Faceoff Factor

Satan, Fleury Happy To Be In Pittsburgh

Justin Maffei | Pittsburgh Penguins

Jul 4, 02:15 PM | Hype this story!

The Penguins made some good moves yesterday to sure up their line-up for next season. Ruslan Fedotenko and Miroslav Satan were added to the roster, and Marc-Andre Fleury was signed long-term. Dave Molinari of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports on the players’, agents’, and GM’s reactions to the signings.

Miro Satan knew during the playoffs that he wanted to spend this upcoming season in Pittsburgh. He told Shero, “I just said to myself, ‘There’s a team I have to play for, I hope I can be there.’” Satan got his wish with a one-year $3.5 million deal. He has a good shot of spending time on Crosby’s right side next year.

“Satan should be able to play on the top two lines,” Shero said. “That would be the goal. He’ll be a good power-play guy. He’s got the size, he’s got the skill, he’s got great hands.”

Fedotenko may play some time along side Crosby or Evgeni Malkin, as well. However, Shero did not give any insight into the plans for Fedotenko, saying that “he can play anywhere in the lineup.”

Shero’s best move came with the long-term contract signed by Marc-Andre Fleury. The seven year deal is the longest contract that Shero has negotiated. It seems like it was an easy move for Shero since Fleury is a very good goalie who still has some room to grow. Fleury also was intent on staying in Pittsburgh.

“Marc, at 23, made a statement by signing a seven-year deal,” said Fleury’s agent, Allan Walsh. “The statement is, this is where I want to be.”

Walsh would know best, as Fleury made his desires known to his agent. “That was my first goal, when I talked to my agent,” Fleury said. “I just told him that I loved the city, the organization, the guys on the team.”

Shero was obviously ecstatic when Fleury signed his deal. “I think he’s the best young goaltender in the game,” Shero said. “He’s another guy who could have gone to arbitration and gotten a one-year deal, and maybe an offer sheet next year. He made it clear to us that Pittsburgh is the place he wants to play.”

Though Shero has faced criticism from many fans this off-season because of his inability to retain Hossa, Malone, Conklin, and others, he has had a very productive off-season. He has signed three of the Penguins core players for five, six, and seven years. Those contracts were for Malkin, Orpik, and Fleury, respectively. He also added winger Eric Godard to replace some of the lost muscle. Finally, he resigned some of the Penguins role players and added two players who, at the very least, will be productive stop-gaps.