Notebook Buzz
Latest on Guerin, Kariya, Niedermayer, more
*Bill Guerin’s return to Pittsburgh is not imminent or close as free agency is now going into day 6. The Penguins currently do not have an offer on the table to Guerin.
Word out of Guerin’s camp is two other suitors have emerged as potential landing spots but it’s believed that no team including the Penguins has made an offer to Guerin since free agency opened up.
The Penguins told Guerin’s agent Bob Murray during draft weekend that the team wanted Guerin back but couldn’t come close to matching his $2 million a year salary.
Guerin has not shown an interest in taking a significant reduction in salary and it appears there are some concerns in the organization about Guerin being a good fit on this team if he is no longer able to play a top-6 role.
The vibe out of Guerin’s corner is that the Penguins are leaning towards going in another direction.
*Multiple sources tell Inside Pittsburgh Sports that the Penguins are not engaged in talks with Don Baizley the agent for free agent winger Paul Kariya. There hasn’t been any discussions between the two sides, we have learned. A team source says that Kariya is not in the team’s plans. At least not right now.
As of 11:00 a.m., there were no new developments on the Rob Niedermayer front. Discussions between Pens GM Ray Shero and Kevin Epp, the agent for Niedermayer remain in the preliminary stages. No offer or even contract numbers have been exchanged.
It remains to be seen if Niedermayer has an interest in coming to Pittsburgh. There’s been some whispers that Niedermayer’s camp has some concerns about Niedermayer being a fit in the Penguins up-tempo system.
more to come
