Penguins/NHL
Sources close to Bill Guerin tell me Guerin is in Disney World with his family and will return Sunday night.
He is expected to meet with his agent Robert Murray tomorrow morning and will inform the Penguins of his intentions for free agency by Monday afternoon at the latest.
Ray Shero mentioned at the draft on Saturday that he is confident Guerin will sign before July 1 but even if Guerin decides to test free agency, he could still return as Guerin’s camp has indicated they would wait to see if Pittsburgh enough cap space, if the two sides couldn’t strike a deal before July 1.
There were whispers on the draft floor (Friday) that Pittsburgh was expected to make an announcement on Monday.
Discussions have centered around a one year deal with a NTC. Pittsburgh has not made a two year offer and right now the Penguins are waiting for Guerin to make the next move, which will happen tomorrow.
The Latest Free Agency Buzz
Negotiations have continued between the Chicago Blackhawks and Martin Havlat and the Hawks are not shopping his rights. Talks will go down to the 11th hour. Reports of the Hawks offering a short-term deal are false.
Pittsburgh has not been linked to New Jersey Devils forward Brian Gionta and Gionta is currently not on the Penguins radar because he is seeking a 3-4 year contract.
Two names on the Penguins radar that won’t break their bank are
Ales Kotalik and Mike Knuble.
Kotalik is a fallback plan if Petr Sykora doesn’t return and like I mentioned a few days go in the Penguins Free Agency Chart, Pittsburgh has not ruled out a return for Sykora.
His agent Allan Walsh would not comment on the Sykora speculation yesterday.
Penguins scouts believe Knuble has a few more good years of hockey left in him and one scenario under some thought is to bring back Bill Guerin and try to lure Knuble to Pittsburgh and wait for their top prospects on the wings to develop.
It would be risky signing a 37 yr old forward to a two year contract and wouldn’t sit well with Guerin but it is something under serious consideration and lot of the Flyers beat writers were speculating at the draft that Knuble would be very interested in Pittsburgh.
Knuble and Guerin would give Pittsburgh a big strong physical presence for Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby.
