hockey23

That better not be accurate. Everything reported has been around $2M, so maybe it's $9.75M/4yrs?

Sounds like they went for a sleeper. Maybe the next Nyquist or Pulkkinen? (not as in style of play, but 4th round steal)

There are rumors that he re-signed with Vancouver and they just have to make it official. Even if it's not done yet, it sounds like there's about a 99% chance that he doesn't hit free agency.

Here's Babcock's reply to what the Wings need... I don't think Babcock would say they need a top-6 forward if he didn't believe it or he didn't think it was possible. They have the cap space and Babcock said they have the need, so I'm willing to bet that they sign a forward.

If Holland signs Wiz for $4M, I will hang giant portraits of Kenny in every room of my house and bow to him whenever I enter or exit a room.

From Khan... This is surprising to me because we're short on defensemen and have plenty of forwards. The only way this makes sense is if Holland trades a forward to get a d-man.

I think keeping Eaves and giving Bieksa market value is possible... CAPGEEK.COM CAP CALCULATOR FORWARDS Tomas Fleischmann ($3.500m) / Pavel Datsyuk ($6.700m) / Tomas Holmstrom ($1.875m) Johan Franzen ($3.954m) / Henrik Zetterberg ($6.083m) / Daniel Cleary ($2.800m) Todd Bertuzzi ($1.937m) / Valtteri Filppula ($3.000m) / Radim Vrbata ($3.000m) Justin Abdelkader ($0.787m) / Darren Helm ($0.912m) / Patrick Eaves ($1.000m) Drew Miller ($0.750m) / / Jan Mursak ($0.550m) DEFENSEMEN Nicklas Lidstrom ($6.200m) / Kevin Bieksa ($4.500m) Niklas Kronwall ($3.000m) / James Wisniewski ($4.800m) Jakub Kindl ($0.883m) / Brad Stuart ($3.750m) Doug Janik ($0.512m) GOALTENDERS Jimmy Howard ($2.250m) / Evgeni Nabokov ($0.570m) CAPGEEK.COM TOTALS (follow @capgeek on Twitter) (these totals are compiled without the bonus cushion) SALARY CAP: $64,000,000; CAP PAYROLL: $63,316,211; BONUSES: $0 CAP SPACE (23-man roster): $683,789 My only problem is that I don't want to sign 2 FA d-men to long term, overpriced contracts. I don't want to be stuck next year with 2 overpriced players and be forced to give Kronwall a raise, and then have to go out and overpay for a Lidstrom replacement.

1. Wiz for <$5M long term 2. Veteran d-man to play with Kindl. 1yr <$3M 3. Jagr or other 2nd/3rd liner. 1yr $2.5M 4. Cheap backup. Ex: Theodore $750k

Wings are in contact with Jagr per Khan

VPD making sure these idiots can't reproduce...go to 0:18... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GyIebdbMqg8&feature=player_embedded#at=13

check out this moron...http://yfrog.com/nnkq4z

I don't think it's confirmed, but someone fell off a bridge and supposedly died.

I think the rioters tore down the CBC set outside the rink and threw it in the fire. NOw they're reporting that it;s no longer safe for police and fire to be downtown. I guess the rioters won.

That's my point. Kindl had the same +/- in his first 8 games and his last 8 games yet, I think we can all agree, he was much better in the last 8 games. I could also say that Ericsson was a -15 in 09/10 and was +8 this year so 10/11 Ericsson>>09/10 Ericsson. But from watching him, Ericsson didn't really improve from last year, and his +/- was aided by Rafalski's offense. I'm just not a fan of the +/- stat and I don't judge players by it. Anyways, I completely agree with your point about Kindl being much improved and ready to play full time, and I wasn't trying to use his +/- in the last 8 games to prove anything other than the problems I have with judging a player based on +/-.

He was also -8 in his last 8 games. I agree he's ready, but I don't think +/- proves anything.

Connolly isn't a bad suggestion, but I just think $4.5M is too much when our needs are defense and scoring wingers. Also, Holland has recently said that the top 6 to top 9 forwards are set, so I don't think it's realistic. Datsyerberger basically covered this. Hossa was considered a perfect fit with the Wings because of his great two-way play. He's nothing like Zherdev. It's just based on reports and speculation, but everything I have read leads me to believe that he'll get $4.5+. Also, the cap could be $62.2M so that $2.8M in space would become $1.5M. Ericsson and Babchuk are not strong defensively and are prone to turnovers. I would be scared every time those 2 came on the ice. Splitting them up would require one of them to essentially be a top-4 d-man and play against other teams' top 2 lines. That might be even worse.

--Reply to krsmith17-- -No thanks to Connolly. $4.5M is too much for someone who has only played in 70 games one time since the lockout. -I'm not a fan of Zherdev at all, and I highly doubt Holland would even consider him -We will not get Wisniewski for $3.75M -A Babchuk-Ericsson pairing would cause every LGW'er to gouge their eyes out within the first month of the season.

NY Post- Looks like Wolski might only be available as a late summer steal.

I wouldn't mind Salo on a 1 yr deal, but only if Ericsson isn't re-signed. I want to see Kindl play full time and if that's the case then there's no way I would want to rely on one of Ericsson or Salo to be a top-4 guy.

It seems like you're arguing more about the definition of the second half of the season than the fact that Hudler put up 31 pts in 43 games. Call it whatever you want, but this is clearly what eva was referring to.

There were 49 games before all star break and 33 afterwards. Clearly the all star break is not the half way point. Huds put up 31 pts in his last 43 regular season games, which is only 2 games off of the actual 41 game half way point. He had a nice second half, even if his numbers were inflated by playing with Datsyuk, so at least give him some credit for a good stretch where he was earning his $2.9 mil.

If they move Hudler, they might not have to choose between Richards and a d-man; just sign both.

Harrison and Hamrlik would be fine for cheap 1 year deals, but they're not exactly Rafalski caliber. The only way to replace Rafalski is to overpay for a FA, and I'd rather overpay for one good d-man than limit the options to players who would only come here on cheap deals.

I don't agree with the "we're gonna sign Weber and Richards" people, but I think you're taking it too far the other way. If Bieksa, Ehrhoff, Pitkanen, Wisniewski, Kaberle, and Markov aren't coming here then who's left? I just don't see Holland only signing a couple lower tier free agents when he's going to have plenty of cap space.

Babcock disagrees...