Expectations remain the same for the Penguins entering 2024-25

Like anyone else with a vested interest in the Pittsburgh Penguins, Bryan Rust’s fortunes are tied to the presence of Sidney Crosby.

And even more so for Rust as he has been Crosby’s predominant right winger for the past handful of seasons.

But unlike others, Rust wasn’t fixated on the franchise center’s contractual status for most of the summer.

He knew better.

“I don’t think I worried about it for one second,” Rust said. “I don’t even think I thought about it unless I saw it from one of you guys (reporters) on (social media). … Obviously, this place means a lot to Sid, Sid means a lot to this place.

“There was no doubt that something would get done.”

What got done Monday was Crosby formally signed a two-year contract extension. Lopped on to the final year of his ongoing 12-year deal, Crosby’s new contract is slated to keep him skating for the only NHL franchise that has employed him through the 2026-27 season.

“Obviously, when you can retain your most important player that you have on your team, the captain, the face of the league, whatever you want to call him, it’s always a good day for the Penguins,” defenseman Kris Letang said. “It’s really exciting.”

With that business put to rest, the Penguins opened their 57th training camp Wednesday in Cranberry and it didn’t look terribly different than most of the previous 19 camps Crosby has attended.

That’s to say the players’ immediate pursuit remains the same, even after missing the postseason the past two seasons.

Be it through stubbornness or delusion, Crosby’s Penguins still see themselves through the lens of being Stanley Cup contenders.

“There’s always been expectation here, and I love that,” Crosby said Monday during a season-ticket holder event in Mars. “I love that the expectation is to win. It gets the best out of everybody. It pushes us to be better.”

The Penguins don’t need to a whole lot better to be a playoff team. They missed each of the past two postseasons by a smattering of points.

An 8-2-2 run in the final weeks last season almost got them back to the playoffs.

“I look at the standings,” Crosby said. “We were close. But close doesn’t get you anywhere. … Regardless of where you are in the standings, you’ve got to prove it again next year. We’ll have to do that in that case.”

Unlike the 2023 offseason, the Penguins did not partake in any major external transactions this summer — the opportunities to trade for a superstar like defenseman Erik Karlsson are finite — but they did add some supplemental components such as forwards Anthony Beauvillier and Cody Glass.

The newcomers appear to understand the assignment.

“Being here, when you walk into the rink, it’s a winning mindset, a championship mindset,” said Glass, who previously played for the Vegas Golden Knights and Nashville Predators. “You see the banners everywhere. You’re surrounded by (Crosby and forward Evgeni Malkin), guys that have done everything, have won everything.

“It’s a very special locker room to be in.”

The incumbents in that room profess a resolve to regain what has made this franchise special.

“It didn’t go our way now for two years in a row,” said Rust, one of only a handful of players remaining from the Penguins’ back-to-back championship squads in 2016 and 2017. “It (ticks) guys off a little bit, and I think it lights the fire a little bit more.”