Penguins still look good for foreseeable future

From Bob Smizik of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:

On the sixth day of July, with the season still some three months away, the Penguins are not as good a team as they were when they lost the sixth game of the Stanley Cup playoffs in early June.

Gone, most notably, are Marian Hossa and Ryan Malone, the team’s best wingers, who were lost in free agency. In their place, both signed to one-year deals, are Miroslav Satan and Ruslan Fedotenko, two wingers who are less productive and older.

Based on this evidence, it would be easy to cite general manager Ray Shero as having been derelict in his duties. But that’s not the case at all. Shero had a masterful grand plan in place that would have made the Penguins just about as good a team as they were at the end of the season and a team far better suited to contend for years ahead.

Read the entire story here.

Smizik is exactly right. While Shero wasn’t able to sign Marian Hossa, he has done a terrific job of signing all his young and important RFAs. Additionally, he has left space on the cap to sign Jordan Staal after next season. The Penguins should easily be Cup contenders for the next five/six years.