stillwater

I must have missed that. He's in what, the top 5 in the league salary wise? How is that taking one for the team?

It'smore like $9 million left under the cap and highly doubtful at this point that Bertuzzi and Hasek sign for less than a $4 million cap hit.

I'm assuming you're referring to Lidstrom. I guess I'm wondering when he "took one for the team". Wasn't it he who signed the highest possible salary under the rules of the cap?

Disapponinted? For Chrissake, it's only hours into the start of free-agency and the Wings have signed arguably the best defenseman available for less money than some other bums are being paid. What, they didn't get Todd White?

I don't consider him a liability, I consider him old and no longer in the upper echelon of goaltenders in the NHL. I think he gets way too much credit for backstopping the Wings to the semi's, especially considering the Wings give up so few shots against. Not suggesting Osgood would have been better, I'm just not interested in the Wings blowing their load on a salary for a 42-year old goaltender. How much longer do you think he can be reasonably effective? What I think is not important. What the Wings think is. I don't want the Wings thinking they're being drawn and quartered by Hasek because no other options exist. I'd hate to see them spend too much on Hasek, thus taking cash away from some other needed part.

Markov made $2.5 million last year, why he'd sign for the same money in this market is beyond me. With Lidstrom, Rafalski, Kronwall, Chelios, Lilja, Lebda and Quincey around, I think Markov is gone. Good player, but somewhat redundant considering the defensive depth the Wings already have. Let Hasek stew a little and don't allow him to attempt to break the bank. He knows he won't go anywhere else and so do the Wings. He should be looking for incentives and not a big salary. He's also 42 years old. How much longer can he be effective? The Wings also got to the Western final in spite of Dominik, not because of him. He was nothing special. Bertuzzi did absolutely nothing in Detroit. Any expectation to have him return to his former "best power forward in the league" role needs to be taken with a huge grain of salt. He's injured, slow, no longer fights and the speed of the new NHL has seemed to pass him by. Again, no big contract is warranted or deserved in his case.