egroen

I read from Holland that next season will be a challenging one -- and the wings are not nearly as strong on paper as they have been in over 15 years -- I agree 100% with that. I'm still not sure how admitting that is "whining" or predicting "doom and gloom". The strongest team on paper is rarely the team hoisting the Cup at the end of the year. Most of you are commenting on how the rookies will step right in and make up a lot of those points, well it is not the rookies who the bulk of this production will really fall onto, it is the existing players - many of whom are capable of more points than they had last year. I believe Datsyuk had 34 points his rookie year, and Zetterberg had 44 and was runner-up for the Calder. Yet many just assume Leino will at least be right there, and the others will be close. In reality, if Leino gets 30 points it is a successful season for him, but I would not count on much more. Obviously you can count on much less from Helm, Ericsson and Abdelkader.

Looks like Holland is in the newly coined "doom & gloom" crowd "the most challenging regular season we've had since the early 1990s." -- Ken Holland "Last season, we had a real margin for error because of our ability to score," Holland said. "We outscored our mistakes. We weren't very good on defense or the penalty kill for most of the season, but we could crank it up offensively. "We still think we can roll out three pairs of defensemen who have no real weakness. But we won't be as explosive. We'll have to play tighter, and our scoring is going to come from our top two lines now, like most clubs." http://www.columbusdispatch.com/live/conte...EO.html?sid=101

Right in theory, wrong in practice -- players file for arbitration as a concession to the GMs, showing their intentions to stay with a team. It is often the first compromise in bargaining. GMs love to have RFAs sign for arbitration because they can rest easy knowing said player will not be tempted by any offers.

Jeremy Williams shoots right and has a wicked shot. I'd still rather have Stuart and Ericsson, but hopefully Jason Williams will not be signed just so Babcock can have a right-handed shot on the point, when we already have a soft Williams of our own.

If he is 27 at that time he becomes a UFA.

Complaining about Draper is pretty useless -- the Wings are stuck with him for two more years, no matter what.

Pittsburgh fans do not seem too upset at the prospect of him leaving (at any price)... Hudler may have been primarily offense, but he was on the incline, not the decline and he played with heart, going to the net and worked his ass off in corners and checking (despite how ineffectual he was at times) -- I would like to see at least one positive intangible from a one-way offensive forward. Sykora has none. At least a Bertuzzi has size.

Good for you.... seriously. But get a clue if you think this is the most absurd OP in LGW's history - this one is simply a fact. I actually really hope the Stanley Cup Hangover is real and they coasted through parts of the season last year (as several players alluded to in interviews, Osgood springing to mind initially), because if not, and that was them giving their all, we could be in big trouble next season.

This is the same guy that apparently came right out and told MacTavish he doesn't "do defense". The Penguins, not exactly the most top-notch two-way forward team in the league, benched him in the playoffs, despite being one of their top goal scorers. Hudler has never been that bad, and has earned his way out of Babcock's doghouse numerous times.

It looks like Moen got $1.7m for three years -- a bit pricey in amount and term. That Cup year out of Moen may have just been the exception.

Oh god, yes.

I actually think he will tear it up in the KHL.... he'll be playing on a first line.

Ok, the reaction to this thread is absurd. The Wings had unbelievably bad defense during the regular season and worst goaltending, and now just lost a third of its offense putting them in the hole from last year by more than a goal per game; as well as losing a pretty darn good two-way forward and facing the fact our #2 PKing defensive Dman may miss a decent chunk of LTIR, assuming he can come back. Yeah, let's just ridicule anyone who is concerned over that. Knock it off. Hopefully last year's defense and goaltending was a blip, largely due to a Stanley Cup hangover and it will get back to its league-leading ways -- but that is not going to happen with the snap of Holland's fingers. Ericsson should be an important upgrade, but a steady Conklin was replaced with an unproven Howard and a lot of vets, including Osgood and our top two defensemen are a year older and fresh off their third deep playoffs run. Next year will be a much bigger challenge than usual for this team, I think. Hopefully they respond as they did after the Conference Finals loss to Anaheim, but that is certainly not a given. Hopefully the rookies can invigorate this team with some fresh blood and energy and coupled with the drive from the vets, can make up a good portion of those points, as well as clamp down on defense and goaltending again. Obviously we will be rooting for them; but let's not fool ourselves and think the Wings can coast through another regular season scoring 4 goals a game again this year.

I'm actually shocked Fedorov's name has not come up yet.

Malkin was before Radulov. Dynamo, in court, attempted to hold Ovechkin from the NHL under their arbitration award but the judge at the time ruled a "written agreement" was necessary to be binding.

(This is futile at this point (with Hudler pretty much gone), but it beats talking about how we lost in the Finals...) It does not have to be - because Filppula can be traded (or another player, as Holland was apparently planning on doing in order to reatain Hudler). Just trying to look at it logically: Player A + some nice intangibles << Player B +25 pts + a 2nd round pick (at bare minimum)

You are perfectly entitled to your opinion At some point, however; points alone has to provide value. Remember: Filppula signed his 5 year, $15m contract after posting 17 and 32 points in the NHL. The past two seasons Hudler has posted 42 and 57 points. It's just amazing to me that so many appear to value the intangible play of Filppula so much, that it is essentially worth giving up 25 points.

So you were preferring he was a $5m+ player whom this team would not have a chance to afford anyways?

For that money, I would play a year or two on Mario Lemieux's frozen pool and wash Crosby's shorts for him.

Depends how you view it -- he did sign for arbitration, with the intention of not wanting to play for another NHL team. If the KHL is not an option for him, that does not necessarily mean he would half-ass it for Detroit --- as the KHL option would still be there for him within a year or two. If he did not want to play in Detroit, Holland could trade him (though at a greatly reduced price, of course).

Ok -- here's a recent case of the NHL "sniping" a KHL player under contract: http://www.russiatoday.com/Top_News/2009-0....html?fullstory Ironically, the NHL complied and canceled his contract with Atlanta, honoring the "no poaching" agreement -- which was created immediately after the Radulov situation. Arbitration is not a contract, but it is an 'agreement' to sign a contract, so you are getting onto a slippery slope here. Ok, this could get interesting....

Though not if it is front-loaded and there is an "out" clause -- which it is rumored to be.

I highly doubt it will amount to anything...

I really dislike the idea of saving up for a big trade deadline deal -- maybe a plugger, but not a big name. Draft picks are at a premium nowadays and I hate to see them go out the door. Sign someone instead, at the beginning of the season, and let them mesh with the team and figure the correct line configurations throughout the course of the year. No assets traded away on a rental that way.

I am trying to remember if anything has changed since Radulov... The IIHF contested that as well, and he was actually under contract, but to no avail. Essentially all they could really do was threaten to suspend him from international play and tournaments.