Bidding Wars Are Too Mainstream For Ray Shero

The unanswered calls and dicking around ended this morning. The Pens have announced they will no longer be pursuing Jaromir Jagr. They have withdrawn their one-year $2 million contract offer stating that, “It was never our intention to get involved in a free agent bidding war, and we have to focus on our team”.

This bodes well for the rest of the Pittsburgh free agents who would also like to play for the team this fall. Jagr still has some choices though, Montreal and Detroit have both expressed interest in having him on their rosters this fall.

It isn’t even noon yet…it’s going to be a long and eventful day. Stay tuned everyone.

Free Agents! Get Your Free Agents Here!

At the end of April there were eleven contracts up for grabs and one GM with the unenviable job of choosing who to keep and who is no longer an asset to the team. Tomorrow is the day we find out who is worth keeping and who we will be forced to say goodbye to, some more happily then others.

What We Know For Sure

Max Talbot (UFA): A fan favourite no doubt but probably one of the most overrated players on the roster. He’s a great guy and has played well in clutch moments but probably not worth keeping around long-term.  He’s already rejected a 3 year contract extension with the team and will hit the market on Friday. It will be tough to see him go. There was talk of him moving to the Leafs but that proved to have stalled.

Craig Adams (UFA): Already signed a two year extension at $675,000 per year.

Pascal Dupuis (UFA): We will be seeing Dupers again this fall. He’s now locked in to a two year contract at $1.5 million per year.

Arron Asham (UFA): One more year for Asham. He’s been re-signed at $775,000.

Alexei Kovalev (UFA): Ray Shero has confirmed that he has no intention of extending Kovalev’s contract and with good reason. This time around, his contributions were more taxing than positive.

Mike Comrie (UFA): Easily the easiest decision Shero had to make. A constant underachiever who manages to ride the IR for the majority of the season, and not only for the Penguins (he spent the majority of his last year in Edmonton with mono). Shero cut his losses and let this one loose.

Looking Ahead On July 1^st

Tyler Kennedy (RFA): Keep him. In the absence of Crosby, Malkin, and pretty much anyone else with consistent scoring potential, Kennedy has stepped up and proved his ability to remain consistent and score when given the chance.

Dustin Jeffrey (RFA): Obviously the Pens will be keeping him. His potential is worth the investment.

Mike Rupp (UFA), Eric Godard (UFA), and Chris Conner (UFA): It’s not looking good for these guys. There were some rumours about Rupp being in talks to return but it honestly doesn’t sound promising.

Jaromir Jagr: Where do you even begin with this one? Will he? Won’t he? Angry agents being called at 9pm, unanswered calls, rumours galore. If we get him that’s great but if we don’t, at this point, I don’t think it’s worth the headache.

Hold on to your butts everyone it’s going to be a long day! Oh and Happy Canada Day to all the Canadians out there!

Black Tie Required