The conversation, Ray Shero said, lasted about 45 minutes.

Long enough for him to tell free-agent-to-be Dan Hamhuis about the city, the team and where he might fit in on it.

To answer Hamhuis' questions, and ask a few of his own.

Shero, the Penguins' general manager, declined to share the particulars of their discussion, but should find out today whether the time he spent speaking with him Monday was well-spent.

Hamhuis was expected to digest the information he got from Shero, discuss it with family members and his agent, Wade Arnott, then decide whether he's interested in trying to negotiate an agreement to play here.

"We should have an indication sometime [today] if they want to talk about a contract," Shero said. "If not, we'll move on."

If Hamhuis, who purportedly has a strong desire to play in or near his native British Columbia, decides he's interested in joining the Penguins, reaching a quick settlement might be challenging, because he's believed to be seeking a salary averaging $4 million or more.

Hamhuis will become an unrestricted free agent Thursday if the Penguins don't sign him before that.

Whether Hamhuis remains in the Penguins' personnel mix or not, Shero has enough active negotiations to keep him busy.

Talks with J.P. Barry, who represents Sergei Gonchar, continued Monday, and are to resume today.

"There's nothing dead there," Shero said.

What's more, Shero spoke Monday with Steve Bartlett, who is Mark Eaton's agent, which suggests Eaton might still have a place in the Penguins' plans.

"We want to make sure, and so does Mark, of where he is on the depth chart if he comes back," Shero said. "Certainly, that's as important to me as it is to him."

Although Shero's focus of late has been on his defense, he made time to touch base with veteran right winger Bill Guerin Sunday and with his agent, Bob Murray, Monday.

Guerin is a back-burner issue at the moment, and it's not guaranteed the Penguins will try to re-sign him. He is, however, a viable option if the Penguins decide they need him.

"If I knew for sure he wasn't coming back, I'd let him know," Shero said. "We want to make sure he's in the loop on everything."

At the close of business Monday, the Penguins had two goalies, four defensemen and 11 forwards who are expected to be in the NHL at the start of the 2010-11 season under contract, with team officials saying that "roughly $47.4 million" of salary-cap space has been committed to those players.

That means Shero has about $12 million to work with before bumping into the cap ceiling of $59.4 million for next season, although he generally likes to keep a cushion of $1 million or so for the sake of roster flexibility and to make it possible to replace players with short-term injuries.

Shero also said that, at least for the moment, he has not set any deadlines for impending free agents to accept contracts.

"Not at this point," he said. "But I know what I want to do here in terms of timing."

NOTES -- Coach Dan Bylsma has interviewed a number of assistant-coaching candidates, including Barry Smith, who was an assistant here in the early 1990s. Shero reiterated that "there's no rush" to hire a replacement for Mike Yeo. ... Although the Penguins still don't know if goalie prospect Alexander Pechurski will return to Russia next season because of a contractual obligation, Shero said they will retain his NHL rights, regardless.

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