"All he's done is trade forKunitz, Neal and Dupuis."

I must have imagined where Letang developed into Norris Trophy caliber defenseman under Shero's watch. I mean I'm sure Craig Patrick knew that would happen when they drafted him in the third round.

He also lured the top free agent goaltender - Tomas Vokoun - off the market before the market opened.

He's also never "lost" a trade. In other word, the players he's given up haven't amounted to snuff while more often than not, the players he's acquired have immediately helped the team.

He turned a bust of a first-rounder - Angelo Esposito - into Pascal Dupuis.

He turned Alex Goligoski - A no. 2 defenseman at best - into James Neal, first-team all-star.

You talk about assets? He has stockpiled four former first-round pick defensemen into the system which can be traded for wingers or any other need. What other team has that in their system?

As far as free agents go, if you want to point out that Martin/Michalek didn't work out, fine. But don't conveniently ignore the fact that they were the top free agents on the market at the time and that they took less money to come to the Penguins.

Is there a book or guide somewhere that says it's better to sign top-six wingers than to trade for them?

There was very little beyond Parise in terms of scoring wingers. Do you really want to pay P.A. Parenteau $4 million for four years to be Crosby's winger?

And despite this supposedly crippling issue of landing a scoring winger - aside from Kunitz, Neal, Dupuis, Hossa and Guerin of course - the Penguins are routinely one of the highest scoring teams in the NHL.

If you want the last time Shero made a huge upgrade to the team, what about Neal/Niskanen for Goligoski. Most GMs don't have a single trade like that which has worked out for them.

If you want a GM who's just going to haphazardly make the big deal or the big signing, become a Maple Leafs fan. That approach hasn't exactly worked out well for Brian Burke.

Is Shero perfect. No. But he's better than most. Suggesting he's don't anything other than create and maintain one of the best franchise's in the NHL is either delusional or a work of fiction.