jordan Staal. Both are unrestricted free agents next summer, and Staal could certainly earn well over his current $4 million cap hit, while Malkin could exceed his $8.7 million cap hit.

It wouldn't make sense for the Penguins to commit over $20 million of the salary cap in three centers, especially when the team has weaknesses to address on defense and on the wings. Pittsburgh already has four players with salary cap hits of $4 million or more beyond next season in addition to Crosby, Malkin and Staal's large cap hits.

For the Penguins to get back to the Stanley Cup Final, they must build a more complete roster. That process has already begun with the team's recent acquisition of veteran goaltender Tomas Vokoun to give starter Marc-Andre Fleury a capable backup.

It would be foolish for the Penguins to put themselves in a tough position by giving Crosby a huge deal given his injury risk, but can they afford to take a chance on losing him if he's allowed to hit the free-agent market next summer?

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Nicholas Goss is an NHL Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report and was also the organization's on-site reporter for the 2011 Stanley Cup Final in Boston.