HankthaTank

I hope that those of you condemning Kesler for his trash talk never sit close enough to the ice to hear how players talk to each other.
Ryan Kesler's the man.

Kesler sounds like a complete ****** bag. For someone who is considered a star player, he certainly doesn't act like it. His antics remind me more of Matt Cooke or Sean Avery. I just can't imagine any of the Wings stars chirping someone about an injury, let alone flopping all over the ice. Anyway, I just hate Kesler, but I guess the real lesson here is that Clowe should've kept his mouth shut...

The guy has earned the right to retire on his own terms and he proved to be one of the best players on our team last year in the playoffs, getting tough faceoffs and winning battles.
If Hudler is traded, we might not have to worry about losing any players so let the guy have a contract.

No.
No.
I'm not opposed to trading Flip if either some team overpays for him or some team is willing to send us a really good defenseman as part of the deal. Frankly, I don't see either happening.

Yup.

Damn....who pee'd in your Cheerios?

Any other ******* threads about Weber and Doughty?

You're right. It's all Draper's fault .
What's wrong if he signs for 1mil and is used every third game?

Name ONE THING that Draper has done in the playoffs the past two seasons that makes him "valuable". Besides his faceoff percentage, which is above average at best, and his speed... which has been declining steadily.

Ya, so valuable that he helped the Wings to two consecutive second round exits?
Seriously, you guys will all be bitching by December that Draper needs to go.
Keep him on as a trainer or something, but he needs to be off the ice and replaced with a younger body imo.

And... so was the rest of the damn team. Name one player that didn't have an above average series against Phoenix. I mean, Salei even notched a goal and looked good.
B-B-B-But Hudler had that stretch back in December where he was Christ in hockey skates, right? We are provided nothing from you b-b-b-but Hudler love, stop.

Omg... RETIRE ALREADY!
Cripes

Because they're all eligible for salary arbitration (which protects a player from offer sheets), and if these players are not signed by July 1st, it's likely that will be taken to arbitration (the arbitration award is not likely to be as high as what exposing such a player to offer sheets could drive their salary to). A team has the option to take a player to arbitration once per each player's career (a tool to protect a valuable player from offer sheets during their most valuable RFA period). A player can still choose to go to arbitration any time he comes up as RFA.
This has been a public service announcement.
Edit: more information from post below
I was on my way out the door when I wrote that, so I'll offer a little more insight to the process here now that my brain isn't quite as numb as it was earlier.
RFA: A drafted player may opt to become an unrestricted free agent either when they're 27 or when they've acquired 7 years of NHL experience (10 games or more played counts as a year of experience when determining free agency). Their rights can free up earlier if the NHL team in possession relinquishes them.
Offer sheet: Any RFA may be given an offer sheet unless they're protected (either by the team or player) via arbitration. If (and only if) a player accepts the offer sheet, the team in possession of his rights has a chance to match. The match is binding, and so the player cannot be given another offer sheet. If the team in possession declines to match, then the offering team relinquishes draft picks based upon salary. If the team is not in possession of their own draft picks needed for the next draft, they cannot make the offer. They must have the picks for that draft and it must be their own picks, not ones in the same round acquired via trade.
Additionally, a player may not be traded in the year in which they signed an offer sheet (whether they're on the new team or on the old team that matched).
Here's the chart for offer sheet compensation for this year (based upon league average salary):
$1,034,249 and below -- Nothing
$1,034,250 to $1,567,043 -- 3rd round pick
$1,567,044 to $3,134,088 -- 2nd round pick
$3,134,089 to $4,701,131 -- 1st and 3rd
$4,701,132 to $6,268,175 -- 1st, 2nd, 3rd
$6,268,176 to $7,835,219 -- Two 1sts (sequential years), 2nd, 3rd
$7,835,220 and above -- Four 1sts (sequential years)
Arbitration: If a player signs a contract after age 20 (meaning they turned 20 before free agency IIRC) then they are eligible for arbitration any year afterwards in which they are an RFA. If they sign before 20, then they are eligible for arbitration for 4 years after they signed. However, an accrued NHL season (>=10 games) takes a year off of this period.
If the player is eligible for arbitration, he may elect to go to arbitration any time he's RFA. Deadline for submission of arbitration is July 5th.
If a team files for arbitration with a player, the rules are a bit different. The team may only do this once during that player's career. They cannot ask for a salary reduction greater than 15%, and any contract awarded during this period is binding. If it was the player that brought them to arbitration, and not the team, the team can opt to step away from the contract (and automatically do if they don't accept the contract within 48 hours of the verdict).
So what effect does this have on Doughty, Weber, and Parise? All are eligible for salary arbitration. In the case of all three, the team is eligible to file. In the case of all three of these players, if they are not signed by July 1st it likely means that they want significant money and they were not able to work out a deal with the team. If this is the case, the teams in question will most likely take them to arbitration.
Remember, any salary offered under a $7,835,220 cap hit is worth two 1sts, a 2nd, and a 3rd at max. Even if those are likely valuable 1sts, it could be argued that is worth it to acquire any of these players. Seeing as their teams would not want to be forced into signing a contract that high (or lose the players for two 1sts, a 2nd, and a 3rd), and that arbitration will likely not award any of them a salary that high, this greatly increases the chances of all three of these players going to arbitration via the team if they do not have a deal worked out by July 1st.
I hope this provides additional insight into the process for some people.

Yeah, but we could have
Lids- Stuart
Ehrhoff/Bieksa- Kronwall
Wiz- KIndl
for $1-2 million more than what Campbell makes.... Also, how hard do you think it will be to trade Hudler? We don't need to take on a $7.1 million player to unload him. That part is just puzzling. If Holland chooses to move him, he will do so easily. There are plenty of teams that would be willing to take a flier on him. Especially after what happened to Ville Leino.

I lol'd. That's actully a catchy tune.
But a back end of
Lids - Stuart
Campbell - Kronwall
Wiz - Kindl
would be nice. or a cheap UFA defenseman for Kindl.

PS- don't forget to go back and neg my posts like the shoreline fanboys have.

Careful, sleepwalker might construe that as abuse, and label you a Sharks fan.

Rafalski retiring makes this summer much different than we all expected. A trade or two is likely to be made, and that could change the team drastically depending on who's traded. My question is, who REALISTICALLY could be traded? Is anyone outside of Dats and Z safe? I know some players have no trade clauses so they're not going anywhere, but after the playoffs I think it'd be hard for them to trade a player like Fil or Bert (think Bert has a NTC anyway). So who's safe and who should be worried?

This is easy!
Chris Pronger
Sidney Crosby
Matt Cooke
Joe Thornton
Claude Lemieux
Did I miss any? I feel I might have.

Interesting possibilities in trading with Philly...
It is possible that Richards or Carter could be moved this summer out of philly...
I know it wouldn't fix the defensive problems, but perhaps I would make a run at Richards or Carter. Both are ideal fits for our team. I believe Carter has more upside and his right handed shot helps.
Both are two-way players that could contribute to the team and help us improve our top lines, which I believe are worse then our overall offense due to incredible depth. I propose using up some of that depth to improve.
Any thoughts on what it would take to get Jeff Carter?
I am wondering if they would take Hudler, Bertuzzi, and draft picks. Bertuzzi and Hudler are Flyers type of players, and taking both of them would help their cap situation now and later. Plus it would be trading two potential 20 goal scorers for one 30 goal scorer, which is good imo. It would also allow us to keep Draper, Miller, and Eaves for another year and still bring in Mursak and Emmerton while improving. Plus it would keep Zetter and Pav together forever, maybe even freeing up Filpulla for top line duty, or a trade for a dman...
It also would help take some of the sting out of losing Raffy on the back end offensively. We could still sign one or two defensemen.

And yet, still better than Hudler. If we were to sit here and project Franzen's point totals all year what would you say to us consistently??
You're going in circles about what your actual point is here.

For f**k's sake eva unit zero, you got to stop this s**t.
Explaining it another way is simple.
YOU HAVE HUDLER BIAS.
Give it a fricken' rest.
Franzen has more defensive potential than Hudler, you'll rarely see Hudler in there at the end of a game if the team is leading. You'll see Franzen over Hudler 99 times out of 100. You don't see Hudler play 4-on-4. You see Franzen play 4-on-4. YOU may claim or YOU may say he is a good defensive forward or above average or whatever, but coaches and people making the decisions think otherwise.
I will repeat...
YOU HAVE HUDLER BIAS in levels beyond unimaginable and annoying and you will not shut up about it. I like Hudler, it's cool that you like him, but seeing your absurd bias with him makes me want to (1) strangle you until you are temporarily unconscious and (2) see him not do well and not be here so there might come a time where you might actually shut up about him.
I. DO. NOT. CARE. THAT. BADLY. about you trying to prove that Hudler is better than he is or that Franzen was worse or that Hudler is better than Franzen or whatever numbers or stats you pull out of your rear end. And I think it's a safe bet plenty of other people in here share some of the same thought.
When it comes to letting things go regarding this, you have the I.Q. of a deck chair.
For the love of god and everything good and holy, give it a fricken' rest.