The Big Red Machine

Is there really a need for you to act like a jackass when someone disagrees with you? Lebda is an important piece to this Wings team considering the injury to Lilja. If Lilja is unable to play, I don't want Meech on the blue line, I want Lebda. Lebda's low salary makes him extremely valuable to the Wings and it would be a mistake to trade him for...what are you trading him for?

Yeah, I'd also rather take some enforcer who will probably have less than 10 points over a season than a player who will score 40 goals.

As it stands right now, the Wings have 9 forwards signed. Pavel Datsyuk $6,700,000 Henrik Zetterberg $6,083,333 Johan Franzen $3,954,545 Valtteri Filppula $3,000,000 Daniel Cleary $2,800,000 Tomas Holmstrom $2,250,000 Kris Draper $1,583,333 Kirk Maltby $883,333 Darren Helm $599,444 Hudler, Leino and Meech bring you to 12. You're one forward short.

Ok. Who are you going to trade?

I still find it strange that not one media source in Detroit has reported this.

Hossa is different because he is an all-star type player and a possible Hall of Famer. Hudler is not.

Kenny's also not dumb enough to blow most of the remaining cap space on one player when we would still need 2 more forwards.

I'd ask you to take a look at the history of the Red Wings' draft picks. I'm not so quick to throw away a 2nd rounder. Let's say the Wings cut a defenseman and have around $4 million in cap space. This team cannot afford to have $2.5 million, 63% of their remaining cap space, invested in one player. Hudler is a nice player, but he is in no means crucial to the Wings and is expendable.

To include Leino in that comparison is laughable. He hardly played.

Take a second to leave your zone of denial and actually read my posts. I never said don't go after an enforcer and I never said the Wings don't need an enforcer. All I said was that the Wings should not be throwing tons of money at an enforcer, keep it to $1 million or less, and that enforcer should have the ability to skate better than a pee-wee hockey player. The ability to skate directly leads to better defensive and offensive positioning. This Wings team is not about one dimensional players, like enforcers, like Downey. I want an enforcer who can do more than fight.

Kenny would match a $2.5 million dollar offer sheet and leave $800,000 to sign 2 more forwards and walk away from draft picks? I think not. It's all about the cap.

Yeah because me not wanting an enforcer = me being ok with nonchalant efforts. Nice fail there. The Wings made it all the way to Game #7 of the SCF without a legitimate enforcer. So, as I said earlier, not a ton of money should be used to obtain a player of this type. And to say that a player on a professional hockey team, no matter if he is an enforcer, doesn't have to be able to skate with some apparent skill is laughable. Downey was a horrendous skater and looked like he was going to fall with every stride he took. Just because the 4th line is out on the ice does not mean the Wings should abandon their puck possession style of play.

I wouldn't be surprised if Hudler got an offer sheet for around $2.5 million. Not every team has the cap situation that Boston has. Lots of teams have extra money and would be willing to spend it on Hudler. That comparison is flat out stupid. There are 30 teams in the NHL and I'm sure more than the Wings are interested in having him.

The Wings don't need an extreme level of physicality/grittiness for the type of game they play. The Wings should spend no more than $1 million on this type of player and he should be able to skate with some apparent skill.

Non-existent right now.

The Wings have $3.3 million left in cap room and Hudler will be getting offer sheets from other teams in the +$2 million range.

What station is reporting this?

Don't count on keeping Hudler.

Because those soft euros have been so horrible for the Wings.

No real surprise with McCarty. The Downey move makes me think that the Wings might be going after a fighter/gritty type guy that can drop the gloves.

Especially if the Canucks lose the Sedin twins, which looks more likely than not right now.

Teams can talk to free agents starting at midnight, but no deals can be made until noon.

No real surprise here. All of the reports seemed to say he was close to signing with the Flames. I would love to see the financial terms of the deal though. Edit: TSN now reporting a cap hit of $6.6 million per year.

I hope the Molson brothers soon wake up and realize that the Canadiens will continue to be mediocre until Gainey is fired.

Does free agency start at 12 AM or 12 PM?