An up-and-coming team can be down and going in a blink when a general manager has to shed players to clear cap space on a bloated payroll. With free agency, players change teams like underwear.

So when the Stanley Cup seems within reach, you go for it. Now.

Penguins general manager Ray Shero, son of Fred Shero, the only coach ever to mold the Flyers into Stanley Cup champions, considers himself a patient man. But when he took the measure of the Eastern Conference and saw the opportunity to nudge his team to the top of it, he made a move that prompted a fair number of hockey people to wonder if he had momentarily lost hold of his senses.

Only minutes before the trade deadline passed on Feb. 27, Shero acquired Marian Hossa and Pascal Dupuis from Atlanta for Colby Armstrong, Erik Christensen, Angelo Esposito, and a first-round pick in this year's draft.

Armstrong was wildly popular among Penguins followers and a strong presence in the locker room because of his grit and determination. A first-round draft pick, Esposito is a solid prospect at center.

The object of Shero's affection, Hossa, came with undeniable skills and the experience a 29-year-old can bring. But his performance in the playoffs while with Ottawa was far from impressive. Eligible for unrestricted free agency after this season, Hossa could end up as a rented player.

"I was aware some of the fans weren't that pleased," Shero said yesterday while watching the Penguins, on the cusp of sweeping the Flyers, tune up for tonight's Game 4 of the Eastern Conference finals at the Wachovia Center. "But we thought it gave us the best chance" to win the Cup.

"These aren't the deals you do every year with the assets you have to give up," he added. "When you have [Sidney] Crosby and [Evgeni] Malkin, you know, those aren't typical 20-, 21-year-old players. They're stars now. You can build for so long, but eventually, the way this league is now with the cap and all those things, if you have the opportunity . . ."

Shero's cause wasn't helped when Hossa injured his knee in his first game as a Penguin and missed six games. The plan was to play Hossa alongside Crosby. But the two had little time to get in sync for the playoffs because Crosby was also injured, having a sprained ankle.

It turns out they didn't need much time at all. Hossa made the prettiest move of Game 3 when he juked past Jeff Carter at the blue line and whistled a low wrist shot past goalie Marty Biron to give the Pens a 2-0 lead en route to their 4-1 win.

The goal was Hossa's second of the series and eighth of the playoffs. He also scored the series-clinching goal against the New York Rangers in Game 5 of the second round.

Shero had to up the ante to get Hossa because Montreal, Ottawa and New Jersey were also trying to acquire him. The night before the deal, Shero said, he was convinced he had less than a 5 percent chance of getting him.

"When you do these deals, you're not sure how they're going to work out," Shero said. "We already had a pretty good team, but the Eastern Conference was so tight. So far, it's worked out well for Marian and for the team."

Hossa said he was aware of the critics who questioned whether he had the goods to be an impact player in the postseason.

"But I don't think about it," said Hossa, a native of the Slovak Republic. "I'm having fun. It's almost a dream come true - one win away and we're going to the Finals."