Buppy

This was for 09-10 season, but I think it's the same still. Compensation is based off the cap hit of the contract he signs. $994,433 or below - No Compensation $994,434 - $1,506,717 - 3rd round pick $1506,718 - $3,013,433 - 2nd round pick $3,013,433 - $4,520,150 - 1st round pick, 3rd round pick $4,520,151 - $6,026,867 - 1st round pick, 2nd round pick, 3rd round pick $6,026,868 - $7,533,584 - Two 1st round picks, 2nd round pick, 3rd round pick Over $7,533,584 - Four 1st round picks But as said earlier, no way we could really afford it. Not even with something like trading Flip or Happy for his rights.

I think if they can't trade Huet they'll buy him out. That would save them $3.75M. Then dump Sopel and probably two of Sharp, Versteeg, or Bolland. I doubt Buffy is going anywhere, and I'd expect Niemi, Ladd and Hjalmarsson all to be back. It won't be as bad as some people think, but it won't be pretty either (at least not for Chicago fans).

Fixed that for you.

I was giving an example of a situation wherein I would be willing to trade Cleary, not making a suggestion of something I think is feasible. But I guess that's what you get when you answer a silly hypothetical question.

Like anyone else, pretty much, it would depend on what we could get in return. For example: Assuming Bert does in fact come back, if we could trade Cleary for a decent draft pick, then replace him with someone like Miller or a similar, cheap FA, then combine the savings with whatever we have left, we might be able to bring in a good defenseman like Michalek, Sutton, Mitchell, or Hamhuis. I wouldn't hate something like this: FORWARDS Henrik Zetterberg ($6.083m) / Pavel Datsyuk ($6.700m) / Tomas Holmstrom ($1.875m) Jiri Hudler ($2.875m) / Valtteri Filppula ($3.000m) / Johan Franzen ($3.955m) * Todd Bertuzzi ($1.500m) / * Darren Helm ($0.950m) / * Patrick Eaves ($0.800m) * Eric Nystrom ($0.850m) / * Justin Abdelkader ($0.950m) / * Drew Miller ($0.800m) Kris Draper ($1.583m) / Mattias Ritola ($0.517m) DEFENSEMEN Nicklas Lidstrom ($6.200m) / Brian Rafalski ($6.000m) Niklas Kronwall ($3.000m) / Brad Stuart ($3.750m) * Zbynek Michalek ($3.000m) / Jonathan Ericsson ($0.900m) Jakub Kindl ($0.883m) GOALTENDERS Jimmy Howard ($0.717m) / Chris Osgood ($1.417m) CAPGEEK.COM TOTALS (these totals are compiled using the bonus cushion) ROSTER: 23; CAP:$58.8m; PAYROLL: $58.305m; CAP ROOM: $0.495m BONUSES: $0.000m

Yeah, I think we'd need the full $2 million cap raise that's been speculated, and even then it might only be possible by not signing Bert. Though I'd much rather have Exelby + Miller than Bert + Meech (for example).

The automatic raise is for qualifying offers only. There is no rule that says the contract has to be for that value though. For proof look no further than Ritola. $511,667 last year, as an RFA goes up to just $516,667. His salary actually goes down from $535k to $500k. Also, Leino got $850k his first deal, then signed as an RFA for $800k for his current contract. Also, though I'm not sure and I don't feel like looking, I think the qualifying offer raises are based on salary, not cap hit/bonuses. Abby's salary this year was only $710k. That said, since these are guys we're definitely hoping to keep, Helm and Eaves would certainly be higher (and I did bump them up). Abby though I think will get anywhere from $800k-1M. As far as Ritola goes, since he has a two-way deal for next year, I think the team would be willing to risk losing him, maybe even planning to risk it if he can't win a regular spot. Not saying I agree with it, just pointing out that his position on next season's roster seems far from secure.

Not to derail, but no way Nick could get $10 anywhere but maybe the KHL. $8 maybe based on reputation, $7 almost certainly. Homer might have been able to draw $3 for a one year, but for 2 years that'd be a stretch. Realistically, our savings are in the $1.5-2 million range. Which is still damn good and all the more reason not to exaggerate.

It would be pretty tight, but I think there's a decent chance it could work. We've heard the cap could go up to as high as $58.8, and we'd probably need all of that. Technically, the RFA contracts could be lower, and I wouldn't be too surprised if Abby does come cheaper than that. But as you said, Eaves and Helm will likely be higher. Exelby might go a little lower, but probably not much. Bert, or more realistically someone else like Miller or Nystrom, could get that spot for less. And finally, we might take a chance on sending Ritola down if he can't earn a regular spot. And those line combos are terrible. FORWARDS Pavel Datsyuk ($6.700m) / Henrik Zetterberg ($6.083m) / Johan Franzen ($3.955m) Valtteri Filppula ($3.000m) / Jiri Hudler ($2.875m) / Daniel Cleary ($2.800m) Tomas Holmstrom ($1.875m) / Kris Draper ($1.583m) / * Darren Helm ($0.900m) * Eric Nystrom ($0.900m) / * Justin Abdelkader ($0.900m) / * Brad Winchester ($0.800m) * Patrick Eaves ($0.800m) / Mattias Ritola ($0.517m) DEFENSEMEN Nicklas Lidstrom ($6.200m) / Brian Rafalski ($6.000m) Brad Stuart ($3.750m) / Niklas Kronwall ($3.000m) * Garnet Exelby ($1.400m) / Jonathan Ericsson ($0.900m) Jakub Kindl ($0.883m) GOALTENDERS Chris Osgood ($1.417m) / Jimmy Howard ($0.717m) CAPGEEK.COM TOTALS (these totals are compiled using the bonus cushion) ROSTER: 23; CAP: $58.8m; PAYROLL: $57.955m; CAP ROOM: $0.845m BONUSES: $0.000m

I would. We don't need another borderline top 6 forward, bargain priced or not. I'd rather the money be spent on someone who can play a better role on the 3rd or 4th line, and also someone younger who could be part of this team moving forward. Not saying Bert would be the worst thing to ever happen, just wouldn't be my first choice.

Cleary and Flip can both play in any situation. Scoring line, checking line, protecting a late lead, trying to get a late goal, PP, PK, 5v5, 4v4. Homer can play 5v5 and PP, on a scoring line in an offense role only. Homer is 37 and was given a 2 year contract. We have to pay his cap hit regardless if he retires, his production falls off the map, or gets worn out and has to sit out to rest every other game. Also, at his age, logic dictates that his abilities are degrading. Granted he had one of his best years this last year, but we still have to assume that next year he will not be quite as good, and decline even further the next. And finally Homer's age, play style, and recent injury history suggest strongly that he will likely miss some significant time over the next two years. So yes, Homer's age is a big factor. Filppula is still young enough that he could still show even significant improvement. At the very least, he should maintain his current abilities for several more years. He had a similar ppg rate as Homer, and is much more versatile. In terms of market value, he is worth more than Homer at this point. He was underutilized and then had a serious injury, so his production hasn't been quite where we'd like for that money, but we could afford to put him on the 3rd line two years ago, and you can't really complain about one injury in four years. He's also always stepped his play up a notch in the playoffs. He had as many goals, and 2 more assists in the playoffs than Homer. A full season on a top line, with a good amount of PP time, I would expect him to outscore Homer as well as all the other things he does better. Cleary has a $2.8 cap hit. He spent a lot of time on a top line a couple years ago, and his production wasn't very good. Then he's been nagged by injuries pretty much all this past season. He's 31 and missed around 10-20 games just about every year. He's a little overpriced (or has been at least), and the NTC does seem strange. But there is at least as good a chance that Cleary can get back to or improve on his 20g/40p level as there is for Homer to hit those marks. So factoring in all the rest that Cleary can do and Homer's multi-year discount, the two deals are pretty similar. At least one of Cleary, Flip, or Hudler will be on the third line this year, and be 'overpaid' for it. I wouldn't say any of them are discounts, while Homer slightly is (Hudler might be, we'll see). But in terms of market value (which is just as important as player value) they all should be getting more than Homer.

First, I'll apologize if I'm wrong about the Euro-hate. Seems every post of yours lately speaks critically of Holland targeting 'small, skilled Euros'. I'm sure you can understand how that can be miscontrued. But Holland does not target 'small' players. He targets skilled players. More specifically, skilled two-way players. Big or small doesn't much matter. The main reason many of them are smaller is because that's all that's usually left in the later rounds. Guys like Franzen, Kopy, Ericsson, Kindl, etc. are all on the big side. Nor does Holland really target Euros. Just with the strength of our European scouts and our typical position in the draft, he feels we'll be more successful with those picks. And it's hard to argue with our track record. Also, Pavelski is exactly the type of player that Holland does typically target. Just one that we happened to miss out on. Since he doesn't fit your argument, it really just looks like you're cherry-picking to fuel some anti-Euro agenda. Maybe that's not what you meant, but that's how it comes off to me. Furthermore, I think you're confusing Holland saying he wants to add some grit and/or size with a desire to add all grit and/or size. And also cherry-picking again to overlook cases where he has picked up gritty players. Bertuzzi and May this year. Abdelkader, Stuart, Downey, Drake (not big, but gritty), Shawn Matthias, Nick Oslund, Julien Cuyer, Brian Lashoff, Landon Ferraro (like Drake, not very big, but fiesty). I'm sure there's more.

You mixed your points up. 13 goals, 8 assists, 21 points in 43 games this year: 0.30 gpg, 0.19 apg, 0.49 ppg 10 goals, 17 assists, 27 points in 63 games the year before: 0.16 gpg, 0.27 apg, 0.43 ppg Goals up, assists down, points up slightly, but still not that great. He might still get a raise, but it's not unrealistic to think that he gets something similar again.

I did dig up your one post (related to Leino at least) from the Leino trade thread... While you did indeed dislike the move, that sounds a lot more like Quincey-inspired fear than actually thinking it was 'idiotic'. I also dug up this post from you regarding possibly trading Williams... Yes, that actually would be a nice package for some decent draft picks. Like I said though, the one thing we can't afford to do right now is shed potential offense, and shedding Williams would be doing just that. If our offense wasn't such s***, I'd be all over it. So you didn't want to get rid of Williams back then either. Guess you're not the genius you pretend to be. What the people now criticizing the Leino move are failing to recognize is the more or less complete lack of options we had. You act like it was all about us giving up on Leino. Like Holland couldn't wait to throw the guy away, like he was sitting in his office saying "man, Leino sucks, I'm going to trade his lazy ass". We had to trim about $2 million in cap space. (Or around 1.5 million after May was waived. ~$625k factoring in Maltby going on IR.) Even you thought we needed all the offense we could get, so moving Williams wasn't a realistic option. Miller and Eaves didn't make enough, and were playing too well besides. So we had basically 3 'options': 1. Get rid of Leino 2. Get rid of Lebda 3. Get rid of Lilja Considering that we needed improvements on defense and the PK, bringing Lilja back was certain. But coming back after a year off, he was an enormous question mark, so we couldn't get rid of Lebda either. So it was a choice between trying to improve the defense, or keep an underperforming Leino (who also seemed to be growing increasingly discontent here). You can NOT judge a decision based solely on hindsight. Was it really a mistake? In the same sense as something like passing on Bure in the '89 draft was, perhaps. But we can't say how it might have worked out if Leino had stayed. Hell, he might have gotten fed up and went back to Finland for all we know. Perhaps he really isn't suited to our system. I'm not sure why you think that's such a negative thing. Our system is complex, but also very effective. So what if every once in a while we get a player that doesn't do well here, there are plenty enough players who do. Certainly no reason to knock the most successful style in hockey (perhaps even hockey history if you factor in the Red Army teams). Maybe he wasn't the best fit with our players. We had a lot of guys that don't seem to shoot as often as they should, and Leino has the same problem...not the best recipe for success. Maybe it's the coaches. Our coach is among the best in the game, who cares if they aren't perfect for every player in the world. So let's finally put this ridiculous thread to rest. Leino wasn't working out here, and may never have. Holland made the right deicsion at the time. So it worked out great for Philly. Who cares? You can't say that it hurt us at all, so just let it go. It's not like we wasted a 1st round pick or traded something to get him in the first place.

Do you even have any idea who those people are? You say we shouldn't draft small, skilled players, then say we made a mistake passing up Pavelski...a small (medium anyway), skilled player. For the record, Blom is similar size and Kollar is bigger (though not borderline obese like Buffy). I know you're a staunch Euro hater, but to pick out a couple late round picks that happened to be successful for other teams is a retarded stretch. Completely ignoring the other hundred or so players that would fit your mold who also never made it to the NHL. Man, if only we'd picked Vince Malts and Chris Hartsburg instead of Datsyuk and Zetterberg. We've had a lot of success in Pav, Hank, Fischer, Franzen, Filppula, Hudler, Helm, Abdelkader, Kronwall, Ericsson, Howard, and now we should see Ritola and Kindl. Kopecky, Fleischman, Meech, and Quincey were also drafted by Holland. We also have a few decent prospects still in the system. But you want to cry that we don't hit home runs with every 4th round and later pick. You realize that on average only about 12% of players picked in the third round or later play more than a few NHL games. 25% or so for the 2nd round, 65% for the first round. The Wings have had 8 (possibly 9) out of 63 3rd round or later picks from 1998-2006 become regular NHLers. 5 of the 11 2nd rounders have made it (and 4 of those 11 were picked later than 60th, so really 3rd rounders), 1 of 3 1st rounders (with Kindl now a second possiblilty). That's a pretty good record.

I think he'd fit in pretty well. The year he scored the 13 goals he had a good chunk of PP time, playing a Homer-esque role in front of the net. So he could help out there when Homer is inevitably out. Of course, that would require him to healthy himself; a concern since he's never played more than 64 games. But all in all, a decent option.

I believe it works like this: SC winner = 30 Runner-up = 29 Conference runners-up = 27 & 28 Then any remaining division winners take the next 2-6 picks After that, it goes in order by points, with the lottery winner moving up 4 spots max. Wings had the 7th most points, putting them in the 24th spot. But Philly, Montreal (conference finalists), and Buffalo (division winner) all move behind us, putting us in 21st.

This was only Filppula's 4th full season. He did show considerable improvement in his 2nd. That improvement, and a nice contract, led a lot of fans to think he was somehow supposed to turn into an all-star while playing on the third line with almost no PP time the next year. So, even though he did improve that year, some people just looked at the lack of goals and thought of it as a disappointment. Failing to meet unrealistic fan expectations doesn't make him a disappointment. This last year was the first time Flip was really expected to step up. Then he got stuck on the third line again to start the year, and had a significant injury. Despite that his play did improve considerably. He was easily our third best forward in the playoffs. There's more to the game than scoring. Homer scores a little more, but doesn't do any of the other things as well. Then Homer has to take a discount due to his age. Fair or not, his age is an additional risk factor that has to be considered when valuing a contract. If Homer was 27 or 30, he almost certainly would be paid more than Flip or Cleary.

You guys do know he got $1.25 this season, right? And it's not like he improved or anything. It's not an unrealistic number. I wouldn't want him anyway, but still.

While I agree there is a definite chance that these guys end up being our bottom 3 D, I can't agree with you on Meech's potential. I don't think you can use Quincey as an argument. It's true that Meech looked a little better while both were here, but there's absolutely nothing about Meech's play that suggests he could be better (or even nearly as good) as Quincey has become. I'm not sure why you think Meech is better than Lebda. He's never performed better. Meech has had ample opportunities here; 122 games over the past 3 seasons. Not once has he shown himself to be any better than Lebda. Nor has the team been better with him in over Lebda. You've acknowledged that Lebda sucks. Shouldn't the fact Meech hasn't been able to outperform him that tell you that Meech also sucks? He's cheap and can fill in as a 4th line forward. That makes him an OK option for the 23rd spot on the roster. But we've never seen even one glimmer that suggests he deserves a regular spot in the lineup, much less 2nd-pair potential.

Hmm, tighter than I expected when I saw what they gave Seidenberg. But with a $2m cap raise and moving Thomas (if they can) they'd have ~$9.5m to sign Wheeler, Hall/Seguin, a 13th forward, Boychuk, and a backup goalie, plus they'd have close to $4.5 in bonus cushion to work with if they needed to. Then again, they may want to make some other moves, as the roster you gave has four players that have only played a few NHL games. Then again, they could be next year's Blackhawks if Hall/Seguin can be an impact player. They might be willing to use that bonus cushion. Then again, they might have trouble moving Thomas. Buychuk is definitely worth a look, and I'm sure a lot of other teams will be looking as well. Something to watch at least.

He'd be nice, but I doubt Boston would let him go easily. Also, another young guy may not be in our best interest. I'd still like it if we could get him at a low price. What about Shaone Morrison? Might be a bit on the expensive side, but I don't think he'd need much of a raise over his current ~$2m, and Washington seems to be intent on going after Volchenkov so they may let him go. (Then again, with the general shortage of decent d-men, he might draw a premium...)

Going a little far to say Happy 'made the team' as a 19 year old. He played 12 games as an injury replacement. Then 4 games the next year (technically two years later with the lockout). He didn't really make the team until '06-07. Helm being a playoff regular at 21 is more impressive.

I believe he is negotiating to return to Carolina. While I think it would hilarious to add another big player who doesn't use his size, I don't think he'd be a great fit. He wants a lot more money than he's worth (or at least he did, maybe he's changed his tune now), not all that great defensively, and only had the one decent season scoring. Maybe if we could pick him up super cheap. But I think what we need is a decent crease-clearing shot-blocker, not a marginally talented primadonna who had a hot scoring streak a couple years ago.

Yes, I know those are last year's numbers. They were not the numbers I used in my calculations. Also, qualifying offers are not contracts. They are for retaining RFA rights. Those numbers for Helm, Eaves, and Miller are pretty low. Holland has said he wants Bert back, and is looking for something for the 4th line. Then there's the possibility of another 3rd pair defensemen (either Lilja or someone similar). That gives us a total of 25 players for 23 spots. It is far from certain that all our RFAs will be with the team next season. Helm and Abby are the only two I'm positive of. I think 18 spots are set. The last 4 or 5 will be some combination of Bert, Eaves, Miller, Ritola, UFA 4th liner, Meech, UFA d-man. Whatever the best combination we can get of those guys for ~$4-5 million.