Buppy

I really hope they don't try to plug it in behind the Fox. Between the freeways, Comerica, Ford Field, Fox and Filmore, Grand Circus Park, two churches, and other existing businesses and parking lots...add an arena and parking structure there and there's no going to be any room for anythin else. JLA is only like a mile and a half from Foxtown. Less to MGM, a little more to Greektown. You got the people mover, it's right on the river. It's actually a great location. It just needs some improvements, mostly in walkways immediately out of the arena. The river walk behind Cobo could probably be renovated to put a couple bars/restaurants there, or even build a boardwalk on the river. Could probably add something around Hart Plaza, then you're at the Ren Cen. Add some good way to get from JLA to 3rd across the Lodge, then fill in the ground floor street fronts with restaurants, bars, shopping, etc. for the artery streets between the major points (MGM, Foxtown/Arenas, JLA/Cobo, RenCen, Greektown), add a decent shuttle service plus the people mover...you got yourself a nice, vital, city center that people from the suburbs actually want to visit. Easier said than done I guess. But my dream would be moving the Pistons back to Cobo, and renovating (or rebuilding) that and the Joe.

When Rafalski came here, the cap was ~$12M lower than what it's expected to be next year. His $6M then would be like $7.4 now. Also, Wis, in the last three years has scored 105 points in 192 games for .55 ppg. 'One-hit wonder' isn't really accurate. Rafi in the 3 years before coming here scored 140 in 233 games for .63. That's only about 7 points in a full season. Wis is much more physical, and about as good defensively as Rafi in '07, and a bit better than Rafi last year. And I wouldn't say durability is much of a factor; but discipline is. In ~2.5 years since coming back from knee surgery in '08, he's missed 7 games from injury and 12 from suspension. I think the Wings could curb the discipline issue, at least to some extent. I think just being on the Wings instead of Anaheim cuts the suspensions in half. $4M is likely below market value. $5M is probably closer. If we try to pinch pennies now when we have a major need and a lot of cap room, we'll end up with crap and wasted cap space.

Considering he made $7.8 last year, I'd say there's a pretty good chance he does take a pay cut. Not enough of one to come here most likely, and his salary may be higher. But the cap hit will likely be lower.

Ha, LaBrun. "...Wings might be interested in Richards, but only on a short-term, cap-friendly deal..." ...also rumored that the Pope is Catholic.

Ice time is not the only factor. Pairing him with Nick with "a lot of Rafalski's duties" is a pretty important role, and since you didn't specify the expected ice time or who he'd be matching up against or any other limitations on his role... Again, if he was anything more than a fringe NHLer, it's unlikely he'd have passed through waivers twice.

So... the difference between amazing and terrible is 3 points. Yeah. I guess I shouldn't have estimated the 2nd half as 'from January on'; cheated poor, poor, abused little Hudler out of one entire point to his advantage. That makes all the difference in the world. Completely invalidates my point that you're judging the two players by different standards. Clearly, a two point difference isn't enough to say one player was amazing and one player terrible. But three points. My God, such a monumental disparity. 6 goals to 2 in the last 32 games. Well, obviously Franzen should be shot and Hudler elevated to sainthood. I mean, come on. Hudler scoring at nearly a 16 goal pace. Such scorching numbers are a great reason to displace a better all-around player with a career goals/game nearly twice as high. Oh, and in the last 33 games of the season, Franzen scored 7 goals to Hudler's 6. And in the first 49: 21-4 It's not a secret that Franzen gets more ice time, and more time with better linemates. What you don't seem to grasp is that Franzen deserves it more. So do Filppula, Cleary, Bert, and Homer. They are all either better players or at least better suited to the role needed, which isn't always just offense. So what if poor little Hudler's stats suffer. The team is better for it.

Datsyuk was out several games at the end of March, and Franzen missed a few as well. In that time, Hudler spent plenty of time with Hank. You may not come out and say he's a victim, but your constant whining about his lack of ice time and the poor quality of his linemates says it for you. Even in this post you're whining about LGW not hating Franzen as much as Hudler. Here's a fact for you. Franzen had a pretty crappy year, hardly any goals the last two months of the season. And he still outscored Hudler by 18 goals. He scored just as many points as Hudler from February on. And he's better in other areas. Add that to his previous playoff performances and you're damn right it justifies his negatives. He's a far better player than Hudler and far more deserving of premium ice time and linemates. You blamed Hudler's first half on Modano. Now you're blaming Franzen for kicking Hudler out of the top 6. Every single thing you sayabout him is about some great disservice being done to him either in how he's treated on the ice or how he's perceived by fans. The funny thing is you actually believe that Hudler was 'amazing' the second half of the season and Franzen was 'terrible', when Hudler scored 2 more points. Like I said previously, it's not about Hudler. Not everyone can play with Datsyuk or Zetterberg. The guys that played with them more than Hudler, deserved it more than Hudler.

Not really. Hence why he's 31 with fewer than 200 NHL games. Good enough defense to fill in occasionally, but not good enough to be an everyday player, even on a poor team.

Hasek and Jagr not eligible this year? Or do they have to retire from hockey completely first? Also, you're forgetting Sakic and Cujo in next year's class. I'm guessing this year will be like last. No one really stands out, they'll probably pick one who's been waiting a while. Howe or Oates. I really doubt we'll see 4 get in.

First, I said Janik is not an NHL player, though borderline would be more accurate. He's not an everyday player, and there are better options for us. From our perspective, he belongs in the AHL. Meech too is a borderline player, though better than Janik. He's not suited for an everyday role. Miller is a bit better but not much. Best suited for a 4th line/sub role, which is why he was waived and we were able to claim him. You're suggesting Meech is good enough for a top 4 role. I'm saying if he was even an everyday player, he certainly would have been claimed. Second, when we claimed Miller on Nov. 10, 2009 our record was 7-5-3; not even close to the best record in the league (I don't think we were even top 15). And we had Franzen, Filppula, and Williams all out with long-term injuries. On a healthy Wings team, we never would have claimed him, nor is he an everyday player. If you were to suggest Miller would be a decent option for a top-6 role you'd be just as crazy as you are for suggesting Meech is a capable top 4 defenseman.

Cool story, but not actually what happened. Fact is, the Wings lost a couple games, with Huds-Pav-Cleary not scoring (and a combined -4 against SJ) so the lines got juggled, just like every other 'hot' line we've had got broken up. The next game Hudler played with Flip and Franzen. For pretty much the rest of the season a lot of people were juggled around. Hudler spent plenty of time with Flip, Hank, Cleary and plenty of time with lesser players. There's no conspiracy by the man to keep Hudler down. The Wings' goal is to win, not maximize Hudler's scoring stats. Hudler doesn't get the minutes some other players get because he doesn't deserve them as much. We have a lot of good players. A lot deserve more minutes and/or a better role than they get. But there's only so many minutes and so many spots. Hudler was 8th in ESTOI, just barely behind Homer. The 6 guys significantly above him all bring much more to the team, with the possible exception of Bert. Hudler isn't a victim.

Meech didn't want the 7th spot, and the Wings were willing to give him an opportunity elsewhere when he couldn't win a top 6 spot. Had nothing to do with Kindl really. Kindl was basically 'competing' for the 7th spot against Smith and Janik (Neither really had any chance, considering Kindl's waiver status). But if Meech was even half the player you seem to think, why did 29 other GMs pass on him twice? (Technically 3 times, but the third time there would have been little point in claiming him.) I wouldn't hate him as a 7th, but I would much prefer a better top 6 with Kindl 7th again. Janik may have good size, but he isn't physical. He may not make many mistakes, but he doesn't do much of anything really. He's ok for an injury replacement call-up, but he is not an NHL player. He belongs in the AHL. Salei isn't much of a player, but he's an order of magnitude better than Janik.

Expansion? Not likely, though I guess I wouldn't be shocked. One or more other teams relocating? Yes.

I think free agency this year will be a lot more like last year than previous years with Bouwmeester and Campbell. I don't think there's a big "prize" like that, where everyone is bidding. Bieksa gets a lot of talk right now, but I think that will settle down. Not necessarily directed at you, but I don't think the Wings are as stingy as some people seem to believe. We've been cap strapped the past couple summers but we're not now. History has shown that we will spend when we can. We don't need to bargain hunt and we don't need to try to dictate the market. I think Holland is too good to get frozen out of all the good free agents because 'we' think players are worth $1-2M less than what the market says they are. With the cap going up as fast as it has been, you have to pay more for good free agents than you did two years ago. You can't give raises to playres who already have contracts, saving too much is a waste, and you can only have 23 players. That means the best way to spend the extra money is by drawing free agents. I think you're pretty close on Wis's value (I'd say $4.5-5). We have a lot of money, more than any other contender and we're maybe the most respected organization in the league, and we really only have one major hole to fill. Shouldn't be any reason to think we aren't the front runner for at least one of the top available defensemen. Since Wis seems like both the best fit and pretty likely to see July 1st, I think there's a very good chance. Not to say that he (or anyone else) is a lock, but a lot of people seem really pessimistic when it comes to all the good FAs this year.

Previous cap hit means little next to performance. Tanguay was making over $5M a couple years ago, and had a re-emergent season. Jokinen was down a little this year, but scored 30g/65p the previous year. $3.5 is a fair price for either. $2.3 is incredibly optimistic. $1.9 is pretty low for Babchuk too.

The bold is why I'd like him. I think he's one of the few forwards available who could really fit in with the team moving forward. Not sure why you think there's no chance for him, though. Something I haven't heard, maybe.

I admit I missed the part about Kronwall's raise being covered, but you missed the point on Helm. I wasn't suggesting an offer sheet was a concern. More a concern is that at the rate he's developed and turned himself into such an important part of the team, he could easily jump up to a ~$2.5M contract, even if his offense doesn't improve. If he happens to increase his offense into the 40+ point realm, he could go over $3M. The Wing's won't insult him by playing hardball just because he's an RFA. Hudler, even if he does score 60, isn't likely to earn much of a raise. Frankly, I'd say it's more likely he won't be offered a contract at all than he gets an offer over $3.5M.

23 is the max active roster. I think you're stretching. Wis, Babchuk, Jovo, Tanguay, and Jokinen? I think you'd need a cap of $64-66M for that roster. Wis could go 4.5-5 (maybe a little more) Babs and Jovo around 2.5 (maybe more for Jovo, but I wouldn't pay it) Tanguay and Joki around 3.5 (or more) Nick around 6 Backup goalie plus Eaves and Miller with small raises around 2.5

Suter and Burns are definitely better than anything in this year's class. It's highly unlikely that Weber will sign a 1-year deal. Doughty wouldn't matter anyway. To be unrestricted you need to either be 27, or play 7 years in the NHL. Doughty could sign 3 consecutive 1-year deals and still be restricted at the end. But that's really beside the point. You're allowed to sign younger players to 1-year deals. You can also make trades. There's no reason to target older players.

Silly is, with Helm and Kronwall also on expiring contracts, Hudler is the raise you're worried about.

They do need to be better than Bert/Homer, because those are the players being displaced. Bump Homer down to the 4th line and Bert to the bench, then they won't be any more productive than Eaves/Miller. They may be better players, but they're complementary players. They need other good players to complement in order to be effective. You're just moving some players to roles they aren't suited for and replacing them with other players who aren't significantly better. The grass is always greener, but just because a player is new doesn't mean they'll be good, nor does it mean the team will gel. A lot of people were excited to have a 3rd line of Huds-Mo-Cleary. Our 3rd line of Leino-Flip-Willy looked impressive on paper and in the preseason. Neither produced like Huds-Flip-Sammy despite similar talent. They really weren't any better than Eaves/Miller/Draper/Helm/Abby. If anything you get one scoring forward to round out a 3rd scoring line. Two scoring forwards doesn't add anything unless you're upgrading from one we already have. Upgrade Hudler to a $6M forward then maybe it's worth talking about, but good luck finding that trade. IMO we'd be better served adding two of the top available defensemen. We were already 2nd in the league in scoring (1st most of the season). Plus a better defense could ease the transition when Nick eventually retires.

He's not a shut-down guy, but he's far from 'horrendous' defensively. Better than Rafi, Ericsson or Salei.

The problem is, aside from Richards, none of the $4M (or more) forwards are all that good. Gagne might be a good upgrade, or he might be injured/mediocre. Other than that there isn't a single available forward I'd be excited about or even expect to be any more productive than Bert/Homer. There are no 3 FAs, especially for $4M each, that would really put us ahead of anyone. As long as we get one good defenseman who can QB the PP, we'll be in the mix. Whatever we get after that isn't going to make that much difference.

To simplify and add a little to what gcom said: The "player's share" is a percentage of actual revenues for the year. "League-wide Player Compensation" is the total of actual salaries, bonuses, benefits, etc earned in that season. This can not exceed the Player's share. This includes a lot of 'off-cap' stuff, like the difference between cap hit and salary, benefits, LTIR exemptions, and I think players on one-way deals in the minors. The long-term deals seem to get all the blame, but there's really not that many of them. But even short-term deals can have cap hits lower than actual salary; even if just a little it adds up. Upshot of it all is that if LWPC exceeds the PS, players have to give some salary back. Escrow just holds a portion in case it's needed.

Is this some vague, veiled, proposal to acquire Doughty? If so, shame on you. If not, you might gain some credibility if you actually proposed some kind of return for Stu.