WorkingOvertime

Hopefully GR will offer DMac a contract. While I don't think he belongs on the Wings, I would love to have him as a player/coach/mentor to the guys on GR.

While I would like to see some youth on the team, these guys have given their heart for the team and they deserve to retire as Red Wings.

.

.

Saying that Z should be suspended is ridiculous. He gave a small push/jab to a player that had just speared (even if it was embellished) his goalie. There was no intent by Z to start a fight in that situation. I also don't agree with Malkin being called for it either. While he did technically force Z to fight him (deserving of it by the rules I believe), I don't have a problem with what happened because Z was able to defend himself. IMHO an insitgator should only be called if a player is in a defenseless position, or there is a brutal cheap shot/intent to injure. I do have a problem with the instigator in the last 5 min rule. If it is called by the official, the league needs to follow through with the suspension. When Kronwall was given a game misconduct, the league couldn't call down to the officials rescind the penalty. The call should standon Malkin. With that said, I don't know why the penalty even exists. Since the player is already going to be taken off of the ice, why not rewrite the rule to say something like 'any player deemed to particpate in message sending or instigating in the last 5 min of a game, as deemed by review of the NHL, should be suspended for one game.' This will allow all suspensions to be awarded after the game, when the league can review the altercation.

Holmstrom's play has been declining, but he is still a valuable asset on the PP. I wouldn't mind seeing him play on the 3rd line next year, but I think he does best when playing with better players that can get it to the net for him (1st or 2nd line). He has taken a lot of punishment in front of the net, and I'm not sure how anyone can ask for him to be traded. He isn't a liability yet, and he can still play his game. I wouldn't be suprised if he retired when his contract is up (he'll be 37), but I want to see him retire with the Wings.

In the playoffs, the Wings have done a great job of stepping up physically. I'm sure once the regular season starts again we'll see this argument pop up much more often.

From what I have read, there is talk of the cap slightly going down during the net few years. If that does happen, an increase in latter years may not mean a large increase in the cap from where it is now. I doubt we will se a 40+ million dollar increae in the salary cap over the next 8 years. If Holland plans on this, he is a lot less intellegnt than we thought. Opie, I think you misinterpreted what I said. I did not say that Leino will ever be better than Hossa. A younger, lower paid skill player, is better to me than a ~40 year old star player being paid twice as much. Flip would have probbaly been a better example though. Maybe Hossa will be producing in 8 years, maybe he won't. I would rather not take that chance since we will already have three other ~40 year old players (assuming we resign Dats), and have room to sign people in their peak. Do you really think that offense is the thing this team needs the most right now? I would rather keep our depth/younger players (Hudler, Leino, Helm), and have room for any needed toughness (Drake type) or another goalie (if Howard fails to preform) in the near future.

Because we will have ~20 million tied up in four players that will be approaching 40 years old. If the cap is around 60 million in 2018 and you give the offense 40 million, there are only 20 million left to sign the other 8 forwards. The will leave an average of 2.5 million per player. While that doesn't sound bad now, we will need some (younger) players that can produce like Dats, Hossa, Z, and Franzen are doing right now. I don't think we can expect them to continue to lead the team in scoring as they approach 40. If we hope to develop and retain players like Flip, Leino, Helm, etc we will need the cap space to give them raises as they progress, or we will face losing the majority of our good prospects due to the salary cap. To me, a 32 year old Leino is better than a 37 year old Hossa. He would also (likely) be cheaper on the books. While Hossa would be great for making us competitive during the next 5 years, I fear that the team would deteriorate at our long tern players pass their prime.

For those of you wanting to resign Hossa, what do you see the Wings doing in ~7 years when we have Hossa, Z, Franzen, and Dats (hopefully)? That will be a lot of money tied up in older players.

.

The people saying that the GR players can be called up (I agree that they should, see my roster on the last page) need to look more into the future. We will need to have money in the future to resign, and give raises to, those players when their contracts run out in the next few years. While we might be under the cap next year, is Hossa worth tying up more money until 2020 than we already have with other players?

.

Time to step up and show our superior talent. GO WINGS! I'll be there cheering my lungs out (6.5 hours drive just for the game).

No. I have loved having Hossa on the team this year, but I am uncomfertable tying up so much money over the next few years in so few players. I would rather the team have more money to be flexible in the coming years to resign younger players, pick up veterans (Drake, Hossa, etc), and make other moves. Hossa is a great player, but even without him we have a lot of offensive power. Next year I would like to see ZDH Hudler Flip Franzen Lieno Draper Cleary Abdelkader Helm Maltby/Kope/Fighter