NHL Penguins' top pick goes home

Marc-Andre Fleury left the Penguins as they try to work out a contract.
CANONSBURG, Pa. (AP) -- Top Penguins draft pick Marc-Andre Fleury returned to his parents' home in Montreal while the goaltender tries to work out his contract.
"We recommended -- and Marc-Andre and his family agreed -- that he should leave Pittsburgh immediately," agent Allan Walsh said.
The Penguins wouldn't say whether Fleury's return to Montreal signals the end of contract negotiations or whether the team was preparing to receive a counteroffer or make another of its own.
"We don't talk about contract negotiations," spokesman Keith Wehner said Friday.
General Manager Craig Patrick has until Monday's deadline to sign Fleury or return him to the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. The 18-year-old player draft pick had been staying in the home of player-owner Mario Lemieux but moved out Thursday.
Played the most
Fleury has played more games combined in the preseason than Jean-Sebastien Aubin and Sebastien Caron, the team's starter at the end of last season. He has the Penguins' only two exhibition wins.
"The best way to describe it is 'way below' what first-round picks, particularly players selected No. 1 overall, have received in the recent past," Walsh said.
Despite the offer to live in his home, Lemieux had said that Patrick alone would handle negotiations with Fleury and that the decision to sign Fleury -- who was clearly the Penguins best goaltender during camp -- would depend on striking a deal that would fit within the team's tight finances.
"I've said all along that if he's good enough to make the team, we'll try and sign him," Lemieux said. "I think Craig started talking to his agent [Wednesday] and then we'll see where it takes us."
In four games during the preseason, Fleury is 2-2 with a 2.26 goals-against average and .923 save percentage, allowing nine goals on 126 shots.
Since Lemieux bought the team out of bankruptcy in 1999, the Penguins have worked under a tight budget.
Pittsburgh has dumped millions of dollars in salary over the last few years, trading away Jaromir Jagr and Alexei Kovalev for prospects.
Rookie salary cap
Because of the rookie salary cap, Fleury's base salary would be $1.2 million, but it's likely his contract would include easy-to-achieve incentives that could push the annual value to as much as $5 million per season.
"I'm not going to be involved in the negotiations," Lemieux said. "Obviously Craig is the one doing that with his agent, so I have no intention of stepping in and talking to his agent."
Fleury isn't the first young French-Canadian player to live with Lemieux since he became the team's owner. Caron did for part of last season.
For Lemieux, it wasn't so much a question of politeness as it was a way to spare Fleury the same culture shock that Lemieux endured two decades ago.
As an 18-year-old player from Montreal who didn't speak English in 1984, Lemieux had a difficult time adapting to life in Pittsburgh.
Although Fleury has a good command of the language, difficulties remain in the transition from Quebec to the United States.
Roster moves
The Penguins picked up defenseman Nolan Baumgartner from Vancouver in Friday's NHL waiver draft, and signed minor-league defenseman Cam Paddock.
Baumgartner, 27, appeared in eight games last season with the Canucks. He has also seen spot duty since the 1995-96 season with the Washington Capitals -- who drafted him in the first round in 1994 -- and the Chicago Blackhawks.
In 34 career NHL games, Baumgartner has one goal, four assists and 12 penalty minutes.
Paddock, 20, is in camp with the Penguins' American Hockey League farm team at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.
Michal Rozsival, one of the team's top four blueliners, will be sidelined for two months after having surgery to repair cartilage damaged during practice on Wednesday. The injury left the Penguins with only six healthy defensemen -- Dick Tarnstrom, Drake Berehowsky, Melichar, Dan Focht, Brooks Orpik and Marc Bergevin.