Tim Benz: Pittsburgh brings a lot of baggage to the '1 jersey' conversation for Penguins core 3

When it comes to the debate over how important it is that the Penguins’ core three finish their careers in black and gold, I feel like many of us in Pittsburgh bring a lot of baggage to the conversation.

Because, as we are seeing now, the desire to keep some popular players as “one-jersey guys” their whole career may become highly impractical for the team, the players themselves, or both.

For instance, the hope of doing so with Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang may have been what the players, organization and fans wanted in the summer of 2022. But now, the calculated risk of tying up $12.2 million in cap space between those two beloved but depreciating assets is coming to fruition.

Even in the case of Sidney Crosby, signing him to a long-term extension this summer seems like a no-brainer given how he performed at age 36. But is Crosby really going to want to play through his late 30s on a Penguins team out of obligation to the city, franchise and fanbase as the team stays in this new era of malaise?

Or even gets worse.

Similarly, should the front office feel a corresponding sense of debt toward Crosby and avoid a necessary rebuild because of an obligation to flail at competitiveness just because No. 87 is owed something better than a stripped-down team on what could be his final contract?

It’s a tricky spot for sure, and not necessarily one that the Pens have navigated well thus far — as their two consecutive seasons without a playoff berth would indicate.

It’s also one made more dicey by our region’s complicated history with how the careers of many sports superstars ended.

In Pittsburgh, we eternally romanticize the significance and nostalgia of the greats who played their whole careers here. Mario Lemieux, Roberto Clemente, Willie Stargell, “Mean” Joe Greene and a large pack of other greats from the Steelers of the 1970s. The same thing for Jerome Bettis, even though his career began briefly with the Rams.

We clutched our pearls over situations that did end with a player going out wearing only a Pittsburgh uniform but got a little messy heading into retirement as it did for Ben Roethlisberger, Troy Polamalu and Terry Bradshaw.

And we still wring our hands over how the likes of Barry Bonds, Franco Harris, Jaromir Jagr, Dave Parker and Marc-Andre Fleury had to play elsewhere at the ends of — or for large portions — of their careers.

To a degree, it’s a useless endeavor. Sure, we all want our stars to have the storybook sendoff that Bettis did at Super Bowl XL.

Jerome Bettis returned to his hometown of Detroit in Super Bowl XL.

And his @Steelers teammates made him run out of the tunnel by himself. ????

????: #NFLIcons: @JeromeBettis36 airs TOMORROW at 10/9c on @EPIXHD pic.twitter.com/jZEIZBtq5M

— NFL (@NFL) October 22, 2021

We all want that picture of Ben Roethlisberger high-fiving fans walking into the tunnel at Acrisure Stadium one last time.

Monday night rewind: Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger goes out a winner at Heinz Field: "This is the best place to play"https://t.co/Z5hkDhr5bW pic.twitter.com/pnMnilVaSJ

— Around The NFL (@AroundTheNFL) January 5, 2022

We all want Lemieux still skating with a Penguin on his chest, scoring (what we thought would be) his final home goal against the Flyers …

This day in #PGHistory: With 2 minutes left in game 4 vs. the Flyers, Mario Lemieux gets a breakaway goal in front of an emotional crowd. (1997)

Playing his last home game before retiring to receive cancer treatment, Super Mario's goal helps lead the Penguins to a 4-1 victory. pic.twitter.com/NdCy7fAdSg

— Pittsburgh Clothing Co. (@PGHClothingCo) April 23, 2018

… and then getting a standing ovation in Philadelphia.

#Flyers fans show the ultimate sign of respect for Mario Lemieux in what was believed to be his last ever game in #Philadelphia #LetsGoFlyers | #LetsGoPens pic.twitter.com/Jx4VCb6qAN

— Missin Curfew (@MissinCurfew) January 13, 2024

But it just doesn’t often happen that way.

So you wait a few measly decades and retire the guy’s number like the Penguins just did with Jagr, or you elect him to the team’s Hall of Fame as the Pirates have done with Bonds and Parker.

Then everybody stands and cheers and all is forgotten but the good times.

Tom Brady and Peyton Manning won Super Bowls in Tampa and Denver. Brady just got his number retired in New England and they built a statue for Manning in Indianapolis.

Babe Ruth’s last game was with the Boston Braves. Michael Jordan’s was with the Washington Wizards. And Wayne Gretzky actually played more years with teams other than the Oilers than he did in Edmonton.

Does any of that matter to their legacies in the cities and fan bases in which they established their greatness?

We’ll get over it in Pittsburgh too.

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If Malkin, Letang and even Crosby have to wear a different jersey someday because of circumstances surrounding the natural erosion of that once-great era of Pittsburgh hockey, we’ll screech and cry about it for a little while, and then we’ll move on, and just reminisce about the glory days.

It’ll be exactly as we are seeing things play out in Tampa Bay this summer with Steven Stamkos’ departure to Nashville. Stamkos will undoubtedly get the same reception when he returns to Amalie Arena as Fleury got when he came back to PPG Paints Arena as a member of the Vegas Golden Knights.

And again with the Minnesota Wild.

In the end, Malkin likely doesn’t go anywhere else because, well, where else is he going to go? He’ll play this year in Pittsburgh, and retire with one year left on his deal or walk away after 2025-26.

If you made me bet, Crosby plays his entire career here because he probably feels like it’s too late to change, and he saw how important it was to Lemieux to stay with one team.

Letang? I don’t know. After all, 2028 is a long way off. His own health and Crosby’s decision will probably play a role in his outcome.

Regardless, the road will stop at center ice at PPG Paints Arena for all three of them. Jersey retirements. Stanley Cup reunions. Career celebrations.

Just like what will happen with Stamkos in Florida. But in the end, the Lightning front office made a decision for what it felt was good for the team, even if that decision didn’t feel good at the time.

Eventually, the Penguins — or these three players themselves — are going to have to do the same thing.

Listen: Tim Benz and Brian Metzer of the Penguins radio network look at the Penguins offseason moves, Sidney Crosby’s contract negotiations and Kyle Dubas’ philosophy