Why on earth would Sid take that deal?
He doesn’t owe the Pens anything
He’s already won them multiple Cups

Sid definitely takes a team friendly deal, but I am not sure it will be that low.

Maybe because he has already made a ton of money and is more interested in winning than making more money? He has tons of sponsorship deals and will easily have a long term career in hockey long after he hangs up the skates if he wants to make more money. I absolutely guarantee he will take a pay cut on his next deal (just like geno and letang) if he wants to keep playing .

This isn't something that exists.

He may take a pay cut but his next salary will be closer to his current salary than to 1M.

Big difference between a “pay cut” and making $1mil per for 3 seasons
I can’t see him doing that

Absolutely it exists. Players do it all the time. Heck Crosby did it when he signed his contract. He could have made more when he signed his contract but took less to ensure they could sign Geno and Letang when their contracts came up. And Geno and Letang would have gotten paid more than they did on the open market to but took significant discounts to stay and retire penguins and give some cap space to build around them and try to win as many championships as possible. I could see Sid absolutely doing similar to what Bergy did and do an incentive laden contract where he makes more the better he plays. But I think realistically he will do a contract close to Geno and Letangs unless he absolutely drops off massively over the next two seasons.

Sid will likely take a haircut. But he's not shaving his head. 😁

No. It's not realistic at all.

Crosby will most likely take a team-friendly deal, but that's honestly just insulting considering the caliber of player he still is. Only way I can see a $1M AAV for Sid is if the Pens can't offer him more and he isn't ready to hang up the skates like Bergeron and Krejci did last year.

I wouldn't bet on Guentzel taking a 1x$6M, either. He has no incentive to take it unless you can convince him to buy into a Boston-esque culture of incredibly team-friendly deals. Giving him an 8 year deal after that isn't the best, either. Unless I'm counting wrong, that would take him to the end of his age 38 season. If he sticks around that long, he's going to be making somewhere in the $8-9M range well past his prime and potentially to the end of an eventual rebuild.

He could get the Bergeron deal from last yr: 1yr @ $2.5M w/ bonuses.

3 years, 8.7mill total, 2.9 AAV

That is something I could see him doing. It has to involve 87. I’d think if it was a choice of 1 million max he’d just do 870k per year for that lol

I've actually been thinking about this exact same thig haha. I can see Sid taking a discount - but not THAT low. I would guess he wants to retire with at least one of Letang/Malkin - so a 2 or 3 year deal. Maybe he takes like 3mil? Should be interesting.

I don't think the Pens would have any issues signing Jake to 8mil next year though.