It's a little early to make a definitive judgment about whether Penguins coach Dan Bylsma deserves to have the "interim" removed from his title, although the team's 7-1-1 record since he replaced Michel Therrien three weeks ago make a compelling case for giving him the job permanently.

As permanently as any coach in hockey has the position, anyway.

If Bylsma doesn't get it, guys with whom Shero worked in Nashville such as Todd Richards and Brent Peterson figure to get serious consideration, although Shero hasn't gone public with the criteria he would apply to prospective candidates.

The only thing he has mentioned is that he wants to be certain the next coach is someone "who can grow with" the team.

There's nothing wrong with that, of course, but it would be even better if Shero's choice not only could grow with his group, but accelerate that growth.

In the salary-cap era, most teams will have a limited amount of time of realize their potential before economic stresses tear it apart. Having a coach who could help the Penguins realize their potential as quickly as possible could only be a plus.

Of course, there's no guarantee Shero would be able to turn up such a coach. Failing that, hiring a guy who can get his players to pick up 15 of every possible 18 points wouldn't be a bad fallback position.

Much was made over the course of this season about how the Penguins did not have as much toughness and grit on the wings as they did in 2007-08, and understandably so.

That is the biggest reason they were not as tough to play against as they were a year ago, and why they've struggled to earn a spot in the Eastern Conference playoff field.

It is not, however, an issue that caught the front office off-guard, or one management decided had to be addressed a few days before Shero acquired Chris Kunitz, Bill Guerin and Craig Adams in the days and hours leading up to the NHL trade deadline.

Shero acknowledged in an interview last fall that the makeup of his lineup was significantly different after the departure of Ryan Malone, Jarkko Ruutu, Adam Hall and Georges Laraque.

At the time, he said "we're going to have to wait and see" what impact the personnel changes had and spoke hopefully, if not convincingly, of how the Penguins might be able to compensate for the departure of some of their rugged forwards.

"We've replaced them, to a certain extent, with different types of role players," he said then. "'Tough' is playing in tough situations. Tough is battling for pucks and winning pucks. It's not about fighting, as such. I think we have guys who can take care of that, if needed.

"We'll see how it goes. We'll see how our team starts out, what kind of makeup we have. If we have to adjust along the way, that's what we'll try to do."

By adding Kunitz, Guerin and Adams, Shero has done just that, toughening his lineup for the stretch drive and, it now seems, the playoffs that follow.

Shero has spent his entire life in and around hockey, and is keenly aware that players expected to make good decisions on the ice are capable of making an occasional bad one away from it.

Four players from the Penguins' farm team -- Luca Caputi, Jon D'Aversa, Chris Minard and Aaron Boogaard -- apparently proved that again a few days ago.

While the precise nature of their transgression isn't known, it was severe enough that Caputi and D'Aversa were demoted to the Penguins ECHL affiliate in Wheeling Wednesday, while Minard and Boorgaard were held out of a game that night.

Of the four, Caputi is the only one who figures prominently in the Penguins' plans. And while the incident probably won't have a lasting impact on his future, his unscheduled trip to West Virginia delivered a blunt message Caputi should have no trouble understanding.

"In the end, will it affect his standing with us?" Shero asked. "It shouldn't. But it's a shot across the bow for a few of these guys."