Buppy

While the Wings by no means 'need' an enforcer/goon, and I wouldn't want them to change their core philosophy of prioritizing skill, the fact is the Wings have two empty forward slots they have to fill (3 would be better), and not a lot of cap space to work with. We can probably make room for one decent scorer, but after that we're picking through the dregs. If we have to have one or more players who are basically just filling up roster spots for cheap, they might as well be players that can throw down now and then.

My thought is that Tallon or someone upset over his being replaced as GM said something, and ultimately nothing will happen because they can't prove any rules were broken. It's not unprecedented for a player to play into his 40s. Assuming Hossa makes it that far, he won't likely be worth more than 750k or whatever his salary is then, much less over 5 mil. So I don't really even think of it as a loophole. More a case of trading future cap space for present. Early retirement is the only thing that makes it suspect. The CBA already has a clause for contracts signed when the player is 35 or older that says the team takes the cap hit for the full term even if the player retires or is sent to the minors. A simple amendment could apply that to any contract that extends past age 35.

BS. A conspiracy like this would require far too much cooperation. Also, there's no motive for Bettman to do this, considering it could land him in prison if true.

Got it: 4th best Canadian goalie to win a Cup this decade that's still playing... maybe tied with Giggy...

Fluery might be the 4th best Canadian goalie...maybe. He shouldn't even be near this list. Eric Staal, Spezza, Carter...I'm sure I could come up with more if I looked at a list to see who all the Canadians are.

I'll just say I'm less surprised by this than I was by Medvedev's original statement that they would wait until after the arbitration and possibly void the contract. Also pleased. I'd love to have Hudler @ 2 mil. At 3 mil+, no thanks, at least not with our current cap issues. All the best to Happy, hope he enjoys Russia. I've heard Moscow is a great place to visit, but not sure about living there. Maybe in a couple years, he'll come back even better.

So we lose Hossa, Huds, Sammy, and Kopy. 88 goals. Flip and Cleary now move to full time top-6 roles; should equate to increased production. Someone, looking like Stuart or maybe Ericsson, will inherit Sammy's PP spot; judging from when Rafi was out in the playoffs, either can likely do it fine. We add Helm and Leino, who will certainly produce something. I think 40 goals is a reasonable expectation from all of that. (20 from Flip, 25 from Cleary, 6 from Stuie/Ericsson, 8 from Helm, 12 from Leino...+8+11+6+8+7=40). More or less equal to Huds+Sammy. The rest of the roster should more or less balance out with what they did last year. Then 2 more forward spots to fill. Literally anyone can replace Kopy...so one forward to add, to replace Hossa. So do we really need a top 6 guy or 40 goals? We had the best offense in the league, 3rd in goal differential, even with a sub-par defensive performance. I think we can afford to lose some goals. And with a little extra intensity we should be able to cut our goals against down. We could do fine with a solid defensive player that can add 10-15 goals. We don't need a top 6. Furthermore, we can add multiple 3rd/4th line guys for the price of one top 6. That gives us better depth, and also the possibility of saving some salary for a deadline move.

Hasek, Hull, Robitaille, Chelios, Osgood, Samuelsson, Rafalski, Stuart...I'm sure there's more. Not to mention keeping core players and other staff, not to mention he was Assistant GM before he was GM, and before that he was scouting director... If Holland isn't a great GM, who is? The very fact that you apparently, like many Wing's fans, view anything short of a Cup victory as a failure is a testement to the fantastic job Holland and the rest of the organization has done over the years. He hasn't done it by himself of course, but give the guy some credit.

Had to register just to chime in on this one. Hudler has 47 goals and 68 assists in 228 games. Before this year it was 29g, 41a in 173 games. Don't start raising #26 up to the rafters just yet. Sure, he's having a pretty good season. But really, he's a better than average but not great offensive player with limited defensive skills. Franzen has 71 goals, 47 assists in 267 games. Prior to this year; 49g, 35a in 221 games. Hardly all-star material there either. He's a quality goal scorer who can create his own shot, strong on the puck, ok on defense, but lacks vision, quickness, and plays selfish. Frankly, I wouldn't break the bank on either at this point. With Franzen though, I see his ability to control the puck in traffic, move well with and without the puck, strength around the net, and shooting touch and I see someone with the potential to become great. With Hudler I see the potential to become...well, Hudler. So if I had to choose I'd have to go with the Mule. Furthermore, with Helm, Ritola, Leino, McGrath, and Pare in the system, I think Franzen is the more difficult to replace. Even though it might be said of both that they've broken out, I can't say either is truly 'proven' yet. So any signing is based on speculation. But one caveat I have to add. The major barrier to keeping both is Hossa. Assuming the cap doesn't go up, and no big money is traded, resigning Hossa will be difficult at best. Signing him may require trading someone in order to sign either Huds or Mule, let alone both. As much as I like Hossa, I'm not sure I'd want to see the Wings mortgage the farm in an attempt to bring him back. If we don't, we can likely keep both Huds and Franzen, without losing anything else either. And I'd sure hate to see the Wings do what the Pens did and let a few players go hoping to sign Hossa, and then lose him anyway. And a final note, just to make you all think I'm nuts... I'd take Filppula over either Franzen or Hudler in a heartbeat. He hasn't come out offensively yet, but he's a more complete player than either; and of the three I'd say he has the best chance to become another Pav or Hank.