Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang, and Sidney Crosby all made one thing clear in their season-ending media availabilities at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex on Tuesday.
They want the core to stay together.
For the first time in the 16 years that those three have been together in Pittsburgh, the possibility exists that they might not be together next season.
In previous years, when one of the three was nearing the end of his contract, he signed a contract extension before his previous contract was up. Malkin and Letang both entering this offseason as unrestricted free agents is unchartered territory.