Faceoff Factor

Shero Expects To Get Involved Today

Matt Bodenschatz | Pittsburgh Penguins

Jul 3, 11:43 AM | Hype this story!

Thus far, Ray Shero has seen three of his players — Hal Gill, Mathieu Garon, and Rob Scuderi — move on to other teams. He’s also added an outsider — Mike Rupp — to the mix, while continuing negotiations to bring back Ruslan Fedotenko.

By my count, he’s been on the losing end thus far. But as the defending Stanley Cup Champions, Shero knew his Pittsburgh Penguins would have a target on their backs, and not just during the season.

Winning the Stanley Cup — and even just making it there, as we saw one year ago with Ryan Malone — often inflates players’ values. With a limited budget, there’s not much Shero can do.

But that doesn’t mean he won’t try.

According to the Post-Gazette, Shero intents to get involved in the action today, hopefully learning the fate of Fedotenko and seeking an external replacement for Scuderi. He also may begin pursuit of a backup goalie to compete with restricted free agent prospect John Curry.

Should Fedotenko’s decision take him to another team, Shero will shift his focus to the remaining free agent wingers, a pool of players that quickly is becoming shallow. He also hasn’t ruled out negotiating a trade to bring in a skilled winger to play alongside Evgeni Malkin.

Scuderi’s departure is fresh, but Shero likely had a good idea he would be on the outs, and thus has a list of players he will target as replacements.

Per Dave Molinari of the PG, Shero’s primary target is Jay McKee, who recently was bought out of a $4-plus million contract with the St. Louis Blues.

McKee is an oft-injured, but capable defenseman who earned a big contract following a strong showing in the playoffs several years back.

He has not earned the salary he has made for the past few years, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t worthy of consideration.

If given the proper role — a depth defenseman in Pittsburgh, as opposed to a go-to-defender in St. Louis — he will be put in a better position to succeed, and just may fill Scuderi’s — or at least Hal Gill’s — void quite nicely. And, because he will continue to earn a nice wage from the Blues, as per the rules of an NHL buyout, his pricetag very well may be quite attractive.

Only time will tell who Shero lands, but it appears he has made it clear he hasn’t finished shopping.