Associated Press Penguins GM Ray Shero hopes to talk about a contract extension with coach Michel Therrien, who is entering the final year of his deal. Click photo for larger image. Related article Cook: Can Shero keep this going?

By racking up 105 points, the Penguins exceeded the expectations of first-year general manager Ray Shero.

By losing in the first round of the playoffs, the Penguins reminded Shero that he still has some shaping to do with the club.

He doesn't want the latter to adversely affect the former.

"It's hard sometimes to recapture the past year when it's so special," Shero said yesterday when he and coach Michel Therrien held an end-of-the-season news conference.

"We have some top-end young talent. We've got some good goaltending. But we've got character. I really have to be careful, and the coaching staff has to be careful when we meet [to plan for next season]. ... When you bring in people, it's got to be the right type of people, character guys."

Shero said he has been busy wrapping up 2006-07 and is just beginning to turn his full attention to next season, but there are some things high on his agenda.

He hopes to talk about a contract extension with Therrien, who is entering the final year of his deal. He will explore a contract extension for NHL scoring champion Sidney Crosby, whose entry contract expires next summer, but negotiations can begin July 1. And Shero would like to re-sign veteran wingers Mark Recchi and Gary Roberts.

Recchi and Roberts are among 10 unrestricted free agents. Shero also has to decide whether to extend qualifying offers to six restricted free agents.

He said he hadn't expected to be much of a player in the free-agent market this soon, but with the team's success, he might pursue a big name after July 1. That might have to wait until the Penguins begin realizing an increase in revenue from the new arena that is scheduled to open for or during the 2009-10 season.

The current players, who mostly scattered over the weekend, aren't thrilled with the idea of change.

"If we had everyone back, I'd be thrilled," said defenseman Ryan Whitney, a restricted free agent. "There's not a guy in here that you don't get along great with and have a lot of fun with. It's a great team personality-wise."

Added center Maxime Talbot, another restricted free agent, "We had a good run with good chemistry."

Shero gets that, but he also seeks improvement -- perhaps an upgrade on defense or a winger for Crosby, who went through a series of them this season.

"It is a balancing act, no doubt, because there will be some change," Shero said. "But those are the questions we have to answer whether it's free agents or trades or bringing back players."

Therrien made a strong impression on Shero, who inherited a coach he did not know when he was hired May 25.

"He's got a lot of the intangibles I was looking for in a coach," said Shero, who already is pushing Therrien for more.

"My question to Mike already has been, how are you going to be better next year? What are going to learn this summer and bring back to be a better coach? I look forward to working with him."

Likewise, Therrien said.

"Next year there are going to be some points [on which] I want to concentrate," he said.

"I really enjoy coaching a lot of those guys. I'd like to be with the Penguins for a long time."

The Penguins would like Crosby to be part of the team for years to come, too. Shero hasn't had preliminary discussions with Crosby's agents but wouldn't rule out trying to negotiate a long-term deal.

"He certainly is our franchise player," Shero said. "I know he loves playing here. He loves the direction of the team. We'll see how these discussions go."

Crosby said Saturday that he might be interested in talks this summer toward an extension.

More immediately, Shero will try to work out something so that Recchi and Roberts return, perhaps as soon as the next week or two.

Recchi, 39, and Roberts, who was acquired at the trade deadline in February and turns 41 next month, provided a large measure of leadership for a young squad.

"I thought both of those guys did a tremendous job for us," Shero said. "They really had an impact on our team.

"I'm interested in bringing both back."

NOTES -- The Penguins signed 6-foot-3, 245-pound forward Aaron Boogaard to a three-year entry contract. Boogaard, 20, who is on an amateur tryout with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton minor-league team, had 26 goals, 54 points and 589 penalty minutes in the past five seasons in the Western Hockey League. ... Shero said the club will operate the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins alone next season, ending the agreement that saw some Edmonton prospects play there. ... Crosby's game-worn jersey from the first period of the All-Star Game by far topped the list of those sold during an online auction held by the NHL and the NHL Players Association to benefit Hockey Fights Cancer. Crosby's sold for $47,520, more than eight times the next highest price, $5,681 for the jersey worn by Brendan Shanahan of the New York Rangers.