The Pittsburgh Penguins' Next Challenge: Making the Right Calls To Keep the Cup

Any time a team wins a major championship, there is a necessary period of euphoria and celebration.

Such has been the case here in Pittsburgh since the beloved Penguins hoisted Lord Stanley's hallowed chalice in Detroit's Joe Louis Arena on June 12. 

But eventually those celebrations and feelings of walking on air must necessarily give way to something not nearly as fun and exciting: business.

The Pittsburgh Penguins would love nothing more than to harken back to the days of Mario Lemieux and Jaromir Jagr and garner back-to-back championships.

It won't be easy.  It never is.

Thankfully for Penguins fans, the core of the team is intact and will remain so for several more years. 

Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Marc-Andre Fleury, and Jordan Staal aren't going anywhere.  Neither is hard-hitting defenseman Brooks Orpik. 

Even Chris Kunitz and Tyler Kennedy, more role players than stars, are under contract for multiple seasons.

But, as we all learned during this year's Stanley Cup run, it is the often unsung members of a team that make the difference between which side of the post-series handshake a team is on.

In that regard, Ray Shero has his work cut out for him.  Valuable contributors Bill Guerin and Ruslan Fedotenko are without contracts.  So are steady veterans Miroslav Satan, Petr Sykora, Phillipe Boucher and Hal Gill.

Guerin is the oldest, by far, of that group.  Many had thought he might retire if the Penguins emerged victorious, but Guerin seems primed to play again.  Whether or not it is in Pittsburgh remains to be seen.

Guerin was excellent on Crosby's wing, taking his game once more to a higher level.  But Guerin is 38 and does not have the speed to keep up with Crosby on every play.  He could re-sign, but Shero will likely not break the bank for him after contracts to Mark Recchi and Gary Roberts failed to produce results on the ice.

Fedotenko appears to be the guy that the Penguins will pursue most aggressively of this group.  He's still relatively young at 31 and his devastatingly hard shot is a weapon the Penguins do not have in their arsenal.  Word is that a contract proposal has already been discussed, so I'd expect movement on this front soon.

Satan and Sykora had their ups and downs this season.  Both were benched (Satan during the regular season and Sykora in the playoffs) for long stretches.  The Penguins might be able to move on without one or both of them. 

The most likely to stay is Sykora.  As with Guerin, it will depend on what kind of money he wants.

Gill and Boucher figure to be the most likely not to return.  After neither particularly distinguished themselves, the Penguins seem primed to move forward the younger Alex Goligoski.  Goligoski's recent contract extension also seems to spell the end for these two veterans.

But the man everyone is watching, particularly after his heroics in the final two games of the Stanley Cup Finals, is defenseman Rob Scuderi.

After a season in which Scuderi had his ups and downs, his postseason performance should be enough to earn him a big contract somewhere. 

Pittsburgh has been rather quiet on this front, but they will likely make at least an offer before Scuderi listens to other teams.

The situation with Scuderi is similar to that of Brooks Orpik last offseason.  The Penguins originally seemed destined to watch a popular and up-and-coming defenseman walk away for a bigger deal. 

Then, out of nowhere, the Penguins signed Orpik to that kind of contract.  He has not disappointed. 

Scuderi, like Orpik, won't blow anyone away offensively.  What he will do is make big defensive plays and be a monster shot-blocker. 

Scuderi will be the biggest in-house free agent this offseason, but that doesn't mean the Penguins don't have their share of questions elsewhere.

One of the biggest questions that must be answered in the next year is who will replace Sergei Gonchar when the beloved offensive defenseman retires. 

Gonchar's injury this year and a subsequent injury in the playoffs seemed to spell the end of his career.  But he battled back and managed to hoist the cup for the first time.  He'll be back this year, but it may be the final time.

None of the current defensemen, save for Kris Letang, have shown significant offensive aptitude. 

The Penguins need to replace Gonchar's important presence on the power play as well.  If Letang is not up to the task, the team must make other arrangements.

Backup goaltender Matthieu Garon is also without a contract.  While he was steady in place of Fleury, it is unlikely the team will open its wallet for him with so many other players needing new deals.

Fleury's new backup will likely come from within the organization.  Jonathan Curry is the most polished of the netminders in the minors, but he seemed over-matched in a few appearances with the Penguins last season. 

While not a marquee position, this is another area that bears watching.  As the Penguins learned two years ago with Ty Conklin, the backup goaltender can often have an unbelievable impact on a team's chances to win the Stanley Cup.

Will the Penguins contend for another cup?  That is almost a certainty.  It's hard to imagine this core of players, now with the experience under their belt, not pushing back into the playoffs.

Will they win another Cup in 2010?  That is something that will depend on which players are picked to surround the great core of talent in Pittsburgh.