Ninety minutes into his run as general manager of a Stanley Cup champion, Ray Shero still was on the ice at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit.

He was absorbing the aftermath of the Penguins' 2-1 victory against Detroit in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup final Friday. Shaking hands, accepting congratulations and doing some really serious smiling.

And, at least once, taking a moment to acknowledge the obvious: The Cup-winning team he assembled will never again be together.

Perhaps in spirit, because the sweat and sacrifice required to earn a Cup can form unbreakable bonds, but not in uniform.

By early next month, several -- and maybe more -- of the guys who helped to make this championship possible will be working elsewhere.

Not because the Penguins don't want them, or couldn't use them, but because success comes at a price, and it usually is higher than teams can afford under the NHL's salary-cap system.

The cap ceiling for next season has not been announced yet, but commissioner Gary Bettman has predicted it will stay around $56.7 million. It is expected to drop significantly in 2010-11, when the impact of the economic crisis that began last year will be fully reflected.

At least some personnel turnover is expected on every team from year to year -- it's an antidote to complacency -- and winning a Cup doesn't insulate a team from the economic realities that rule the league.

So Shero knows that, even if he wanted to keep all seven of the unrestricted-free-agents-to-be who were in the lineup for Game 7 --forwards Bill Guerin, Ruslan Fedotenko, Miroslav Satan and Craig Adams, defensemen Rob Scuderi and Hal Gill and backup goalie Mathieu Garon -- he likely would not have the cap space needed. (And that's without factoring in UFAs-in-waiting like Petr Sykora, Mike Zigomanis and Philippe Boucher.)

Those players, meanwhile, are aware that simply being on Shero's wish list doesn't mean they will stay on his payroll.

"We're all big boys here," Shero said. "I know what I signed up for, and these players know how this system works."

Shero and his pro scouting staff have met to discuss the makeup of next season's team, including who from other clubs might be of interest when free agency begins July 1, and who might be ready to move from the Penguins' minor league team in Wilkes-Barre to a full-time job in the NHL.

Defenseman Alex Goligoski is one of the latter, and players such as goalie John Curry, defenseman Ben Lovejoy and winger Luca Caputi will have a shot at making the parent team out of training camp.

If not for the Penguins' depth on defense, Goligoski would have spent this entire season in the NHL, and that doesn't bode well for Boucher, who was paid $2.5 million. Goligoski's contract is up, and he will get a raise over his 2008-09 NHL salary of $895,260, but his salary will not approach Boucher's.

Lovejoy's game emphasizes defense, which means his job prospects should be enhanced if Gill ($2.1 million) or Scuderi, his defense partner, moves on. The Penguins figure to make trying to keep Scuderi, who made $725,000 this season, a priority, but that likely will cost more than they have been paying Gill.

It enhances their chances that Scuderi seems genuinely content here and realizes that some former teammates have regretted leaving the Penguins simply for more money, but his work throughout the season -- and especially in the playoffs -- might lead to another club making an offer he simply can't ignore.

Garon, who made $1 million, was an ideal partner for Marc-Andre Fleury, but Curry will handle the job for less money if the Penguins believe he is ready to play at this level.

Lining up wingers to play alongside Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin will be a priority this summer, especially if Guerin ($4.5 million), Satan ($3.5 million), Sykora ($2.5 million) and Fedotenko ($2.25 million) move on. At least a couple figure to.

Zigomanis ($650,000) and Adams ($600,000) were valuable fourth-liners, but whether the Penguins can justify bringing back both is not clear.

Few, if any, of the decisions Shero and his staff will make will occur in a vacuum. Re-signing one guy might make another expendable, or losing one could enhance the value of another.

Change is inevitable and imminent. The only thing that will remain forever is the snapshot of that June evening in Detroit when the 2008-09 Penguins etched their names in hockey history.

"Guys, whether they can't stay or make the decision to move on, we won a Cup together," Shero said.

"It helped everybody's career."