The NHL has not announced a start date for next season.
The center had three points (two goals, one assist) for the Penguins, the No. 5 seed in the Eastern Conference, in their four-game loss to the Montreal Canadiens, the No. 12 seed, in the Stanley Cup Qualifiers.
Crosby scored 47 points (16 goals, 31 assists) in 41 games during the regular season. He missed 28 games recovering from Nov. 14 core muscle surgery.
Crosby has scored 1,263 points (462 goals, 801 assists) in 984 NHL games. He is a three-time Stanley Cup champion with the Penguins (2009, 2016, 2017), winning the Conn Smythe Trophy voted as playoff MVP in 2016 and 2017. He won the Art Ross Trophy as the top scorer in the NHL in 2006-07 and 2013-14 and the Rocket Richard Trophy as top goal-scorer in the NHL in 2009-10 and 2016-17. He was voted winner of the Hart Trophy as League MVP in 2006-07 and 2013-14 and the Ted Lindsay Award (most outstanding player as voted by members of the NHL Players' Association) in 2006-07, 2012-13 and 2013-14.
Since the Penguins were eliminated, centers Evgeni Malkin (left elbow) and Zach Aston-Reese (left shoulder) each had surgery Aug. 17. Malkin was expected to recover in 3-4 weeks; Aston-Reese was expected to need six months to recover.
