The Pittsburgh Penguins announced Monday that the team and general manager Ray Shero have agreed to a new five-year contract. Shero has been dubbed “the architect” of the 2009 Stanley Cup winning Penguins team.

Shero is responsible for the long-term contracts of stars Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Jordan Staal, Marc-Andre Fleury as well as the promotion of head coach Dan Bylsma (who had been coaching in the AHL) late in the 2009 season.

“I’d like to thank Mario Lemieux, Ron Burkle and the ownership group for showing confidence in me,” Shero said via the Penguins’ website. “They made a decision to hire me back in May of 2006, and it’s worked out for both of us. The ownership group has supported me and given me the resources to do the job. The stability we get from with our ownership group is how you have success both on and off the ice.”

Shero’s craftiness during the ’09 cup run was no more apparent than at the trade deadline when the GM acquired several players who had key roles down the stretch including Chris Kunitz from Anaheim, Bill Guerin from the New York Islanders and claiming Craig Adams from the Chicago Blackhawks.

Matthew Coller is a staff member of the Business of Sports Network, and is a freelance writer. He can be followed on Twitter

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