egroen

He could get on the same page as Babcock and offer Samuelsson the Hudler money and then trade Hudler's rights.

I think you are going to find the regular season starts taking on a bit more meaning, with every single team in the Central improving this year, once again.

No, I am saying we may just be looking at the worst off-season for Holland ever. It's disappointing. I did not think he would magically sign Hossa + Franzen +Hudler and still retain Filppula like some did, but I quite frankly did not think he would let Hossa, Samuelsson and Hudler all walk for nothing. That is quite simply a failure.

Then why didn't Holland get any compensation for trading Hossa's negotiation rights? The reason is Holland thought he could still sign him.... in all seriousness, is he losing touch with reality a bit? 90% of the posters here knew Hossa was a one-year deal. The Wings won a Cup without Hossa, but they also had a very productive Samuelsson and Hudler in 08. 2nd line Filppula + Helm + Leino + Oulahen + Moen/whomever will net you about 30-35 goals if you are lucky.

It is one thing to say the Wings will "play better defensively", but so far Holland has not backed it up with a single move. Lidstrom, Rafalski and Osgood are all a year older and Howard is a downgrade from Conklin. Ericsson is not better defensively than Lilja. Letting 80 goals go does not by default upgrade your defense.

Helm for Kopecky is awesome and an upgrade... But to lose Hossa, Hudler and Samuelsson -- and replace them with what? Leino so far? That really sucks.

You're right -- I'll take a lot of heart in each Wings loss because they dug the puck out of the corners well. Ultimately, it is about goals.

I just had a feeling this would happen -- though not in this manner. I pulled my hair out in so many games, watching the Wings trail in the 3rd period and seeing Babcock ice Filppula, Cleary, Samuelsson and for the love of god, KOPECKY, over Hudler. Wow - the wings lose Hossa, Samuelsson and Hudler and get *nothing*.

Hudler scored more points in the playoffs in both the previous two years, with much less minutes. Moen "brought it" so hard in the playoffs last year for San Jose that he scored all of 0 points and finished with a -4, in only 6 games. Outside of Anaheim's Cup year, he scored all of 3 points in the playoffs for them - in 2 years.

When you lose 80 GOALS from the previous season, you better be looking for someone to be "putting in goals" -- it's not like we have made any upgrades in goalies or defensemen, so Holland can talk about "better defensive play" all he wants, but you are starting out the season in the whole essentially down one goal a game.

A defensive guy who's best years are behind him and you might get lucky to get 10 points out of? He missed more than half the season in '06 as well. I'd be excited if he were Tomas Kopecky's replacement - not Hudler's.

Yeah, it's going to be so awesome having another over-priced, injury-riddled Draper on the team! Woo-hoo!

Anyone who is glad he is gone has lost their marbles -- find me another guy who can put up similar points at $3m (and is not on an entry level contract) -- now find me another guy who can put up such points with *less* than 16 minutes of play a game (Hudler gets 13 minutes). Even if Babcock never relented and gave Hudler a shot on the 2nd line, 55+ points on a bottom-pairing line is easily worth $3m+. Easily. There is simply no one in the NHL that did that. And some of you are happy because the Wings now might have a shot at Travis Moen? Sweet -- I have really been looking forward to watching Detroit become a trapping team! That's more than 80 goals the Wings lost from last season. Babcock and Holland screwed the pooch on this one. You have a guy who produced more on limited minutes than anyone in the NHL, whom *only* wants to play for the Red Wings, so much that he would rather play in Russia than another team in the NHL -- and you can't get a deal done somehow? Maybe this is premature -- and I am definitely venting -- but that's a big red mark on Holland there.

no -- it's only if they sign a multi-year contract that goes into affect *after* the age of 35.

If he dies, his contract stays on the books for the remainder. It's better for them if he hangs on in a vegetative state and remains on LTIR -- because that way they can replace his contract (by exceeding the cap). "Don't pull that plug!!!!"

I may now lose sleep tonight fretting over whether Lemieux saw McCarty's fist coming or not....

No wonder russians and eastern euros are going later and later in the draft. So we get to look forward to Tatar doing this as well? Honestly -- Datsyuk, Radulov and Hudler did not strike me as the types to pull this... but these agents are getting pretty well-versed in using the KHL to their advantage.

They are so screwed -- If Pronger retires, gets hit by a bus or is sent to the minors -- they still get a 7 year $5m cap hit. It's hilarious! This could be one of the worst contracts yet.

How the hell could Holmgren miss that? (5) All Player Salary and Bonuses earned in a League Year by a Player who is in the second or later year of a multi-year SPC which was signed when the Player was age 35 or older (as of June 30 prior to the League Year in which the SPC is to be effective), but which Player is not on the Club's Active Roster, Injured Reserve, Injured Non Roster or Non Roster, and regardless of whether, or where, the Player is playing, except to the extent the Player is playing under his SPC in the minor leagues, in which case only the Player Salary and Bonuses in excess of $100,000 shall count towards the calculation of Averaged Club Salary And then there is also this: CBA Article 50.5(f) (f) Contract Extensions. (i) An "extension" of an SPC, as such term is used in this Agreement, shall mean a new SPC entered into between a Club and a Player, which SPC is to be effective immediately upon the expiration of the Club and Player's existing SPC. To the extent a Club and Player enter into a valid contract extension during the final year of the Player's SPC, the contract extension will be fully enforceable pursuant to its terms even in the event the Player is injured prior to the commencement date of the contract extension.

It's pretty black & white that it is when the contract goes into effect, not when the player signs. hahaha, this could REALLY hurt Phily in the future -- I thought the Draper signing was bad.

Hudler was great in '08 in the Columbus series this year -- not so much after the Mike Brown hit. Filppula had a much better post-season this year than last -- though he drew Malkin as his defensive assignment and understandably failed there. EDIT: Oops! Had Doug Brown on the brain!

$2m - and only one year? Strange negotiating tactics.

The KHL is sort of a hockey boot camp for a lot of these NHL guys (not the best amenities) - Dynamo is at the high end of the spectrum, however. This is a "fall back" in case he does not come to an agreement with Holland and he does not like the arbitration results. I tend to think this is not that serious because he has the opportunity to be a free agent if the arbitration does not work out.... at the very least, it looks like he is trying to ensure no one but the Red Wings has a shot at him (in the NHL).

Draper did, however, score 40 points on a grind line -- while Filppula scored the same playing with much better talent on a consistent basis. I just do not see Filppula getting much above 50 points in his career. Hudler is 25, and had the same exact problem Datsyuk had at the same age -- physically dominated in the playoffs and tended to disappear. That does not mean Hudler can overcome it like Datsyuk did, but I hope we get the chance to find out.

From Snapshots: Update 10:08 AM: Per Hokej.cz: Hudler's Czech agent, Pavel Marsoun, says that the deal would last for two years, but he also confirms that negotiations will continue with the Red Wings, but his agent also yapped up the concept that Hudler could spend the next two years in Moscow with a strong Dynamo team and then return to the NHL.