With at least 3 prospects NHL ready, personnel & system issues, how Shero attacks blueline is top off-season storyline

Penguins GM Ray Shero will meet with the media on Tuesday in his end of the season press conference and Shero has an interesting off-season ahead with the team having $60 million committed to 18 players and some talk in league circles that the salary cap will level off or even go down when a new CBA is in place.

Among the most pressing issues Shero has to address this summer is the blueline.

From the Penguins defensive system in place under Dan Bylsma to the personnel put in place by Shero, concerns on how the Penguins defend have been there for three years now since the 2009-2010 season.

Following the Penguins Cup run under Bylsma, where Bylsma stepped in at the right time making the Penguins an uptempo team that has a main emphasis on puck possession, Shero has become enamored with defensemen to fit that type of style, pursuing the likes of Jordan Leopold, Paul Martin and Zbynek Michalek, and going away from Hal Gill, Nicklas Grossman type defensemen.

From a personnel standpoint, the primary issues for the Penguins defensively on how they've been built the past two years is struggles to defend the cycle, clear the front of the net and the inability to block shots.