What's Next For the Stanley Cup Champion Penguins?

Penguins re-sign Guerin, Adams
Sports Illustrated/AP, June 29, 2009

PITTSBURGH-- The Pittsburgh Penguins re-signed Bill Guerin for one year on Monday.

The 38-year-old forward who helped the Penguins win the Stanley Cup this month would have become an unrestricted free agent Wednesday. He signed for $2 million, accepting a big pay cut to stay with a championship team after making $4.5 million last season with the Islanders and Penguins.

Pittsburgh also signed Craig Adams, a fourth-line forward, to a $1.1 million, two-year contract. Adams made $600,000 last season. He will make $550,000 during each season of his new deal.

A 17-year NHL veteran, Guerin scored seven goals and 15 points in the postseason after being acquired from the Islanders at the trading deadline in March, with all of his goals coming in the first three rounds. He has 408 goals and 811 points in 1,185 regular-season games with New Jersey, where he also won a Stanley Cup, Edmonton, Boston, Dallas, St. Louis, San Jose before joining the Islanders and then the Penguins.

"We are excited to agree to terms with Billy on this one-year deal," Penguins general manager Ray Shero said. "He made a tremendous impact on this team with his scoring ability, physical play and outstanding leadership and was a key factor in our drive to the Cup.

"I know our players, coaches and fans will be happy to have him back in Pittsburgh."

Guerin, obtained from the Islanders for a third-round draft pick, scored five goals and seven assists in 17 regular-season games with the Penguins.

Adams had three goals and two assists in 24 playoff games for the Stanley Cup champion Penguins. He had two goals and four assists in 36 games with Chicago and one assist in nine regular-season games after being claimed off waivers by Pittsburgh on March 4.

Forwards Ruslan Fedotenko, Petr Sykora and Miroslav Satan, defensemen Rob Scuderi, Hal Gill and Philippe Boucher and goalie Mathieu Garon can all become free agents on Wednesday.

I think Scuderi is the only one the Pens should look at keeping out of the bunch who will become FAs IMO. Maybe Gill as well. I'm surprised I'm saying that but since playing for the Pens he's really impressed me.

Cap'n Clutch wrote:I think Scuderi is the only one the Pens should look at keeping out of the bunch who will become FAs IMO. Maybe Gill as well. I'm surprised I'm saying that but since playing for the Pens he's really impressed me.

Well, Scuds and Gill are both gone...

Checked in on a couple of live blogs at MaxHockey and PuckDaddy today, where journos like Fischler, Dreger, Cox, Kolb, Friedman, Wyshynski were all trading info...

Apparently the Pens have been talking to Francois Beauchemin...and Alex Kovalev.

Shero is a crafty guy, it'll be interesting to watch what he does next...securing Goligoski was smart.

From Pittsburgh, a look at what's next, including Fedo back in the fold and the potential replacements for departed members of The Pingu Posse...

PENGUINS RE-SIGN FEDOTENKO
Dave Molinari, The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, July 3, 2009

The Penguins today re-signed winger Ruslan Fedotenko. It is a one-year contract worth $1.8 million dollars. Fedotenko attracted interest from a number of teams but opted to return to the Penguins, who had signed him to a one-year, $2,250,000 contract last summer.

A few hours earlier, the Penguins signed Sewickley native Nate Guenin, a defenseman, to a one-year contract.

The deal will pay him $500,000 if he plays in the NHL, $105,000 if he plays in the American Hockey League.

Guenin could become the third Western Pennsylvania-trained player to play for the Penguins, joining Ryan Malone and Bill Thomas.

Guenin, 26, appeared in one game with Philadelphia last season but put up 14 assists in 62 games with the Flyers' American Hockey League affiliate, also based in Philadelphia.

Guenin is 6 foot 2, 210 pounds. He has played in 12 NHL games and was the New York Rangers' fourth-round draft choice in 2002.

It was not immediately known if Guenin is viewed as a potential replacement for the newly departed Rob Scuderi, or if the Penguins will look at more established defensemen such as Jay McKee.

McKee, who had the final year of his contract with St. Louis bought out earlier this week is an accomplished shot-blocker.

McKee was making $4 million with the Blues, and that kind of salary would have put him far outside the Penguins' range, but under the buyout, McKee will receive two-thirds of the amount he was scheduled to earn.

Getting that money should hold down McKee's salary requirements on his next deal, which is part of the reason he appears to be attracting interest from a number of clubs.

The Penguins also are in the market for a low-priced goalie to back up Marc-Andre Fleury, although they believe restricted free agent John Curry could handle that job, if necessary.

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09184/981592-100.stm?cmpid=penguins.xml#ixzz0KKnXUSMf&D