By Dave Molinari, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Matt Freed/Post-Gazette
Penguins: A tough ending Wednesday to a wonderful two-month ride.
A popular adage holds that, difficult as it is to win a championship, defending one is even tougher.
The Penguins won't have to worry about that for at least a couple of years, but general manager Ray Shero is about to experience something similar: Having completed the task of assembling a contender just a few months ago, he now must do it again -- despite the certain loss of some key personnel.
If Shero had only to worry about negotiating fair-value deals with free-agents-to-be such as Marian Hossa, Ryan Malone and Brooks Orpik, he could have his offseason chores wrapped up by, oh, noon tomorrow.
Unfortunately for Shero, 12 players on his major-league roster can become unrestricted free agents July 1, and he must find a way to shoehorn as much talent as possible under the NHL's salary-cap ceiling, which is expected to be around $55 million for 2008-09.
Who leaves, who stays and who Shero brings in during the next month or so will go a long way toward determining whether the Penguins will have a chance of competing for the Stanley Cup again next June.
DEFENSEMEN
By early spring, Orpik was alongside Sergei Gonchar on the Penguins' top pairing, killing penalties and hitting opponents as frequently -- and effectively -- as anyone in the NHL. Quite a performance by a guy coach Michel Therrien earlier had made a healthy scratch for four games and used on left wing for two others.
The way Therrien treated him clearly left some scars on Orpik and, for months, seemed certain to push him out of town. Orpik. however, now seems receptive to re-signing -- even though Therrien isn't going anywhere -- and getting him under contract should be a priority.
If Orpik stays, the Penguins' other unrestricted defenseman, Mark Eaton, might be expendable. He is an excellent shot-blocker and penalty-killer and was a nice complement to Gonchar when they were partners, but was sidelined by injuries for much of his two seasons here.
The only defenseman poised to move from the Penguins' farm team in Wilkes-Barre to their major-league roster is Alex Goligoski. Management must guard against force-feeding the NHL to him, but, if Goligoski, who has excellent offensive ability, has a strong training camp, he could be in uniform for the regular-season opener.
The Penguins' top two offensive defensemen, Gonchar and Ryan Whitney, had strikingly different seasons; Gonchar performed at a near Norris Trophy level, while Whitney looked out of sync much of the time, although he elevated his game in the Stanley Cup final.
With Goligoski on the way, Shero might be tempted to free some cap space by trading Whitney, who has a $4 million cap hit, but that would be shortsighted because Whitney has the potential to grow into a No. 1 defenseman and inherit Gonchar's role someday.
Hal Gill adds a solid, if not mobile, defensive presence -- and a good hedge against losing Orpik's physical play -- while Rob Scuderi is a reliable defensive defenseman. The wild card in the group is Kris Letang, who has great promise if his development doesn't plateau.
FORWARDS
Retaining Hossa, who reduced his reputation as a playoff underachiever to an historical artifact this spring, will be extremely difficult if, as expected, he commands a salary of $8 million or more on his next contract. Whether he's worth it isn't the issue; finding the cap space to accommodate such a deal is.
Malone seems likely to pull down something around $4.5 million or so, and that also might be prohibitive for a team that will be paying Crosby an average of $8.7 million and is about to discuss new deals with Evgeni Malkin and Jordan Staal.
Figuring out how to hold onto some of his soon-to-be-unrestricted role players -- guys such as Pascal Dupuis, Jarkko Ruutu, Adam Hall, Gary Roberts and Georges Laraque -- could cause Shero some fitful nights because all have contributed to the team's success in varying degrees.
Laraque might be a cap victim, although the Penguins would miss having him around when they play teams such as Philadelphia, and Roberts should be allowed to leave. He has become a folk hero and left an indelible impression on his teammates, but his $2.5 million salary is a luxury the Penguins can't afford.
Losing some of their third- and fourth-liners will be more palatable if prospects such as Ryan Stone and Jonathan Filewich can step up, but neither distinguished himself in cameos in the NHL this season.
GOALIES
While Shero's to-do list for the next few weeks is long, it won't include anything more pressing than getting Marc-Andre Fleury under contract before he reaches restricted free agency July 1.
He won't come cheap -- up to $5 million per season seems reasonable, unless Fleury follows Crosby's lead and settles for less than he could get -- but management challenged him to prove he's worth a generous contract, and he did.
Ty Conklin earned not only a place in franchise lore with his brilliant play while filling in when Fleury had a high ankle sprain, but the right to compete for a No. 1 job somewhere in the league. His departure via free agency will allow Dany Sabourin to slip back into the No. 2 role he was signed to fill a year ago.
Dave Molinari can be reached at DWMolinari@Yahoo.com.
First published on June 8, 2008 at 12:00 am
LOOKING AHEAD: PENGUINS vs. THE 2008-09 CAP
Penguins under contract and how they'll count against the salary cap -- expected to be about $55 million:
Sidney Crosby- $8.7 million
Sergei Gonchar- $5 million
Ryan Whitney- $4 million
Evgeni Malkin- $3,834,200
Darryl Sydor- $2.5 million
Petr Sykora- $2.5 million
Jordan Staal- $2.2 million
Hal Gill- $2,075,000
Kris Letang- $835,000
Rob Scuderi- $712,500
Max Talbot- $675,000
Tyler Kennedy- $541,667
Dany Sabourin- $512,500
Note: The salary-cap hit is the average annual value of a player's contract, including potential bonus earnings for those on entry-level deals.
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