Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby joined his teammates for informal workouts on Tuesday morning and appeared to be in tremendous shape, according to Josh Yohe of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.
After battling the lingering effects of a concussion last offseason (which carried into the regular season and forced him to miss all but 22 games), Crosby has jumped at the opportunity to take advantage of this offseason. Despite his struggles to consistently stay in the lineup, the 25-year-old superstar still managed to register eight goals and 29 assists for 37 points, which leaves to the imagination what he could do with a full, injury-free year.
While Crosby may be primed for the 2012-13 season, the issue of a potential lockout may force him to play in another abridged regular season.
However, teammate Evgeni Malkin has already expressed interest in recruiting Crosby to play in Russia's Kontinental Hockey League in the case of a lockout. Crosby was non-committal when the topic was brought up on Tuesday but stated that he would consider it.
Crosby on lockout: "Don't even want to think about it. I want to play."
— Josh Yohe (@JoshYohe_Trib) September 11, 2012
The current collective bargaining agreement between the NHL and the Players' Association is set to expire on Sept. 15. Commissioner Gary Bettman has already made it clear that the player's will be locked out if a new agreement is not reached prior to the deadline.
For more on the Penguins and the possible NHL lockout, please be sure to check out our blog PensBurgh and SB Nation Pittsburgh for all the latest news and updates.