Glubki

I liked him too and he was better defensively than what he got credit for. It will be hard/impossible to find a player to contribute as much at the salary he was paid. I've disliked the way a lot of Wings have played in the past but the only one who I wouldn't shake hands with is Krupp.

Does that include Uwe Krupp?

The big disparity between the two scenarios is that the Wings don't have the money to pay his potential reward. A lot of people thought they paid Flip more than the arbiter would have rewarded him. They will be trying to do the opposite this time around.

He signed a contract to play for the Senators for a certain period of time and receive compensation accordingly. He than asks to be traded which directly attempts to circumvent the terms of the contract by transferring it to another team. He asked to be traded. That is the point of contention. The loophole isn't the NTC itself - that is black and white. The team had no intention of moving him until he asked to be moved. The NTC is there to prevent teams from trading a player or moving him to an undesirable location while he is under contract. Heatley is leveraging the clause to go to a location of his choosing not because the team wanted to trade him but because HE is dissatisfied with the Senators. That is a loophole in my opinion... The difference is black and white and I agreed above that the Senators should have included stipulations for waiving the clause if he requested a trade. My opinion is that everything you listed above should be voided if the player is the one requesting the trade while under contract and should be written as such in the bylaws to avoid this in the future - The NHLPA can authorize a strike if they don't like it.

The Senators fault? For not closing the loopholes - yes. But not for including the no trade clause under the assumption that Heatley is going to be playing for them. Heatley is trying to circumvent his contract not by breaking it but by forcing the Senators to transfer the contract to another team of his choosing. Mandating inclusionary waivers would give the league no power over movement as long as the player remains with his contractual club. Hell it doesn't even need to be mandated - after this crap you will see teams including waivers in the event of a trade request. I can't understand why they don't do it already. If some prima donna doesn't want to sign a contract knowing that if he weasels out of it down the road that he will than lose his NTC - piss on him.

Isn't a NTC included in a contract under the assumption that a player who signs a deal actually fulfills his end of the bargain? A NTC is just one element of a larger contract and Heatley agreed to fulfill the obligations stated within when he inked his name on the deal. The league really needs to address this come bargaining time by mandating inclusionary clause waivers for all NTC's in the event of a trade request.

Can you trade a player during arbitration? I know they can continue to negotiate until the decision is rendered and than they have 2 days to accept or refuse the offer at which point he becomes a free agent but I can't recall of ever hearing of a player traded during arbitration. It seems like the union would go ape s*** over it...

With the Olympics and lack of fresh faces I'm hoping the Wings Brass utilizes some lengthy LTIR time a few of the veterans...

I think Burke is in Europe trying to land "the Monster"...

Did TSN give the terms? Its not online yet....

I keep reading online that they will dump Huet or Campbell's contract - good luck with that! Even if they can move Huet; Khabibulin isn't going to sign for less than 4 million and they still need to have a backup. If they sign Hossa long term than Kane is the one that is probably gone.

Chicago would have to deal Kane next year...

Dreger just said Hossa is close to signing with the Blackhawks??

Stream... http://www.ustream.tv/channel/TML-Live

In one case you are offering an elite player far below market value and in Hudler's case you would be pushing the envelope and be the team assuming the risk at close to 3M. Major difference in my opinion but we'll see how it shakes out over the next few days or weeks.

Regarding Hudler... If a bunch of armchair internet GM's can figure out that an offer of 2.0 to 2.5 million could be matched without forcing a salary dump than a team of well managed and experienced professionals can figure out that an offer of 2.9M would create all sorts of havoc and still not cost them a first round pick.

12 hours and 10 minutes...

The fans are going to love Gomez in Montreal...

I tend to over-analyze things but you would think if they had made a larger offer to Hossa and were going to dump someone like Kronwall that they would have asked for an answer by last week so they could have traded him over the weekend or before the 1st. The only realistic asset they could take back in trade is draft picks or prospects. Dumping salary is one thing but giving 29 other teams the edge by trying to deal a player when every other team knows you have to dump salary doesn't make the best business sense. It's possible that teams would still line up to get him but why put yourselves in that position?

Sounds like they gave up on trading his rights....

Malik has a blurb up hinting that L.A. may not even be interested in Hossa. Given how hesitant teams were at trading during the draft it may just be that he isn't getting much in terms of offers for his rights and is holding out for a last minute biscuit. Malik

That is the correct assessment - if you include Helm, E, Leino and Howard they have about 2.5M to bring up, sign or re-sign two forwards. This is assuming Lilja will be active on the roster and Meech is the 13th forward and eighth d-man.

It's almost getting to the point where any team that is trying to get his rights won't have enough time to negotiate before Wednesday at noon.

I wouldn't describe him as punishing - he was an excellent crease clearing defenseman with the Flyers and the Flames probably wouldn't have won the cup in 89 without him. McCrimmon's biggest fault was his skating ability but he was an excellent positional D-man. As the players got faster his effectiveness diminished.

The free agency period doesn't begin until noon on Wednesday - Holland said 48 hours so we should know by noon tomorrow...