The 2007-2008 Season
A number of publications picked the Pittsburgh Penguins as favorites for the Stanley Cup before the beginning of last season and the team came close to fulfilling those predictions, eventually falling in the finals to the Detroit Red Wings in six games.
Pittsburgh had been aggressive at the trade deadline to load up for their playoff run, acquiring coveted impending free agent sniper Marian Hossa along with speedy Pascal Dupis from Atlanta and looming defender Hal Gill from Toronto. These moves cost them decent young players in Colby Armstrong and Erik Christensen as well as top prospect Angelo Espisito. Potentially even more damaging, the trades left Pittsburgh without a pick before the fourth round in this weekend's 2008 entry draft.
While the Penguins have the youth and talent on their roster to challenge for the Cup for years to come, they face the difficulty of trying to hold it all together in the new salary-capped NHL.
Looking Ahead
Hossa was deemed by many a rent-a-player, in town just long enough to make a run at the Cup, but Pittsburgh has made it their priority to resign the winger. With the NHL's salary cap increasing, Pittsburgh may be able to juggle their finances enough to bring Hossa back as long as he's willing to take a little less money to stay alongside a rising star like Crosby.
Rumors were flying this past week that MVP-candidate Evgeny Malkin would be traded to the Kings in to obtain the #2 overall pick at the draft or that he would be offered an enormous contract to return to Russia. For his own part, Malkin says he'd like to work out an extension before his contract ends and would take less money than Crosby's 8.7 million per year. If that's true it's tremendous luck for the Penguins and they may be able to keep Malkin, Crosby, and Hossa together in Pittsburgh for several years.
Jordan Staal, the third of the team's impressive young trio of centers, has stated recently that he does not approve of the coaching staff's plan to develop him into a third-line checking center behind Crosby and Malkin. This casts some doubt on his future with the team when his contract ends this year.
Two players that seem destined to end their term as Penguins are unrestricted free agents Ryan Malone and Brooks Orpik. Malone was tremendous last year playing on a line with Malkin and Sykora. He is expected to get around 5 million per year on the free agent market, which is more than Pittsburgh is willing to offer. Earlier attempts to trade his rights were scuttled when Malone released a statement through his agent stating that he wouldn't sign with any team who acquired him until he'd tested free agency.
Orpik added a nasty physical element to Pittsburgh's defense that will be noticeably lacking without him. He's rumored to have a rocky relationship with coach Therrien that insiders say all but assures he'll be moving on to another team when free agency starts. With Gill added to their blue line last season, and Daryl Sydor available, the Penguins should be able to absorb the loss of Orpik but they will miss his attitude.
Penguin's goalie Marc-Andre Fleury would have become a restricted free agent this year, but the Penguins have already filed for arbitration on his contract. By filing, the Penguins will now be able to negotiate with Fleury without fear of a team like Edmonton offering him a contract that the Penguins would be unable to match. Keeping Fleury is important since last year's hero, Ty Conklin, is an unrestricted free agent and will most likely get more money and a chance to start within another team based on his performance while Fleury was injured.
The Penguins have a long off-season ahead, but the early signs are encouraging.
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