2007-08: The Window Starts

In the next five to eight years, the Penguins have a particular window available. It's the window for winning championships, and it begins next season.

At this stage in their still nascent careers, the Pittsburgh players like each other and like the organization. They seem to realize they have a chance to win together and that they have a chance to be part of something very special. And yet, in sports, as in life, there are no guarantees.

Ryan Whitney signed an incredibly reasonable contract today for 6 years and 24 million dollars. I thought the contract was a bargain. Whitney's comments to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette were revealing. He said that even if he had received an offer sheet, that didn't mean he would have signed it. He also mentioned that he thought the contract was fair to him and fair to the organization with the other players the Pens will have to ink to contracts in coming seasons.

Reading between the lines of Whitney's comments, I drew two conclusions. First, and primarily, Whitney wants to be a part of what the young Penguins have the chance to become. He wants to win, and at this stage of his life, while he wants to be compensated well, he'll settle for slightly less to achieve that lifelong dream of capturing the Cup. Terrific. If all the Pens' players follow his example, well, that would be...awesome. Yet in the midst of appreciating Whitney's present day comments and candor, I drew another conclusion from the very silly season of NHL unrestricted free agency. Hopefully by the time Whitney becomes an unrestricted free agent, he has won a Cup or two or more and played a crucial role on a championship team. And, at that point in time, later in life, Whitney will be able to "cash in" if--and he probably will--so desire on the bonanza that is unrestricted NHL free agency.

Like it or not, the children are going to grow up, because that's what kids do. Players who don't yet have wives or children are likely to acquire one or both by the time they reach unrestricted NHL free agency. And then, particularly at that point, well, if they've already won their championships, sometimes talented players want to embark on different challenges. To see if they can not be "one of the guys who helped" but the "key guy." And prior to losing a player to unrestricted free agency, the Pens might have to trade a player who, hopefully, was a key contributor to a championship or two. And players who, by that point, may have seen friends traded while learning the hard lesson that the sport is also a business will begin to see hockey not just as a game but as a business not just for the organization but for themselves as well.

Granted, all of the scenarios mentioned in the previous paragraph are taking an extremely "long-term" look at the organization, hardly the look that a fan wants to take when the kids are still kids and have yet to sign even their second NHL contracts. And fans don't necessarily need to take that long look when there's so much to revel in at the present moment in time.

But what fans should know, and what the Pens players know, as Whitney revealed today when he mentioned expecting to be an "elite" team next season, is that the time frame window of five to eight years to capture the Cup begins next season. The time window has just begun, granted--but it has begun, and that's something the organization, the players, and the fans, must know even as they continue to cheer for the kids who, blessedly enough, this season, will remain children.