Pens - Flyers Post-Series Fallout: On Failed expectations, Staal's future & more

1 EXPECTATIONS - When a team regarded as a Cup favorite by ownership is eliminated in the first round and hasn't advanced past the second round since 2009, it's going to lead to a rumor filled summer, but it's way, way too early to predict whether the Penguins might look to make a major shakup. "Expectations for our team is high, and no matter what your season looks like, the expectation was very high with this group and getting Sidney back with 14 games and to have a full compliment with players, with what this group has done, could have even set the expectations higher, " head coach Dan Bylsma said. "There's not a lot of words to describe this group, expectations, and what we thought with this compliment of players, " he said

What I'd expect from Penguin management is a long evaluation process and they have to look closely at several areas from personnel, to how they evaluate players and even the system in place from Dan Bylsma has to be examined on how the Penguins defend.

2 STAAL'S FUTURE - Aside from a Game 1 defensive blunder on Jakub Voracek's overtime winner in Game 1, Jordan Staal was the Penguins best forward in the series, being a consistent force offensively and leading the Penguins with 6 goals, 9 points and 8 even strength points in the series.

Staal's future though with the Penguins is already and going to be a hot topic all summer. "I don't wonder about it, " Staal said following Game 6. "I love the guys in this room and I believe in everyone of the guys in this room. We have the character in this room and we didn't give up in this series, just too bad we came up short. "It's never easy to take, no matter what year, " Staal said on the loss. "Not a good feeling but guys are definitely going to remember this feeling, hopefully take something positive out of it and do what we can next season."

Here's what to know about Staal: The Penguins are said to remain fully committed to trying to lock up Staal long-term as negotiations between the two sides can't begin until July 1 and while league executives believe Staal is a $7 million a year player, whether Staal is a Penguin long-term is going to depend on whether Staal wants to explore a No. 1, No. 2 center role and top power play role or not as I wrote in March. That's what individuals inside the Penguins organization believe it's going to come down to. The Penguins know and are prepared to make Staal a $6+ million a year player, sources say.

If the Penguins ever reach the point of willing to explore Staal's trade value, it's going to be because they feel he fully intends on exploring the open market next July. Trading Staal would likely not involve immediate impact players coming the other way, most notably a No. 1 type defenseman as any team who trades for Staal would want a long-term commitment before giving away a significant haul of NHL ready players. It would be a big surprise if the Penguins looked to move Staal this summer.