YoungGuns1340

Hartnell - 4.2 per, 39 points Horton - 4 per, 62 points Penner - 4.3 per, 45 points ------------------ Roy - 4 per, 63 points Yeah, theres no way Roy wouldnt have gotten 4 in arbitration This deal is Ales Hemsky all over again. His contract is a steal now. Same will go for Roy.

Steve Yzerman wouldve just flown the man to the hospital, after changing in the nearby telephone booth of course.

The only people aiming at Lowe right now will be Regier and Burke. Half the league undoubtedly commends this move. In fact, when Lowe offered Vanek the offer sheet, another GM - cant remember which but I think it was colorado's - was talking about how a group of 6 or 8 teams had been talking about taking the offer sheet approach, but didnt have the balls to do it. Not only that, but making offer sheets to RFAs can only happen if you sit on your hands waiting to sign your RFAs. I wouldnt be surprised to see Stoll signed mid-season by the Oil, and Pitkanen similarly, should he rebound from last year and prove to be worth the trade. Then theres also the issue of actually being concerend about what youre wagering - Lowe has the space, he needs the players, hes bulking up his organization and, unlike most GMs around the league, he doesnt have a marquee player he needs to be worrying about locking up in the next few years. People are acting like Lowe is throwing around offer sheets because he feels like, but nobody is talking about how he can AFFORD to do it in more ways than one. At this point, there are very few GMs who can risk overpaying an RFA to an offer sheet - which is exactly what you have to do to in order to steal them away. For example, maybe Burke wants his revenge and wants to make an offer sheet to Pitkanen, but can he afford to? Well, with Getzlaf on the fast track to becoming a top 10 center, and Perry up and coming as well, he has bigger fish to fry and will only screw himself over if he concerns himself with Lowe's RFAs. People need to step outside of whether or not their organization would benefit from signing Penner to an offer sheet, and start thinking about whether or not the Oil would benefit now, or even in the next few years. Would this deal work for the Wings? no. The Sens? Nope. The Rags, Flyers, Avs, Flames...the list goes on. For Edmonton, this deal is low-risk, high reward. And Im sure thats all that Lowe cares about.

You guys are seriously underrating Roy. He can put up 25 goals and 65 points easy, all the while making a serious commitment to defense. He is an awesome two-way forward and will only get better with more time. With Horton, Penner, and Hartnell's contracts as comparable, Roy wouldve gotten more considering hes a more complete player than the other 3.

Signing Souray was hardly a knee-jerk reaction. He didnt overpay for Souray, and the Oilers needed an offensive defenseman - why not get the best one out there? Not to mention, he had to find a way to replace the leadership Smith brought to the dressing room, and Souray is exactly that guy - a very underrated leader with a lot more character than any give him credit for. Not to mention, signing Souray hasnt screwed the Oil over in any way, and neither will Penner if he gets signed. They still have a good 5-6M if they get Penner, and the only guys that will really be getting a raise next year are Pitkanen and Stoll.

..But theres more to hockey than that. Franzen may be a slight step up from Maltby, but Maltby is a branded Red WIng. He is one of the few faces of Red Wings hockey. Its for reasons like that that Draper will also be re-signed next year, even if there was a guy who could potentially do better in Drapes' role (which, naturall, there isnt)

Nobody said anything about Selanne being interested, but the fact that Detroit is interested is half the battle. Tons of players over their careers have said its X team or bust, but have gone off to sign with another team. The big thing that sets Detroit apart from the rest at this point is that Detroit doesnt have to move people around in order to sign Selanne - they have the cap space needed if Selanne is interested. Its also very possible that the reason Selanne is taking so long to make a decision is not so much because hes deciding whether to retire or not, but deciding whether to retire, or play for another team. The fact that Burke signed Bertuzzi - a move that Selanne cant possibly like having been a member of the Avs during the Bert incident - may have changed Selanne's options.

More like Cammalleri for Filppula + 2nd rounder

As he should. Its fair game to sign guys to an offer sheet, and this shouldnt be looked down upon. This is nobodys fault but Burkes, and Regiers as well.

Few teams have RFAs they cant afford to lose to an overpaying buyer.

Im pretty sure thats illegal. At any rate, if you are debating between retiring and returning, and youre leaning towards retirement, taking a 5M+ paycut wont make you wanna return.

Its not that bad of a deal for Penner, considering the Oilers would get him for 25-30 years of age. It would screw the Ducks, tho.

Filppula has the potential to be the next Zetterberg? In case you havent noticed, we already have Zetterberg and well likely re-sign to a 7-8 year contract. Thats another 10 years for Zetterberg and at least 7 for Datsyuk. Penner, on the other hand, can put up 25 goals on a defense first team, play capable defense, uses his 6'4 size, and is a decent skater for such a big guy. Thats something the Wings havent seen since Brendan Shanahan was in his prime. If The Wings could sign him to a contract similar to Nathan Hortons - a little less money and 1-2 fewer years - then his cap hit would be stable and affordable, while allowing the Red Wings plenty of money to re-sign Lidstrom and Zetterberg.

No youre right, Cammalleri isnt a soft player. Hes a gritty little guy whos corner work reminds a little of Parrish. Nonetheless, Penner would make a bigger impact on the Wings. Detroit doesnt have a Dustin Brown or an Alexander Frolov they can pair Cammalleri up with. Having cammy would probably an ensure a 1st or 2nd line of no one taller than 6 feet or heavier than 190 lbs. Plus, Cammy will undoubtedly cost more. But make no mistake about it. Penner, Cammy, or even Ryder are probably better options than what Detroit can/will come by at the deadline, and all 3 would likely fit in to Detroits long-term plans.

On the one hand, he could do awesome with Havlat. On the other, I can see him getting tossed around like a rag doll.

And it starts. If theres any RFA I want Detroit going after, its Dustin Penner. Rumor has it that the Ducks and Penner were supposed to have a deal, but one of the sides backed out and now things arent going so well. Of course its unlikely that any of Ryder, Cammy, or Penner are going to be availale, but Penner would definitely be more valuable to the Wings than Cammy would, and hed likely be cheaper too. Some people would freak out about this, but I wouldnt mind seeing Detroit trade Filppula for Penner if Burke would have it. Detroit will have Zetterberg and Datsyuk for another 7 years at least while the prospect pool looks pretty bleak as far as power forwards go.

Cammalleri is a pretty impressive player, still young, and pretty complete for a yong guy. He could command 4M in arbitration easily coming off an 80pt season with they way those arbitors hand out cash.

Good post. Echoes my thoughts completely. Signing more bottom 6 guys will only whittle away at our money to use if/when something better comes along. Besides, Peca isnt the healthiest bet as of now.

Im not sold on Emery yet. Hes hardly a guy I would look to to be carrying a team, but hes young and hes impressed and played well in the playoffs, so all and all its a good deal. I just dont think hes worth the hype.

Detroit wasnt waiting to see if Shanny would play, they were waiting to see if hed take their offer.

Take it for what its worth, but according to EKLUND, Selanne sold his house in Anaheim recently. If thats true, hes either retiring or might play somewhere else. He does like his cars, so maybe hell play for one more year so he can buy a few more. What better place than the motor city? In all honesty though, its wishful thinking, but the guy is a sniper and a fast one at that. I would feel very comfortable with Filppula, Selanne, Datsyuk, Zetterberg, Homer, and the lucky bastard #6 that gets to play with those guys as our top 2 lines.

It usually doesnt work that way. When a career AHLer plays on a crappy NHL, thats the reason why hes playing. Because that team is crappy. If anything, his NHL production would decline as hed be playing in a 14th forward position, instead of a 10-12 position like he has with other NHL teams.

I dont understand this. They were THE BEST line in the NHL after being assembled and before injuries. We arent talking about two kinda good guys who have good chemistry being on the same line - we're talking about the two guys that just might have THE greatest chemistry of any two players in the league. They make magic when they are together. No reason to break that up. Secondly, Filppula needs this time to play in his natural position. He needs to prove that he can take that big faceoff and be the main puck distributer. Not to mention, putting him in his center position also allows him to become more responsible defensively. Its about time Detroit started giving their young guys responsibility in their first few seasons instead of waiting til their 4th season to put them back in their original position, like Detroit did with Zetterberg.

No. I never heard anyone saying Lidstrom was going to retire this year. Before he signed his contract? yeah. For next year? yeah, but it hasnt been 5 years. And can you blame anybody? The guy has won every award he practically can and hes talked about going back to Sweden for nearly a decade.

Selanne would be a great mentor for Filppula. I dont like Selanne that much, but a one year contract wouldnt hurt the Wings and it would do a ton for Filppula.