eva unit zero

I don't care if they read my posts...WHY DON'T THEY FREAKING UNDERSTAND THAT A SALARY DUMP OF A PLAYER WHO MAKES LESS THAN 500K WILL NOT GET YOU UNDER THE CAP IF YOU ARE MORE THAN 500K OVER IT!

As far as who the 'best' options for centering Hossa are...the first two are Dats and Z. Anyone else, and it means Hossa is on a different line than them. The best option after those two is Hudler. Filppula is a distant fourth, as he's the next best offensive center on the team, but well behind Hudler in that regard; especially in playmaking ability, which is the primary concern here.

Why is it that professional sportswriters fail to understand the simple concepts regarding the salary cap that I have explained repeatedly in my posts on this subject...trading a player when you are over the cap by more than the player makes does not provide cap relief unless you make additional moves. If that player makes at or close to the league minimum, then it cannot be considered cap relief as the team plans to carry 23 players which means if not him, they will be carrying someone at his salary or higher.

Since you fail to recognize the other thread where this has been discussed AT LENGTH, and the mods seem to feel that merging like topics is unneccessary today, I'll explain it. The Wings have 22 players signed who cannot be sent down without clearing waivers. They also intend to sign Kyle Quincey and Chris Chelios, who cannot be sent down without clearing waivers, and intend to carry 13 forwards, 8 defensemen, and 2 goaltenders. With Quincey and Chelios, that would give them 24 players with 9 defensemen. Furthermore, the Wings only have $400k in available cap space BEFORE Quincey and Chelios are signed. The minimum that Q and Cheli could be signed for, together, is $950k; putting the Wings $450k over the cap and one player over the roster limit, and one defenseman over their planned roster. This means they have to drop one defenseman who makes at least $550k; this would be Lebda or Lilja. Lebda would only BARELY clear enough space. Lilja and Lebda are about equal in ability, but Lilja clears significantly more space and is much older. In simpler words: It will be Lilja.

Meech is not going to go in a salary dump. This is already being discussed in other threads; can we have a mod please merge and/or close?

The Wings aren't keeping Downey or Mac on to provide mentoring and leadership for the young kids on the roster. They are being kept on to provide grit. Chelios won't be going to the minors unless something absolutely unforeseeable happens; so a two-way contract is unneccessary as it would be language in the deal that would not serve any purpose. You know, harold, that a two-way contract has NOTHING to do with waivers, right?

Chelios has said he will accept any role, even being the #7/8 defenseman. He's not taking playing time away from a better player. The Wings' issue right now is cap space, not roster space. Chelios isn't a problem for cap space.

The Wings currently have four, maybe five players who are worth at least $7.5m on the open market today. The fact that none of them make that much doesn't mean none of them are worth the cash. As far as Hossa staying around? If the Wings have to give up one of Filppula, Hudler or Franzen to keep Hossa long-term, that's worth it and anyone who doesn't think so needs a serious boot to the head. The fact that Hudler, Zetterberg, and Franzen are all playing together to start the year might seem scary from a contract POV at first...but think about it for a second. Hopefully, having those three together will keep the contracts down; Zetterberg's deal should be comparable to Datsyuk's...Hudler and Franzen's performances will be greatly affected by Zetterberg and each other. The thing that makes me concerned about their deals is Filppula's $3m contract after last season. Does that mean that Hudler and Franzen are both going to be worth $4m after this season?

Any paper claiming Meech or Quincey will be traded hasn't done its homework; the Wings don't just need to clear roster space; they also need to clear CAP space...trading either of those two doesn't do that. It will be Lilja (or possibly Lebda and a forward like Maltby or Samuelsson). But this is already being discussed in another thread.

Holmstrom has played left wing before; more than likely he switches back over. Not like the side matters for him anyway as he just camps out in the crease.

Boucher is sitting on the bench in San Jose, backing up Nabokov.

Ericsson would be much more expensive on the NHL roster than Quincey, Meech, Chelios, or Lebda will be this season, just for reference. That, as well as the fact that he is waiver-exempt and they are not, determines the fact that he will be in Grand Rapids most of the year.

Ericsson will have his roster spot at the same time Howard, Liv, Meech, Kuznetsov, Butsayev, Roest, and every other young Wing will. When they take it away from a player by outplaying them and proving that they bring more to the team now and in the future.

Crosby is not the best player in the NHL. Lidstrom is the best. Based on last season, I probably would say Zetterberg and Dats outplayed Crosby also. So a ranking of players who played in the finals would have Crosby no higher than fourth; and that's just from those two teams. Admittedly, those two teams have five of the ten best players in the NHL...so it's no slight to Crosby there. But the best in the world, Crosby is not.

Sammy was mentioned because if the Wings keep Lilja and the top four defense, they have to move a forward to clear up the necessary cap space to fill out the roster. Among forwards, it would probably be Sammy moved. Maltby, Hudler, Draper, and Franzen were the other guys who make enough money to be replaced with a guy near minimum salary and clear the necessary cap space; Draper has NTC, Franzen and Hudler are much more important than Sammy, Maltby has much less value and salary, but has been around much longer so the team is more loyal to him and therefore less likely to move him. The fact that it would require moving one of those five regular forwards PLUS a defenseman who is equal to Lilja, or just moving Lilja is an even stronger argument that Lilja is the guy who probably will go. Lilja could quite possibly be the worst player, forward or defenseman, involved in this discussion. Sammy, Draper, Maltby, Hudler, Franzen are all better...and Lilja could possibly be the worst of the defensemen involved; the talent gap was so small last year and the other guys are much younger it's entirely possible he enters the season having been surpassed in ability by the younger defenders. Then factor that only Draper, who has a NTC and won't be moved, makes more money...it's going to be Lilja. Biggest salary among expendable players who can easily be moved, and possibly the least skill in the same group. That puts him in the position of being the guy who gets kicked out the door whether the decision is made by skill or money.

If Lilja can't outplay Meech, Lebda, and Quincey he has nobody to blame but himself.

Well, the big question is...why must we choose between them? There are a couple possible answers: -The other two forwards on the ice are Dats and Zetterberg. -The Wings only have three players on the ice, and choose to go 1F, 2D. Assumedly, as Zetterberg is not an available choice, he is being replaced on the ice by Draper or Cleary. In the first situation, I select Cleary, as Dats and Z are both good on faceoffs and excellent defensively; while Cleary is quick and a good grinding winger who has proven the capability of playing with them. In the second situation, I would prefer Draper. If neither of the above situations is accurate, then if we are trying to protect a lead why would we not have Cleary and Draper out on the ice together? If the Wings had to shuffle the lines slightly at the end of the game into two "shutdown" lines to preserve a one-goal lead, I would go with the following lines. Datsyuk/Zetterberg/Franzen Cleary/Draper/Hossa That replaces the least defensively responsible player from each of the first two lines with the two most defensively responsible players not on the top two lines as I would lay them out; Homer replaced by the Franz, and Hudler replaced by Draper.

McCarty has done nothing to earn better than a two-way deal. If he thinks he deserves a one-way deal in Detroit, he better show up in camp and prove he deserves it before it's offered. Otherwise, see ya!

Ok, you didn't understand what I was saying with 'or some combination of the three' did you? Say seven teams have the cap space. Now, only those seven teams could possibly acquire Lilja. But it's not a guarantee that all, or any, of those seven teams would even be interested in Lilja. And even the ones that are might look elsewhere for defensive help comparable to Lilja, as he's far from the only guy with his abilities in his price range, if they are a divisional rival like Chicago, St. Louis, or Nashville that might be better off NOT trading for Lilja and helping the Wings out of a jam. A team must have the cap space, the interest in acquiring a bottom-three defenseman, and the willingness to trade with Detroit for a defenseman before they will actually be trading for Lilja. It's like how a square has three qualifiers; it has four sides, it is equilateral, and it is equiangular. If ANY of the three parts are missing, it's not a square. Realistically, the teams most likely to be interested in Lilja; meaning teams that would be looking to add a #4-#6 defenseman who is solid defensively, can play the PK, block shots, and hit, and doesn't make a ton, but also are among the more likely trading partners for the Red Wings: 1. Los Angeles Kings 2. Atlanta Thrashers 3. Buffalo Sabres 4. Tampa Bay Lightning 5. Montreal Canadiens The thing is, there are quite a few available UFA defensemen who those teams might prefer over Lilja for the same role and paycheck. This possibility-that Lilja's status as 'under contract' might prevent a deal because it would require the team trading for him to give up assets-is what puts the possibility that he might end up being waived in the discussion.

The Wings have several young defensemen on the roster right now who cannot be sent to Grand Rapids without clearing waivers, and they are in a cap crunch. Lebda, Meech, and assumedly Quincey as well all make much less than Ericsson's 900k in addition to Ericsson being waiver-exempt this season. Ericsson will not be up full-time this year unless it's as a top-6 defenseman, and the Wings have moved at least two of the nine currently on the roster. This would have to include Lilja as otherwise Ericsson would be replacing a cheaper player when we wouldn't have the cap space to make the move. But I don't expect the Wings to bring Ericsson up this season; they'll use this season to find out what they have in Quincey, Meech, etc. and make the necessary moves to be able to bring Ericsson up NEXT season, when he won't be waiver exempt.

I don't hate Lilja. I think he's a decent stay-at-home third pair type guy. The thing is, Lilja is the only player who can be removed from the current list of 24 players who the Wings have signed or intend to sign who singlehandedly clears up both the necessary cap space and the necessary roster space to allow them to fill out the 23-man roster. I said traded or waived because there is a chance that by the time the Wings look to deal him, nobody has the available cap space, nobody is interested in Lilja, nobody wants to help the Wings, or some combination of the three.

Because the guys you would rather keep Lilja ahead of don't have salaries large enough to where cutting them loose clears enough cap space. If it's Lebda, Meech, Quincey, or Chelios that doesn't make the final cut, then we have to make an additional move to clear cap space just to pay for the players on the roster. The Wings aren't going to dump off a roster forward for nothing to keep Lilja over Lebda/Meech/Quincey. But I'll lay it out simply for you. The Wings have, including Chelios and Quincey, 24 roster players. Assuming Chelios and Quincey are at the league minimum (as they are currently unsigned), then the Wings would be over the cap by $550k. This means Lilja or Lebda. Lebda's $650k doesn't provide much wiggle room, so he may be considered in the group of defensemen whose salaries don't clear enough space. Leaving Lilja by himself as an expendable defenseman with a significant salary. The Wings trade or waive Lilja and receive no roster players in return, cutting down to 23 players and moving to approximately $700k under the cap. If it's Chelios, Meech or Quincey, the Wings are over the cap by at least $75k with 23 players and have to move someone, and replace them with a player making at least $75k less. This falls under the 'no wiggle room' as mentioned with Lebda. Adding Lebda into the mix, we'll assume for argument Holland wants to have $500k of free space. This means that, assuming that Darren McCarty at $575k takes the place of whatever forward is traded for picks/prospects. It has to be someone making at least $650k just to make the cap, which rules out Downey and Kopecky. To achieve the wiggle room desired, it has to be someone making at least $1,150. This further rules out Maltby, Hudler, and Franzen. Mikael Samuelsson is the only realistic forward choice left. Would you give up a top-six caliber forward who is paid like a third-liner in Samuelsson and a decent young defenseman in Lebda, Meech, or Quincey in favor of having a career third-pairing defenseman in Lilja and a washed up grinder in McCarty, realizing that it's entirely possible neither player staying would be in the regular lineup while quite possible both of the departing players would? The only other option to keep Lilja is to trade a top-four defenseman for picks and prospects and leave the forwards alone; hence the earlier question. Dropping Lilja is the logical choice because even if you feel he is slightly better than Lebda, Quincey, or Meech...he's not better enough to justify any of the required roster shuffling to keep him over them given the cap situation. It's the simplest solution, it also results in the best roster. Unless Holland plans on trading more players away than he needs to, which would be out of character for him, then Lilja being traded or waived is the best move he can make.

Well, it's clear you favor keeping Lilja. So which top four defenseman do you propose we trade for picks; Lidstrom, Rafalski, Kronwall, or Stuart? I look forward to your explanation of how Lilja brings more to the team than whomever you choose.

One of them has to go; Holland intends to sign both Quincey and Chelios. That will give us 9 defensemen and 24 players who cannot be sent down. Those two are the only players not currently signed in that group, and we are only $400k under the cap. The Wings intend to carry 8 defensemen. Assumedly, this means they will be removing one of the current defensemen and retaining the other 8. As I stated above, it CANNOT be Meech, and will not be any of the top four. This leaves Lilja, Lebda, Chelios, and Quincey. Lebda likely also does not make enough. Chelios and Quincey are currently unsigned players, and the Wings do not have enough cap space to add even one of them. Conceivably, the Wings could lose Lebda and sign both Chelios and Quincey, but that would put them very close to the cap. Lilja is the only logical answer to this puzzle that involves a single player departing. It has nothing to do with his abilities as far as hatred, as he is a legitimate third-pairing defenseman. The reasoning is that there are several other legit third-pairing defensemen who make considerably less money, and even if Lilja is a slightly better player than Quincey, Meech, or Lebda...the Wings would have to cut loose additional players to retain Lilja over those three, which is not true in reverse. I think keeping our forward corps intact and only losing Lilja from the blueline is better than losing one of Lebda/Quincey/Meech as well as losing a guy like Hudler or Samuelsson for nothing. Lilja is a decent defenseman, but he's not so much better than Lebda/Quincey/Meech that he justifies cutting Hudler or Sammy or someone else loose for nothing back on the roster. In the short term it's not a good deal, and in the long term it's not a good deal.

The Wings have a couple forwards who could be cut loose if it was just about salary; the problem is that they also have too many defensemen. If Chelios were retiring, the Wings would still have to figure out a way to sign Quincey and fit under the cap regardless of the fact that they wouldn't be 'forced' to drop a player due to the roster limit.