VM1138

Whoa, this is a terrible signing. I can't believe Holland would ever sign something like this. He must really expect E to play like a Top 4 defenseman this year. I don't like paying players for potential, especially when they haven't shown much. Man..how did the rumors get it so wrong? Over 3 mil is a big difference from 1.8. And geez, how did Holland let E take him to the cleaners? The original offer was 2 million! I'm beginning to wonder if E is our "big defenseman signing." Disaster in the making. Reminds me of Kronwall getting a similar contract, only Kronwall had tons of potential.

Good God that's a terrible defense. Stack that up against the teams the Wings would face in the playoffs and they get eaten alive. I never paid attention to Montador, but Jovo isn't going to help this team at all. They really need to get a top end defenseman (not someone like Weber obviously) but not just a spot-filler. Defense was weak last year and it got worse with Rafalski leaving. Yeah, McCrimmon was a big part of that, but we can't count on a new coach improving things without trying to get the best possible defenseman to fill Rafalski's spot.

Lidstrom-? Kronwall-Stuart ?-? (Counting on Big E NOT re-signing) Franzen-Datsyuk-Holmstrom Zetterberg-Flip-?? Cleary-Helm-Bertuzzi Miller-Abdelkader-? (Mursak?) Those holes can't be filled from within. Maybe one or two, since Mursak is coming up, but you can't replace a top pairing defenseman from within and you can't add the top 6 scorer they want from within, either.

That sucks. I hadn't heard anything about him yet until now. I thought he liked his role on the team, but I guess he could get bigger money somewhere else playing on a second line or something. That loss is going to hurt, definitely dents our PK units and hard working role player stash.

Newest article says that other teams have jumped in the mix. Jagr is just delaying to drive up the price. I don't get it, if you wanted the big pay day, why didn't you stay in the KHL?

So wait...not only do we not have a decision from Jagr, but nobody even knows where he is?

Good sign for Yzerman's management style. Most GM's would pay whatever for their superstar to stay. Yzerman showed his strength by not caving to his youthful super talent right off the bat. Ballsy of him, but sounds like it worked.

We need a top 6 scorer. This has been said since before the season even ended. Holland has said this is his goal (along with a defenseman). The team may very well sign a bottom 6 guy, too, but the focus is on a top 6 guy since we sorely lacked one other than Datsyuk and Zetterberg last season. Having a consistent second line scorer will make this team the threat they weren't last year.

Everyone is worrying about defensemen drying up, yet Wisniewski is still available, correct? And the Wings rumor mill has surrounded him quite a bit. I think it's becoming pretty obvious that he is who the Wings are targeting, since they haven't signed any of these other guys.

With Crosby and Malkin back, though, Pittsburgh is going to be a beast next season.

Some names on there are good, but you guys are overlooking something: We don't need bottom level role players. We've got an abundance of those, and they are a strength for this team. The team was lacking a top 6 forward last season. So it'd be nice to get some of those guys, but they don't really fill a need for this team, and we'd be using money that could go toward the top six scorer we need.

You know, teams like Florida do players a disservice. By signing ridiculous contracts just to reach the cap floor, they are basically dooming those players to never play hockey anywhere else in the NHL. How many players have been priced out of the league because of insane contracts? And you know every player would take a huge contract because they think they are worth it, but I'm betting a lot of careers are ended prematurely because of a bad contract by a desperate team. Just another reason to hate these cap floor teams.

It infuriates me that several teams seem to not care about winning, but just barely meeting the cap floor so they can leech off everyone else. Infuriates me. Islanders, I'm looking at you, too.

I doubt it. I don't think any of the southwestern teams are successful in any sport, are they? I understand Phoenix has a big TV market, but that can't pay the bills apparently.

I wonder, what's with this artificial cap that no one can be paid more than Lidstrom/Datsyuk? I understand the sentimentality, but how is it smart to limit yourself to a contract signed years ago that was a steal?

Weren't people really high on him at the trade deadline? And weren't the Wings interested in him already?

How does that move make the Sharks so great? Seto was great for them and he's gone now. They got thinner up front.

We just so happen to have an extra 2nd round pick...

You need to take some pills and calm down. Burns wasn't even the best one available on the market. Add in that the big signings will probably be trades, and not free agent signings, and I fail to see this horrible slight against you Holland initiated.

Can Holland still use one of those second round picks as trade bait? Because all the articles mention the Wings targeting two players in the 2nd, not 3. Thus, we have an extra 2nd round pick that might be better used in a trade.

Don't see why people wanted Burns here so bad. Yeah, he would have been good, but people are acting like Holland passed up on the Second Coming of Lidstrom or something. He's just a good defenseman, there are others out there. The reality is, with the high cost of things, Holland will probably do more trading than free agent signing this off-season.

Honestly, no. Pronger and Timonen are getting up there in age but it's not unusual anymore for an upper 30s player to still be very effective. And I don't see Briere or Bryzgalov's ages affecting them at all. Philly got the good end of this deal, probably. Columbus got themselves a star but it won't help them any in the long run, they need to have some sort of structure for their team and a great supporting cast to get anywhere (See: Tampa). And I'm not so sure I pull the trigger on the LA part of the deal if I'm the Kings. Exactly. Some teams just don't get it. It's not a goalie's league anymore, the only thing you can realistically hope for is a stable goalie who doesn't make huge mistakes but can't steal games all the time (See: Howard). Why someone would overpay when they could probably get a good goalie in a trade or through free agency for much less boggles my mind. I know they needed a goalie, but there would have been better options out there. That being said, Bryz will play well for them for a couple years at least, but they won't win anything big with him.

Love the changes, especially to the playoff format. I can't believe Bettman actually came up with something brilliantly inventive. I've been wanting for years a mixup of playoff opponents. I hope it gets approved! I'm not so concerned about rivalries. Most teams already have one and I imagine those will stay. My only complaint is that the divisions should be done away with altogether. Or instead of letting 4 teams in each division in, just do the top two or something, and then let the bottom teams seed so that there's less chance of a worse team making it in over a better team that is ranked lower in their own division.

Other than the guitar pick and stars, I don't see what's so different about the logo? We've seen that sideways cat logo before, and wasn't it already on their jerseys?

Here's to one more next season to go with his 5th Stanley Cup! Congrats, Nick!