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It's just too bad that either Miller or Eaves might not have a contract here next year, because they both earned it. It makes Draper's cap hit all the more painful. Eaves with 22 points in 65 games and one of the team's top PK guys, all for 500k this past season. And Miller was no slouch either.

According to mlive's George Malik "Bertuzzi repeatedly stated that he has two choices to weigh: he'll either continue playing for the Red Wings or he'll retire." http://blog.mlive.com/snapshots/2010/06/red_wings_focus_shifts_to_keep.html Also in the article Holland says they will have to "hold the line" on Bertuzzi's 1.5 million dollar salary because raises are due for Abdelkator, Helm, Miller, and Eaves. I found that interesting because I know some people were thinking Abdelkator was not going to get a raise from his 850k salary. Malik says the wings are looking at a # 6 dman and or a grinding forward in free agency and that they will not add a scoring line player. "Mike Babcock very plainly stated that the return of Jiri Hudler and step-up seasons from Dan Cleary, Valtteri Filppula, Jonathan Ericsson and Niklas Kronwall would offer the Wings the punch they lacked at times during the 2009-2010 season. There's no payroll room to bring a marquee forward in, and, really, there's no need. Healthy seasons from Johan Franzen, Dan Cleary, Valtteri Filppula, Henrik Zetterberg and a 20-goal, 50-point season from Jiri Hudler will do the job." I realize it isn't the most popular opinion on this board but I really want Bertuzzi to finish his career as a wing. I was kind of hoping we would find a way to squeeze in a bit more firepower but if we can find a good penalty killing defenseman and a checking forward I will be very happy.

He didn't fit the Red Wings style, I think that's because he was expected to play solid defensively as well as offensively. On Philly he's been successful, and shown why he was thought of so highly. I honestly think the puck has just been going in for him. He's just getting to the right spot at the right time, pretty simple hockey and it's been good for him. If he faces a physical, checking d-man, he's not going to be as successful. My opinion based on what I've seen in his goals.

Id rather have Bertuzzi then Miller, Abdelkader i thought would get a small raise and Helm for sure deserves one.There is nothing Miller does that Ritola cant in my opinion so why not just save the money from Miller. Franzen-Zetterberg-Holmstrom Hudler-Datsyuk-Bertuzzi Cleary-Filppula-Ritola Eaves/UFA-Abdelkader-Helm Draper Stuart-Rafalski Kronwall-Lidstrom UFA-Ericcson Kindl

He need to do that now or they won't be able to put a top team on the ice come october...if bertuzzi wants to play for the same or more than 1.5M it will hurt the team alot..

Right but Kenny would never do that. He likes to pay his players fairly according to their market value. It's a good way to conduct business.

3 years ago was Filppula's second season as a Wing. Filppula HAS stepped it up, each of the last 2 seasons. In 08-09 he was delegated to the third line and got zero power play time. He was 76th in the league in even strength scoring on that third line. That's more than Kane had, with 150 less minutes. In 09-10 he was out for a third of the season and played with fourth liners for a while after he got back from his injury but still managed to have a career year in points per game and had 28 points in 33 games. In short, you're an idiot. As for Bertuzzi, if Holland isn't going to sign anyone else anyway, we may as well sign him again.

Bingo! Spot on my friend, Holmer could get alot on the open market. Its great he's staying, especially from an attitude/loyalty point of view in that they obviously are a team. I just read a new topic (I just got home a did a quick scan and came here first lol) that said Bertuzzi either stays with Wings or retire...Now that is incredible because there are probably a few teams that would like him after this past season. Though he wants to play with core group and thats freakin sweet. I love they have this connection and I hope he signs here! Im starting to believe in these guys! (again)

1. Mike Comrie won't sign that cheap. 2. Even if he did, he's not the kind of player I would want on "my team". 3. You forgot Draper. 4. Or conveniently made him disappear. 5. Despite all this talk about signing Asham, I think he's going to stay in Philly. I mean, unless it's for a bigger payday (which won't come from us), why leave a team you've gone this deep with--a team with which you have a solid role already established. 6. Even if he hit the FA market--after these playoffs--he'll get more than $1M from some team. 7. We need a veteran defenseman to compete with Kindl. If not Lilja, some other cheap veteran at least. 8. Lastly, how many FA-related threads have you created in the last 24 hours?

Right. Cleary put up another 40-point season with a solid defensive contribution in '08-'09 while playing on the 3rd line, while putting in his usual defensive performance. Then he scored nine goals and six assists with a whopping plus-17 in the playoffs. The only person who even came close to that +/- was Zetterberg at a +13. This entire season he was playing injured. This sort of comment makes it clear that you've no compunction against making arguments that are absolutely not backed up with facts. Oh, wait... you joined here two months ago. Typical. Filppula? Yeah, let's see. He was on the verge of a breakout season before he was injured as was, he put up 35 points in 55 games on a roster that saw a whole lot of other injuries. In the '08-'09 playoffs, he was our 4th-leading scorer, and he put up 9 points in 12 games in this year's playoffs. Once again....

You're nuts dude. Teams would KILL to have a guy like Homer in the other team's crease. He could easily get 3 mil somewhere else.

I may be one of the few who is glad he is gone. I like the guy and wish him well, but I will not miss his floating, getting knocked off the puck and sulking when he is not in the lineup. With huds coming back I think we can all agree we would much rather have him than leino.

Well that will be pretty sad if he doesn't get a contract with Detroit. 1 mil for Bert to stay? Please?

Hey man, gotta admire the dedication and loyalty on Bertuzzi's part. The guy doesn't want to go anywhere else. Sign him Kenny, and just add in bold print to the contract that he has to listen to an audio self-help tape called "Two hands Are Better Than One". In other news, how in God's name is Alligator due for a raise? The guy led (and still does) the playoffs in penalty minutes, is a minus player, and contributed a measly 6 points. I never understood the love for this guy. Oh, I'm sorry, he "sometimes tries to hit things". We might as well have kept Downey then and gave him a raise....at least Downey freakin fought. Man o man I scratch my head at this stuff sometimes. Also, we're keeping Miller? Is that really necessary? Didn't see him in the Wings future to be honest. Would have rather dipped a bit into the free agent market. A raise for Speedy Gonzalez and Eaves is understandable though. Oh, and weren't the last like 3 years supposed to be "step-up seasons" for Filppula and Cleary?

reading some of the posts in this thread is giving me diabetes.

That would be a terrible exchange. Zetterberg is a premier shutdown, two-way forward in the NHL, who has led the team in playoff scoring the last three seasons, and leads the league in playoff goals scored since the lockout. Kovalchuk is just a guy that can pick a corner. Which is a neat trick, the Wings could use a guy like that, but certainly not at the expense of a player of Hank's caliber.

Cool stuff

I'd rather see Pronger and Philly with the cup then Chicago. Pronger winning a Conn Smythe won't put his career over Lidstrom's anyways. At least not with level headed fans.

was this in response to my post? wtf? i just responded that i didn't think we would see many young players. and all of a sudden i am living in my moms basement? wtf? i started off saying i didn't think the thread would go well. i didn't say that because i thought your OP was bad; i said that because i assumed the arguing would get really ugly about the team. it actually has been pretty good though.

Why not? Yzerman starts stealing guys from the Red Wings just to put them to Tampa Bay. Why should Holland allow it? Just because Yzerman is a nice guy? Hell no. Let him prove he can find his own staff, not just steal them from organization he just left.

I think at a certain point Holland has to tell Stevie to stay the hell out of our business. I understand how much he has done for this team, but this is a business at the same time. We cant allow him to be picking apart our organization just because he is who he is. When McClellan left the wings for SJ we didn't just let him take people with him. Especially considering how Verbeek is a scout and he knows where to go and how to pick good draft picks in the 7th-8th rounds (no need to mention names). Our ability to draft well is a huge advantage we have over every team in the league. Quit falling for the Stevie Y charm!

Salary cap

Adam Mair (800k).

Because wings lacked scoring depth yeah, on a solid team there shouldn't be any room for bertuzzi on the top2 lines but a solid 3rd liner

I think the Winter Classic curse is stronger, so the Flyers are doomed. This makes me sad.