To the dismay of some fans Marian Hossa will be offered a contract by the Detroit Red wings. It is speculated that he is willing to take a "hometown discount" to stay with the Wings, but the overall cap hit isn't clear. Signing Hossa means losing the likes of Jiri Hudler, Mikeal Sammuelson and even a defense man. Losing Hudler does mean Detroit will get compensated with draft picks, but losing a 20+ goal scorer is pretty huge. That means roster spots will have to be filled with minimum waged players. This is the lineup I came up with.
Hossa(4.5) - Datsyuk - Holmstrom
Franzen - Zetterberg - Cleary
Helm - Filipula - Leino(.775)
Kopecky(.575) - Draper - Malby
Downey(.475)
* Hopefully Hossa can sign a life time deal of 8-9 years with a overall cap hit 4.5 million dollars
* Leino has stated he wont be returning the AHL so it's NHL or bust. .775 is a modest salary for a "rookie".
* Kopecky is a Wings developed player and is good on the checking lines. He's big and uses his body well. In signing a 1-2 year deal at .575 he can only hope to improve and get a pay raise when Lidstroms salary comes off the books. Otherwise he's not worth it.
*Downey being the 13Th forward is a roster filler that can sign for minimum wage.
Lidstrom - Rafalski
Kronwall - Stuart
Ericsson - Lebda
Meech(.500)
Lilja(-1.2)
*This defense is solidified already and the season hasn't even started. What's that say? Lilja's status for next season is already up in the air so it's likely he will start the season on LT IR which means his cap hit will come off the books.
*Meech signing at .500 means another cheap roster filler
Osgood - Howard
Add in the existing contracts and were talking 58 million dollars. I believe the current cap is at 56.9 and could possibly rise. The word is the players union will use a clause in their contracts to inflate the cap as much as 5%. The NHL had a good turn out this season so to me there's no reason to think why the cap should go down. 56.9 + 5% would be roughly 59 million. This can only happen in a perfect world. In Kenny We Trust.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Monday, June 15, 2009
Looking ahead .. Way ahead
As the 08-09 playoffs wrap up its only logic that we look ahead to what the 09-10 season brings us. Sure the Redwings will be minus a couple of faces, but the core of this team stays intact. Thank you Kenny Holland.
Of the 23 man roster 3 men stick out like sore thumbs. Four time Stanley Cup winners Tomas Holmstrom, Kirk Maltby, and Nick Lidstrom. Holmstrom and Maltby's resume isnt quite as filled out as Lidstroms, but these two worked their way up the depth chart for many years until finding their roles on the team. Lidstrom too worked his way up the depth chart , but he did it in all-star fashion racking up a amazing 997 points in 1330 regular season games.
What do all three of the men have in common? Their contracts are up following the 09-10 season. Some may say it's over due for the likes of Holmstrom and Maltby, but they have been strong contributor's to this team on and off the ice. Lidstrom's reign of preciously timed poke checks and inhuman abilities among other things has been of strong quality, but heavy playoff battles as well as a bum elbow might be catching up with him. Kenny Holland will be itching for an extension, but don't expect Lidstrom to make a commitment till after the season is over. As for Maltby and Holmstrom; don't expect a return from these grizzled veterans as they will ride out in the horizon with all the respect in the world. Hockey town will be forever changed as new faces will fill voids and another chapter in the book is filled.
All will not be lost as Detroit's abilities to draft well and plug holes is extraordinary. The on ice product the Red wings put out season after season is phenomenal so don't expect this Big Red Machine to slow down any time soon. Keep the faith Hockey town.
Of the 23 man roster 3 men stick out like sore thumbs. Four time Stanley Cup winners Tomas Holmstrom, Kirk Maltby, and Nick Lidstrom. Holmstrom and Maltby's resume isnt quite as filled out as Lidstroms, but these two worked their way up the depth chart for many years until finding their roles on the team. Lidstrom too worked his way up the depth chart , but he did it in all-star fashion racking up a amazing 997 points in 1330 regular season games.
What do all three of the men have in common? Their contracts are up following the 09-10 season. Some may say it's over due for the likes of Holmstrom and Maltby, but they have been strong contributor's to this team on and off the ice. Lidstrom's reign of preciously timed poke checks and inhuman abilities among other things has been of strong quality, but heavy playoff battles as well as a bum elbow might be catching up with him. Kenny Holland will be itching for an extension, but don't expect Lidstrom to make a commitment till after the season is over. As for Maltby and Holmstrom; don't expect a return from these grizzled veterans as they will ride out in the horizon with all the respect in the world. Hockey town will be forever changed as new faces will fill voids and another chapter in the book is filled.
All will not be lost as Detroit's abilities to draft well and plug holes is extraordinary. The on ice product the Red wings put out season after season is phenomenal so don't expect this Big Red Machine to slow down any time soon. Keep the faith Hockey town.
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