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http://www.hokej.cz/index.php?lng=CZ&v...ek&id=44095 This apparently says it is a done deal and he is signed for two years. Although Hudler can still sign with the Wings and play next year, with no agreements in place between the KHL and NHL, just like Datsyuk did. Still highly annoying and Hudler goes down in my estimation... just like Datsyuk did (though not for long).

Every time one of these guys does this, whether they end up going over or not, it makes it less and less likely their fellow countrymen get drafted by the NHL. There is a good chance this is 100% BS, however.

A line of Franzen Hudler and Filppula would be darn good I bet. You have to remember Filppula received his $3m for 5 years (average) contract before last year, after all of 17 and 36 point seasons -- of course Hudler deserves more money, after 42 and 57 point seasons... hopefully Holland works his "team sell" and can get Hudler to sign for less than he is worth for a short-term contract with the payoff coming in the next year or two.

Heh... that's actually a great analogy. I see Filppula as behind Hudler, Leino and Cleary when it comes to PP time, but he should still see his time on the PP go up regardless. I really do hope Holland can find a way to keep both for the next season, because after that, it gets much less dicey and we should be able to retain both for many more years to come.

As posted before - Filppula is "alright" - he can get the puck to Franzen or Hossa who will carry it in, deke a few defenders and shelf it. A lot of his primary assists are like this, and he has a ton of secondary assists where he simply gets it to a better playmaker (like Kronwall, Hudler, Lidstrom, Rafalski). He is simply not a playmaker and rarely directly sets someone up.

Rafalski has a no-trade clause. The only two players you can move at that salary ($3m +) are Kronwall and Filppula. I do not think Filppula sucks at all - I quite like him. I just feel with what the Winsg have lost (a lot of offense), retained (a lot of defensive forwards) so far and what they have in the pipeline (a lot of defensive forwards), someone with high-end offensive skills (like Hudler) is more important to the team going forward. There is also the bonus that Filppula will bring in perhaps a low 1st round pick or a 2nd and 4th - while you get absolutely no return from Hudler.

Stats are the best way to present info over a message board -- and usually beats the hell out of "Dude! Hudler is WAAAY better than Filppula! Just watch a game!" I can tell you what I see from Filppula: A strong defensive and skating player who is closer to a prime Draper than he ever will be a prime Zetterberg or Datsyuk. Like Draper, he has hands of stone, and will very rarely place the puck where it needs to be. For this reason he is rarely used on shoot-outs or the power play, and you can pretty much write-off any breakaway he has or pass that comes his way in the offensive zone -- he will miss the net or send it right into the goalie. He is not a playmaker, and most of his assists come from hard work in the corners or bringing the puck up the ice and merely getting it to someone who is more talented offensively than him -- most of his assists seem to be secondary assists, and he will never be a good power play player as he is not a "playmaker" or shooter. He does not have the "un-tapped" potential that was so evident from day one from seeing Datsyuk and Zetterberg, not even close. Filppula has the optential to be a 2nd line forward and PK specialist. Hudler has that offensive knack Filppula lacks - he can thread a pass better than any forward on the team short of Datsyuk and has an extremely accurate wrister and slapshot. On-ice intelligence is better as well, as Hudler is often in just the right place to be. He has always been a regular on the power play as well as the shootout. He is capable of lifting his line mates and getting them the passes even Filppula could bury. So far, he has been limited largely by ice time and line mates -- and his potential is much higher than Filppula (whom I see at about 50 pts, while Hudler could easily become a point per game player). Goes to the net just as much as Filppula, but actually has the skill to make something happen more often than Filppula. High-end puck handling skills with average skating speed that has improved every year. Hudler has the potential to be a top line player and PP specialist.

The Wings have already lost two members of the PP -- i'm not sure I want to lose more. Datsyuk Zetterberg Holmstrom Lidstrom Rafalski Franzen XXXX XXXX Kronwall XXXX Ericsson or Stuart will take the point, and then you have Cleary, Leino and Filppula as options up front -- but that frankly sucks, and lacks a true puck distributor outside of Kronwall.

I could not be more thrilled to see Pronger and Burke in the East. The Eastern Conference Champions will hopefully start showing up to the Finals a little more bruised and battered.

Next year Lidstrom's $7.45m salary is up as well as Holmstrom's $2.25m -- even with a dip in the cap, the Wings should be fine after next year. Holmstrom and Maltby will probably retire and Lidstrom will hopefully start signing lower one-year deals. I think Hudler would be great on the 2nd line setting up Franzen - better than Filppula. But Hudler, by himself, is also able to create a scoring line out of nothing --- he did so in 2008 in the playoffs with McCarty and Helm. He makes the players on his line better - that is when a one-way player is especially worth it. Same thing with Holmstrom, who deserves countless "assists" for his play in front of the goalie: a one-way player who creates opportunities for his entire line. Hudler is also not nearly as bad defensively as he used to be and his skating has made huge strides (not nearly as bad as Holmstrom, for instance). Despite consistently playing on worse even-strength lines than Filppula, he has a career +/- of +33 -- and Filppula is only +34. Hudler is not the "liability" some paint him out to be.

Always wanted to hate Sakic and never could. Extremely clutch player with a wicked shot and very good two-way play as well. Would have been a great Red Wing!

Yeah, yeah, yeah -- I get you -- two-way play trumps all. Kopecky is a better two-way player than Ovechkin, blah blah blah.... Any team that employs a one-way player sucks -- never mind that Detroit has ALWAYS employed numerous one-way players....

That should be an easy answer to anyone: Hudler R. Neidermayer is Anaheim's Draper (currently) --> paid way too much for what he brings. Those type of layers fall from trees.

If Hossa had signed, Filppula would have been traded. i would also trade Filppula to keep Hudler, but that may not be necessary.

Heh... more of this "informed" club I am apparently not a member of? The Red Wings have not once iced a team of entirely two-way players...even without the cap. You quite simply do not have a clue. So I can not argue the merits of of players unless I have seen them play live? Really? I'm sorry but this 'informed" club is starting to sound more and more like it meets up in the tree house in your backyard.

I do at $4m but would hope to get him at closer to $3m --- take a look at some of the players who put up the same amount of points last year as Hudler: Jiri Hudler 57 pts 13:39 ATOI Olli Jokinen 57 pts 18:53 ATOI $5.2557m Milan Michalek 57 pts 18:27 ATOI $4.333m Scott Gomez 58 pts 21:03 ATOI $7.357m Kristian Huselius 56 pts 19:31 ATOI $4.75m Chris Drury 56 pts 20:14 ATOI $7.05m Ryan Smyth 59 pts 20:17 ATOI $7.25m Pavol Demitra 53 pts 17:28 ATOI $4m That many points, with that little of playing time is extremely rare -- especially at close to $3m a year. Whether he is a one-way player or not. Hudler is extremely unique.

07-08 still had Holmstrom, Samuelsson and Hudler -- all primarily offensive players.

And how many players like Datsyuk, Zetterberg, Franzen, Cleary and Filppula can a team afford before it has to consider cheaper one-way players? Kopecky is a much more "complete" two-way player than Hudler (or Leino) -- would you prefer Kopecky over Hudler (or Leino) as well? I want lots and lots of two-way players -- lucky for me, Detroit already has them in spades and there are more on the way coming. Once you have that core of two-way players, you better find yourself some players that can still provide high-end offensive or defensive talent, at a lesser price (and one-way players are the way to do it).

You're right -- I only look at stats and never read anything about those players at the time. I have no idea that when a young Gordie Howe joined the team, several members of the media asked Jack Adams if he could be "the next Larry Aurie'. i never knew Red Kelly, despite being a multiple-time Lady Byng winner was actually a Golden Gloves boxer. You are looking at players in a vacuum and not looking at them in context. Flip is a redundant commodity on this time while Hudler has unique skills this team is lacking. Flip provides a hefty return if you lose him, while Hudler yields absolutely nothing. You have given none of this your consideration -- and yes, I am willing to bet Holland has. Filppula does a lot of "little things" that a winning team needs, but so does Hudler -- and amongst those "little things" Hudler does much better than Filppula are passing and goalscoring.

Yes, you can have enough two-way guys in a cap-world because they cost a hell of a lot more than one-way guys. I can replace Filppula with two one-way guys for less money. Helm has more speed, can dig the puck out of the corners, can backcheck and forecheck just as hard and can carry and hold onto the puck just as well as Filppula; and Leino has more offensive potential than Filppula -- at more than $1m less combined. Plus I get picks for Filppula. Are you amongst the "informed" that see Filppula as the next Datsyuk or Zetterberg? Honestly, that is some hubris you are pulling in... If you think Holland has not seriously considered trading Filppula, you are not giving him much credit. The "informed" - give me a break.

In all honesty, during the regular season, it is much more exciting to watch teams that are vying for that #8 seed. It's the closest thing to playoff hockey you get during the regular season - asides from watching a heated rivalry. Anaheim could not manage even remotely close to the same intensity they showed all year in 2007/08 the next year. That type of play takes a lot out of a team, especially if they manage a deep post-season. It is simply not sustainable.

The other thing about if it comes down to Filppula or Hudler -- is I get some nice picks for trading Filppula. I get nothing for losing Hudler. Hudler + picks > Filppula

If I was limited to the choice of building an entire team full of either Filppulas or Hudlers, I would choose Filppula with very little hesitation -- but the thing is, we already have a bunch of Filppulas, only better -- Datsyuk, Zetterberg, Franzen, Cleary -- all guys who play great defense and chip in more offensively. Maltby and Draper are still on the team with Helm and Abdelkader, and the pipeline is chock-full of defensively responsible, speedy players who can chip in offensively. But a good team still needs some Holmstroms, Brett Hulls (in his Detroit years) and Hudlers -- high-end offensive guys, but do not cost $6m+ because their defensive skills are lacking. Holmstrom is next to retired and Leino is completely unproven in the NHL (and scored much less than Hudler in the AHL, at a much older age). There are very few high-end offensive threats in our pipe-line. I believe I have seen Filppula's peak, or very close to it -- He will never be a playmaker and he will never be a goal scorer. Hudler is both of those. That is valuable and worth keeping.

It's gonna be tough, and fortunately for us, not a situation Holland has ever put the Wings in. Didn't the Hawks try all last year to get rid of Khabibulin and his $7m contract? And that was with only one year left on his contract - Campbell has 5 more! They'll have less luck with Campbell, who is their #3, making almost as much as Nicklas Lidstrom. Chicago is already up against the cap with 12 forwards, 6 defensemen and 2 goalies. Next year Kane, Toews and Keith will all be RFAs, due for as much as $12m in raises -- Kiss Byfuglien and Sharp away no matter what. Sopel will be gone (probably a blessing), and then you need to pray Campbell can be dealt somehow... plus losing another one or two guys in order to sign all near league-minimum players (like 4-5 of them!).

I think Kronwall needs to take a step back and work on fundamentals again. IMO, he was a better overall defenseman when he was putting up 20-35 points than last year when he scored over 50 pts. He was a turnover machine, jumped up way too often and made a lot of bad decisions. I would rather see him play with Rafalski or Lidstrom (or even Ericsson) than Stuart -- Stuart, with the "stay-at-home" title gave Kronwall the confidence to roam around way too much.