Shaman

If the Wings have 3.5+ million for players, why sign Modano and use the 5 million to make a play at a high value player? the easy answer is: the Wings dont have 3.5+ million to afford both lilja and Mitchell.

I have my Shanahan, Zetterberg, and Yzerman jerseys to keep me warm. I would go for a North stars Modano jersey though, that would be pretty sweet.

St Louis would get the nod for him helping lead Tampa to a cup And I think people will throw Arnott some votes for his going to Nashville for all those years and helping them stay competitive (I hate to say this but im thinking like Bettman/NHLPA when it comes to expansion teams). How about Milan Hejduk?

And don't forget Big E going to the dog house for 10-15 so thats a good 1/2 a season he could play.

Oh, and my additions are: Jason Arnott and Martin St Louis are on the fence.

Granted they never were stacked, and hes not as wildly known as a play off choker, but go to any Canadian hockey board during the run up to/early rounds if Calgary makes it and you'll see north of the border hes pretty stigmatized for his lack of bringing a cup to Calgary. Its actually pretty funny that last year the Flamer fans were about riot and strip him of his C by popular consent.

Guys who would get in now Lidstrom Brodeur Pronger Selanne Modano Recchi Osgood? Iginla? No way if Thornton wouldn't get in, than Iginla is a no go, Thornton is 2 years younger, played similar number of games, he has more points, and neither have done anything in the post season. Guys I don't think would get in now Thornton Kariya Kovalev Alfredsson Tkachuk Foote Weight

Shave him back to 1.55 and keep miller and offer him bonuses.

I love this idea, and I'm the anti goon cadre but Mitchell is the kind of grit even I like, he hits, he plays the hard minutes, and he does it with skill and he can even score a few points while doing it. That and it would give Big E a good stay at home defender to play with not Brett 'HEYIMAFORWARD' Lebda.

Id trade Meech and pick up Willie Mitchell, solid defender, never won a cup, no offer from Vancouver, would be a great fit on our bottom pairing

Why not wait till next season or the season after that when the wings will have 12 million dollars less of defensemen on the books and make a powerplay for a big name young defensemen to rebuild our defense around?

He had 23 goals the last season he played, and hes going to be on the 2nd pp all season looks like, I think 30 is a realistic high end expectation

My predictions: Zetterberg 46 Franzen 42 Dats 38 Hudler 30 Homer 25 Flip 23 Bertuzzi 23 Cleary 21

z The wings got this.

My prediction: Hudler will out score Flip by 10 points while still receiving less ice time.

my Joe Pelletier rookie card over all

An old washed up fighter who will add nothing but a single attribute to a team that needs minute eaters not bench fodder... If this is what people want can't the wings just send a player to sit in the locker room for 10 mins every 5th game? It'll be the exact same, because the most time on the scoresheet down will ever have is penalty time.

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman: Come on in, Bill. Take a seat. Just clear that stack of bills off the chair. NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly: Whose bills, this time? Gary: Still Phoenix. You know that last season we paid for bottled water at their offices? And for Ed Jovanovski? Bill: Yeah, but he's the City of Glendale's problem now, and only for one more year. He'll never make it to Winnipeg. Of course, neither will the team, am I right? Gary: One more year! One! [flourishes cape, laughs, thunder rolls, lightning flashes] Bill: So Gary, about this Ilya Kovalchuk contract, what are we gonna do? The Devils front-loaded that deal like crazy -- of the US$102-million, he'd get US$98.5-million in the first 11 years, and then in the last six years he'd be paid in cotton candy and hockey tape. The average cap hit is $6-million. Cripes, that's what we're paying Ed Jovanovski. Gary: Have him killed. Bill: I keep telling you, Gary, we can't have players killed. If we could, Sean Avery would be in a ditch in New Jersey. Gary: I told you to write that into the last collective bargaining agreement, didn't I? Didn't I? Bill: Gary, stay focused here. Look, we let the Marian Hossa deal go through, and the Duncan Keith deal go through, and the Henrik Zetterberg deal go through... Gary: Get to the point. Bill: ... and the Roberto Luongo deal go through, and the Johan Franzen deal go through... Gary: [Throws a hockey puck. Daly ducks just in time. The puck lands on the carpet, where it is quickly stolen by Chris Pronger.] Bill:... and the Chris Pronger deal go through, but boy, this one's really rubbing our faces in that loophole. Sure, we allowed 15 years for Rick DiPietro, and he's made of balsa wood tied together with twine, but 17 years? Sure, we allowed deals that would see Zetterberg and Franzen play until they're 40, and Pronger play until he's 42, but 44? That's just crazy, right? Gary: [smirks coldly] Whoever wrote this CBA wasn't paying very close attention, were they, Bill? Bill: [soldiers on] So I say we reject it as a contravention of the agreement. It's time to draw the line. Gary: The red line? Bill: You think you're so funny. Gary: OK, OK. Well, I'll consider it. Better warn our pal Lou Lamoriello, though. Wouldn't want him to hold an introductory press conference and sell season tickets to see a guy whose contract we rejected. [The phone rings. Gary, a little surprised, answers] Lou Lamoriello: Gary, Bill, it's Lou. Gary: Lou, how did you know we were just talking about you? Lou: Lou knows everything, sunshine. Lou's sharp. Gary: Well, Lou, we might reject the Kovalchuk contract. Lou: Sure you will, sweet cheeks. Gary: What? Lou: Gary, buddy, do me a favour. Look real close at what I say at the press conference tomorrow. I'm gonna say stuff like, "There is nothing that we have done wrong. This is within the rules. This is in the CBA. There are precedents that have been set. But I would agree we shouldn't have these." And I'm gonna say I absolutely rolled my eyes at the 13-year Ovechkin deal and the DiPietro deal. And I'm gonna say, "as far as what the financial commitment is and that aspect of it, that was out of my hands." Bill: Lou, why would you do that? Lou: You let Lou worry about Lou, candy apple. Anyway, I gotta run. I got stuff to do. Just a sec. [shouts] Hey, order up those Kovy ads for the website, willya? You don't, it's your ass! Gary: But you're still going to go through with the press conference, Lou? We're not kidding, here. Lou: [cackles, hangs up] Bill: OK, that takes care of the Devils, I guess. But what about the players' association? They could appeal, right? Gary: Who? [they both laugh] Gary: No, but seriously, even though the NHLPA is basically run by whoever hasn't gone out for coffee, they'd probably fight it. I mean, the Hossa deal was just about as ridiculous as this. Bill: Why didn't we reject that deal? Gary: We were a little busy with Jim Balsillie at the time, if you remember. Bill: Oh, yeah. You see the local ownership bought Boots del Biaggio's 27% stake in the Predators for US$15.2-million? That means the team is worth what, US$60-million? Jeez, and to think Balsillie offered us four times that. Gary: [Throws puck. Daly ducks. The puck is alertly scooped up by Chris Pronger, who darts out again.] Gary: [shouts down hall] What is wrong with you? [sound of footsteps receding into the distance] Bill: Hey, when do you think those Ice Edge guys will finally buy the Coyotes, anyway? [they both laugh.] Gary: Anyway, the NHLPA is an empty shell. It's nothing. Bill: Until Don Fehr comes in. [they both shiver.] Bill: What are you going to do during the lockout, anyway? Gary: Bill my friend, the NHL was built on certain unalterable precepts. Sure, we change the rules as soon as Sean Avery does something stupid, and we prop up teams that are failing in ridiculous markets that we're totally devoted to until there's a better one available, and we keep changing the rules. But I'm not so sure about this. I'm worried we'll look like farmers shutting the barn door after the horses have gone. Bill: Well, I feel strongly about it. Who can get to break the tie? Gary: How about Colin Campbell? That guy never gets it wrong. --------- Read more: http://www.nationalpost.com/opinion/columnists/Bettman+Daly+sort+serious/3308785/story.html#ixzz0ujVAfLNj

Ok, heres the bottom line they need to sign Nemi and 5 other players for 5 million dollars (they can only exceed the cap by 10% till puck drop 2010-11 and can't put Huet on waivers till that day.

Ok Lets break it down further Dats>Kane (Last year was a fluke, Dats will be over 90 points again) Z>Toews (Z is a better leader and had more points last year and is only 30) Franzen=Hossa (he may have gotten a ring last year, but, I can name peewee players that would have done more for Chicago on the line he played on) Hulder=Sharp (Hudler is epic, and sharp will be traded more than likely) Flip>Bolland Cleary< Brouwer So I'd say our top 6 is better than theirs and given a healthy season it will be shown. Our bottom 6 >>>>>>>> theirs Our defense... hard to say, our second pairing is much better than theirs on defensively, and Kronner if he continues what he was doing beginning of last season could easily have a better offensive year compared to soup. The first pairing is hard, I'd still argue if I had to pick one defensemen to play only next year to win it all id take Lids first and foremost, now Keith would be my choice to build a defense around for the next 10, but just for next year (and youll call me a homer) I still believe Lids will quietly be the best Dman in the league. Now youll say 'but Keith won Norris... well you can tell by who was nominated how well people knew defensive play in the NHL). So heres my point, the reason why Chicago dominated wasn't because of a great top 6 and top defensive pairing alone (if that were the case Tampa would have been in the cup running, not the draft lottery), they won it because they had amazing depth in their roster. Guess what Chitown losers, your team lost its greatest strength.

My birthday too and everyone knows im so much better than him... no thread for me?

There should be some provision for these long contracts, like 'after the age of 38 if the player retires 2/3rds of the contract average cap hit still applies' So if teams sign a player for a 20 year 100 million dollar contract they will be on the hook for it because even the player is in his low 20s its still putting him in his 40s and every team knows they don't want to pay a guy in his 40s that much money... Its a great idea to soften a cap hit for high end talent, and if its not ridiculous it shouldn't be an issue, but anything after 40 is getting to that point in my opinion.

Better him in the east than the west

Fedorov nuff said.