Frozen-Man

Not even close to as bad as the Campbell contract: A) Marleau is a much better player than Campbell, B) Marleau's contract is for a smaller cap hit, C) Marleau's contract is for 4 years rather than the 8 year albatross that Campbell got. The Sharks overpaid a bit for Marleau but it is not even in the realm of how bad Campbell's contract is.

I guess they didn't lose his 11 playoff goals in 22 playoff games (tied for 1st on his team and 3rd in the NHL) Who cares if they knew his name 2 years ago, they traded the current player not the player from two years ago, they traded a known quantity for a possibility. Exactly, I don't think anyone is suggesting that the Hawks will be a draft lottery team next year but merely that they won't be the elite team that they were this year. They will likely go from elite to above average.

No and I don't think most teams will give that based solely of the fact that the Hawks HAVE to do something. The Hawks have no real bargaining power because they have no choice but to shed salary and so I think that they will be getting well below market for any players they move. Plus Byfuglien only has one year left on his contract (I know he will still be a RFA) and then you have to negotiate a new deal where he will be making more than the $3M he is getting now (or if he isn't he will have regressed in his play which wouldn't speak well for the trade either). Edit: That being said I don't think it would be a horrible move I just think because of the Hawks situation it is an overpayment.

Yeah, I agree with all of that. I wasn't commenting on whether Miller or any of the other RFA's would be playing for the Red Wings when the season starts next year but merely commenting on the sentiment of some that Miller won't be "re-signed." The Wings might trade him but he as already been offered a contract and his RFA status allows him to go to arbitration with the Wings if he doesn't like the offer. Miller may not play on the Wings next year but the offer has already been made if he wants a contract with the Wings, even if it turns out to be a brief one.

Very true . . . Miller will only not be re-signed if he doesn't want to be. Miller is a RFA and the Red Wings "have extended qualifying offers to all five of their restricted free agents: forwards Patrick Eaves, Drew Miller, Justin Abdelkader and Darren Helm and defenseman Derek Meech. There have been some preliminary talks with the agents for Eaves and Miller. Eaves, Miller and Meech all have arbitration rights." That means Miller already has a contract offer from the Wings and can take it if he wants to and if he doesn't still has the right to go to arbitration and get his contract there. Unless another team makes an offer to Miller he will be re-signed by the Wings. Whether he will stay on the roster or be traded might be a different story (I agree they will probably let them duke it out at training camp / preseason).

Well . . . . . . . Bye.

I would love for the Wings to get Modano (assuming the price is right). I think he would be great for the team, especially some of the younger 3rd line players. Modano has always been one of my favorite non-Wings players.

I like to have him here, he would be a good addition. It would be nice to have a good hitter on each line too (if they are set up the way you suggested).

My thoughts exactly!

I don't understand how a guy who was 4th on the team in goals and 5th overall in points is considered a mediocre scorer. The guy had more goals than anyone not named Datsyuk, Zetterberg, or Holmstrom. Bert may not best the elite power forward he once was but at more than .5 ppg he is not mediocre either. Buyouts are paid over double the length of the contract being bought out so he was still being paid last year.

QFT!

Maybe it will just drive up what Chicago has to pay for Niemi and make the cap that much harder for the Hawks to manage. That would be my hope that he gets low enough offers that the Hawks have to match them but high enough that they have to slightly overpay.

26 Seconds in: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9w9AfptGGQ&feature=player_embedded#!

That is what I noticed from the quote too. Part of this may just be praise for Maltby and all that he has done for the team, bragging on him and what he has meant to the organization. It lets him give a public compliment to a guy and still retain that option if it becomes necessary.

You were just jealous that someone was racking up negative rep points so fast and wanted in on the action.

The main deterrent (aside from the bad PR with other players) is that the Hawks would still have to pay his full salary and thus would end up paying roughly $12M for a goalie to play in the minors for 2 years.

I don't think the perception is that the Hawks will win 10 games next year or anything like that (at least that is not my perception). They will still be a good team, it is just that they will lose a lot of their depth and a few core players that will take them from being the hands down favorite to win the Cup (as they were this year before the season even started) to being a good team that if they get on a roll might have a chance at winning it all. They will still do well probably compete for the Central Division but won't run away with anything and may struggle quite a bit at times. It is similar (although I think a fair bit worse) than the problem that Detroit had this year. They will lose guys who will expose holes in the team (for example the importance that Sammy had here) and their margin of error related to injuries or slumps will be greatly diminished. It is not that they will be competing in the draft lottery next year rather than competing in the playoffs but rather that they have been pulled back into the well above average pack of teams and will have to fight much harder next year for any success that they achieve.

That actually is part of the problem. The Hawks are in trouble not only for this year but also for 2011-12. In fact that may actually be the bigger concern because Seabrook and Byfuglien will both be RFA's (as will Brouer) and the Hawks will once again have no cap space. So that core will likely be further diminished (additionally the only UFA's that will come off the books next year will be Sopel and Kopecky and won't offer much cap relief). It may be a rough couple of years.

I'm not an NBA fan, largely for the reason you expressed above. Add to those numbers that you mentioned the fact that this encompasses the Michael Jordan era as well where they won 6 titles. Throw in the Spurs and you cover most of those 60 years. BORING! Brilliant!

I don't know if I like the idea of a power play even if there is a goal on the delayed penalty but two tangential things I think they should consider is that there is a power play if a penalty shot is called and the player doesn't score, and that you can't end a game when a team that is losing is on the power play. On the second one, I hate when a team is down, has pulled their goalie, is scrambling to get the goal, has a really good opportunity to score, there is 20 seconds left in the game and the team that is winning takes a penalty to stop the score. In that situation it seems like the team that draws the penalty is the one that receives the detriment of the penalty. The play is stopped, there is a face off, they have to reestablish control (if they can) and have very little time to do so. If the team that was ahead had to worry that that they would have to kill off a 2 minute penalty rather than a 20 second one they might be more leery to take the penalty and if they are not then at least the team that draws the penalty would get the benefit of the full penalty to try and even the game.

Ah gotcha.

Why?

Not that much more because no one would offer more. Additionally, the Wings didn't have the luxury of waiting for his potential to meet reality. The Wings were in a hard spot and HAD to clear cap space. Who do you logically get rid of? The guy who can't get sent down because he would be picked up by another team (lost for nothing and Wings owe on his salary) and who has been a fairly constant scratch because of his play. It would have been nice if the Wings had had the luxury to wait for his potential to reach fruition but it would have also been nice for the Wings if there were no cap and they could sign as many guys as they wanted to whatever salary they wanted. That was not the reality though. I think it does make it look better - they HAD to do something and out of available and realistic choices this was the best they could do. It makes it good considering the circumstances.