by Rob Rossi , Pittsburgh Tribune Review

"Nope," he said of being close on any deals.

That answer didn't ? but likely could ? be used to answer this question: Will the Penguins re-sign winger Ruslan Fedotenko.

Shero confirmed an offer has been made, though neither he nor Fedotenko's agent Allan Walsh would divulge details.

They never do, per policy during negotiations.

However, all indications are Fedotenko, 30, will soon become the fourth free agent to leave the Penguins , who are only $4,757,000 under the 2009-10 NHL salary cap -- set at $56,800,000.

"We'd love to have 'Feds' back, and I talked to him for a while today and stressed that," Shero said. "He's got all our information. He knows where we're at. I'd like him to consider what we have. I'm not pushing him. I told him to sleep on it."

The Penguins aren't sleeping through the free-agent game, but there is little they can do to prevent players such as Fedotneko, a scoring-line winger, and defenseman Rob Scuderi, a top penalty killer, from taking the money and running.

Not that Scuderi ran to the Los Angeles Kings, who signed him to a four-year deal at an annual salary of $3.4 million yesterday afternoon.

According to some teammates, Scuderi waited too long before choosing the Kings over the Penguins , who are thought to have offered a five-year deal worth $10 million total.

"They're probably right," Scuderi said. "I thought I held out for a while, but with respect to L.A. you just can't ... look, it was time to make a decision.

"I always had always hoped maybe something could be worked out (with the Penguins ). It was strictly a numbers thing, not a lack of need or want."

That was also true Wednesday when Scuderi's Penguins defense partner Hal Gill signed for two-year at $4,5 million total with Montreal.

As goalie Marc-Andre Fleury noted, two of the six players on the ice for the Penguins in the closing seconds of their 2-1 win at Detroit in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final "are out of the picture."

"They're great guys," Fleury said of Scuderi and Gill. "They helped us win the Cup. You can maybe say they were underappreciated, but not by us.

"They did a tremendous job for us."

Winger Petr Sykora, 32, has done a very good job for the Penguins the past two regular seasons. He has scored 53 goals, including 14 winners.

However, Sykora was injured (right shoulder) during a late-season slump and played in only seven playoff games.

His return is not expected, but neither Walsh nor Shero has ruled it out.

"We haven't really engaged with Petr," Shero said. "We're kind of letting is shake it out a little bit.

"There are still some quality players or situational players ? roles guys ? that can fit a spot for certain teams, no different than ours."

Sure. Just don't count on former Penguins winger Alex Kovalev or his previous teammate in Montreal, Saku Koivu, joining a second Cup run.

Not in the coming days, anyway.

Fedotenko, Sykora, center Mike Zigomanis, winger Miroslav Satan and defenseman Philippe Boucher are ...

"Unless you're (Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin) we've got to replace those guys," Shero said. "Maybe a trade at some point. Maybe some guys sign in August or September. It plays itself out.

"We have a cap situation, and our money is allocated a certain way."

For player such as Scuderi and, probably, Fedotenko that means a direct line out of Pittsburgh.

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