You can count Sidney Crosby among the group of NHLers who are considering playing elsewhere if the NHL lockout drags on.
In an interview with Pittsburgh radio station 97.3 The Fan this week, Crosby talked about the NHL's labour woes, and discussed his level of patience with the work stoppage.
"I'll wait and see. I don't have a hard date or anything like that," said Crosby. "I just want to get a feel for how things move along here and hopefully there are some positive talks and some movement, and a sign that things are going to get done here. But I'll just wait and see how things go.
"We have enough guys to get some good workouts in here. And if it seems like it's taking a little bit more time, then I'll have to think pretty hard about maybe going to play somewhere until they figure it out."
The Penguins captain was the first overall choice in the 2005 NHL Draft that the league conducted when it returned from its last lockout.
The 25-year-old from Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia talked about the most recent offer that the players made to the league prior to the lockout.
"I like our proposal. I really do. When you hear what the league's issues are, I think we clearly tried to address that in our proposal. And the game is healthy," explained Crosby. "For sure there are some teams and franchises that need some help and we've made it pretty clear we're willing to work with the league and work with everyone to help those teams.
"That being said, it doesn't really seem like the proposal we got in return is really clearly addressing those needs. They're addressing some needs of maybe some other owners, too, and it's pretty flat-line there."
Crosby's teammate Evgeni Malkin has already signed to play with Metallurg Magnitogorsk of Russia's Kontinental Hockey League.
