Bill Clement

The Penguins look a lot like the Oilers did when Edmonton was on the verge of becoming a dynasty in the mid 1980s. The key similarities are striking and represent in the present what they did over 20 years ago — the key foundation blocks of a dynasty in the making.

Edmonton had a pair of unbelievably talented centers in Wayne Gretzky and Mark Messier. Ditto Pittsburgh in Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. The Oilers possessed a dynamic offensive defenseman in Paul Coffey. The Penguins have the same in Sergei Gonchar. And in goal for Edmonton was Grant Fuhr, a young, flamboyant player coming into his own and getting better with every game he played. That’s just who Marc-Andre Fleury is for Pittsburgh.

Crosby paved the way for the Penguins, who lost to the Red Wings in a six-game Stanley Cup finals, to have a chance at becoming a dynasty by telling management he wanted to stay in Pittsburgh and then taking less money than he could have commanded in agreeing to a long-term contract extension that runs through the 2012-13 season.

The maximum any one player can earn from a team is 20 percent of the league’s salary cap per club, which this past season was just north of $50 million. So Sid the Kid could have held out and asked for $10 million a year but he signed for less (he will average $8.7 million a season) saving the Penguins some money that can be used towards keeping other key players in Pittsburgh.

There’s a core of eight players the Penguins need to keep together if a dynasty is to develop in Pittsburgh. The Steel City’s Elite Eight are centers Crosby, Malkin and Jordan Staal, winger Ryan Malone, defensemen Gonchar, Ryan Whitney and Brooks Orpik and Fleury in the nets.

Unless the Penguins are willing to spend to retain these players they can forget about any dynasty. Just look at the Sabres. They are a shell of the excellent team they were a few years ago because Buffalo’s philosophy wasn’t one of spending to keep its talent intact.

Next season the salary cap is expected to increase and be in the range of $55 million. So the Penguins will have the opportunity to increase payroll and still be under the cap. They should have about $10 million to work with in cap space. And also keep in mind a new state of the art arena that will open for the 2010-11 season will help the Penguins increase their revenue.

Like Crosby, Whitney has a deal through the 2012-13 season and Gonchar is under contract for two more seasons. Of immediate concern to management are Malone and Orpik – both headed towards unrestricted free agency on July 1 – and Fleury, who becomes a restricted free agent this summer. Malkin and Staal don’t become restricted free agents until next summer.

Priority No. 1 is Fleury. Pittsburgh general manager Ray Shero will try and get the goalie’s signature on a new deal before he even reaches restricted free agency. That’s because no general manager trusts all 29 of his fellow general managers to look the other way when it comes to interest in restricted free agents. That’s the prevailing sentiment after Oilers general manager Kevin Lowe last summer offered restricted free agent Thomas Vanek of the Sabres an average of $7.1 million for seven years. The Sabres reluctantly matched after having already lost key free agents. But after failing to get Vanek the Oilers went after Dustin Penner and Anaheim did not match. What this led to was a flurry of long-term signings during the past season as many teams locked up players who were going to be restricted free agents this summer.

The chances of the Penguins getting a deal done with Fleury should be good. He has grown up with this franchise and the Penguins can offer the three things players most look for when it comes contract time: 1) Getting the most money they can, 2) living in a culture both on and off the ice that is extremely enjoyable and 3) winning hockey games and having a solid chance at winning the Stanley Cup. So the Penguins are helped a lot by their own success as they attempt to lock up their key players.