At 1 p.m. Tuesday, two hours before the NHLtrading deadline, Penguins general manager Ray Shero had nothing going on.

He should have kept it that way.

The blockbuster trade that brought All-Star right wing Marian Hossa to Pittsburgh looks promising for the immediate future — but that's it.

Hossa is a point-producing machine, no doubt.

But by paying the price the Penguins did to acquire him, this trade can only be considered a good one if one of two things happen.

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A. The Penguins win the Stanley Cup this season.•

B. The Penguins sign Hossa to a longterm contract and prevent him from walking away this summer.The second option is by far the most likely of the two.Physically, the Penguins do have the talent to go deep into the playoffs. But they don't have the maturity.They are still young — real young.Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Jordan Staal, Kris Letang, etc., are babies by professional hockey standards. The way Ottawa derailed the Penguins in the first round last year showed how much this team needs to mature.It's been less than a year since then. Nobody matures that fast.How well the Penguins have played while Crosby has been sidelined with an ankle injury is indeed encouraging and further illustrates the depth of talent throughout the organization.So why tamper with it?Stay the course and the team would be a viable Stanley Cup contender in a couple of years — just in time to open the new arena.The fans will wait. Sold-out crowd after sold-out crowd indicates that.Eric Christensen is 24 years old. Within two years, he would have been the starting center on a pretty decent

third line in Pittsburgh. Forget that productive two-line stuff. This team could have had three.Colby Armstrong is 25 and could have played that Bob Errey, Phil Bourque-type role — and maybe popped in 20 goals or so — had the Pens kept him around.Angelo Esposito is only 19 and has 55 points — including 26 goals — in 48 games in juniors this year. His critics say he isn't developing quickly enough. Some players develop more slowly than others. Remember Markus Naslund?Getting 6-foot-7 defenseman Hal Gill from Toronto for second- and fifth-round draft picks was a good move. The Penguins needed another physical defenseman and that player wasn't coming through the farm system.Hossa's acquisition boils down to a two-month recruiting visit, during which time Shero will try to sell Pittsburgh as the winger's desired new home.If Hossa stays, the trade is OK.If he leaves, the trade is a disaster.Gutsy move by Shero?Undoubtedly. He pulled the trigger on the biggest trade in the league this season.But he didn't need to take the gun out of the holster.John Enrietto is sports editor of the Butler Eagle.