Ray Shero barely had time to celebrate a Pittsburgh Penguins Stanley Cup victory when his attention turned to the familiar question in the world of unrestricted free agents, giving proper credit to the band The Clash: “…should he stay or should he go”?
Shero, and general managers for the most part, don’t get much credit. The media only notices them when they pull off a head scratching trade or pick a draft day bust. However the Pittsburgh media has rained nothing short of glorious praise on Shero’s decisions over the last three seasons.
This off-season, his decisions were made easier by veteran players willing to take a pay cut to remain with a winner.
Since free agency began on Wednesday, veteran forwards Bill Guerin, Ruslan Fedotenko and Craig Adams all chose to accept a lower paycheck when they could have tested the market elsewhere.
Guerin took the biggest hit to his wallet with a $2 million dollar salary, which is more than one half of what he made last year.
When it came to negotiations, Guerin said of Shero “We went back and forth a couple of times, but it was easy. It was good dealing with Ray.”
Adams is $50,000 dollars lighter for the next two seasons, and Fedotenko is back for another year, down almost three quarters of a million from his $2.5 million salary of a season ago.
A willingness to take a pay cut in the NHL reflects the national economy. Players are taking less rather than testing a greener pasture that may not bear what may be expected.
Defencemen Rob Scuderi and Hal Gill and goalie Mathieu Garon are the exceptions.
Scuderi is now a member L.A. Kings with a three-year deal worth $13.6 million. Gill is off to the Canadiens, and Garon signed a two-year contract to back up Columbus goalie Steve Mason for more money.
What will GM Ray Shero do to replace Scuderi and Gill, the Pens top shutdown pairing in the playoffs last year and the blue liners on the ice in the final seconds of Game Seven of the Stanley Cup Finals?
He told the media on Friday that he would expect more from Alex Goligoski and Kris Letang. Goligoski signed a three-year extension with the team two weeks ago.
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