Ray Shero's top priorities now: Sidney
Crosby& Jordan Staal
With two years remaining of
the contracts of <a href="http://www.jerseysamples.com/">nhl
jerseys</a> Sidney Crosby and Jordan Staal, signing the star centers
become general manager Ray Shero's highest priority. He believes that the
Penguins will be a Stanley Cup contender even without making a splash in free
agency this summer, while making room for Crosby's and Staal's eventual
extensions.
Shero appears to have given
the Penguins <a href="http://www.jerseysamples.com/">jerseys
shop</a>, as currently designed, a two-year window to win a championship.
Summer of 2013 could see a dramatic face-lift because so many players --
Crosby, Staal, Matt Cooke, Tyler Kennedy, Pascal Dupuis, Craig Adams, Mark Letestu
and Ben Lovejoy -- become free agents, except Chris Kunitz, the only one
standout to become a free agent next summer.
The Penguins have spared
room under the salary cap <a
href="http://www.jerseysamples.com/NHL-Jerseys/">NHL Jerseys on
sale</a> -- $2.1 million, to be exact -- but don't expect them to make
many inquiries into the free agent market the rest of this summer .The Penguins
generally want to stay about $1.5 million under the salary cap -- $64.3 million
this coming season. That means if they want to make a move, it likely would be
a role player, such as their moves last summer when they respectively signed
Arron Asham and Mike Comrie in August and September.
After weeks of speculation,
the Penguins would sign the star of yesteryear in <a href="www2.gliet.edu.cn/tuanwei/newweb/new/lyvi/">Jaromir
Jagr</a>, the team opted to stand pat, largely because their stars of
today -- Crosby and Evgeni Malkin -- are expected to return healthy to next
season's lineup.The Penguins are convinced they could have won a Stanley Cup
last season had it not been for injuries. Shero said, the key to our team is
getting Crosby and Malkin back. Their returns figure to give the Penguins a
bigger boost than anyone in the free agent market could have produced. Getting
Sid and Geno back will be so huge for us. Bylsma, the NHL's reigning Jack Adams
Award winner, is excited about the prospect of thinking with his lineup. He
said we're never chasing a bad matchup. He also will be tempted to place Malkin
and Staal on the same line. The strategy worked during the 2006-07 season but
never got off the ground last season because of injuries."I don't think
you can say 'Malkin as a winger failed' because Malkin as a winger never was
tried with Crosby and Staal in the lineup," Bylsma said. The Penguins
signed former Atlanta
defenseman Boris Valabik to a two-way contract worth $550,000 at the NHL level.
Rather than seek an overhaul, Shero and Bylsma simply want their team healthy.
It may be all the Penguins really need.
Ray Shero's top priorities now: Sidney
Crosby& Jordan Staal
With two years remaining of
the contracts of <a href="http://www.jerseysamples.com/">nhl
jerseys</a> Sidney Crosby and Jordan Staal, signing the star centers
become general manager Ray Shero's highest priority. He believes that the
Penguins will be a Stanley Cup contender even without making a splash in free
agency this summer, while making room for Crosby's and Staal's eventual
extensions.
Shero appears to have given
the Penguins <a href="http://www.jerseysamples.com/">jerseys
shop</a>, as currently designed, a two-year window to win a championship.
Summer of 2013 could see a dramatic face-lift because so many players --
Crosby, Staal, Matt Cooke, Tyler Kennedy, Pascal Dupuis, Craig Adams, Mark Letestu
and Ben Lovejoy -- become free agents, except Chris Kunitz, the only one
standout to become a free agent next summer.
The Penguins have spared
room under the salary cap <a
href="http://www.jerseysamples.com/NHL-Jerseys/">NHL Jerseys on
sale</a> -- $2.1 million, to be exact -- but don't expect them to make
many inquiries into the free agent market the rest of this summer .The Penguins
generally want to stay about $1.5 million under the salary cap -- $64.3 million
this coming season. That means if they want to make a move, it likely would be
a role player, such as their moves last summer when they respectively signed
Arron Asham and Mike Comrie in August and September.
After weeks of speculation,
the Penguins would sign the star of yesteryear in <a href="www2.gliet.edu.cn/tuanwei/newweb/new/lyvi/">Jaromir
Jagr</a>, the team opted to stand pat, largely because their stars of
today -- Crosby and Evgeni Malkin -- are expected to return healthy to next
season's lineup.The Penguins are convinced they could have won a Stanley Cup
last season had it not been for injuries. Shero said, the key to our team is
getting Crosby and Malkin back. Their returns figure to give the Penguins a
bigger boost than anyone in the free agent market could have produced. Getting
Sid and Geno back will be so huge for us. Bylsma, the NHL's reigning Jack Adams
Award winner, is excited about the prospect of thinking with his lineup. He
said we're never chasing a bad matchup. He also will be tempted to place Malkin
and Staal on the same line. The strategy worked during the 2006-07 season but
never got off the ground last season because of injuries."I don't think
you can say 'Malkin as a winger failed' because Malkin as a winger never was
tried with Crosby and Staal in the lineup," Bylsma said. The Penguins
signed former Atlanta
defenseman Boris Valabik to a two-way contract worth $550,000 at the NHL level.
Rather than seek an overhaul, Shero and Bylsma simply want their team healthy.
It may be all the Penguins really need.
