LeftWinger

Ok cool...and yes I was referring to comments on the article, there was some stupid things said...

Great Read! Thanks! And good luck to Seth! I find it disgusting some of the racial comments. I am white and proud, but if a kid, who just happens to have some African American in him, is that good at something that isn't normally associated with minorities, GOD BLESS HIM! I hope he gets drafted and plays 1000+ games in the NHL and score 1000+ points! Good Luck Seth!

Yeah! also, when is Toronto going to have a chance at the Cup?

Well, he is technically a local boy, is super goods friends with Bertuzzi, plus he is entering the twilight of his career WITHOUT having his name on the Cup. None of that means he will come here, but there are only a handful of teams that have a legit shot at the Cup and that alone makes it a possibility and I wouldn't be surprised if he did end up here....unless he goes for more huge payday's. If he signs here, it shouldn't be for more than $3M. But, like most of the available UFA's he will get higher offers elsewhere, maybe even other Cup contenders...

Well ya, as much as I dislike him, I wouldn't think Holland would trade him just because, only if he had to clear more cap or roster space. You did notice that I first said I would like to see him trade Hudler and our first to move up a smidgen in the draft...is he worth that? Not sure, but ya, if there are no UFA forwards in the mix, I can see him hanging around and playing out his contract OR being dealt at the deadline for someone...

This is my wish, I hope to maybe see Holland trade Hudler and our first to maybe scoot up a few spots in the draft, but you are probably right, he will get us a 4th or 5th rounder, which is fine, so long as the Hudler experiment is OVER!!!

yes, agree....every year the Cap goes up, so do the amount of overpaying contracts...the days of bargins are over, what you got for $1.5M three years ago is now gonna cost you $4.5M... (I wish my employer would give me raises in those percentages!!!)

Ya, and puke.... :puke: I can see it now, Kenny keeps Hudler and re-signs Leino...ya, that'll bring us a Cup.... did I mention :puke:?

I am saying "for the right price." If Wiz would take a 5 yr $20M deal, then sign him up, but that depends on him, I am sure there will be teams offering him $5M+ per season, then I say no thanks. I am with ya on the Jovo deal. Sign him for one and heck if he likes it and has some stuff left, sign him again when we get Suter (thinking positive) and like I said, it's no guarantee that Lids is done after one more year either. I'd take a d-corps of Lids/Suter/Kronner/Stuart/Jovo/Kindl/Smith for 2012... I just would like to see Wiz here as well, that way if Lids does retire, they wouldn't be hurting as much, but then again, who else is available next off season on D? One thing is for sure, it's nice to finally NOT be up against the Cap and have all these options available!!!

So, thats it? You get your name on the Cup once and you could care less if you ever do again? I agree he probably wants a long term deal somewhere, but there is no doubt he wants another "shot at the Cup." If I remember correctly, Kris Draper had said its a dream that he got his name on the Cup, but once you win it, you want it again and again... Odds are he goes back to Tampa, since they to have enough cash to sign him, plus made a serious run at the Cup this year...

Thing is, Holland has enough cash this year to get BOTH Wiz and Jovo plus pursue Suter next year, even if Wiz signed for 5 years. Jovo will probably get a bigger pay day than $3M, even if he is not worth it, BUT considering his friendship and past with Bertuzzi, plus there is always the "hometown" factor (yes I consider Windsor basically a hometown when it comes to Detroit.) He just may come here if Bert talks him into it to try to get their first Cup... I think he would add very good veteran leadership and toughness to our D corps. IF he signed for $3M or less....considering he has been making an average of $6.5M the last 5 years. Maybe its time for him to give up a little and possibly win a Cup at home. Dunno, it'd be nice, but some team will throw $5M or more at him anyway...

ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?!?! With Hudler's "potential" we are going to get Ovechkin...mark it!

Everyone has holes in their game, nobody is perfect. Regarding Wiz, the positives outweigh the negatives, even if you are counting points, he has gotten better 7, 10, 26, 24, 36, 51 points. But all this talk about untimely penalties and bad penalties, he only topped 100 PIM's once and has only had over 50 one other time, the other years were less than 40. Last season he played the most games he ever played, most minutes on ice and he only had 38 PIM's. 7 of is 10 goals were PP goals. Wiz fills a huge need for the Wings, he is everything that Hollland "says" he needs on the defense. Let's see if he signs him. I agree with your one year idea, epsecially in the case of Jovo, but more-so in Ericsson, if Ericsson wants that big payday, maybe Holland can convince him to sign a one year $2M with the incentive that if he meets certain totals and goals he will get that larger longer term contract. In Wiz's case, I think he is worth tying up $4M-$4.5M for 3-4 years. Even if Lids retires next season and Holland pursues Suter (if not already re-signed by Nashville) The "D" looks very nice for a few years to come with Stuart, Wiz, Kronner and Suter (hopefully) as the top four, with Kindl and Smith as #'s 5/6. We have the money now, spend it on a few one year contracts and re-load for the long run next off-season when we have even MORE money with Holmstrom and Bertuzzi coming off the books (although it will take a pretty good chunk to re-sign Kronner and Stuart) Then again, Lids just may come back next year too....

Sure, Jovo made $6.5M last year, but this year he will be signing somewhere to try for a Cup, his career is winding down fast. Will he get more than $1M? Of course, but he won't get $6.5M again. I would be ok with Holland paying him $2.5M, maybe $3M, but anything more than that, someone will be overpaying him. Lets summarize: RE-Sign Lids/Miller/Eaves, trade Hudler, sign a top six scoring winger, sign Wiz, sign Jovo and if Ericsson wants more than $2M then let him go and find another UFA d-man for $2M or less...sign a solid, back up goalie... Hire a GREAT defensive coach...Raise 12th Stanley Cup...

I hear you, but if you have been a Wings fan for any amount of time, you know then that Holland doesn't sign players with toughness and physical play up front. Hopefully he addresses that on the D with JOvo and or Wizzer, but (and I begged and begged for Ladd last off season) Holland is not gonna sign that type of forward. To Holland, a top six forawrd IS a 190lb. European. I hate it, but thats how it is... Holland wants scoring from his top 6 and even though he is not a Euro, Tanguay and/or Jokinen would provide that...SOFT, yes, but history dictates that we just aren't gonna see Laich, Cole or Ladd.... Of course that would be Crow I would gladly and happily eat if Holland did sign someone of that nature! But by all means, Holland, PLEASE prove me otherwise! PLEASE!!!!

I believe the only way Richards signs here is if its a one year, one shot at another Cup, Hossa type deal. I do agree the more glaring need is defense. I would rather see Holland spend $12M on making his defense better than spending $8M on one forward.....

I'm sorry, I meant to say, Give me Weber, Richards and trade Hudler for Ovechkin...

It's all about money... That was a concert of his is Chicago and he was probably told it was gonna happen to help keep the "Stanley Cup High" going in the city. He needs the people of Chicago to buy his albums and to come to his concerts, so he is not gonna say anything bad about the Blackhawks. It's sort of like when one night a rock band playing in Detroit will announce that Detroit has the best fans in the world! Then the next night in Houston, he'll announce the same thing, except that he'll say Houston fans are the best in the world... You have to do PR wherever you go and do whatever it takes to keep the fans spending money on your stuff! You did notice that he didn't come anywhere near putting the Jersey on, this shows that he still bleeds Red Wings... I am not that big of a Kid fan now-a-days with the music he is making now, I am more of a Stone Cold Pimp Kid Rock fan and even as far back as Pimp of the Nation, but you can have the All Summer Long Kid Rock. Either way though, he is a great Ambassador for Detroit and him along with Eminem (like him or not) are the type of positive things this city needs to get back on it's feet... (if that's even possible)

I see your Wisniewski and Jokinen, I rasie you a Jovanovski...

Honestly,I don't know too much about him, alot of folks here get excited about him and alot don't. I've mentioned him before just based on stats and some of the positive stuff I have read on here, but I am reading more and more negative things and I am not liking it.... Honestly, I believe the Wings should sign Wiz, Jovo and Lids, then decide whether or not to pay Ericsson or let Kindl be our #6 guy and have someone else be #7... I hear things negative and positive about everyone, nobody is 100% positive, there are always negatives about someone, but when the negatives start piling up and passing up the positives, then there may be a problem. The negs I hear about Wiz and Jovo are a little concerning, but I believe the positive things about them outweigh the negatives I have heard. If Holland can convince Ericsson to take 1 year at around $1.5M, Jovo 1 year around $2.5-$3M and Wiz $4-$4.5M, I think the D would be great: Lids, Stuart, Kronwall, Wisniewski, Jovo, Ericsson, Kindl...Add to that whomever they hire as new Asst. Coach, the Wings should have a much better defense than last season. That's about $15M of the possible $21.5M on D, leaving enough to re-sign Miller/Eaves/Goalie & bring up Mursak. (possibly Tanguay or Jokinen as well...) So, to the topic at hand, after reading positive and negative things about him, I think the Wings should pass on Pitkanen. Especially if he is worse defensively than Rafalski was AND would cost over $5M...

I am hoping for a VAN sweep, so we can get this off-season underway!!!!

Hey, I will tell you what, IF Smith is destined to be in GR for another season (not counting injury call ups) AND Holland signs 2 UFA d-men form outside the organization, of course re-sign Lids, then I would be OK with Meech being the #7 guy here...but would Meech be OK with being #7, or would he be #6? just an example... Lids - Wiz Stuart - Kronner Jovo - Kindl (meech) Meech (kindl)

As much as I despise him, I am not gonna say he has no worth, so I voted $1M-$2M. If he was making $1.2M then I could probably put up with his awful play a little more, but I still wouldn't like him on this team... (I wonder who gave him the ONE vote for $3M+....hmmmm....)

I am not so sure that we are stuck with Hudler, but if he doesn't get traded before the season, he will more than likely be offered up in a package around the deadline to help get that one player to put the Wings over the top. Or if he is stinking up the ice (which he will be) he may be just a pending UFA salary dump. I prefer to trade him yesterday, but that just me... There is no reason why both can't be Wings. Even if Ericsson comes down off that date rape drug he is on and realizes he needs to accept a contract around $1.2-$1.5M that would still leave two spots to be filled allowing Smith to remain in Rapids... Lids - Wiz Stuart - Kronner Eric - Jovo Kindl

Uh....Tanguay 22 goals 47 assists $1.7M.... Hudler - 10 goals 27 assists $2.89M...Who the hell would want Hudler on their team? Is it Squirt AA? BTW Tanguay is putting up points like it was 2003 when he had 26G 41A. I would GLADLY give Tanguay the $3.0M and see him score 30+ playing with Datsyuk, Hudler has played with Datsyuk and still stinks...