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Around the NHL: Sidney Crosby agreed to a two-year extension with the Penguins
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Photo credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
Ryley Delaney
Sep 17, 2024, 10:00 EDTUpdated: Sep 17, 2024, 01:13 EDT
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On Saturday, the National Hockey League kicks off with pre-season action.
As you can imagine, with the league getting ready to ramp back up, there is some news from across the league. One of the greatest players of all time re-signs with his team, while a good netminder underwent surgery during the off-season.
Let’s take a look at that in the latest Around the NHL!

Sidney Crosby signs an extension with Pittsburgh

It’s not a hot take to say that Sidney Crosby will be a Pittsburgh Penguin for life. On Monday, he signed a two-year extension worth $8.7 million a year with the team, with the contract starting after the 2024-25 season.
What else can you say about Crosby that hasn’t already been said? He was drafted first-overall in the 2005 draft and has spent his entire career with the Penguins, scoring 592 goals and 1596 points in 1272 games. Even in his aged-36 season, the Cole Harbour native scored 42 goals and 94 points, continuing to be one of the games superstar centres.
He’s accomplished so much individually as well that it’d be easier to list the achievements he hasn’t won (namely the Calder Trophy, Lady Byng, and Selke). Crosby is a two-time Art Ross, Hart, Rocket Richard, and Conn Smythe winner, while also winning three Stanley Cups and three Ted Lindsay awards.
Moreover, he’s an eight-time All-Star and the youngest captain in NHL history to ever hoist a cup. While he may never win another Lord Stanley with how the Penguins are trending, he’s surely a first-ballot Hall of Famer who will produce at an elite level for the next few seasons.

Jonatan Berggren and Lucas Raymond re-sign with Detroit

The Detroit Red Wings signed two restricted free agents on Monday, Jonathan Berggren and Lucas Raymond. Raymond agreed to an eight-year, $8.075 million deal, while Berggren agreed to a one-year, $825,000 deal.
Drafted fourth-overall in the 2020 draft, Raymond broke out in 2023-24, scoring 31 goals and 72 points, improving on his career-best he set in rookie year where he scored 23 goals and 57 points in 82 games.
So far in his young career, Raymond has 71 goals and 174 points in 82 games, and is looking like one of the best players from the draft class.
As for Berggren, he was selected in the second-round of the 2018 draft, with the winger spending four seasons in his home country of Sweden. He made the jump to North America in 2021-22, scoring 21 goals and 64 points in 70 games in his debut American Hockey League season.
In 2022-23, Berggren scored 15 goals and 28 points in 67 games for the Red Wings, becoming somewhat of a mainstay on the team while providing a solid offence in a depth role. However, he only played 12 games for the Wings in 2023-24 (two goals, six points), as the Wings were in contention for a Wild Card spot throughout the season.
Still, he had a solid season in the AHL, scoring 24 goals and 56 points in 53 games. The 24-year-old is clearly deserving a shot in the NHL, and he may very well get that opportunity with the Wings this season.

Ilya Sorokin underwent back surgery in the offseason

According to Andrew Gross, New York Islanders netminder Ilya Sorokin underwent back surgery during the off-season per head coach Patrick Roy.
Although he was drafted all the way back in 2014, he didn’t leave the Kontinental Hockey League until after the 2019-20, joining the Islanders in 2020-21. Sorokin has been lights out since coming to the National Hockey League.
In his rookie year, he posted a .918 save percentage and a 2.17 goals-against average in 22 games played. He took over as the starter in 2021-22, posting a .925 save percentage and a 2.40 goals-against average in 52 games. He was even better in 2022-23, as he had a .924 save percentage and a 2.33 goals-against average in 62 games while finishing second in Vezina Trophy voting.
Sorokin’s play took a hit in 2023-24, as he had a .909 save percentage and a 2.99 goals-against average in 56 games played. Still, he finished eighth in Vezina Trophy voting and helped the Islanders make the post-season, losing the starting job to Semyon Varlamov.
It’s expected that Sorokin won’t miss any time to start the 2024-25 season.
Thanks for reading! You can follow me on Twitter @Ryley_L_D.

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