norrisnick

He scored 12 goals on the 4th line. He was fast, defensively sound, huge, great shot, somewhat physical. I'm pretty sure most everyone knew he wouldn't be a 4th liner for the balance of his career. The very next season he pretty much doubled his offensive output. And even $900K is underpaid for a 3rd liner. His agent had to work like hell, but still Kenny got a steal of a deal.

Mike Richards.

Out of idle curiosity, just where in the hell did this view of Franzen come up? Because he didn't want to bend over for Holland and take a long-term rock bottom rogering like Lebda did? Maybe, just maybe, he and his agent realized that he was more than a mere career scrub. And even the "money grubbing" that he did only amounted to a roughly $900K salary. I highly doubt Kenny feels cheated by what he got out of Franzen for that deal.

Maybe Fil and a mid pick, but no way in hell would I add in Franzen or Hudler.

When you are a contender you do that at the draft, not at the deadline.

Far more importantly, what is Detroit's motivation here?

It's quite funny. It doesn't matter what the subject or what thread it's in, but one can always count on you not knowing s*** about whatever is being said.

Sometimes +/- has some really bizarre outcomes. I mean Holmstrom is probably our worst player with regards to defensive ability and he's a +16. And yes, Green has a high + on the basis of offense and offense alone. All that number does is show how many goals go in for you minus how many goals go in against. When you have an outrageous offense, the other team just doesn't get much opportunity to score while you're out there. In and of itself +/- tells you nothing with regards to defensive ability. Context is key.

He didn't miss a shift after that punch. From what I remember they don't even know when exactly Franzen bumped his head in the playoffs. It was at some point in the 2nd round. Johan initially though his headaches were due to the Denver altitude rather than a subdermal hematoma.

Fedorov is the only player to ever win two different individual events.

Not that I'm aware of. They recently (in the last year or so) handed out 7 different 4+ year contracts. Though if Bouwmeester suddenly has a change of heart they may almost be forced to trade Ballard (or McCabe or Allen which would be much harder).

One thing that was never even hinted at was that Fedorov is a playoff no show. Just sayin...

He's scoring more during his shifts, which helps the overall +/-, but he really isn't becoming more defensively responsible. And right now it's working for him, so there is no incentive to become more responsible in his own end. He'll probably figure it out some day, but as of right now he is what he is. An offensive dynamo lining up as a defenseman.

The Panthers like him too, which is why they gave him a 6 year $4.2M/yr extension.

We have a dozen NHL capable defensemen under contract. We won't be trading for any more.

Hudler did in fact QB the Griffs in '06 when they were the top scoring team with the top PP in the AHL. Where he is now is not the problem. He's the Datsyuk of the 2nd unit along the half-boards. He can make plays up to the point or down low from there, which is perfect. The problem is simply Sammy. He's a trainwreck with the puck. Put anyone that can handle a pass and give it to the open man, and we'd be better off for it. Sammy's right-handed shot has injured more teammates from the point than scored goals which are almost always when he's below the dots.

No. He's everything you think of when a defenseman gets described as a 4th forward. When he and Fedorov are out on the point of a PP, Sergei is the stabilizing defensive presence. He has ridiculous offensive skills that many forwards would love to have, but he's a roving scorer. Lining up as a defenseman allows many of his chances because most teams don't expect the D to activate as much as he does.

Average or actual, you're delusional if you think Hossa and Franzen can be signed at a combined $8.5M cap hit. Which is a big part of why getting him signed under the cap will be next to impossible without losing at least 2 of those 3 (or players of similar salary). I plan on trading Filppula. Like I stated above when you suggested Leino and Helm could replace them, 107 points. Which very well could include Hossa, just as it did Fedorov. I know you hate to consider it, but apart from players already signed Hudler is easily the most likely to stick around seeing as he's RFA.

The salary cap is a *****. He's not as bad as Maltby and Draper, but another 2 year deal would easily put him there. Would you keep Holmstrom if it meant losing one of Franzen, Hudler, Cleary, Filppula? That's my point here. Kenny can't keep letting his old soldiers dictate when they've had enough. Not when we have current and future soldiers that need to be retained.

Does the term "sample size" mean anything to you? Brunnstrom scored a hattrick his first game. How'd that turn out for him? Leino could probably cover Fil's offense, maybe. And Helm his speed, defense, tenacity. But even with Fil's mediocre offense if you combine him and what Hudler is on pace for Leino and Helm would need to combine for 107 points. Good luck with that. The Wings cannot afford Hossa AND Franzen without losing far more than just Hudler and Filppula. Just not possible. You have to move Filppula just to be able to keep Hudler and Leino along with whichever one of the other two you keep. $8.5M for Hossa and Franzen is just abandoning all concepts of reason. Just won't happen. Combining for $10M would already be massive discounts by both. You need to stay in touch with reality.

Like I said, Kenny is going to have to take a long hard look at the guys that have contracts and the guys that need contracts. Holmstrom is going to come in shy of 60 games played for the second straight season due to a hernia/groin issue. He's 36 and maybe, just maybe, his Demolition Man routine is catching up with him. He's not going to be an integral piece of the puzzle 2-3-4-5+ years from now, but players that don't currently have contracts will. Does Holmstrom deserve loyalty any more than Franzen or Hudler who also haven't played in anything but red and white?

Leino and Helm can replace Filppula. They can't replace Hudler as well.

That right there is the hard part. We're already capped out and we have guys due raises to the tune of about $5M. Ericsson and Howard join for good next season they both make more money than the players they'll replace. Even if Kenny does trade Fil, it won't be enough. There's a trio of guys that Kenny needs to take a long hard look at this summer. Draper, Maltby, and Holmstrom. Can the Wings afford to lose more important players on account of loyalty to foot soldiers well beyond their "best by" date?

Near sighted? Fil's contract will never be a steal unless the economy goes meteoric and all salaries inflate like mad. His upside is right around where Cleary is now (if Fil wraps his head around the fact that cute plays isn't his thing and he needs to get more physical, more direct with his plays, and rather than circling back cutting right to the net) and yet he's making $200K/yr more. It was a dumb deal. Kenny should have signed him for a year or two around $1.5-2M/yr. With the way the roster is stacked there's no way he could have shown enough to warrant much more than a $3M/yr deal after that. So in essence, Kenny not only didn't save anything but he gave away at least $1M in cap space this year and next year. Nik and Stu are having trainwreck seasons. I won't deny that. But they have the luxury of playing a much more important role and having the ability to have a far greater impact than Fil when they are on their game. Maybe Fil will finally figure it out and become the Zetterberg-lite many were hoping for, but as it stands he might never be more than Draper-plus.

These moves are so mind-numbingly obvious I'm going to be royally pissed off if they don't happen. And I really hope Kenny doesn't do anything stupid like let Babcock talk him into letting Hudler go because Leino could play a similar role. Don't take the easy road out to create cap space. Move contracts. Just because one guy signs first or the summer before doesn't mean he should stay over a guy that needs a contract now.