Faceoff Factor

How Will Offer Sheets Impact The Penguins?

Matt Bodenschatz | Pittsburgh Penguins

Jul 8, 09:59 AM | Hype this story!

As I reported yesterday the Edmonton Oilers may have opened a Pandora’s Box of moves that once were considered taboo.

Offer sheets rarely — if ever- happened in the pre-lockout era of the NHL, but salary cap issues could force this alternative method of team building to become more common.

And the Pittsburgh Penguins are one of the teams that stands to lose the most.

With young and mega-talented players such as Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Marc-Andre Fleury and Jordan Staal all seeking contract extensions in the next two years, general manager Ray Shero will have some work to do to keep his players on his roster.

So how can he avoid losing his stars to other teams through the means of offer sheets?

Well, the answer is quite simple, and it already is happening.

Shero must sign his stars to contract extensions well before they reach restricted free agent status.

Crosby may be a little easier to deal with than the others, as he seems to have a team-first mentality, and he surely is the one Shero would be willing to give the individual player max salary to.

But Malkin, Fleury and Staal also are very important pieces of the puzzle, and losing one or multiple of them for draft picks would be devastating to a franchise possibly on the verge of dynasty status.

So, what Shero must do is focus on re-signing his players well before they become restricted free agents.

It may be difficult — and it may be impossible in some cases — but, if nothing else, Shero will have the option of trading the player(s) he feels shouldn’t earn the money.

Ryan Whitney is here for six more years, and Crosby soon will be locked up for at least the same amount. Hopefully Malkin, Staal and Fleury follow in their footsteps when the time is right.