The worst part of losing is that there are no more Penguins games till October.  But at least we can start talking about next season. 

The top 7 D and 2 G are all signed for next year, there won't be any changes there unless trades are made.  At forward we have locked up: 

Neal - Crosby - Kunitz
? - Staal - Malkin
Tangradi - Letestu - Cooke
? - ? - ?

That leaves 5 forwards to sign.  The 17 players we have are on the books for 55.7 million. The cap last year was 59.4, but it should go up (perhaps by as much as 3 million).  The Pens will have 3.7 in cap space plus however much the cap goes up.  They should have roughly 5-6 million to spend. 

Here are the Pens UFA's with last year's cap hit:
Kovalev (5)
Dupuis (1.4)
Talbot (1.05)
Rupp (.825)
Godard (.750)
Asham (.7)
Adams (.55)
Conner (.55)
Comrie (.5)
Johnson (.5)

and RFA's:
Kennedy (.725)
Jeffrey (.509)

First off, the Pens should retain Kennedy unless someone gives him a ridiculous offer sheet.  He'll be relatively cheap, he's young, and he was one of our better offensive players last season.  He'd be solid on the 2nd or 3rd line.  I'd also keep Jeffrey, who's just 23 and put up 7-5-12 (2.10 pts per 60/EV) in 25 games last year.  I'm guessing those two guys will make combined ~2 million next year, leaving 3-4 million. 

Of the UFA's Dupuis, Talbot and Adams were all stalwarts on the league's best PK.  I can't question Adams toughness or effort, but he's a poor faceoff guy and a non-factor on offense.  I like him, but I wouldn't mind seeing him go.  Talbot is younger, better on the dot (roughly average when you factor in that he took a lot of SH faceoffs) and contributes more on offense.  I'd re-sign him for around his current cap hit if possible.  Dupuis I can take or leave, wouldn't be surprised to see him re-signed at a lower number than his current contract.  The other UFA's are probably gone.  Asham's playoff heroics aside, none of them are big losses. 

If Talbot, Kennedy and Jeffrey are signed there's about 2-3 million for 2 guys.  Another PK specialist would be nice, unless Dupuis is also re-signed.  Which of the UFA's interests you?  Which of the Pens FA's would you like to re-sign? 

http://www.capgeek.com/free_agents.php?year_id=2011&team_id=-1&position_id=F&fa_type_id=2