The real stars of the show

I'm not sure if that's enough to win consistently, though. Does Shero really think that a team with third and fourth lines consisting of WBS players and castoffs can win 45 games next year? If Staal and Sykora are playing the wings with Malkin (which is a good idea, I suppose), who is going to be Crosby's?

Heres how I see it: Sid can prop up guys like Hilbert and Armstrong in large part because they were very young at the time.  Its a lot easier to prop up someone who is quicker and more agile, so that they can take advantage of a defense that is keying on one guy. If they bring in some washed up vets like Satan, I fear we are looking at Rex all over again.

the pittsburgh media and the organ-I-zation can try and spin this offseason anyway they want but in my opinion shero has completely failed to do his job. there is nothing any damage-control PR can do to change the fact that this team has been taken apart and shero is responsible

Screw Hossa. It is pretty rare that you get repeat Stanley Cup champs. If he wants to be known as a career mercenary, then let him.

There is a silver lining here: not being on the hook for the $7-7.5 million Hossa would've cost us for the next seven years is really going to give Shero some financial options. This team will always be able to compete as long as the core stays together.

tenpenn--i can see your point.  collier wrote a piece today that touches on that a bit.  however, i don't feel that shero has failed.  he signed malkin, crosby, and orpik at discount, and will get staal, and fleury under wraps by summer's end too.  i think most of us knew hossa and the others were gone heading into FA.  we just didn't know that hossa would leave under the terms he did.  that's a reflection of hossa, not shero.  plus, FA is not over.  the pens will pick up some guys.  so we will see...

Lots of speculation that Hossa's agent is the guy to blame in all this. Hossa was a luxury. While it was nice to have him, we can win without him...

i just dont think a GM who is on top of things would have let the situation get to this. shero let way too many players go to UFA (10 i think). in my opinion that is too many players to have to replace in such a short amount of time when other teams are going to be throwing money at them come july 1. i dont understand the logic behind letting that many players hit UFA at the same time and doing nothing before july 1. now all that is left to sign are washed up has-beens (naslund) and reclamation projects or players that outright suck (bertuzzi). no grit (except orpik), no skill on the wings (except sykora), too many mediocre overpaid defensemen (sydor, eaton), no proven faceoff man, no solid backup goalie - there are too many holes to fill via trade, and the part that bothers me the most is the players to fill at least some of those holes were already here but shero let them all walk. the D looks OK, MAF will be solid, but this has the look of a soft one line team on offense. i thought the whole point of crosby and malkin taking a little less was so this situation didnt happen. IMO shero has really let those guys down - he gets paid to assemble the team.

sykora didn't have a great year before he came to us, and he turns out to be a niche we need filled on malkins line i like to think staal will be here,

satan is similiar as sykora, added to crosby and dupuis (warren young with speed- he just doesn't know it yet)

third and fourth line will be fine with talkbot fedetenko godard stone etc, plu more to follow... im not sold on jagr coming back - if its true, but it won't take long for the city to take him home... what a way to walk out- donates his game checks from every game he doesn't score to lemiuex foundation?

we have all year to get everyone on the same page- i like getting guys who have experience, but i wonder if they can skate?- federov i think would blossom again, him and jagr on the third line? hahaha