There are three very good reasons why the Pittsburgh Penguins inked Bill Guerin to a one-year, $2 million deal Monday night.
The first is that he was a winger that worked well with Sidney Crosby, and ask Pascal Dupuis if that's necessarily easy to find. The second is that he earned the new deal by helping to transform that Penguins locker room upon his arrival at the deadline from the New York Islanders.
The third is that the fans chanted "one more year" at the Stanley Cup parade; which is, of course, the ultimate factor in any decision for a general manager.
But as Rob Rossi of the Tribune-Review points out, the signings of Guerin and fourth-line forward Craig Adams leave the Penguins with $51,218,000 committed for 17 players next season, with the cap at $56.8 million. They made a trio of qualifying offers on Monday, too.
Winger Ruslan Fedotenko and defensemen Rob Scuderi and Hal Gill can test the UFA market beginning on Wednesday. It was going to be difficult to sign Scuderi in the first place; now, his return to the Penguins would appear to be contingent on the money he receives from other suitors and his desire to cut the team that drafted him a break.
What's the market? Well, he's a different kind of defenseman, buy Johnny Oduya is reportedly close to re-signing with the New Jersey Devils for $3 million per season, according to the Star Ledger. (The Devils, meanwhile, seem to have Brian Gionta's re-signing a bit down their list of priorities.)
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Does Scuderi have to come under $3 million for the Penguins to re-sign him? We'd say so. Will it happen? It would probably take a hometown discount. But that's not something out of the question when the "hometown" is a championship team returning nearly intact. Scuderi's been candid about it not "being about the money," but we'll find out soon if he's sincere about it.
Meanwhile, the team that Pittsburgh topped for the Cup has made its pitch to its most prized free agent: The Detroit Red Wings are offering Marian Hossa a long-term deal that translates around a $4 million cap hit yearly, according to the Detroit Free Press. From the Freep:
Unless Hossa signs a long-term contract with a cap number around $4 million, he'll hit the open market Wednesday. Free agents can sign contracts with new teams starting at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday.
"I'm willing to move a player or two if the cap number makes sense for us," Holland said Monday night. "Other teams can offer a lot more money. ... We've made our decisions. I'm very comfortable with the core of our team. We've put our best foot forward with Marian. They know it. Marian and (agent) Ritch Winter have to look at all their options."
Translation: Holland's hoping he wants the years with Zetterberg and Datsyuk instead of the cash-grab he surrendered when he signed with Detroit last summer. Otherwise, Marian Hossa is an ex-Wing come free agency.
