Doc Holliday

He must be the best bottom-sixer in the league (if you honestly want to call him that) considering his point and goal totals.

2009 Pittsburgh Penguins.

It was a douchey question by the interviewer. I don't blame Burke for his response.

I wish we could have a GM like the one on the Sharks. Look at how well they have been playing with all the trades and signings they made in the offseason!

Franzen's best year was 34 goals on a stacked Wings team when he had much more effort. He would not command 8 million regardless of effort. Second, he is a better player than both Miller and Hudler on a regular basis, and his production has reflected that. Filpulla has played above and beyond his contract. So what? Also, Helm and Abdelkader aren't top 6 players, and likely never will be. Your ridiculous view on Franzen clouds the fact he is paid well for his production.

That's exactly what someone who did it would say.

You can whine when he stops playing up to his contract. As of right now, it is a good value contract, and with the cap continuing to steadily rise, it will continue to be less and less of a percentage of the cap hit. When Ville Leino is getting paid $4.5 million to score 6 goals and Rick Nash is being paid almost 8 million for the same goals as Franzen at this point, I would think we should be perfectly okay with how the Franzen contract has played out so far. And I don't really care about regular salary. Detroit is the second most valuable team in the U.S. (behind the Rangers), so whether they take a small bath on overpaying in salary for their leading goal scorer, I can live with that.

It's not like he is getting paid anywhere near what a 40 goal scorer gets paid.

Strangely enough, the Blues have had to be dominant to even be in the discussion. Says a lot about how well the Wings are playing all things considered.

He had that injury before the season even started. http://www.mlive.com/redwings/index.ssf/2009/07/red_wings_gm_ken_holland_says_1.html

Franzen was a hard worker up until the 2010-2011 season (can't count the 2010 season because he was on IR for the majority of it). Just sayin. Also Franzen was a regular PKer and defensive forward, and is simply not used for it anymore. You can't assume that Hossa would have had the same amount of PK time as he does on the Hawks, considering both him and Franzen had virtually the same amount when he was here. Apples and oranges, and hindsight and rinse and repeat.

I remember going to Whalers games looking forward to the fights. Not sure why they would get rid of it unless they can actually find some direct cause of fighting to consistent life-altering head trauma, which they won't.

If Holland doesn't worry about fitting Hudler into the equation he would have more leeway with Hossa. All I'm saying. I think it was possible, but unfortunately didn't come to fruiting. The Draper deal probably helped kill it, regardless.

Extra 5 million? There was that 3 million used to sign Bertuzzi and Williams, and moving another lower tier player would allow the cap space to sign Hossa to a fair contract (I think he would have taken a bit less to stay) and only reduce the roster size a bit.

What happened to Reimer being a runaway Vezina candidate? Kessel a lock for the Hart/Art Ross/ Selke?

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nhl-puck-daddy/scott-howson-tosses-rick-nash-under-c-bus-223153998.html#more-26433 Pretty crazy how things are turning out in Columbus right now. No idea why I put Nashville in there. Can a mod change the thread title for me?

Hudler was an RFA, so Holland spent the majority of the offseason trying to come to a deal with him. Hudler walked, so Detroit had to pick up scraps to fill the cap space. Franzen was not a blunder. The guy has performed very well for us so far pointwise, and is sporting a low 3.9 million dollar cap hit. Hossa is paid more and it was not known if he would be able to pick up his play (3 goals and 15 points in 2010 isn't cutting it) from the 2009 post-season. You can split hairs about how one deal was better than the other, but you have to understand Holland can't think of his roster in such near-sighted terms. Franzen had an affordable deal on the table and came to an agreement. It's all hindsight, and the only thing people have against Franzen to date is his work ethic. The guy is producing at a normal clip and as the cap rises his salary looks cheaper.

I'm glad you missed the entire point of the whole "signing Hossa or Franzen" aspect of my post. The entire point was because of his shoulder injury, he was GUARANTEED to miss half the season due to rehab. Franzen wasn't. Hossa's "other attributes" did not do much to help Detroit in the post season. That is an issue despite the fact he was able to score 40 goals. His best year happened to be alongside arguably the best center today. He hasn't replicated that performance, or even come close since. Also, Franzen signed before the season ended, while Hossa took longer to negotiate a contract. Holland wasn't about to risk losing BOTH Franzen and Hossa by waiting on a deal for him. Finally, the "one year rental" aspect, if you bothered to bring it into context, makes the point of Holland being loyal to players he drafted and included in the system. Hossa came by for one year, and Franzen worked his ass off to make it to the top line. Did anyone expect him to start floating? Absolutely not. Point being, the entire point was that Hossa was not an easy choice, and if not for the Hudler debacle, Hossa AND Franzen could have been signed. Funny how people forget that.

Nash.... Nashville... I don't know. I'm running on fumes right now so that is probably what caused it.

No, you don't get it. As much as I am disappointed in the fact not much was done other than landing Quincey, how much would you realistically expect Holland to overpay for these assets that don't really address the team? NYR offered Columbus a huge deal for Nash, an overpaid franchise player. If Columbus declined that offer, what do you think Holland would have to pony up for it?

The fact remains the Wings pulled something off that no team has done in the history of the NHL. Yes, weak. They have been money at home other than recently and it gets borderline strange to go after that when you could easily discuss the weaknesses of the team in much more rational ways, and with much better targets. One thing I find annoying about people who talk negatively. They like to talk NEGATIVELY.

Your "point" was ridiculous.

So now our wins don't count, either? Man, this team sucks.

A late round pick for the rights to a defenseman who can improve the team and was brought up in Detroit's system is an overpayment? Come on now.