Bill Guerin will not be back with Penguins next season
Pittsburgh Penguins General Manager Ray Shero has made it clear that forward Bill Guerin will not be coming back to the team for the 2010-11 season.
Guerin played for the Penguins last season and became an unrestricted free agent at the end of the year. There has been a great deal of whispering in the hockey community about Guerin returning to the Penguins next season. However, Shero is said to have informed the veteran this week that the Pens do not plan to retain him for next year’s campaign.
Nevertheless, the Penguins are still in need of a skilled winger to play with all-star centre Sidney Crosby. With a glaring lack of offense down the flanks the Pens are looking elsewhere to fill the void. Recent rumours have linked the Pennsylvania club with former Colorado Avalanche Marek Svatos who remains an unrestricted free agent. In addition, there have also been rumours about veteran sniper Paul Kariya joining the team. Nevertheless, with over $1 million left in cap space the Penguins are expected to make a move before training camp commences in September.
It is uncertain where Guerin will end up as he is 39 years old and may only have one or two more productive years left in him. Moreover, playing with Crosby was likely to have inflated the winger’s numbers over the past two seasons.
If Guerin does not receive a contract soon there is also a good chance he could retire before the start of the 2010-11 campaign.
Guerin has played in 18 NHL teams with the New Jersey Devils, Edmonton Oilers, Boston Bruins, Dallas Stars, St. Louis Blues, San Jose Sharks, New York Islanders and the Penguins.
Last season with Pittsburgh Guerin notched 21 goals and 24 assists for 45 points in 78 games.
Tags: