eva unit zero

Malkin might get 7m on his next deal, but Staal won't be making 5-6 million for at least a couple seasons. Staal is a center, which means he'll play behind Crosby and Malkin, or move to wing. It's more likely he stays at center at least for the next year or two. Which means he won't be able to demand the 5-6m you think he'll be getting for a couple years after that.

The average value over the life of the contract is the cap hit. Crosby's cap hit will be 9m per season, regardless of the individual season payouts. This as well as the buyout rule, are reasons why you will see more front-loaded contracts than back-loaded in the NHL, a reverse of other cap leagues. Say for example Crosby makes 9m per year and that is his cap hit. Say for whatever reason, he suddenly is ineffective and Pittsburgh buys him out after the third year. Crosby collects 12m, and that would be the cap hit on the Pens. Now, say Crosby makes the same 45m over 5, and is bought out after 3, but his contract is front loaded with three 10m years and the last two are 7.5 each. That means that Crosby makes 30m instead of 27 in the first three years, and he gets 10m from the buyout instead of 12m. That's an extra million Crosby gets and it doesn't hit the cap any differently. Not that I expect a Crosby buyout...just that it was an available example.

I dunno. Do you think he'll Finnish the season where he signs?

Signing Bertuzzi means no Selanne in Anaheim. That said, I don't see Selanne going to Philly. The only teams with a chance at Selanne if he doesn't retire are San Jose and Los Angeles. San Jose has about 14m cap space, and could use one more top-six scoring forward like Selanne. They also need a depth defenseman and a backup goalie. Los Angeles has 7m cap space, with 11 forwards, 7 defensemen, and two goalies. Mike Cammalleri is still RFA, but the Kings need one more forward after that and might be able to afford Selanne, depending on what the former gets in arbitration.

No way, Sid isn't worth that. Samuelsson and Lilja is my highest bid!

I thought the Cheveldae trade was generally bad when it happened. Drake for Bautin was a joke, but even Chevy for Essensa. The two goalies made the same amount, and Essensa never won a playoff series in his career. Osgood had already usurped the starter's job from Cheveldae, so how was giving away Drake supposed to improve our chances in the playoffs? Essensa blew so much in the first playoff game that he didn't start another contest for the Wings, EVER. I said it then I'll say it now; the two best players in that trade went to Winnipeg. That trade was so bad it cost Bryan Murray his job.

Schneider and Bertuzzi are a downgrade for Anaheim. The team that only beat us with two of our top three defensemen injured is not as good as they were. Detroit compensated by replacing Schneider with Rafalski, a HUGE upgrade. Bertuzzi was a nonfactor, Calder was a nonfactor, and Lang was a nonfactor. Their minimal presence will more than be replaced by some combination of Drake, Hudler, Filppula, Kopecky, and Grigorenko. Hannan is actually the one guy I expected the Sharks to really try and retain. I do think he was overpaid by the Avs, but it's not as if he's irreplaceable. The Sharks DO have a replacement for Hannan; Rivet. And if Rivet can't play the big minutes like Hannan did? Carle and Vlasic could take on a couple more, and McLaren probably as well. You guys should not miss Hannan in the regular season. If your guys are still looking like a contender come March, there will likely be a defenseman acquired for depth. But at this point, the Sharks look just fine. The Sharks didn't blow it. They let Hannan go for more than he's worth, they picked up some solid picks for their backup goaltender and an overpriced fourth liner, and they replaced their leaving defenseman with a similar, yet cheaper option. The Wings, as I detailed earlier, didn't blow it either. The one player each team lost that required a replacement was replaced. Both teams were able to keep their rosters generally together and contending without handcuffing their cap. Looking at Anaheim down the road: Penner will be looking at probably 2.75m/3yr. That means Kunitz, Getzlaf and Perry will see at the very least comparable deals, and likely more. Bryzgalov will likely be traded, but if he stays he won't command more than 2m unless he's starting, which means Giguere is traded. Meaning a sudden increase of at the least 9m, possibly closer to 11 to 12m at the end of this season. Assuming the Ducks go with their current roster (plus one more defenseman) ,that would put them up to the cap on the low end, and a couple mill over on the high end, before accounting for any increase. Which is fine, until you look at the fact that Kunitz, Getzlaf, Perry, Ryan, Pronger, Giguere, and Bryzgalov and their combined 25m would be the only players on the roster not hitting UFA after 08-09. Even if you assume the cap is up to 56m at this point (continuing the average 3m increase) that's 31m to spend on players. McDonald, Pahlsson, Niedermayer and Moen will together be around 11m, and Beauchemin will fetch 3m. That leaves 17m to spend on six forwards and five defensemen. They still would need a top six forward and at least one top-four defensemen, which would cost upwards of 10m total for the two players, meaning the remaining five forwards and four defensemen would HAVE to be minimum-salary players just to fit under the cap.The Wings are not in nearly as bad cap shape as the Ducks are over the coming seasons, and the Wings have a better roster to begin with.

Guerin in 3 years with the Stars scored about the same as Morrow and Lehtinen, and less than Modano or Arnott. He is easily the worst defensive player of that five-man group. So basically Guerin was the 5th best forward on the Stars over three years. When you consider he was outperformed by Jussi Jokinen in Jokinen's rookie year, that makes him barely a top six forward in Dallas. While other players may have had issues scoring due to the defensive system, Guerin's woes went beyond that, given that he was getting first line time. He's still worse than Glen Murray.

1. If Niedermayer isn't retiring, Schneider will have less impact for Anaheim than Kronwall will for Detroit. 2. Selanne has outscored Bertuzzi by 50 goals and 130 points in 65 more games the past two seasons. Selanne has cleared 40 goals and 90 points each season, marks Bertuzzi only cleared in his best season, and he is FAR from that player anymore. 3. Lidstrom>Pronger. Rafalski>Schneider. Kronwall=Beauchemin. Zetterberg>McDonald, Datsyuk>Getzlaf, Holmstrom>Bertuzzi. Oh, and Hasek>Giguere. Amazing how much better Anaheim is.

I have wanted Drake back in the lineup for 14 years. He's not as good as he was 5 years ago, but I would rather him than Maltby or Samuelsson.I expect Hudler and Kopecky to start off taking turns in the lineup, and then one of Drake, Maltby, or Sammy will play himself out of a regular spot. It's a pretty good predicament to be in--and guys like that will play harder knowing that they have to do so to keep playing. Ideally, Sammy is out, Hudler scores 30 with Hank or Z, and our fourth line is a monster checking/defensive line of Maltby/Drake/Franzen...

Holland will never win on this board. People on this board slam him for not signing a gritty depth player. Drake is a gritty depth player, and a damn good one. Drake is comparable in ability defensively and physically at this point to Michael Peca, who many wanted, yet will cost the Wings the same salary as had they filled his spot with an AHLer. Drake at the league minimum is the perfect signing to fill out our forwards.

I wouldn't mind Yashin, but not for 4m. If Yashin could be had for around 2m, I think it's a gamble worth taking. On his worst day, he's an upgrade over Lang. We wouldn't live and die with his scoring, which would take some pressure off him. As a secondary threat, his ego wouldn't be nearly as unmanageable. Yashin was a perfect team player who didn't cause locker room problems in NYI, there's no reason to believe that couldn't continue in Detroit.

Lemme guess...trade him for a Canadian?

That was basically how it was in the 50s..the Wings played the top line an insane amount. I can't speak to the accuracy of the ice time numbers, but I know the Lindsay/Abel/Howe line generally played a s*** ton more than top lines do now.

I think that result has more to do with Hasek having a bad game. I mean Steve Chiasson was a good player with a great slapshot and all...but did he ever score two goals in a game in his life? At any level?? Oh, and Yzerman's time on ice is way below what he would have played in 90...probably should be closer to 27 or 28 total minutes instead of 16.

And who says Winchester would have even come to Detroit. This is not fantasy hockey or NHL 2007. The player has to actually be interested in the team before he'll sign. Rafalski is a good example. Other teams offered more for him, yet he signed in Detroit.

And ever since, you have been pushing Asham to help bridge the gap, and saying that if we picked up a guy like that, opposing players should brace for impact?

You don't think he maybe just needs a little relief every now and then?

I don't understand why everyone is so upset about Bertuzzi and Schneider in Anaheim. Bertuzzi is a SIGNIFICANT DOWNGRADE from Selanne. Schneider is a SIGNIFICANT DOWNGRADE from Niedermayer. So Anaheim has gotten worse, as a team. Now, compare with Detroit. Rafalski is a SIGNIFICANT UPGRADE over Schneider. Bertuzzi was a nonfactor in the playoffs and basically did not play in the regular season. Calder was a healthy scratch many nights inthe playoffs, and did nothing when he was in the lineup. Not enough regular season games to be a factor. Lang was horrid in the playoffs and his offensive contribution will be easily replaced by guys like Hudler, Filppula, and Grigorenko. Addition by subtraction. So basically, Detroit nearly beat Anaheim with Schneider out of the lineup. ANd now, Anaheim has gotten worse while Detroit has gotten better. Anaheim replaced their best player with a guy the Wings upgraded on. Anaheim had two of the three best defensemen on the ice in the series. Were that series played with current rosters, that advantage belongs to Detroit. With Anaheim and Detroit making the moves they did, Detroit is, right now, the league's best team. Assuming Hudler, Kopecky, Filppula, and Grigorenko are all on the regular roster, and Quincey is the 7th defenseman, the Wings are the best team on paper.

Maybe someone shout hit Holland so hard he gets the runs?

Samuelsson is on the top line because of chemistry with Zetterberg and Holmstrom, and the fact that someone needs to be centering the third line. I would rather flip-flop Sammy and Hudler, but then we have three wingers on the third line. However, using last season's production as a guideline, and assuming regular players play about 75 games, that works out to 195 goals from forwards. This is about 20 goals below where we were last year. Now consider Hudler and Filppula will be seeing more regular time, and Grigorenko's number from last year is zero. Between those three, an additional 20 goals should be found pretty easily. Offense from defense should remain relatively unchanged.

Why does anyone here want Sopel? Sopel is worse defensively than SCHNEIDER, and doesn't bring nearly the offense Mathieu does. Sopel would be our #4 offensive defenseman behind Lidstrom, Rafalski, and Kronwall. Sopel was outperformed in Vancouver by Kevin Bieksa, who is just finally getting into the NHL at age 26.

Buffalo is only Thibault's 5th team. That matches what Ed Belfour, Dwayne Roloson, Dan Cloutier, and Curtis Joseph have accomplished to date, and is fewer than Kevin Weekes and Jamie McLenan have played for.

Playing with Draper and Maltby, who he played very well with? Think abut what you are saying for a second. Cleary's best performances came when he was the only option of a hot Robert Lang, and when he was with two similar type of players in Draper and Maltby, but on the third line. Putting him on the second line won't recreate either of those situations. It would be better to use Hudler in a scoring role and Cleary in a checking role than the reverse, don't you think?

If Markov could be had around the same salary, that would probably be a pretty good move. The Wings currently have 12 forwards, 6 defensemen, and 2 goalies signed for a cap hit of about 42.6m. Add Markov for 3m, and we still have almost 5m in cap space. Add two cheap forwards for a total of 1m, and we have about 4m in cap space. Knock off Hasek's reported 2m bonus, and it comes down to 2m.