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Wings: Likes our playing style better, says it fits him best. We have the only offer to him and have let him know we're interested. Lidstrom endorsed the concept of him coming here. Babcock reached out to him. Has the opportunity to play with Nick in his (most likely) final season Would line up with Datsyuk and/or Zetterberg - which he has mentioned himself as exciting Pens: Chance to go back to his NHL roots Owns a home there still (was too lazy to sell it) No offer yet, GM has decided to discuss the idea internally more before making a decision. Crosby still has injury concerns Malkin is coming off major knee surgery He certainly has his options, but don't be surprised if he accepts Holland's offer before July 1st. Holland means business and has shown Jagr that the Wings feel he would be an asset here. I still say it's 70/30 odds for the Wings.

I don't get why people are so opposed to this, quick ideas; -In the Red Wings puck possession system speed isn't as important. I am willing to bet Jagr is no slower or faster than Franzen -Comparing Hudler's KHL stint to Jaromir Jagr's KHL stint is like comparing apples and oranges. Jagr was an all-star. Hudler is, well...yea -Comparing the Modano experiment to a Jagr experiment is like comparing apples and oranges. Modano got injured. We don't know if Jagr will get injured. End of story. -He'll be cheap. Or at least what Holland will offer will be cheap -If he's the cancer everyone talks aboot in the locker room...well trade him -I really, really want to see what Datsyuk and Jagr can do

From the 1997-98 season to today, the Norris has been awarded 13 times. I can only think of one time I can say for certain Lidstrom did not deserve it. That would be last season, when I feel he was still top-three. Only one, perhaps two other times do I feel that Lidstrom could be argued as not the best, being the 1998-99 and 1999-2000 seasons when Al MacInnis and Chris Pronger won, and Pronger also took home the Hart. So ultimately, IMHO, Lidstrom should have somewhere between 10-12 Norris wins. He has been outright cheated out of three victories (2009 Chara, 2004 Niedermayer, and 1998 Blake) and had that not occurred, he would likely be generally considered the greatest and most dominant defenseman of all-time. Even before 98, when he was the outright best, he was challenging for Norrises for six years. Lidstrom came into the league as one of the top 15-20 defensemen, as did Konstantinov. That event immediately changed the Wings from a mediocre team to a top team, in the same fashion as Yzerman's entrance allowed the Wings to emerge from the dungeon or Fedorov's entrance gave the Wings a second star player. The early 90s; with the emergence of Lidstrom, Konstantinov, Kozlov, and Osgood; as well as the acquisitions of Mike Vernon, Kris Draper, Brendan Shanahan, Igor Larionov, Slava Fetisov, and Larry Murphy; these are the things that are what defined the Wings' run in the 90s and allowed them to continue being successful. Through having a strong front office with Bowman, Holland, and Devellano, as well as strong scouting, they were able to select skilled players with low picks such as Datsyuk, Zetterberg, and others, as well as to make the "smart" move instead of the "big" move - and knowing when to make those moves. Players like Hasek, Schneider, Hull, Robitaille, Chelios, Whitney, Rafalski, Hossa, Conklin, Cleary, Eaves and more were strong acquisitions made via free agency or trade that helped and in some cases are still helping the Wings beyond their role. The effect of Lidstrom leaving is unknown. He's a great defenseman, so that will hurt, but we'll get a skilled guy to help there. We have a leader in the locker room who can take on the mantle when Nick bows out. Is Z ready for full time? I think so. But I want to see Nick keep on as long as he's willing to play.

This is exactly what im talking about. People get so emotionally attached to players that I get neg'd for merely pointing out how much their cap hit is. I didn't even say I wanted to trade Filppula or that I thought we might, merely that IF we did, our available cap space would be enormous. Ridiculous. Here, this will really piss them off. If we were to trade Datsyuk and Zetterberg, we would have $28,990,956 in cap space. If we were to trade Howard and Lidstrom we would have $24,657,956 available. And if we were to trade Lidstrom, Zetterberg, Datsyuk, Howard, Filppula and Helm, we could spend up to $41,652,956. Get it done Kenny!

I suspect Holland didn't want a third mega long-term contract on the books. Having an old Zetterberg and an old Franzen on the team in nine years is going to be tying up $10m as it is. Having an old Richards eating up another $6m would be bad planning. Also, as others have said, Richards apparently has maturity issues. Holland's the best in the business. If he didn't pull the trigger, then there's a good reason why.

More importantly, would anyone here be ok with giving them up if we had them for Richards or Carter? I think not.

Just realized that sending Richards to LA may only increase his partying ways.

not overpaying for a reported locker room cancer...

Another Lidstrom for Norris? Congrats to El Capitan for winning his 7th Norris award!

Agreed. I thought that was the only award of the night worthy of second-guessing.

Congrats to Nick but the biggest joke was that Mike Gillis Won best GM. So just because they make it the Cup Finals, he gets best general manager? Guess Steve Yzerman bringing Tampa to being one win away from the Cup Finals after the Lightning miss the playoffs for four straight years means nothing.

Yes and none of them are currently on the Wings. esteef

class act... lost a lot of respect for this guy this past year

He should take a pay cut still right?? =p

They will need 6 more dragon balls in order to get the Stanley Cup. A magical Dragon is what they need to get that wish. If they got the four star Dragon Ball, then Goku might have played for him. A good Kamehameha wave would be the best way to score on Jimmy.

I think they should have gone with a bolder look. Something like this maybe...

Leino is playing first line ice time on Briere's wing. That's "thriving". Hudler scored like a monster when he played time with Datsyuk or later in a short period with Zetterberg. Yet that's "he can't play without a star player" so I am wondering what exactly is going through your head. You want Hudler to "thrive" the way Leino is? Hudler has much more natural talent and better work ethic than Leino. He has chemistry with both Dats and Z. Give him time on the wing with one of them and see what happens! Hudler's scoring numbers this season, even with his long dry spell, still placed him in the "second line forward" range. That shows you how absolutely sick his second half was. Of course now we'll get to the argument of "Well, he spent a lot of his second half with Dats or Z." should bring you to the conclusion of: SO WHAT? HE SCORED, RIGHT? I DON'T CARE IF HIS LINEMATES ARE THE LITTLE CAESAR'S GUY AND THE NOID! You argue Hudler doesn't work in the Wings' system. He scored 31 points in 43 games to close out the season, so that's probably wrong. Look, I get that you don't like him because he's small. That's fine. But making s*** up about how well a player is playing because you either don't know what you are talking about or don't care how well the player is actually doing? That's ridiculous. If you want to say that Hudler doesn't play well in the Wings' system because of his slump, then the same can apply to Franzen. Ship him out for a 4th rounder. See how silly that sounds? Both guys are worth much more, and neither are likely to be traded unless a good offer comes up.

Truly pathetic. And people talk about what a crap town Detroit is? At least we don't burn what's left of the place down when our sports teams win, or lose... I remember on game 7 in 2009, after the Wings lost everyone just finished up their drinks, paid their bills, and walked home. None of this burning car crap. I hope Vancouver never touches the cup.

Ryan Smyth - "Hey, I'd love to come back to Edmonton!" Steve Tambellini - "Sorry, you had your chance to stay a few years ago. Looks like your 'heart was in Edmonton' only if the price was right."

Well, that's bizarre. Who on earth would ever request a trade TO Edmonton? Oh, whoops... it's Ryan Smyth.

Why does everyone keep saying we need to get younger? Rafalski's gone and Draper might not be back, so outside of Lidstrom where are all these "old" players? esteef

check back when you are able to spell these lines correctly

Why I don't give a s*** about height and weight of a player and why I prefer skill over size:

Is it fair to compare his numbers in the KHL with Hudler's numbers in the same year? Jagr: 51-22-20-42 (0.83 points per game) Hudler: 54-19-35-54 (1 point per game) Just saying that I am not impressed with Hudler's game after leaving for the KHL and then returning...