Malone and Roberts Traded to Tampa Bay

So much for Ryan Malone and his agent squashing the Penguins' chances of dealing him after announcing one week ago that he wouldn't sign with any team in advance of unrestricted free agency on July 1.

Today, the Penguins traded him and Gary Roberts to the Tampa Bay Lightning for a conditional draft pick. The pick will be a 4th round pick in 2009 unless the Lightning ultimately sign Malone, in which case the pick will become a 3rd rounder.

All things considered, this is not a bad return by Shero only 2 days before free agency for 2 players that he knew were not going to be with the club this year. Deals for negotiating rights are becoming more and more common, but you don't expect them to come so close to July 1.

Tampa's new ownership is obviously trying to make a big splash, so don't be surprised if they are prepared to throw big money to Malone -- over 5 million per season. I'm hearing that's exactly their plan. Whether Malone will actually sign there, however, remains to be seen.

Meanwhile, I'd be surprised if Gary Roberts finished his career in Tampa Bay. By all accounts, he should prefer to stay closer to home by playing in Ottawa or Toronto -- 2 teams that probably would make pitches for him on July 1 -- rather than play for a team that finished last overall the prior season. However, the Lightning players and management are reportedly already trying to woo Roberts, both by phone calls and the talk of a 2.25 million dollar contract for next season.

For the Penguins, the bigger issue remains whether Hossa stays or goes. They probably aren't going to know that until sometime later in the day on July 1. I don't expect Shero to wait around while other free agents are gobbled up by other teams. If Hossa doesn't stick with the club, look for him to go after Radim Vrbata, Brian Rolston, Michael Ryer or Marcus Naslund.

Besides Hossa, none of the Penguins' 3rd or 4th line free agents --- Ruutu, Dupuis, Hall or Laraque -- have re-signed yet, and there also hasn't been any reported progress with getting Brooks Orpik's name on a deal before Tuesday either. It sure would be nice for Shero to sign 1 or 2 of his own before the floodgates open.

It's going to be an interesting week for sure ...