eva unit zero

Anyone who thinks Hudler was worth less than $2m should go back to smoking their bong. That said, I would rather have seen Hudler sign with the Wings for $3.25 for 5 years or more than sign with Dynamo. Hopefully he spends the time putting on muscle and then comes back and signs for somewhere between $2.5m and $3.5m.

The Hawks will keep all three, even if it requires waiving Campbell and Huet and sticking them in the minors.

It's like I've said before. The plan for Chicago is simple. Huet and Crawford will split starts, and ideally Crawford shows enough goods that they can simply trade Huet next summer (or sooner) or waive him if no trade is available. With the solid defense they have outside of Campbell, they can do the same with Campbell. The only concern the Hawks could potentially have when ridding themselves of those two is a netminder to play alongside Crawford if Crawford hasn't shown the ability to be a top end starter. Send Campbell and Huet out for depth players and picks, and perhaps a cheaper goaltender on Huet's level if they can't sign one via UFA for less than $3.5m. If Crawford blossoms, all they need is a decent backup, which can either be a veteran backup or Niemi. That solves the problem.

But the site already did...

He is. If you are trying to blame all of the Wings' defensive troubles last season on Hossa, you are stupid. Drake was a top notch defensive forward...in the mid to late 1990s. Hossa is a top-notch defensive forward NOW. Hossa was an improvement over Drake defensively. The problem was largely that many team members did not play as well as the season before defensively for part or all of the season, including notably Osgood, Draper, Maltby, and Lidstrom. Conklin also did not play as well as either Ozzie or Hasek played in the regular season the year before. So goals against going up was a given, and not Hossa's fault.

Newbury was supposed to be a top-sixer in the NHL years ago. He was one of those guys who had huge scoring numbers in juniors but was small, so he dropped a few rounds. A guy with good puck skills and speed, Newbury was still expected to break through but never did; he spent his time bouncing around the minors until he finally broke through with Toronto in 2006-07. Later that season, however, he ended up getting his head bashed in during a fight with Ronald Petrovicky, giving him a season-ending concussion. He would play 28 of his total 82 games for the Leafs the next season, and 1 of his 34 this past year was in the NHL. Hopefully, he can be a strong veteran influence on the kids in Grand Rapids if nothing else. Best case scenario: Newbury plays his way into being the next Maltby.

Wow, you can fling insults on a message board on the internet. Have you learned how to use the potty yet?

Because, you know, having the second line center be a ridiculously good playmaker with great stickhandling and a good shot would be SUCH a bad idea. I mean, we'd better instead put a defensive specialist who is an ok passer with decent hands, not a very good shooter, and can skate well because he's signed for a couple more years. If we're gonna have someone setting up Franzen on the second line with Dats and Z on the first, Hudler is the best choice because he can actually SET PEOPLE UP. Do you not want the Wings to score goals this season?

The Wings currently have just under $2.5m in cap space free. What this means is: trade or waive Lilja, and the Wings can afford to sign Leino for ~$1m and Hudler for ~$2.5m with about $265k in cap space free. Anything more expensive, and they have to make more room or give up one or both of Leino and Hudler.

I believe, if Lilja starts the season on LTIR, then Ericsson can start the season on the Wings' roster and would not need to be called up.

It depends on how injured he is. If he's so injured that he cannot play again and retires, then he is off the books. If he is injured to the point where he goes on LTIR, then it goes like this: The Wings put him on LTIR and have at least another $300k or so open, and consider Ericsson the 'replacement' for him as far as the cap relief is concerned. That way they have more time to deal with the cap scenarios if Lilja is returning, but can use up as much of the cap relief as possible while he is out. The other option is that Lilja is healthy enough to play, in which case the Wings don't have to deal with LTIR but do have to move a defenseman.

Yes, and Holmstrom's cap hit would be $750k if he were bought out; in another thread you'll find me arguing that buying out Holmstrom and having Downey as the 12th forward for $500k with $1.3m in cap space is a ridiculous idea as it's basically havign Downey for a $1.25m cap hit. But what does that have to do with sending Lilja to Grand Rapids? He's well past the age where he would have minor league options, therefore he would have to pass through waivers to play in the AHL. If he were sent to the AHL, he'd still be paid the same amount but would not count on the Wings' cap. Much like Khabibulin for the first half of last season did not count against Chicago because he was in the minors.

Unless he's initially deemed healthy enough, doesn't make the team, and is waived and sent to Grand Rapids. Then it won't count.

Lidstrom was the third best defenseman on the team and the second best on his pairing in the 92-93 season, for all those who have forgotten.

They're going to give Filppula more time than Datsyuk or Zetterberg? Those are the only returning forwards who saw more ice than Filppula last season. Flip and Hossa played just over 13:30 per game. Dats and Franzen played just over 14 minutes, and Z played just over 14:30. Cleary rounded out the top-six in ES minutes per game at just over 13 minutes. The only place for Filppula to increase his ice time is on the power play. And the question is, will Babcock play Filppula on the power play ahead of Datsyuk, Zetterberg, Holmstrom, Hudler, Cleary, and Franzen? If not, he'll still see a limited amount of time on the man-advantage. Anyways, back to my point. If the Wings have a young forward in their top six this season who will have an explosive season due to an increase in ice time and role, it's Hudler, not Filppula. Huds will probably be seeing an additional 2-3 minutes per game at even strength, which would have meant an extra 5-10 points this past season based on his per-minute scoring rates at even strength. Given that Hudler is also likely to be playing on one of the two two lines rather than on one of the bottom two, and he not only could, but is very likely to hit 65-70 points or more with the Wings this coming season. Filppula would likely see his production improve as well, as he would see more time in an offensive role, but don't expect him to score 70 points.

I'm not objecting to buying out Homer; it was the fact that it was buying out Homer to put Downey on the roster. Buying Homer out might be the best way to cut the cap hit. Oulahen? McGrath? Either of thse two would be a nice fit if you needed someone to fill a final forward spot after buying Homer out. Or, and I don't recall if this is allowed under the CBA, buy Homer out and then re-sign him at $500k, for a total cap hit of $1.25k for Homer after the buyout.

Pyatt was a first liner in Vancouver and scored 20 goals even though his primary role on that line was to be a big, physical body and to play solid defense. He lost his spot after suffering an injury early last season, and then going on leave due to his fiancee's death in March. Pyatt with Franzen and Hudler would be an excellent line, even if Pyatt's main role was to be defensively responsible with a big body. Pyatt's presence alone would open space for Hudler and Franzen to create wicked offense.

If we could sign Hudler and one of the guys listed, and not have any cap troubles... Pyatt please. 6'4", 235 lbs, capable of scoring 15-20 goals and 30-35 points while being defensively responsible and physically abrasive. The lines could then be: Datsyuk/Zetterberg/Holmstrom - We know this line. We like this line. Franzen/Hudler/Pyatt - Two big, defensively skilled wingers with good shots on Hudler's wing? Sounds good to me. Leino/Filppula/Cleary - Excellent two-way line, probably the best third line in the NHL. Helm/Draper/Maltby - Gritty 4th line with good speed and defensive ability, hopefully Draper and Maltby take a cue from Helm and don't repeat their poor performances last season.

Downey's salary plus Homer's buyout cap hit. Given the fact that there's still plenty of cap room after that if you don't buy Homer out and replace him with Downey, it's clear you did that because you prefer Downey to Homer. So, my question remains; why pay Downey $1.25m?

All the Sharks need to do is trade Doug Murray and Jonathan Cheechoo to get a solid bottom-three defensive defenseman who makes less than $750k, a decent pick, and a 2nd/3rd line winger who makes about $1.5m and can score 10-15 goals and play solid two-way. That gives them over $3m to sign or promote 3 forwards and a goalie.

Why do so many posters not realize that Holland is not offering Downey or McCarty a contract? Downey won't be in the top 12, he won't be the 13th forward, and it's unlikely he'll be in Grand Rapids. Anyways... Datsyuk/Zetterberg/Cleary Franzen/Filppula/Hudler Leino/Abdelkader/Holmstrom Helm/Draper/Maltby Lidstrom/Rafalski Kronwall/Stuart Ericsson/Lebda (Lilja) Meech Osgood Howard If Lilja is able to play, it's possible the Wings have to open up some cap space. If not, Lebda makes so much less than Lilja that the Wings will be fine once Lilja returns and Lebda is traded/waived.

So why are we spending $1.25m on Aaron Downey when we have the extra million and then some to keep Homer around? Don't even think of telling me that Downey contributes even a fraction of what Homer does, even as old as Homer is. This is just ridiculous.

Well, just look at it this way. All the GMs who come to this board, everyone gets what they wanted. Kopecky and Samuelsson are gone. Samuelsson will probably score 30 goals and 65 points on Vancouver's first line, and Kopecky might score 15 goals if he gets regular 3rd line ice time in Chicago. But never mind that, those useless pieces of s*** are gone.

Hudler is very underrated defensively. No, he probably won't ever win a Selke. But he's a good defensive player. On most teams, he'd be one of their better defensive forwards. Hudler gets s*** on for his defense by Wings fans because the Wings are stocked full of solid defensive forwards. Hudler is not a superstar defensively, but he is notably better than average in his own end. The problem is when you have a roster with guys like Dats, Zetts, Hossa, Franzen, Cleary, Filppula, Draper, Samuelsson...that's a lot of guys who are solid defensively. Hudler is a decent two-way player. He has incredible offensive talent and is better than average defensively. All he needs is an actual opportunity to use his talent. If he is put on the first or second line regularly this coming season, I wouldn't be stunned to see him clear 70 points.

Larsson's cap hit is slightly lower...I was simply suggesting that Holland may trade Howard for a minimum-wage grinder or perhaps a prospect/pick if Larsson significantly outplays him at camp.