from Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review,

There remains no indication the Penguins have shifted their focus from top-tier scorers in Toronto's Phil Kessel, Chicago's Patrick Sharp, Carolina's Jeff Skinner and St. Louis' T.J. Oshie.

The group of unrestricted free agents is considerably less exciting, with top-of-the-heap names like Washington's Joel Ward (with whom the Penguins have met), Anaheim's Matt Beleskey, the New York Rangers' Martin St. Louis or Winnipeg's Drew Stafford, just to name a few.

But Rutherford, without tipping his hand, insisted going to free agency would not be a big concern.

“There are some guys we like in free agency that can help most teams,” Rutherford said, “but we haven't made a decision yet.”

They didn't make much of anything in Florida, save for four picks.

It's an approach that might have looked odd to outsiders — especially afterward, when Penguins nearly closed down the arena — but it's one Rutherford said he envisioned all along.

“I told you before I got here I was going to be patient,” he said. “I wasn't overly aggressive. If somebody was aggressive with us, maybe something would have happened, but this is what I expected.”

more