Theophany

It's "Homer" FYI. And I'd say 2 years, $3.5m. Career +43 isn't good when he's been in the league for 13 years, but he brings a lot to the table as a PP specialist.

A two-way contract really has nothing to do with it. The guys that are currently playing (like Ritola, Abdelkader, Miller, Leino) are all AHL-quality players. Franzen, Cleary, Z, Williams, etc are all NHL players, and top-6 quality at that. They've been coming up big in some games, but they've also been making mistakes that NHL players don't generally make. They need more time in the AHL to mature.

You know, you could just say that it's me that has Homer re-signing for $1m. But I believe I said $1-1.5m. I also don't know why you of all people are speculating about contracts or attempting to flame people that are talking about contracts; you have a notable lack of knowledge about them, proved by not knowing what a two-way contract entails. Homer is a one-dimensional player, and he's getting older. He's going to sign for less than he's currently making, as he's over 35. The only player that I've ever seen sign for more money after they've turned 35 was Nick Lidstrom, and he's...Nick Lidstrom. Your estimate of $2-2.5 is as unrealistic as my lowest estimate of $1m. Homer will likely make more around $1.5-1.75m (probably like a two year deal for $3-3.5m).

What really matters is the cap hit; most people don't care about how much the guys make year-to-year. Cleary is worth every penny of his cap hit because he's a goal scorer and PKer; he's a multi-faceted investment, as are Datsyuk and Zetterberg. Homer has one facet of his game: he parks himself in front of the other team's goalie and screens the hell out of them. Oh, and he deflects pucks. He doesn't PK. He doesn't play very well in the defensive end. He doesn't get breakaways. Add to that that he'll probably sign a multi-year contract and you'll see a cap hit of around $1-1.5m for Homer. He's not worth more to the team when he's as close as he's said he is to retirement.

Cleary isn't a role player. He does much more than sit in front of the goal. Kinda like... PKing, and stuff. Just saying.

We won't send Miller down. We'll send guys like Abdelkader and Ritola down first. We're sitting at something like 19 on the normal roster with 6 injured (not counting Lilja). That means we need to send two guys down. Abdelkader was supposed to be playing in GR this year, as was Ritola. Janik will also be able to be sent back down. Also, none of this matters after the trade deadline.

Kovy is a UFA at the end of this year. There's no "including" people into the deal. He walks at the end of the year if we trade for him, or else we just straight-up sign him. We don't have the cash to sign him unless he takes a discount, though. You're more likely to see Afinogenov in the lineup or Hudler coming back.

He's a role player, not Datsyuk.

It's more likely that both Homer and Lids are back next year at a pay cut ($4-5m for Lids, $1m for Homer). Helm will probably be bumped up to around $800k, same with Miller and Eaves. Abdelkader will probably stay the same ($850k), and Bert will probably get $1.5-2m. Maltby will probably retire, and if Lilja isn't 100% the Wings may re-sign him at $500k just to keep him on the roster (on LTIR) in case he recovers. If he's not making any progress though, don't expect him to get re-signed. Williams is probably gone, as are May and Leino (unless he starts to show up). We'll see how Williams and Leino play for the rest of the year, though. May could potentially stick around if he accepts league minimum again, but I doubt we'll keep him. Edit: As for what we'll do with it, we won't get Kovalchuk. I could see us moving on Afinogenov, as he'll probably fetch around $3m and will be an extremely solid second liner. If that were to happen, I would be pretty happy.

Alfredsson and Zetterberg have the As, I believe.

I'd say Howard, Eaves, and Bert, in that order.

You forgot the logo on the center of their chest, as well. I bet those commie bastards in Russia are going with cheap jerseys to save their country some cash. ...or would that be China?

Sorry if you guys started out posting retarded ideas and I just glazed over because that amount of pure stupidity in one place makes my brain fog up but... Are people really saying that they think the 09 SCF was a conspiracy against the Wings? For real?

Latvia got stomped 16-0 against Canada; scoring 2 goals doesn't really mean anything, frankly. That said, he's supposed to be the next great hope for our offense, so here's hoping he's good.

It's tough finding the blue ones. ICE Jerseys have been out since pretty much the day they got them in. I was really just waiting to see if Nick got the C.

I'm starting a petition to get Bert's name changed to BerTWOzzi. And yes, he'd have to write it like that all the time.

I would guess they fly him in, but in reality it's only something like 2.5 hours to GR from metro Detroit. Not really bad either way.

Time to order my next Lidstrom jersey!

Ritola's done more?

Let's hope all every Wings fan asked for this Christmas was a healthy team and to rebound from the AHL-level hockey that we've been seeing recently. That said, getting guys back is going to have a huge effect on how they play, regardless of whether Fil, Franzen, Z, Kronwall, etc are 100% when they get back. I honestly can't wait to see this team healthy.

Defies all logic.

Except that he was offered more by teams like Edmonton, Pittsburgh, etc, ergo he took a pay cut (to the tune of roughly $550,000).

Gotta be Abdelkader. Also, Janik/Kindl have not been playing better than Lebda/Meech. I don't know what games you guys have been watching, but Lebda and Meech are actually looking fairly solid for #5/6 d-men.

You're a moron. Name one other player the Wings could have put in the game in Hossa's place that could have done more, even with him injured. Yeah, can't do it, huh? That's because you're wrong, and also, coincidentally, stupid.

The good news is that defense seems to be where we're deepest at the moment, with Janik and Kindl at least playing moderately well in lieu of Ericsson. Kronwall and the forwards (Z, Franzen, Fil, Cleary) are really who we're missing more.