Mark Eaton

Mark Streit can't be replaced without some miracle trade, but we all know that the Islanders aren't the big-name trade type team. With the injury to Streit crushing the team's hopes of making the playoffs this season, an opportunity has risen for veterans brought in through free agency, and the younger Islanders.

Following the Kovalchuk sweepstakes, the NHL community has a good idea of who is going where next year.

Many experts have focused on the impact Anton Volchenkov (Devils), Dan Hamhuis (Canucks), and Ray Whitney (Coyotes) will have on their new teams. Although these signings will have a big impact on the league, some players who will be an important addition to their team have gone unnoticed.

12:01 p.m. on July 1st signals the beginning of the free agent flurry, where names and numbers will be thrown around like confetti at a carnival.

When free agency opens, it is truly a magical time of year. Teams who once had no offense can land the best goal scorers in the league. Defenses with more leaks than BP can transform into something resembling Fort Knox overnight.

Possibilities are endless for teams with virtually unlimited cap space and no expectations, but what does it mean for the Pittsburgh Penguins?

It is probably the best week of summer if you're a hockey fan. 

This week is the week of every hockey fan's fantasy.  

It's time for the trading to begin and I for one am extremely excited.

In a salary cap world, it’s pretty much impossible to keep a team together for more than a year. The Penguins early exit of the playoffs has put pressure on the administration to get a team together to win another cup, and another, and another.

Let’s take a look at the players with contracts up.

UFA:

On Friday afternoon the Pittsburgh Penguins cleaned out their lockers for the last time at Mellon Arena, leaving behind only memories and questions of what the future holds.

It's never easy to move on after a loss such as the Pens suffered Wednesday night, but it's time to start looking ahead to what promises to be an eventful offseason.

Now that the Penguins' offseason has officially begun, here's my take on where the Pens should go from here. The bottom line is that the Pens will be moving into a new arena, have a great core of young players in Crosby, Malkin, Staal and Fleury and will have roughly $20M to spend against the salary cap next year. With this in mind, here are my suggestions for Ray Shero:

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With the quartfinals of Olympic hockey being played today, the gold medal game is soon to follow. With the trade deadline looming, Ray Shero will be expected to "catch lightning in a bottle" again as he has the previous two years. The first of these impact trades being the acquisition of Marian Hossa from Atlanta two years ago, then the acquisition of Bill Guerin for a third round pick. Will Shero pull of a blockbuster Hossa-esque trade or a minor but drastically important move like the Guerin acquisition?

I’ve seen Ray Shero’s name dragged through the mud.  People mocked him when Marian Hossa signed with the Red Wings.  They ridiculed him when he fired Michel Therrien.  They wanted Colby Armstrong back, they missed Ryan Malone, they missed Ryan Whitney, they couldn’t believe someone would give up on Angelo Esposito.  Who did this guy think he was, anyway—a General Manager or something?

Maybe the best in hockey.