LeftWinger

Problem with Mac is his health...if he didn't have the back issues, they wouldn't be looking for a back-up...would you still rather keep a lame Joey Mac or have a healthy Gustavsson? I too have Harding on the top of my list, but I think there are other places that he could wind up in starting role and then where do we go from there?

LOL! How about this one: The Miller Ice Box....affectionately known to its fans as The Cooler...

Point is, sure Holland wants Parise first and foremost....and so do many other GM's, but there are backup plans out there. As for where those guys may go, its all guessing for us...Jordan Staal will go to Canes' why, because of his brother? Is it more important to play with his brother than to make it to the playoffs every year? And why is it that everyone thinks that the 29 other GM's will price their players so high when it comes to Detroit? Is it a conspiracy?

Wow, you mean no overpayment? That is nice to see! A 20 goal scorer making $3M per season...does this hurt Hudler's chances of $4M+? Maybe he'll consider an offer of $3M as well... This Kelly signing is good...if we were going to start seeing 20 goal scorers hitting $5M, the the NHL would be in a world of hurt! Of course $1.6M per for Campbell may have just risen the contracts of Helm and Abby a bit...damn.

Speaking of signing players....there seems to be alot of us wishing for Harding to be Howards backup...what about Gustavsson or Clemmensen? Johnson seems to have lost his backup spot in Pitt as well...Al Montoya? Even Marty Biron had a nice season...

Dear Mr. Smith, Please call Justin Schultz and tell him how great this organization is and that he needs to be here! Oh BTW, We cannot wait to see #2 all season long! Sincerely, LGW

Wouldn't be the end of the world if Holland doesn't get them...there are plenty of other options to choose from after those two... Doan, Semin, A. Kostitsyn via UFA. Perry, Iginla, Nash, J. Staal via trade if Parise doesn't come here and Carle, Jackman, O'Brien, Mitchell, Brookbank, Souray if Suter doesn't. Are they Parise and Suter? No...but they are players who are better than what we have now and would help this team tremendously! If Suter doesn't sign here, you better believe if Weber is UFA next year, Holland will be in hot pursuit again! Besides Suter may re-sign in Nashville, they do only have 11 players signed and $38M to spend! They could give both Suter and Weber $9M each and STILL have $20M to sign 10 more players... But PLEASE Holland do not re-sign Hudler!

Ya, if you are going to be mad, be mad at the ex-husband for not letting his daughter move to Detroit...then again, who would want to let your daughter move 2500 miles away and then you would see her even less! I commend Stuart for putting family ahead of the NHL....(I just don't wish him luck when he plays us...) You are a good man Brad...until you are facing the Wings...after the buzzer? Good man again!

Just who is this up and coming team? The Wild? They only have 16 players signed, 4 of which are rookies on EL contracts and 2 players who were rookies last season on D. They have to re-sign Latendresse now, Clutterbuck next year along with Backstrom, Bouchard and Cullen... If they throw $17M-$18M at Parise and Suter, how are they going to re-sign their core? I already went through this above, Detroit has MORE money to offer both Suter and Parise and already has their core signed for a long time...other than Filppula and Datsyuk (who aren't going anywhere (unless Flip is traded)) This team is set for the next 5-10 years...Helm and Abby will cost very little in comparison to Lattendresse and Clutterbuck...and Howard will cost a TON less than its gonna cost to re-sign Backstrom...

Well, problem with that is, Detroit has MORE money to sign him and even sign others to make his chances even better at winning, consistently! Of the 16 players the Wild have under conntract, 6 are on EL's. Rookies... Half of their D are rookies this season. You have Koivu singed for the next 7 years at $6.75, Backstrom is already at $6M and he is a UFA after this season, they will have to re-sign him and with the stupid Preds giving Rinne $7M, his salary will go up. You got Heatly at $7.5M for the next two years PM Bouchard is due up for a nice raise next year too or he will leave as UFA. Not to mention Lattendresse & Ortmeyer are FA's come July and are a big part of the chemistry up there. Now they are going to throw the MOST at Parise (which I figure is at least = to Crosby's $9M) and he is not going to sign a 1 year, he wants to end his career on his next contract, so he will be looking for 8-10 years. You also have CLutterbuck a RFA next season looking to get a raise as well. And then trying to make your D better than 3 rookies?! Does she think they are going to get SUter too? There goes $8M more. They have $21M to spend, but if they spend $17M-$18M (or more) on Parise and Suter who is gonna play for their team? Rookies? My point is, Detroit already has their core signed, for a while. In essence all they have to do is spend the same $17M-$18M (if it takes that much) on Parise and Suter for the next 10 years and that is all they will need to do to stay "favorites" for the next 7-10 years. They still have $8M to spend this year to sew up Helm and Abby or at least 5 years and if they wanted to extend Filppula and Howard for the next 5-10, it isn't going to cost them $7M each I can tell you. Minny may want to offer him more than any other team, but after in two years, they will be in a world of hurt, espcially if the Cap drops...Detroit can offer just as much, but in the same two years, they still have most of their best players STILL under contract...He either takes the Minny offer and is on a team full of rookies in a couple of years, or he signs with Detroit and has our lineup ALREADY signed for most if not all of his contract...Sure he may just want to money nad not care about winning...but given the fact that I still believe there is a cap to what the highest paid player gets on your team, Detroit can even match that if Minny wants to be pricks...I doubt Holland would, but he sure would love to screw Minny by driving the price up! Most experts have said and agree, Detroit seems to be the best fit for BOTH Suter and Parise...this local lady is just talking crap...

Well if they wind up keeping him, that is ok, so then who would be the backup plan? UFA's: Doan Semin Kostitsyn, A. Trade: Iginla Nash Staal Perry I guess I'd rather see him stay in NJ, than join St. Louis or Chicago or someone else that would hurt us...

Ya, that is what we are used to, but it's not like he doesn't have two big sets of shoes to fill in Lidstrom/Stuart... also, if for some reason Holland cannot get one or both Suter/Parise, I would like to hear something like..."We contacted those players, made an offer $*,***,*** and ** years and they weren't interested in Detroit..." That would be better than wondering if he even contacted them at all...I would love to hear the truth and know exactly what he offered. SOmetime he says, we contacted them, made an offer and they didn't like it, but that could mean he offered them $4M less than what they signed for... I believe again, the only ways they don't come here is if Kenny lowballs them or they just don't want to be here...if Kenny offers top dollar and Edmonton offers top dollar, I would think that Detroit would be their choice...I just hope Detroit outbids everyone...if Crosby signs for $9M per year for 10 years, Parise should fall right in around $7.5M-$8M. I think if Holland offered him $7.5M for 10 years, he would sign...Suter would cost a bit more I think...

No....you need the average team behind a few stars...just like someone mentioned the 4 or 5 Kings that are Stars...They will (Should) have next year Datsyuk, Parise, Zetterberg, Filppula and Franzen as 60+ point getters a few should get near 100...if they didn't have the average bottom 6 they have now and if they add another big body, they should be favorites again...

as much as we disagree on things, these are my exacts thoughts...matter of fact, I mentioned Nyquist a little earlier on and your idea of the bottom six is mine exactly (that is if we don't acquire a big man for the 4th.) edit: I know my dream roster in my sig says a bit different, but obviously of Doan is not acquired, Franzen moves back up, Filppula moves back up, Helm moves back up and Eaves moves back up, making Miller our 13th...

This was gonna happen either way...so far, it is all going to plan... 1. Cap went up! 2. Lids hung them up! (ya this was a bit to swallow, but geesh, folks on here (including me) were saying not too long ago that LIds either needs to take $2.0M or retire. So there ya go, he retired) 3. Stuart left. ...now we will see if the plan keeps going or if it has to change drastically. Bottom line, if Holland does indeed throw the wallet at Suter/Parise and he doesn't get them, its because they didn't want to be here and I think that is the ONLY way they aren't in Wings jersey's next season. I son't think their current clubs can out bid Detroit...Jersey for it's financial woes and Nashville because of Rinne's dumb ass contract and Weber needing to be signed...Speaking of Nashville, would anyone want Tootoo here for that 4th line hitter/grinder? Just curious...

Kenny has already said that he will be pretty much done with UFA within 15-20 minutes of July 1st...he knows what he wants, he probably has his backup plans in place and he already said if the price is right he will trade for rights at the draft. I fully expect GM's to sign players status quo as if the CBA will be settled on time. Now maybe they wont be offering sky rocket salaries in case the Cap comes down off the $70.3M a bit, but I can see Holland sending $8M offers to Parise/Suter and then lower offers to the 4th line big man ($2.0M?) #6 defenseman ($1.0M?) and goalie ($1.0M?) and still have plenty of room to re-sign Abby/Helm (less than $3M combined) and still be under the Cap if it falls to $65M-$67M...He has $26M to spend, if he spends $16M on the two big names, he can most definitely get the rest done for $6M-$8M...lets just hope if the Cap goes down, it's not lower than it was last season...if that is what Bettman wants, the NHL is doomed...he HAS to let Quincey and Hudler go though!

That all depends on whether or not Weber re-signs long term or just a one year...then again, and hold on to your mouse, ANOTHER team could tender an offer to Weber as RFA and Nashville could match or let him go for 4 fist rounders, I think they match no matter what especially if they lose Suter! If Weber only signs a 1 year deal, I think that it shows how much players want to NOT play in Nashville...remember, just last July Nashville offered their #1 defenseman $4.5M a year before an arbitrator awarded him $7.5M...he already knows how Poile works, he may just sign a one year (or go to arbitration again) and bid adieu next summer...

You know, I was thinking that, if for some reason Hudler accepted $3M, he would be ok on line #3, but ya, I think he wants $4.5M+ AND top line minutes...I just would rather see Nyquist here full time and not lose Miller or Eaves than re-sign Hudler...now if for some reason Eaves has to hang em up because of his PCS, then the boat changes for sure... Hey, maybe Holland is prepared to off Hudler a Contract so he can trade him at the draft? That would be great!

Why even waste his time though? Cant fit all these players on the roster. re-sign Hudler and unless he makes a trade or two, we are in for the same team, pretty much, as last season... edit: I'd rather take some of the money he is prepared to offer Hudler and extend Filppula for the next 5 years. Filppula will get $4M+ if not close to $5M if he continues his growth from last season. An honestly, Holland needs to work on Extendind Pav soon, he has two more years on this contract and if he waits until it expires, Pav will be 35 and then if for some reason Pav has to retire before the contract is up...Holland still has to take the Cap hit until the new contract is up. If Pav signs while he is still 34 (he is 33 now) the Cap hit would come off the books...You got to figure Pav will get whatever they sign Parise for...at least. BTW, thank Godness that Z is signed through 2021, so at least we wont have to "re-sign" him anytime soon! He will retire I would assume at that time...or do what Lids did for a few years. If they can do it, I'd like to see both Pav and Z amass 20 years. See where they fall on the all-time list and hang their numbers up next to #5, #19, etc...

Thanks! You think if Ilitch likes it that he'd throw me some cash? anyway, I like it and it kills two birds, not only does it have the Corporate aspect to it with the Cadillac division of GMC, it also celebrates the founding father of the city of Detroit...Antoine Laumet de La Mothe, sieur de Cadillac. Not only do I see cars and trucks in the lobby, along with statues of great Red Wings of History, but a statue of Mr. Cadillac and a nice little history lesson of the city would be awesome! Whoops...my bad!

He may be worth $4M+ on 29 other teams, but he is not worth $3M+ here. Holland needs to address the #1 scorer and #1 defenseman issue all while keeping in mind that the Cap could very well decrease with the new CBA, so why on Earth would he offer Hudler any contract that would/could hinder him from keeping the guys he signs if indeed the Cap does go down? I would certainly hope that Holland would NOT offer Hudler ANYTHING over $3M, if anything at all...I mean come on, re-sign Holmstrom, re-sign Hudler...want to sign Parise and a 4th line big man, where the hell are all these players going to fit? You are going to push out Emmerton/Mursak and one of Miller/Eaves/Nyquist...let Homer retire, let Hudler walk. Sign Parise (if you can) and sign Moen (if you can) or someone like him. Say goodbye to one of Emmerton/Mursak and lets rock!

I don't know if it has been discussed, but apparently Pit is offering Crosby a 10 year $90M extension...Makes you wonder which one of Malkin or Staal will become available and when... I would take either of them if they became UFA's...

I would say that Weber is a fair comparison to Scott Stevens. Period. First of all, he is nowhere near Lidstrom offensively on consistent basis and he is nowhere near as tough as Grimson. But ya, I would say Scott Stevens is a great compare. If he only signs another one year deal, and the Wings fail to get Suter, Weber will be Detroit's prime target as a UFA next year...No way is he worth 4 1st round picks (or is anyone for that matter,) so he is not worth throwing an offer at this year...

I am thinking also, Holland probably asked Brad, which team to you want to go to and he picked SJ. So, that is what we got. We all knew Brad was leaving so that is not a shock. Lets hope Holland makes some magic on Draft/UFA day, that is what we are all looking forward to...we all know who "we'd" like to see be Red Wings...Let's hope Holland is able to add the 4-5 players he says he'd like to add! might I add, re-signing Hudler & Holmstrom will seriously impact our chances of "getting better" this off season...There is simply just no room, unless he trades some folks...(coughFranzencough)

While both deals stunk...there is a HUGE difference between the two...The Oates trade eventually got us NOTHING in return. Mckegney lasted only a few games and was dealt to Quebec for Picard and Adams, both of whom played a few games with Detroit and retired the next season...Federko didn't pan out either, he pretty much stunk according to most people and then retired. But looking at his stats for that season, 17 goals 40 Assists for 57 points, hell, that Hudler/Franzen stats there! And we all know how "great" Franzen is...Hell maybe Federko wasnt so bad afterall! anyhow, here is the huge difference...while acquiring Carson didn't seem to be the best deal (although he was playing 3rd line center behind Yzerman and Fedorov so I don't know how he was still expected to score 50 goals, hell he had two seasons here where he score 69 and 73 points all while playing behind Yzerman and Fedorov, but in the end, Jimmy was traded for Coffey who was traded for Shanahan, so that worked out pretty good if you ask me...