Dabura

Waddell wants something in the neighborhood of a young roster player, a prospect, and a pick. Hossa wants to sign long-term with a legitimate contender and, by his own admission, would be willing to play for less if it meant winning more. Holland has Flip, Hudler, Sammy, some good prospects, and enough room with the cap situation -- both current and foreseeable -- to afford Hossa a reasonable 7-even salary. Furthermore, no team in the NHL is as consistently competitive as the Wings. Assuming things stay reasonable, the Wings have a great chance of landing Hossa. At the very least, Holland has done absolutely nothing to deny this. He hasn't even offered up the token "We'd love to, but..." To me, that suggests he's not only very interested in Hossa, but also has a very good shot at getting him. As for Guerin and Forsberg -- not comparable. Different players, different situations, different different different.

Moreover, Hossa is much more valuable than the likes of Guerin and Forsberg.

Could have told you at the beginning of the season that thngs would end up this way. In fact, I think I did.

OK, now let's talk about reality, not what you would like to see happen. The reality is this: the Wings have the financial room, assets, and reptuation necessary to make a Hossa deal possible. Holland himself told Waddell that he feels great about the Wings' cap situation and is willing to bring in a big name if the price is right. And, like I said, the price would seem to be right.

If he can be had for cheap, I say go for it.

Source (that isn't Bruce Garrioch)?

Keeper, no doubt.

Any time I get upset with Brian Burke I just imagine him as Brian Wilson and suddenly I'm not mad anymore.

Salei ftw.

Forwards get paid to score, d-men don't. If there's a lack of scoring, the forwards should be blamed before the D. Kenny, Hossa. Do eet now.

It goes without saying that he'll take it. Good for him, I say. Great story.

Neither can the opposition.

Samuelsson.

Or Hossa just goes in alone and slays fools. :battle:

Not as good as Hossa. Moreover, Flip would, at best, serve a role that Dats is already serving -- that of a shifty, defensively responsible playmaker. Outside of Hank, the Wings have no goal-scorers on their roster or even within their system at large. Hossa for Flip, a pick and a prospect would be a steal. It really won't, though. Besides, Holland knows better than to get himself into trouble with the cap. If he brings in Hossa, it'll be at a good price. I honestly don't know why everyone is worried about the cap situation. Holland himself says he likes where this team is in regards to the cap and that he has enough room to swing a big deal. Recall: (http://blog.mlive.com/snapshots/2008/02/ho...ls_will_re.html)

Salei, no question. Great hitter, plays with a mean streak (this is the guy who shoved Mike Modano into the boards), and won't be the half the defensive liability Stuart is. Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't mind having Stuart. But Salei is the much better option.

I'd like to add that Cleary was the very definition of lazy and underachieving before becoming a Wing.

That tends to happen when you find yourself stuck on the Atlanta Thrashers. Thrashersitis is the medical term, I believe.

Salei would be fantastic.

I'd take the corresponding Wings team over each of those Sens teams. He may not be The Answer (whatever that is), but damn if he won't help this team a lot.

Trust me, I'm about as pessimistic a Wings fan as you're likely to find; I don't like the way the roster was managed this season, and I'm not crazy about its chances against the Ducks, even with Hossa on the team. Ideally, I'd like the Wings to land a Thornton-type player -- someone who can not only light the lamp, but also play a physical, mean, nasty game. But they won't be seeing a player like that in their ranks for quite some time. Hossa is the next-best thing. And that's a pretty damn good next-best thing, imo.

Datsyuk alone made Pronger look like a fool on at least two occasions in that series. Now imagine Datsyuk barreling down with Hossa on the wing. I dare say Chrissy would s*** himself.

Truth. However, what I offered is a worst-case scenario. We'd almost certainly keep one of Hudler and Samuelsson, if not both. While I don't care much for either of those guys, they would give us some depth within the top 6.

Sorry, but the Senators aren't the Wings. I mean that in a lot of different ways. For one, chemistry is always a concern. For example, Vinny Lecavalier is every bit as good as Henrik Zetterberg, if not altogether better. But there's nothing to say he would connect with Datsyuk the way Hank does. He's an affordable upgrade over Flip. Hell, an upgrade over Flip and Hudler combined. He offers something no one in the Wings' system outside of Hank can offer: explosive scoring ability. Not even Datsyuk can offer that, as he's a playmaker by trade, not a goal-scorer. And just to hammer this point home, DATSYUK WAS INVISIBLE IN THE POSTSEASON UP UNTIL THIS PAST RUN. Rejecting Hossa because of a shaky postseason record would be ridiculous on Kenny's part, and I'm sure he's well aware of this. Motown has a way of changing careers, often for the better. Just ask Larry Murphy. Hell, ask Daniel Cleary! If he signs here, we will get least two seasons of service from him, guaranteed. Holland has said he won't add a rental and it's widely accepted that Hossa wants a long-term deal. Then Hossa's our man. He's a big guy and has been described as being practically unstoppable when he puts his mind to it (see his hat trick against us). His combination of speed, strength and puck wizardry could easily make a guy like Pronger look downright silly.

Even if we assume Flip, Hudler and Sammy are all gone (not happening, but let's say it does), that still leaves Hank, Dats, Homer, Cleary, Franzen. Throw in Hossa and you've got your top 6. To me, that's a fantastic group. Scoring touch with lots of grit between Homer, Cleary and Franzen. And Hossa knows how to use his size. A+ Who says Hossa's going to play poorly? Who says Datsyuk's going to play poorly? Who says either of them will need to carry the load all by himself? If anything, adding Hossa would give the Wings more flexibility in this matter; if Dats craps out, we still have Hossa, and vice-versa. And of course you need to throw Hank in there. I don't imagine either of them would play poorly, though. Hossa in particular. Like someone said earlier in this thread (or maybe it was the other one...), Hossa on this team could pretty much do anything he wants. The guy would, simply put, be a juggernaut here -- that's almost guaranteed. At the worst, he'd be merely good, which would still be better than what a guy like Hudler could offer. Also, let's not forget that Dats is a playmaker by trade, and a shifty one at that. And you know what shifty playmakers really like? Shifty goal-scorers who need shifty playmakers. Wings need a top-tier goal-scorer. Hossa is a top-tier goal-scorer. Wings need a long-term top-tier goal-scorer. Hossa is a long-term top-tier goal-scorer. Wings need a big-bodied, long-term top-tier goal-scorer. Hossa is a big-bodied, long-term top-tier goal-scorer. Wings need a big-bodied, long-term top-tier goal-scorer on the wing. Hossa is a winger. Getter done, Kenny. Getter done.