Shero has no regrets on trades

Staff/wire report

PITTSBURGH

No seller’s remorse for Ray Shero.

The Pittsburgh Penguins general manager insists he did the right thing — both for the players and the organization — by trading popular center Jordan Staal and defenseman Zbynek Michalek on Friday night.

The moves allow Staal to play alongside big brother Eric in Carolina while Michalek returns to Phoenix, where he had the best seasons of his career before signing with the Penguins two summers ago.

Pittsburgh received six players in return for their two established veterans, including promising center Brandon Sutter. Even better, they cleared salary cap space that could make them plenty active when free agency begins next week.

“It was an exciting, tough couple of days,” Shero said.

Productive too.

Though Shero would have preferred to sign Staal to a lengthy contract extension, when it became apparent it wasn’t going to happen he didn’t hesitate to find one of the best two-way centers in the game a new home.

The Hurricanes quickly stepped in and the teams put together a deal that stole the show from the NHL draft at CONSOL Energy Center.

“After 2 o’clock on Friday, I knew what I wanted to do,” Shero said. “It just felt like it was the right thing to do, for us, for Carolina and for Jordan.”

During the seven-round NHL draft, no players with ties to the Mahoning Valley were selected. Youngstown Phantoms forward Austin Cangelosi and former Youngstown resident Michael Houser, the Ontario Hockey League’s goaltender of the year and Most Valuable Player, were considered candidates.

For now, Rick Nash is still a member of the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Columbus held onto its captain despite speculation the club could trade the nine-year veteran to stock up on young talent as part of a rebuilding process.

“I sensed through the middle of the week there was not a big push from the teams I’m talking to now,” Blue Jackets general manager Scott Howson said after the draft ended Saturday afternoon. “I think the landscape will become a lot more certain on July 1.”

Staal, taken with the second overall pick in the 2006 draft, has no hard feelings. The trade, however, did come at an awkward time. He was married Friday night in Canada with several Penguins in attendance.

“The opportunity for me just didn’t seem to be there [in Pittsburgh], and I really wanted to hopefully challenge myself, maybe on a different team, and see what I could do,” Staal said.

While Sutter hasn’t put up the kind of numbers Staal regularly produced, he’s still an effective player as well as considerably cheaper.

And with Staal and Michalek’s salaries — a combined $8 million next year — off the books the Penguins can look for a high-profile free agent to add to a team still loaded with talent.

The Penguins appear to have enough space to make a run at someone like New Jersey’s Zach Parise. The 27-year-old Parise scored 31 goals to go with 38 assists while helping the Devils to the Stanley Cup Final. He’s good friends with Pittsburgh captain Sidney Crosby.

The Penguins are optimistic they grabbed a handful of good players during a surprisingly active draft. Pittsburgh selected nine players over two days, including a pair of first-round picks in defenseman Derrick Pouliot and Olli Maatta.

Pouliot was an important part of the trade with Carolina. Pittsburgh used the No. 8 pick they received from the Hurricanes to grab the smooth-skating 18-year-old.

Pittsburgh stayed busy on Saturday, grabbing goaltenders Matthew Murray and Sean Maguire, forwards Theodor Blueger, Oskar Sundqvist, Matia Marcantuoni and Anton Zlobin and defenseman Clark Seymour.