Penguins inform Billy Guerin they won't make an offer

Billy Guerin's career with the Pittsburgh Penguins is over. Penguins GM Ray Shero informed an extremely disappointed Bill Guerin today that the team will not be making an offer and have decided to go in another direction.

After much back and fourth, the decision was made after an organization meeting on Wednesday. The organization was torn on bringing Guerin back with the main concern of where he would fit into the lineup if he was unable to play on one of the top-2 lines.

Shero remained in touch with Guerin and agent Bob Murray this week but the two sides never engaged in negotiations.

A source involved in the process tells me the feeling was that GM Ray Shero was on board with bringing Guerin back but that wasn't the consensus from many other high ranking officials and evaluators, most notably the coaching staff.

Money was not a factor in the Penguins deciding not to negotiate with Guerin. Guerin was willing to take a substantial paycut from his $2 million a year salary if it meant a return to Pittsburgh. Not to make Guerin an offer was primarily an organization decision.

Guerin played a vital role in the Penguins 2009 Stanley Cup run and was the Penguins most productive winger last season, scoring 21 goals. His play began to diminish during the second half of the season but he still found ways to produce, tallying 4 goals and 5 assists in 11 playoff games.

Those close to Guerin tell me the Penguins GM thanked the veteran winger at length for what he's done for the organization. Despite being extremely disappointed, there appears to be no hard feelings towards the Penguins from Guerin's end.

With Pittsburgh out of the picture and having no firm offers on the table, some may assume that retirement could become a possibility. That scenario is very unlikely as the 39 year old winger intends to keep playing and will eventually find some work.