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From Helene St James: RedWings done with free agency for today - now sitting back to wait to hear from Ryan Suter & Zach Parise. And DET GM Ken Holland on signing of Jordin Tootoo: "We're stepping out of our comfort zone."

I'm not trying to defend Eklund, but I don't see what the big deal is. Eklund never writes that the Wings lack depth... he says Johnson still has a lot of game left in him and that other teams considered signing him as a UFA. He also suggests Johnson is the type of player that fits with the Wings... I didn't see even one derogatory statement against the Wings... In my opinion, it's just the opposite. Ecklund is not pointing out some sort of mistake by the Wings... he seems to be saying that Ken Holland did the BEST job finding potential talent among all of the try-outs offered around the league...

That's very mature... Come on, nobody should ever try to intentionally injure another player... period... Even if it's Sydney Crosby or Brooks Orpik. That kind of behavior is reprehensible. Now a good beatdown on the ice... or perhaps Kronwall lining him up some day... That's hockey.

Signing Willie Mitchell would have meant definitely losing one or more players. Salei's contract $$$ is perfect and he is certainly a solid 5/6d when healthy. Zetterberg, Datsyuk, Holmstrom Franzen, Filppula, Bertuzzi Hudler, Modano, Cleary Abdelkader, Helm, Eaves Miller, Draper, Ritola (15 forwards) Lidstrom, Rafalski Kronwall, Stuart, Selei, Ericsson Kindle Howard, Osgood Assuming, Abdelkader signs for $845,444 (plus bonuses), or less, The wings are under the Cap (by $1). They don't have to waive or trade Miller or Ritola until they're ready, or until they have to because of injury. Ritola or Miller's can be the 'cushion' until injuries force their hand. Just a note, Brendan Smith's contract ($875,000) would force the Wings to move a player from the above roster to make room. Clearly this is a very, very solid team. Kenny going for the cup big-time this year with the moves he's made this off-season. Just my two cents...

Any lawyer worth a dime will tell his client to keep his mouth shut after an arrest. Silence should not be interpreted to indicate guilt or innocence. Silence after an arrest is the rule, not the exception when it comes to the legal system. On the other hand, if Kane wants to protect or rebuild his reputation, it's probably best to put together a litigation PR strategy right now and get out there and say something. That's tricky business though. Unfortunately, it's very likely that almost anything Patrick Kane, or a spokesman, says right now would be intrerpreted/twisted as a sign of his guilt by people who want to believe he is guilty... Even if he said, "I'm not guilty and I will prove it", people who wanted to believe he was guilty would just think, "of course, he had to say that". It's definitely a difficult, if not a no win, situation for Patrick Kane right now. I understand the desire to know what happened and the predisposition to judge based on what you read in the newspaper or hear on the news. Unfortunately, the days of honest, investigative journalism ended decades ago. Many news journalists are at best scribes for law enforcement... They just mindlessly repeat what the police tell them. The scary thing is that all too often police will say whatever they need to in order to make an arrest. Trust me when I say it's usually best to make law enforcement prove what they say about the accused, rather than just taking them at their word. In my opinion, it's too soon to make an informed opinion about Patrick Kane's situation. If he did what he's accused of, he should be punished. If he didn't do what he's accused of, or there are mitigating circumstances, he should be exonerated. It's in the legal system now... and often you just have to wait. In any case, it's not good news for Patrick Kane. It's not good news for the Blackhawks. It's not good news for the NHL. And it's not really good news for the Wings, because the Hawks will just use it as an excuse when we kick their butts.