You know, there are some really tempting free agents out there right now and being that we are into the final week of the season we will be looking to see exactly what kind of moves that the penguins will make in the off-season.

First Lets take a hard look at who’s on the UFA list from the pens

• Philippe Boucher,
  • With prospects like Gogo coming up I think its safe to say Bouchers time in the steel city is done. I would be surprised if the pens resigned him for anywhere near his current salary of 2.5 mil
• Ruslan Fedotenko,
  • With his success during this seasons playoffs, tank has cemented himself as a top 6 forward for the pens. His energy, hitting, defensive prowess, and wicked hard wrist shot will probably make him big bucks on the open market, but will he take a pay cut or what hes making now to have a chance to win?
• Mathieu Garon,
  • Gone. He filled in well for Maf throughout the season but since he is only making 1mil, it may be feasible to retain his services
• Hal Gill,
  • Not nearly as mobile as he once was, Hal has still been a solid defenseman for the pens. A +11 in the regular season and a +2 in the post season. Although there will probably be serious debate as to weather Ben Lovejoy is ready for the next level.
• Bill Guerin,
  • Ah Bill. What can you say about Bill Guerin that hasn’t already been said. Its obvious he fits in well with the pens and their system. But being long in the tooth he must first decide if he wants to play again. Then the pen’s have to decide if they want to keep him. As much as it pains me to say I think the pens let Billy go, 38 years old and with this post season he will demand a LOT of money. Just don’t think the pens can afford him.
• Miroslav Satan
  • Miro has played well in Dan Bylsma’s system.  But there are questions as to how he took his being sent down to the AHL.  Given that mark on his resume and a slim 1g, 5a effort thus far in the playoffs not to mention back to back sub 20 goal seasons tells me he will not make nearly the 3.5 mil he is currently. If his price tag drops into the 1.5 mil range I think the pens keep him.
• Petr Sykora.
  • Stick a fork in him. His late season slump and subsequent benching tells me Petr doesn’t have "IT" anymore. The pens wont pay 2.5 mil again for Petr.

Who is out there is interesting to say the least. Not to mention who is out there and affordable!

·        Ales Kotalik:

            A 20g scorer in 3 of his last four years, 2006-2007 he had 16g in 66 games. Now this is playing on teams like the Saber’s and the Oilers who are not ripe with setup men like the penguins are. Also he’s only 30 which means he probably has about 4 or 5 good years left in him before we see a decline. Current Salary: 2.5mil

·        Chad Larose:

            A spark plug who clearly has the ability to play on the second line with geno. 4g and 7a in the playoffs this year.  This guy could be a 30g scorer with his speed, shot and geno or sid as a setup man. Current salary: $875,000

·        Nick Antropov:

            Back to back 20g seasons on two very bad rangers and Leafs squad. You have to think he would jump at the chance to play With Geno or Sid. His only issue is his health. Current salary: 2.15mil

·        Mark Bell:

            Another 20g scorer out there with injury issues. He’s missed nearly half of this season due to injury and 10g last year due to injury. His last two full seasons of ice time saw him hit 25 and 21g respectively. Current salary: 2.5mil but you have to figure that number will drop significantly edit/ update:

Bell also has had some issue wth substance abuse. do you as a gm take a chance on him and hope the penguin family can right his ship?

·        Mike Komisarek:

            A solid, young and gritty defenseman much like Brooks, Current salary: 1.9mil

Quite honestly between Komisarek and Ohulland (out of our price range in all likely hood) there really isn’t that much out there in terms of solid defenseman that aren’t currently on the pens or over the age of 32. The more I look at this the more I think the Pens will make room for Scuderi. While an argument could be made to bring in ohulland I don’t think it will happen because quite frankly the pens need to find another top 6 winger to work with Sidney or Geno. With the cap possibly dropping 3 to 5% i would look for a lot of these salaries to come down a tad particularly for player who just want to play.