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Q: Do you believe Ray Shero will make any changes to the scouting and player development personnel? The organization is obviously lacking in this department, considering how many players (who were can't-miss prospects) did not succeed here during Craig Patrick's tenure. Guys like Markus Naslund, Aleksey Morozov and Richard Park went on to be productive after getting out of the organization. It's obvious this is happening again with Shane Endicott. He has all the tools: Soft hands, nice size, a cannon of a shot and he can play as physical as anyone in the league. Do you think Shero can make any adjustments within the organization to help Endicott harness his amazing potential?
David McCann, Wexford
MOLINARI: Some of the safest jobs in hockey -- at least for the next three-plus weeks -- belong to members of the Penguins' scouting staff. While Shero has made it clear he will have the final say on who the Penguins take with their first-round choice, he also has acknowledged that he will defer to his scouts for the rest of the rounds. That's only logical because scouts are paid to evaluate young talent, but assessing prospects was only one facet of Shero's duties as assistant general manager in Nashville.
Once the draft is over, however, Shero might well revamp the scouting staff, adding people with whom he has worked. That kind of turnover is pretty standard when a new GM takes over, and sometimes is more of a matter of the GM surrounding himself with people with whom he is comfortable than an indictment of the people who lose their positions.
Every organization has alumni who, for whatever reason, did not develop as expected with the team that drafted them, but thrived after getting a change of scenery. Naslund, who was intimidated by some of the strong personalities in the Penguins' locker room in the mid 1990s, is a textbook example of a player who probably wouldn't have reached his potential if he hadn't moved on.
As for Endicott, your scouting report on him is considerably more glowing than most. He has good size and uses it occasionally, but there's nothing special about his offensive touch and he doesn't seem to think the game particularly well. He deserves credit for working hard to upgrade his skating since being drafted, but few people outside his immediate family mention his name and the phrase "amazing potential" in the same sentence.
Q: I read that the salary cap will go up by about $7 million next season. Is that just the ceiling, or will the basement also go up by $7 million? If it is just the ceiling, are we, after one season of pretty much all teams being on an equal level, looking at once again the "haves" and the "have-nots?"
Timmy Baselj, Tulsa, Okla.
MOLINARI: The NHL's payroll ceiling for next season is expected to be in the $43.5 million-$45 million range, up from $39 million in 2005-06. The league minimum, which was $21.5 million, also will rise.
The reality, though, is that some teams which operate in smaller markets and/or have limited resources -- clubs such as the Penguins -- have a more pressing concern than the league-wide salary cap. It's called a budget, and while the particulars of the one Shero will have at his disposal aren't known, it's safe to assume the total will be nowhere near the cap ceiling.
Fact is most, if not all, of the other teams in the Atlantic Division likely will be able to spend $10 million or $12 million more on players than the Penguins. That disparity is evidence of why the Penguins insist their ability to compete hinges on getting an up-to-date arena, and the expanded and enhanced revenue streams that go with it.
But even that scenario is nowhere near as daunting as what the Penguins faced under the previous collective bargaining agreement, when teams such as the New York Rangers and Detroit, among others, routinely would spend three or four times as much on players as they would. The post-season success of teams like Edmonton, Carolina and Buffalo reinforces the belief that with sound decision-making in the front office and quality coaching, any franchise is capable of challenging for a championship under the league's new economic system.
Q: From the moment I saw Shero's resume, and the coverage by the Post-Gazette, I wanted him in Pittsburgh. I do not believe, however, that he can change the fate of the Penguins next season. Do you think the Penguins can finish better than fourth in the Atlantic Division next season? And, do you think the fans will be harsh on Shero if the club doesn't have an immediate turnaround?
Ryan, State College
MOLINARI: As soon as it became clear that retaining Patrick was not realistic for the Penguins -- the backlash from unhappy ticket-buyers and other fans simply would have been too great -- Shero emerged as the most intriguing candidate to succeed him, largely because of the role he played in building quality teams in Ottawa and Nashville.
That hardly made him a lock to get the job -- someone with a less impressive resume could have fared better in an interview with CEO Ken Sawyer, and it's not as if the Penguins were the only club interested in hiring Shero -- but certainly adds to the belief that he could be the finest addition to the Penguins' management team since Patrick brought in Bob Johnson and Scott Bowman in 1990.
It remains to be seen how quickly Shero will make an imprint on the Penguins -- and how large that imprint will be -- so it's tough to predict how they'll fare next season. The sad reality, of course, is that even a fourth-place finish would be a step forward for this team. But barring catastrophic injuries, the Penguins should be better, if only because key young players such as Sidney Crosby, Marc-Andre Fleury and Ryan Whitney, for starters, have gained a valuable year of experience.
Shero's success at addressing the Penguins' most pressing personnel needs, like adding a goal-scoring winger or two, and some toughness and reliability on defense, will play an important role in how much the team improves, as will the coaching of Michel Therrien. Odds are that the paying public would not react well to another season of disappointment, but if the initial reaction to Shero's hiring is any indication, he should have at least a bit of a honeymoon with most fans.
Q: D you think the Pens will go after one of the top free-agent defensemen available? There are top names like Zdeno Chara, Wade Redden and Ed Jovanovski available. I wouldn't mind seeing Brendan Witt, from the new GM's old team, in a Pens' uniform. He seems to be the type of hard-nosed player they have been lacking.
Chris Craig, Raleigh, N.C.
MOLINARI: While Shero hasn't specified who he plans to target when free agency begins July 1 -- it's possible that he still hasn't decided, because he's trying to familiarize himself with what the Penguins already have -- he was fairly adamant when he was hired that the Penguins aren't likely to go shopping for the highest-priced free agents. They simply don't have the resources to spend $7 million or so on a single player, and it's easy to imagine that the bidding for a guy like Chara could drive his salary to that level.
The Penguins, by the way, showed strong interest in Witt early last season, but by the time Washington got around to trading him, they were no longer in the mix. When the Capitals finally sent him to Nashville, the Penguins were out of playoff contention, and the only thing Witt could have done for them would have been to bump up their payroll.
Q: What exactly is the situation with Ziggy Palffy and his contract? Any possibility that he will be back next season, on any team?
Brien Forst, Fort Wayne, Ind.
MOLINARI: Recent reports out of Europe suggest that Palffy, who quit abruptly in the middle of last season, is interested in returning to the NHL. Even though the Penguins, who retained Palffy's NHL rights when he quit, could use a few goal-scorers, it's hard to imagine that they'd be interested in bringing back a guy who walked out on them with little, if any, warning.
Palffy, remember, told a Slovak newspaper he was retiring because of recurring shoulder trouble, a contention the Penguins flatly rejected. Team officials said Palffy never tried to get an insurance payoff or settlement for the final two-plus years of his contract, reinforcing the idea that any shoulder issues he had probably weren't debilitating.
Because the Penguins sill own his NHL rights, any other club interested in adding Palffy would have to acquire them before it could work out a contract with him.
Q: In other sports I've watched, there are alternate uniforms and throwback nights. Are the third jerseys and inaugural uniforms fading away in the NHL? And why don't the Pens have at least one throwback game? I love the old white uniforms with "Pittsburgh" diagonally across the front in baby blue.
Ryan Kasun, Export
MOLINARI: The NHL controls what uniform designs -- and how many of them -- teams are allowed to use, presumably to avoid having the market become saturated with third jerseys. Although the Penguins haven't introduced any new sweaters for a few years, they were more aggressive than most teams in that regard for much of the 1990s, as well as the early part of this decade. As one team official pointed out, they turned their third jersey into their road jersey, brought back the "skating Penguin" logo and developed a home sweater in the span of just a few seasons before entering their current phase of uniform stability.
While third jerseys would seem, at first blush, to be big-time money-makers, individual teams don't have much financial incentive to introduce them because the proceeds from every jersey are split 30 ways, with each club in the league getting an equal share, regardless of which team's sweater is sold.
Q: I assume John LeClair is coming back to the team. I also heard he is a good leader. Also, I read he was somewhat hurt that he was not considered for a "C or a "A". Though Crosby might be the best player on the team, wouldn't letting LeClair hold the "C" while Sidney becomes ready be a good choice in all regards?
Michael Chae, Pittsburgh
MOLINARI: After being non-committal for much of the stretch drive, LeClair said at the end of the season that he intends to return for the final year of his contract. Given his strong play toward the end of 2005-06, there's no reason he shouldn't. And plenty of reason to believe he's capable of being a fairly reliable contributor, good for 20 or so goals.
While LeClair's intangibles are excellent, there's nothing tying him to the Penguins or Western Pennsylvania after the coming season. Consequently, his captaincy probably would last only one season, which might mitigate against stitching a "C" onto his sweater.
The whole issue likely is moot, though, because LeClair was obviously -- and understandably -- stung when Therrien took away his alternate captaincy and gave it to Crosby last winter. Why Therrien did that to a respected veteran who apparently did nothing to merit such a put-down is one of the great mysteries in a season full of them.
LeClair, it should be noted, was offered Palffy's "A" after Palffy quit, but declined to accept it. That's a pretty good indication that Therrien would be hard-pressed to say or do anything that would sell LeClair on the idea of assuming the captaincy.
Q: It's June, 90 degrees and the NHL still hasn't crowned a champion. Why not start the season two weeks earlier, and go with only eight teams in Round 1 of the playoffs? Or, if money is so important, have 16 teams, but play best-of-three, then best-of-five, then best-of-seven?
Jim Modrak, Conyers, Ga.
MOLINARI: The 2005-06 season is a bit of an aberration because it included an Olympic break. Consequently, the regular season started a bit early and wrapped up later than it normally would. As a result, the playoffs are running deeper into spring than they have in a while. Game 7 of the Cup final, if necessary, will be played on June 19; in 2004, it was played on June 7. A year earlier, it was on June 9. By comparison, when the Penguins clinched their second Cup on June 1, 1992, it happened in the first NHL game ever played in June.
The only sentiment to modify the playoff format seems to be a belief by some that the field should be expanded from 16 teams to 20. That's pretty compelling evidence that while there might be some people in the industry concerned about how long the playoffs last, there are more who see an opportunity to generate a little extra revenue.
