Note: You can follow the Penguins on the Penguins Plus blog at PG-Plus, where other blogs and features can be found. Membership is only $3.99 per month or $36 per year. Because of the strong response to Bill Ratay's Mellon Arena memories printed in the Q&A recently, similar submissions from other readers interested in sharing their recollections will be posted in the Penguins area of PG-Plus. Those pieces can be sent via the Q&A submission form or to DMolinari@Post-Gazette.com

Question: In this salary-cap era, when the Penguins stars' contracts expire, do you believe that they will take the "hometown" discount to stay together (again) or do they test the market? Its obvious that some players (Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, in particular) could command the maximum 20 percent of a team's total cap space for another franchise.

Bob Niziol, Brentwood

MOLINARI: The first test of such "loyalty," if you want to describe it that way, could come next summer, when Sergei Gonchar is eligible for unrestricted free agency. It seems unlikely that the Penguins would be willing to match the $5 million per season he's earning now, but almost certainly will be very interested in keeping him. Gonchar is in a situation that obviously has worked well for both parties, so he might have to choose between remaining in it or going elsewhere for more money.

(Defenseman Kris Letang will be eligible for free agency next summer, too, but he'll be restricted, and that seriously reduces a player's leverage in negotiations because his current team has the right to match any offer he gets on the open market.)

The Penguins' core young talent -- a group loosely defined here as Crosby, Malkn, Marc-Andre Fleury and Jordan Staal -- is tied up for another three-plus seasons, or more. (Crosby and Staal have contracts that expire in 2013, while Malkin's is up in 2014 and Fleury's a year after that.) Consequently, it's a little early to say with any certainty what those players will do when they're approaching free agency, because so many things can change in the interim.

One thing that could change, in fact, is the nature of the NHL's salary-cap system. The league's current labor deal expires in 2011, and it's hardly out of the question that the structure of the cap will be altered in the course of collective bargaining. In theory, the cap might not even exist then, although it's inconceivable that the owners would give back something that has served many of them so well, and has helped to restore competitive balance to the league.

Question: Do you believe the injuries are affecting the Penguins' play? Ever since the (run of) injuries began, it just seems like the Pens are out of synch and can't get back into it.

Paul Papariella, West Deer

MOLINARI: There's absolutely no question that the Penguins' performance has suffered since they've been playing without six or seven regulars on a nightly basis, and that's as it should be.

After all, if there was no difference between guys such as Gonchar ($5.5 million salary), Malkin ($9 million salary) and Brooks Orpik ($3.75 million salary) and those like Chris Conner, Ben Lovejoy and Deryk Engelland, all of whom earn $500,000 when playing in the NHL, the Penguins would be foolish to keep the higher-priced players.

That doesn't justify woeful showings like the one they turned in during a 6-2 loss in Ottawa last Thursday (although just about every club endures a few of those over the course of an 82-game season), but it's difficult to get into a rhythm when there's a line of turmoil and change in the lineup. That's especially true for individuals who find themselves with a new defense partner or linemates, as most of the Penguins have in recent weeks.

The good news for the Penguins is that, at least for the moment, none of the guys they're missing apparently will be out for more than a few weeks. The bad news is that, while some have suggested that it's better to have injuries now than later in the season or during the playoffs, it's not as if there's an injury quota to be filled, so losing players now does not guarantee that it won't happen again before next spring.

Penguins Plus, a blog by Dave Molinari and Shelly Anderson, is featured exclusively on PG+, a members-only web site from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Our introduction to PG+ gives you all the details.