MadMan Mark

I'm kind of confused after reading your long reply. . . You state that Hudler wants to be a Wing, I said the same. . . that's why he filed for arbitration, made sure he could receive no offers from other teams, and, one would assume, wait for the arbitration to be complete. However, Hudler negotiated a contract with KHL thus handcuffing the Wings from doing anything until after the arbitration with zero guarantee he would either sign with the Wings for this year or, if he returns to the NHL, sign with the Wings at the rate the arbitration decided. I don't agree with your "Hudler was the odd-man out" scenario. If anyone should have felt that way it was Sammy. Holland showed good faith and offered Huds $3M/yr for 3, 4, or 5 years, Hudler's choice. Hudler opted to find an alternative, but he miscalculated and will be stuck receiving whatever the arbitration decides IF he returns. Hudler will soon learn as many before him have, that he is an average player in a system that showcased his strengths. Unfortunately, I doubt he will improve in the areas he needs to in the KHL. What breathing room did Hudler create? He was a RFA. He needed to be signed and Holland offered him nearly 3 times the amount that he was getting this year. If anything, Hudler shot himself in the foot in the hopes that there may be cap room for him to return in the future. I doubt the Wings are waiting around for him. Quite the contrary, Hudler will be lucky to get back in the NHL because the road leads through Detroit and nowhere else. It's now up to the Wings to determine if they want his services in the future because they will retain his rights upon his return, if that ever occurs. I'm not whining and I don't feel betrayed. I think he made a miscalculation and in the end will cost him a lot of money. But I still stand by my statement, let him go. . . we can find players bigger with as equal or better offensive skills and maybe one with some defensive skill as well.

No further responses are necessary after nelson. . . excellent

Amen, brother. . . how many more days until camp?

If the Malhotra info is true and we are not looking at him, then I agree we should go after him. With the added money coming from TB, he would fit into the salary structure very nicely.

I thought once Hudler filed for arbitration, he wanted to remain a Wing and get paid a fair salary without all the negotiating BS. . . then he pulled this KHL s***. I say let him go.

Then I don't understand why the league is investigating. . . unless it is about something other than circumventing the cap because Philly is on the hooks for the life of the contract. Aaaaaah, I figured it out. . . the NHL wants to add a clause to Pronger's contract that when Crosby has his head down and Pronger has him in his sights to take that whiny ***** out, Pronger must scream, "Head up, Sid! Head up, Sid!" and then skate right by him. It's the new league-mandated no-contact rule for Crosby.

That, my friend, is hitting the nail on the head.

Wings are going more D-minded. If he increases his production, that will help off-set the loss of O from Hossa, Hudler, and Sammy. With a more intense D and a better PK (please), we probably won't have to replace 80 goals. Plus, factor in O by Helm and Leino and the amount to replace has become much smaller.

I find it hard to believe. . . where does Detroit find the money to sign this guy. I doubt he takes that much of a salary discount. What was he making? $5M/yr? What can the Wings offer? Maybe $3.5M. Unless they pull a Hossa deal, sign him for 16 yrs, $50M. I'm sure Tanguay will be playing until he's 45 ha ha

Or the fact that the league may be bankrupt and can't pay their players. . . Hudler will be back in the NHL. It will be interesting to see how well he performs in the KHL. If he s***s the bed, it proves he was just another average player benefitting from a system geared toward his game.

I have to agree that proving collusion wil be difficult. Quite honestly it will be fun watching Hossa wallow in Chi for the remainder of his career. Their foolish off-season moves, i.e. signing Hossa to a looooooong-term deal, F-ing up their qualifying offers to RFA's, not addressing their mediocre D and goalie issues, etc, cost them their competitive future. If penalties are applied, just add that to the list of: 1. Smashed against the cap currently 2. Lower cap (most likely) next year 3. Stuck with Campbell and Huet's contracts 4. Penalties applied to next year's cap for bonus overages and the best one 5. Inability to sign as many RFA's next year as they want. I've said it before, Chi dropped their pants this off-season, and the league is now laughing at them, well, at least I am. If you are a Hawks fan you went from jubilation to scratching your head to WTF!

Or maybe the arbiter realized what we already knew. . . he's not a $4-5M/yr player. . . I thought Holland was extending himself by offering $3M/yr seeing as how he made just over 1/3 of that last year.

Kind of funny, moronic Wes Goldstein of CBSSports gives the Wings a B for their off-season moves, slightly below Columbus' B+ within the Central. Interesting how when a team does nothing, they still rate a grade, and a B at that. Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining, but Wes has proven his ineptitude in grading NHL teams in the past. His power rankings through the year are an absolute joke. Keep in mind, the Wings are looking for 3rd and 4th liners. . . not a bad position to be in.

You hit the nail on the head. . . Chi did nothing to help their mediocre D and downgraded, IMO, in the net. If Chi is looking to the playoffs, their highest aspirations will be a #4 seed, and that may not come as easy as they originally thought. I love hearing the reasoning from Hawks fans, "when we dump Campbell's salary. . ." Uh, not gonna happen. . . whatever GM is dumb enough to pick up that albatross of a contract should get fired within the hour of picking it up.

Do you really think he's only going to miss 25%? The mighty PR dept of the Hawks has come out BEFORE the surgery and says he'll be back in December. . . I'll bet you won't see him on the ice until mid-Jan at the earliest.

If true about Malhotra, I'm kind of bummed. . . I would have liked to see what he could have done on the Wings. No big deal though. . . we all agree that we are looking at 3rd and 4th liners. However the holes are filled, they will be filled by the best the management comes up with for the price. 29 other NHL teams shop free agency for their top 2 lines. . . what a gift we Wings fans have in the depth this organization provides and restocks year in, year out. Personally, since Williams was let go previously, I would not want to see him back on the team. I have not seen much improvement in his game since his departure. That, along with his talk about looking at the KHL would immediately send me in the other direction. I guess the next bit of info is how much the arbitrator decides Huds is worth. After that, I think Detroit signs one guy rather quickly and then may bring some invites to camp for a look in Traverse City. We are still going to win the Central. We are still going to be a #1 or #2 seed. And, I still think we will win the West and hoist the Cup again!

agreed, good luck proving those retirement discussions ever came up. . . but if they do prove it, more financial hell for a team who spent $62M+ for a guy who might give them 1/3 to 1/2 of a season, had to re-sign RFA's at UFA money, overpaying in bonuses for the upcoming year, and probably going to lose 1 or 2 of their young, core players. . . Hawks better make this year worth it, but I think they already have. . .they have Kopecky

And who is leaving SJ? Simply put, the Sharks have no money to sign Kessel without dumping player(s). I'll believe this report when it hits reliable hockey sources.

Your post is dead-on. . . except for Williams. He was here and is now gone. I think there are reasons for that. And like Williams, I wouldn't want Bertuzzi back either. It's a very rare thing in sports to have a player return AND have equal or better success. I would rather see new blood brought in and roll the dice with how they adapt to the Wings system, both physically and mentally. Williams and Bertuzzi have baggage that the team does not need. I still say the Wings should be looking at Malhotra. Looking forward to a great 2009-10 and watching Lidstrom call it a career by hoisting the Cup.

my choices are Malhotra and Grier. . .

You may not have to wait too long, I read somewhere that Nabokov was willing to waive his no-trade clause. Now don't get me wrong, the Sharks NEED Nabokov, especially since Boucher is gone. But, they also need money and should have parted ways with Thornton and/or marleau to free up cap space. Fortunately, SJ's GM is almost as dim-witted as Chi's. Wilson talked a great game when the Sharks went down in Round 1 (again), but didn't do much as far as the house-cleaning he claimed was coming.

I'm amazed at the 4 month return time. To be honest, I don't expect to see Hossa back on the ice until mid- to late-Jan, if he has the surgery. I have to agree with the previous posts about Chi playing catch up until that time. I have always liked the fact that Babs has this team ready in Oct. If Wings can rattle off 16-18 wins in Oct and Nov, they will set the tone for the Central. Racking up 30+ points guarantees 2 things a playoff berth, and the ability to have a slight letdown later in the year due to poor play, injuries, etc. I am expecting the Wings to take both games in Sweden, come home, and remind the "boys" from Chicago that this is a men's game and spank the Hawks at the Joe. Keep this in mind, one good hard check into the shoulder and the boards can undo a lot of surgical work.

If Huds leaves, which I think he will and not heart-broken about it, I'd like to see the Wings go after Malhotra and Grier. At least sign one of those 2 guys.

I don't know how the blackout works if you get the sports package. I have subscribed to Center Ice for last 3 years. When I lived in Vegas, I got screwed when the Wings played LA and Ana. Now that I live in SoCal, that will definitely apply. . . God how I can't stand the LA and Ana announcers. It really sucked this past post-season. I just wish if you pay for the service, you should be able to declare your favorite team and get to watch them regardless, especially when it's clear you live out of the market. I guess that's a long way of saying just buy Center Ice

I'm anxious to see how teams take advantage of Chi's position regarding their re-signings. I'm sure GM's will be crunching numbers and figuring out what to offer so Chi can't even match. But then again, it may be a moot point. . . maybe the qualifying offers never get to Toews, Kane, and Keith in time. . . ha ha