by Rob Rossi , Pittsburgh Tribune Review

So he got the last part right.

Rupp, 29, agreed to a two-year deal totaling $1,650,000 -- bringing the Penguins to an 18-player total of $52,043,000 against the NHL's salary cap, which is set for next season at $56,800,000.

Having only $4,757,000 in free space doesn't bother general manager Ray Shero.

"I feel more comfortable with our team on July 1 this year than I did on July 1 last year," Shero said late yesterday, which ended sans deals with scoring-line winger Ruslan Fedotenko and shutdown defenseman Rob Scuderi.

"I've said this: Change is inevitable, and it's not necessarily bad. I don't want to change 12 guys, but we aren't doing that. We have five (defensemen) signed. We have our main guys signed.

"I'm not going to speculate on where we are against the cap and if that's comfortable. We don't have that many holes to fill, and I go back to the fact that we have young guys that will get an opportunity to fill them."

Two players from the Stanley Cup final roster will not return.

Hal Gill ??? Scuderi???s defense partner ??? signed a two-year contract with Montreal worth $4,500,000. Mathieu Garon will go from backing up Marc-Andre Fleury to serving as the No. 2 to Steve Mason in Columbus, where he will play for the next two years at $1,200,000 million.

Though the Penguins would not give multi-year term to either veteran, neither Gill nor Garon departed on bad terms.

"I talked to Ray, and we both understood what was happening," Gill said. "When you win like we did you want to stay there, but it wasn't in the cards."

Garon said it was "great" to be part of a Cup champion, but added, "I don't think the Pens were trying to sign me, because I don't think they could with the cap."

Six players under contract to the Penguins before noon yesterday remained on the market, and only Scuderi, Fedotenko and winger Petr Sykora, 32, were on Shero's radar.

All are seeking multi-year deals, though Sykora, who scored 52 goals over the past two seasons, may consider returning on a one-year deal with a no-movement clause.

Scuderi and Fedotenko, both 30, are seeking term beyond two years, and Shero would need to move players to create cap space for next season and future campaigns.

Regarding that likelihood, Shero said last night that "nothing's really going on."

He also shrugged off suggestions that $1,585,000 annually was too costly for the services of Rupp and winger Eric Godard, who has two years remaining on a contract that counts $750,000 against the cap.

Godard is one of the league's top enforcers; Rupp is not, Shero stressed.

"He's a versatile guy that can also play in the middle and can be used up and down the lineup," Shero said. "We have a few guys like that -- (wingers) Pascal Dupuis and Max Talbot -- and you can't have too many."

Rupp has scored 27 goals to go with 412 penalty minutes in 335 games, but Shero praised his sandpaper-style and championship experience. Rupp won the Cup with New Jersey in 2003.

"That was a great feeling, and I'd like to have it again," he said. "That's why I was interested in the Penguins . The have the character, direction and the right guys locked up to battle for years to come."

That last part is the reason Shero will not fret if the Penguins enter training camp in September with prospects such as Luca Caputi and Dustin Jeffery competing for a scoring-line spot, John Curry trying to become Fleury's backup or Ben Lovejoy looking for the sixth defense slot.

Shero went to bed yesterday with this comfortable thought: Fleury, centers Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Jordan Staal, and defensemen Brooks Orpik and Alex Goligoski were signed to long-term deals.

"That's important," he said. "(Yesterday was) about complementary players."

Note: The Penguins signed defenseman Brian Strait to an three-year, entry-level contract. He was their third-round pick (65th overall) in 2006.

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