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Penguins' GM may look to young talent rather than sign free agents

Joe Sargent / National Hockey League / Getty

It's time to change philosophies.

The Pittsburgh Penguins - who just barely squeaked into the postseason and were easily eliminated by the New York Rangers in the first round - may need to switch some things up.

General manager Jim Rutherford understands that the team still has a strong core - including Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Marc-Andre Fleury - who are all entering their primes. But with a large number of players set to become unrestricted free agents, the Penguins may not be able to afford the addition of big names via free agency.

Instead, Rutherford feels that the team will need to rely on young up-and-comers going into next season.

"We feel we have some younger players who have developed pretty well," Rutherford told Dave Molinari of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. "Hopefully, we can plug in some younger players instead of going the free-agent route."

Pittsburgh should be able to supplement the possible losses of aging veterans Paul Martin and Christian Ehrhoff on the blue line with Brian Dumoulin and Scott Harrington.

More advanced roles and extra playing time for forwards Derrick Pouliot and Scott Wilson are also likely, while AHL Rookie of the Year Matt Murray may be given the opportunity to backup Fleury in goal after a dominating season.

Rutherford isn't completely ruling out the idea of bringing certain individuals back via free agency, although it may have to come at a discount.

"It may mean them going into July and testing the free-agent market to see how much they can get out there," he said. "Because of our (salary-cap situation), they may work their way back to us with a more reasonable number.

"I don't think I'll be saying that we don't want anybody back until we at least get into July, to see how the dust settles."

The Penguins finished 2014-15 with their lowest regular season point total - lockout season aside - since 2005-06.

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