LeftWinger

Smith is going to be good. He made typical Rookie mistakes in the playoffs. He BY FAR did not cause us to lose to Chicago...our lack of scoring did that. We scored 10 goals in the first 4 games and only 5 the next three... The D was green, yes, but we lost games 6 and 7 by one goal each. Only scored 1 goal in games 5 and 7...all elimination games. I like Smith, I hope is here to stay...we gambled on Ericsson and look how long we waited for Kindl to resemble a NHL defenseman...Smith is worth the same gamble.

With all due respect, Hasek was a trade and no one else wanted Robitaille, not even LA. Hull didn't sign until August, so he didn't have many suitors either...and we were shunned by the #1 UFA that year, Roenick. I do hear you though, it was nice when players wanted to come to Detroit. I do not know what happened to lose our lore, but maybe a Cup or two in the next 4 years would change that...

...at the time, Sammy was an upgrade defensively to Hudler ...at the time Tootoo brought the type of game we were missing since Downey, McCarty were here. Not out fault Babs doesn't like him ...he was better than both McCollum AND MacDonald, so this was an upgrade. ...I don't recall many people liking this signing, ...Bert can be a beast, $2M isn't too much to waste. It turned out paying someone to be injured all year was a waste, but we paid Helm all year too... ...again, at the time White was coming off a solid year. He was well worth it. ...no arguments here! ...Parise was either staying in NJ or going to Minny...Detroit was never an option. Suter agreed to come to Detroit, but it got nixed by his wife and family ties. He will regret his deceision. Agree for the most part, I would keep Bert, he may end up LTIR anyhow, so no cap hit. Also, I would keep Frk, plenty of others you could put in there to get Vanek.

The Olsen twins proved last year that players only want the payday....Wisneiwski the year before that...They are going to go where someone pays them the most money (or the longer term giving them more money) and could care less about Lord Stanley. Which is what the league wanted, parity. Vinny in Philly sells tickets...doesn't win it Stanley Cups...and that is all Bettman is worried about, revenue parity around the league.

Well if Holland is thinking long term, he better not give Cleary $3M for 3 years....as I stated in a different thread, he if gives Cleary $3M and Brunner $2.5M that only leaves $5.2M to sign Andersson, Nyquist and Smith leaving leftovers to sign Weiss.... Weiss won't be coming here for a 75% discount, so Holland best not retain Cleary or Sammy...

of course Kenny will not pursue him, he won't accept 75% below market value.... not that what he will eventually sign for will be worth it, but Kenny is known for offering way less than other teams...and then overpaying his own garbage.

If Holland doesn't buyout Sammy and if he re-signs Cleary for even .30 cents, then this will no longer be an overreaction thread....it will be a legit gripe thread... first, the OP mentioned that Holland held on to Maltby and Draper too long, well I do agree, but Cleary is nowhere near Maltby or Draper, so holding on to him for 3 more years would be committing genocide on this team....

Not only that, but not enough money! If Holland gives Cleary $3M and Brunner $2.5M that only leaves $5.2M to resign Andersson, Nyquist and Smith....Weiss will not be coming here. I guess we are looking at the same team minus Cola for next year...Good God Holland! The problem here is why even re-sign Cleary at all? He is 1000000% replaceable! Why retain Sammy? again, 10000000% replaceable! Just when I think Holland is doing something good, I see crap like this and I just shake my head... If Cleary re-signs at all, let alone for $3M, this team is headed in the toilet...

Ahhhhh! Now it is proven, there is a player out there with a better cap hit than Franzen, not on an EL contract that WILL outscore Franzen this year... I am sure it was a bit of a hometown discount, but Dupuis would have been nice! At $3.75M he is a steal! Yet another strike against Franzen and his serious contract...

Would have been nice to have him...at first I didn't think 5 years would have been too bad, but then realizing he would have been 39 (and already declining) when the contract was up, I can see why Holland didn't match. Kudos to Holland for offering $5M per for 2 years though! Keep on Kicking the snot out of those tires Kenny! Vinny's loss anyhow! Last I checked Philly failed to make the playoffs, had to buyout Bryz and Briere (which makes them even worse) and are STILL over the cap. I am sure they will bury Pronger again to get under, but I think Vinny made a mistake. We will see... edit: At least I think he offered him $5 for two years....I could have swore that when the news came down he signed for 5 years, it was said on twitter by one of the NHL folks that Holland offered 2 years, 5 years was too many....

FORWARDS Henrik Zetterberg ($6.083m) / Pavel Datsyuk ($6.700m) / Justin Abdelkader ($1.800m) Tomas Tatar ($0.840m) / Vincent Lecavalier ($5.000m) / Johan Franzen ($3.955m) Todd Bertuzzi ($2.075m) / Darren Helm ($2.125m) / Jordin Tootoo ($1.900m) Gustav Nyquist ($1.250m) / Joakim Andersson ($1.000m) / Damien Brunner ($2.500m) Drew Miller ($1.350m) / Patrick Eaves ($1.200m) / DEFENSEMEN Niklas Kronwall ($4.750m) / Kyle Quincey ($3.775m) Jonathan Ericsson ($3.250m) / Danny DeKeyser ($1.350m) Jakub Kindl ($2.400m) / Brendan Smith ($1.500m) Brian Lashoff ($0.725m) / GOALTENDERS Jimmy Howard ($5.292m) Jonas Gustavsson ($1.500m) OTHER Buyout: Mikael Samuelsson ($0.000m) Buyout: Carlo Colaiacovo ($0.000m) ------ CAPGEEK.COM TOTALS (follow @capgeek on Twitter) (these totals are compiled with the bonus cushion) SALARY CAP: $64,300,000; CAP PAYROLL: $62,319,545; BONUSES: $1,010,000 CAP SPACE (23-man roster): $2,990,455

I love the big D-Men Holland took, but man we have D-Men prospects crawling out of the walls...will there be room for these two guys in 4-5 years with our current crop? I am not saying that there was something better at those picks, but just wondering. Also just curious, without me looking it up, did we pick up any right handed shooters this draft?

Fricking buyout Sammy already! We already got Mantha....finish this offseason by dumping Sammy, letting Cleary and Flip walk. Sign Lecavalier. Then go for a trade to better the team even more!

Pisses me off that LA traded up to get Zykov...really wanted him the Wings organization...Also they got Fasching, who I wanted too, but Holland had ample opportunity to get him, so he must not of liked him too much...also Jersey irked me by taking Santini...He will be a HUGE player in the NHL one day an I only wish that Holland was able to take him...oh well! I love that Mantha was selected, but I do not know anything about any of the other guys taken by Holland... Also, VERY disappointed that we didn't move Filppula...guess we will just let him walk on Friday. Not surprised, but a little dejected that there was no Bobby Ryan trade to Detroit either. Also intrigued that Holland put an offer in for Edler, wonder what it was? Either the price was too high or Vancouver is still mulling it over... Edler and Burrows to Detroit? Ya, only in a dream! All in all, I wasn't over impressed by the draft, considering it seems like after Mantha that Holland was just drafting projects and not really addressing needs... I do give him an A+ for Mantha, that is for sure!

Damn it would have been nice to have McCarron.....

Well....Zykov or Santini in the 2nd please....oh and trade that other 2nd in a package for Ryan....

s***! Montreal is in our division and now we have to face McCarron A LOT!!! Crap!

2nd round, McCarron or Santini and my day is complete! Oh ya, trade Filppula's rights too....oh and acquire Bobby Ryan....

I LOVE KEN HOLLAND!!!!

....er, I mean Columbus not Toronto....my bad....Must have been a battle for Mueller....some on Mantha or Zykov or Gauthier! There goes Rychel.....come on one of my other guys!

Mueller? Who the? I guess SJ really thought Toronto wanted him too....

That extra 2nd rounder will be important when Holland trades one in the Bobby Ryan deal!

Well all my guys are still there.....so hopefully Holland snags one at 20....wonder who the Sharks wanted so bad to move up two spots?

https://twitter.com/Real_ESPNLeBrun/status/351412621502709760 Just in case someone wants the link...

I cannot find it, but you may be right about it. I wouldn't be heartbroken, but would kiss Holland's feet if he did acquire Ryan....