haroldsnepsts

That's exactly what I wondered. Is anyone crazy enough to pick up Khabi and his 6.75 mill?

Ssshhh! I blocked that part out of my mind. Was he really 2nd line though? I guess he did become it when Kronwall was out. *shudders*

Okay, but we paid Drake what, $850,000? You think Bertuzzi is going to sign for that? And beyond that, I bet he finished the season with fewer significant hits and fights than Drake did. I just don't see Bertuzzi looking to be a 4th liner somewhere playing 10 minutes a game and getting paid accordingly, around a million dollars. The Drake comparison doesn't really make sense, because Bertuzzi almost certainly doesn't want that role, or that paycheck.

That's the scary thing, Lilja probably could've gotten more outside of Detroit. A bottom pairing guy who blocks shot and kills penalties. Who knows what another team would be willing to pay for that, but I bet it'd be more than we signed Lillypads for.

That's the heart of it. holy hell can you imagine if Lilja we're playing 2nd line minutes next season?

I just don't think he's effective again. Maybe he will be one day, but I haven't really seen it yet. In the playoffs he saw his icetime cut, and managed 2 assists and was -2. Granted, Anaheim had all sorts of offense problems, but you'd hope Bert would be one of the guys to help that. On paper he's got everything you'd want in a player. I just don't think it translates onto the ice anymore. He's okay, but will likely be overpaid. For the record I was not one of the people who pretended to like him as soon as he wore the winged wheel.

I don't disagree with a lot of what you said here. The only thing I take issue with is using Lilja as a reference point for salary, because I think there is a decent gap between the two. Yes Salvador's icetime decreased in the playoffs, but consider Lilja, who was a healthy scratch for half the playoffs. And when he did play he averaged about 12 minutes a game instead of the 18 he played in the regular season. He's a 7th D-man, at best. As for Salvador being overpaid, I agree, that is quite a raise. It sounds like he'll be 2nd pairing next year in Jersey, which I guess justifies the salary a bit, but still. Though I generally think D-men get paid a premium (outside of Detroit anyway).

I don't think they need excuses. there's plenty of legit reasons for him not to come back, the biggest being we don't need him. Talk of Fedorov coming back is usually mostly about nostalgia. And I have no hard feelings about how he left. I think he'd probably be better off staying in Washington.

I could see Holland being involved making a low-ball offer, but once again I don't think he'll give the term or amount that Bert will get elsewhere. And I'm totally fine with that. Let some team overpay him in hopes he'll finally play to his potential.

Good to see Cujo back in Toronto. If he can get his form back they'll have a pretty good tandem in net there too. Now they just gotta fix everything else.

Wow. what a pleasant surprise. Nice work by Holland. This team has a tremendous top 4 D-men. And all of those who were trashing Stuart for leaving can line up to apologize. The guy got a no-trade clause for the first 2 seasons and a limited trade clause for the last two. Think maybe he likes the Wings and is tired of moving around?

QFT. It's not exactly comparing apples to apples.

I can understand that. At this point I just think Bertuzzi is damaged goods. That he'll never become the player he was, or could've been. More than anything though, I'm guessing his price tag will still be too high. Some GM will want to overpay him.

Actually Franzen will be a UFA next summer. I don't know exactly what that means in terms of being able to negotiate an extension though.

I guess I never really expected Lang to be anywhere near a replacement for Fedorov. I never got the impression the Wings expected him to be a first line center, and think he met expectations reasonably well the first couple seasons as a 2nd liner. Again, not great, but wouldn't call him a bust. either way, I agree that these were not earth shattering and Holland has kept things together, whereas Burke had a season of major mistakes.

I was looking on hockeyfights, and found this interesting. The Red Wings had 21 fights last regular season, which is by far the most they've had since '04 when they had 28. And in '02, they had exactly 21 fights. Maybe that's the magic number? Either way, I wouldn't have thought the Wings were involved in that many fights this past year. Not having Downey or Drake or someone like them on the team will definitely change things, and not for the better.

Bertuzzi is not an enforcer, and as the announcer says in the video not known as a fighter. Here's two of his three fights from last year. for comparison, Bertuzzi had as many fights as Lillypads last year with 3. Drake had 5, Downey had 10.

The Calder move was actually a Jason Williams salary dump. If Calder worked out, great, but mainly it was to get rid of another year of being stuck with Williams at $1 million+ (can't remember his contract exactly). As for Lang, a guy who scores 62 points in his first full season with the team isn't exactly a bust, especially as a 2nd liner playing 16 minutes a game. There's also the playoffs in '04 when he had 9 points in 12 games when are big guns couldn't seem to find the net. Or '06 when he had a point a game for 6 games, when once again the team couldn't score. Lang wasn't the greatest player in the world, but he certainly wasn't a bust. Chicago paying him $4 million after watching his totals decline the last year in Detroit is a helluva a lot closer to being a bust than when Holland signed him.

I really hope he clears, just so Anaheim gets stuck with two-thirds of his salary.

Ha hahahahahahah... I guess Burke's man love for Bert only runs so deep... Good thing you passed up staying in Detroit for the security of a longer term contract, eh Todd?

I would agree with that. He's got decades of experience, and as I said, was a wily veteran. Which helps compensate for his age. But even with all those aspects, he's still barely clinging to the 6th and 7th D-man spot. Maybe it was his knee or maybe it was his age, but he lost his job in the Stanley Cup playoffs to Lilja. That says something. Our defensive corps is definitely up in the air, though I'm confused why people don't have Lebda in the lineup. He's signed through 2010 and averaged 16 minutes a game in the regular season. He's obviously not a top pairing guy, but I can't see him losing his job completely to the kids or Chelios. and this is off topic, but if Babcock thinks Ericsson is such a stud, why haven't I seen talk of him getting playing time on the Wings?

Because Downey provides something otherwise completely lacking on the Wings. Chelios does not. He fulfills a role as a 6th or 7th Dman, is slow, isn't really physical anymore. Yes he's a wily veteran, that's what allows him to still compete at this level all. But we've got kids who can do a lot of what he does, and though they'd make more mistakes I think them actually having a future with the team offsets that.

I like Chelios, but really wish he would've just hung the skates up after Detroit won the Cup. I don't get using a roster spot on a defenseman you know is only going to play half the season. It's one thing to do it with a kid who is developing and has a future with the team, but another to do it with Chelios.

You forgot that he's also a terrible skater.

My comment wasn't directed at you specifically. The PP be our enforcer was the crap the Wings were saying two years ago when they had no one that would drop the gloves to stick up for their teammates. having an enforcer may not prevent guys from running our star players, but it helps team morale and chemistry when you know someone's got your back and will put a beat down on the player that ran you, rather than turning the other cheek. I don't know if I can find them anymore, but over the season there were several quotes from players saying as much. I'm not saying it has to be Downey, but I think his presence made a difference even in his limited ice time. The Wings have plenty of guys who can contribute on the scoresheet. Downey provides something they don't really get anywhere else. For that reason I'd rather have someone like Downey eating up a roster spot than someone like Chelios, who may sit half the season in spite of us having plenty of guys who can fill that role and play all season long. I don't care that it's Downey per se. but if not him, I want someone filling that role. And yeah, i'd love to see Lucic, but it's not happening.