NeverForgetMac25

Meh....they're alright. That's about it.

Who are you referring to? Neither myself nor the OP said he wasn't coming back.

1-year/$5 million. $4-$4.5 if Lids is feeling extremely generous. That's beyond fair for the Wings. The thing is, the dollar amount is practically 100% in Lids' court. Sidenote: It won't be three years because if Lids retires before that third year, the Wings are on the hook for his cap hit since he signed the deal after turning 35. 2-years would be the absolute max, and 1 is much more likely from here on out.

Drake, while I appreciate the well thought-out response, you aren't telling me anything I don't know. I do stand by what I said. I completely agree that *almost* every single player-loyalty move Holland has made has had a significant positive impact on the organization while the negative one's are nothing more than a blip on the radar. However, to say that every contract he's extended to every single Red Wings-loyal player in the past hasn't had even the most remote negative impact is false. That point of my post was that the fraction of a negative that comes with a player-loyalty first contract is so minute, its not worth mentioning, but to claim there's never been even the slightest negative to a player-loyalty first contract given by Kenny is not accurate....its just beyond few and far between.

QFT And deserves every bit of those boos. He's so hell-bent on getting back at Ted Thompson he doesn't care that he's pissing on every Packers fan that used to support him blindly. I was one of them. Perfect post timothy.

That makes perfect sense then. If you were a fan before those charades started though, you would sing a different tune....atleast until mid-way through his career (as I noted above).

No, it wont. Helm will be up full-time.

Based on how long? If Lilja misses the entire season the Wings would have $779,345 in cap space for the deadline. Pro-rated, that comes to a player with an annual salary no greater than roughly $3,896,725. Keep in mind that number doesn't include other LTIR players or call-ups. To answer your question, $260,000 pro-rated would end up being roughly $1.3 million.

Yes, but his cap hit is $1,583,333. Yearly salary 2008/2009: $1,850,000 2009/2010: $1,650,000 2010/2011: $1,250,000

The Wings' loyalty-first approach only goes so far. They didn't re-sign Chelios, did they? In Maltby's situation, he'll end up being the 13th forward on most occasions. Maltby will play due to an injury, poor-play by an indvidual or if a shake-up is needed. The Wings' player-loyalty rarely makes a significant negative difference but almost always makes a positive one.

Aside from attending Game 5 of the finals, this was my favorite moment of the playoffs last year.

Completely off topic, but it deserves attention: Thank you for your service and sacrifice.

$470,655 including Lilja's salary. $779,345 in Cap Space if Lilja doesn't play.

If it ends up being $1.5, its a great deal. I'll take it.

I don't know how you couldn't have earlier in his career. The second or (more-so) latter part is another story.

If Kenny manages to bring him back for $1.5, aside from cap space there's absolutely no rational argument for not bringing him back. Holland already confirmed the Wings would head into camp over the cap and make moves accordingly. To me, this also suggests Lilja isn't close to coming back. If he was, I can't imagine Kenny would put himself in that tight of a cap position. The only questionable move Kenny's made this offseason is the Williams deal, because if Bert signs for the same amount of money its looks ridiculous both on paper and on the ice.

It's clear why he wanted to stay anonymous after seeing that pic.

First and foremost, who pissed in your Cheerios this morning? Who the hell said anything about them winning it again? I sure didn't. Now, was it stupid when the Wings were picked with that seed last year? You know what I find stupid, people that say the Penguins got all the breaks last June yet don't claim such a thing for the Wings the year before. Every Stanley Cup winner gets breaks, you don't win the Cup unless you get them. Like you said, they took advantage of those breaks and the Wings didn't. They kept their core together and are a young team. God forbid they're given the number one seed in a pointless pre-training camp Power Rankings *2 freaking* months after they won the Stanley Cup. I'd say your comment is the stupid one.

Heroes of Hockeytown beat me to it. Drake: FYI, they were 1st round losers.

It's still tough to rank them ahead of the Penguins in a Pre-training camp Power Ranking given that Pittsburgh's departures aren't too terrible compared to a solid portion of SC winners in the past. Kessel's new deal is either gonna hurt the Bruins via depth moves or he'll be gone due to cap space. Exactly. They'll be fine during the regular season, but the jury's still out on whether or not that core will ever be able to get it done when it counts. I truly thought the defensive additions (along with their post-season experience) plus Mclellan were going to be enough to push that team to atleast the WCF's, but they reverted right back to their former type of game when the going got tough against Anaheim. McLellan must have been frustrated as hell after how he had them playing pre-playoffs.

They won the Stanley Cup, kept their core and are a young team. Who should be ahead of them? As for the Sharks, your guess is as good as mine. That one's ridiculous. Sidenote: Allan Muir is an idiot. He's also from or writes for San Jose, IIRC.

And my point was more in regards to the quality of the team in general. While most power-rankings weigh heavily on recent play I think its pretty conceivable the author of these was speaking in terms of state of the team with a full roster. Obviously, the Blackhawks minus Hossa for the first few months(which is guaranteed) plus Kane (which is *not* guaranteed) are massive losses to that roster, but as I've said all along...the Blawkhawks aren't going to be as bad as some here want to think. Countless time in this thread I've stated I don't think Chicago will overtake the Wings for the Central division, but given the offseason moves of both squads, the experience gained by the young Hawks, and the exhaustion the Wings will be faced with due to their third straight deep playoff run, it's ridiculous to state that the standings *this year only* won't be closer then they were last season. That's my one and only point.

How many times do I have to state that the Blackhawks are *not* going to dethrone the Wings as the Central Division Champs for it register with you? I've stated it in practically every single reply that I don't see them winning the division. I've simply stated that certain people on this site like to bash and criticize other teams' moves at every chance they get while turning the other cheek at the Wings' offseason departures, not to mention their physically draining past 3 postseasons. The Hossa signing was a good one *for this year only*. I agree that it was dumb for the future of that franchise but that has nothing to do with my previous statements since they were solely based on this single upcoming season. Obviously the Blackhawks top 6 up front aren't nearly as talented of all-around players as the Wings are but since you're so hell-bent on the comparing the two, the Blawkhawks top 6 for the upcoming season scored 354 points last year while the Wings' top 6 scored 346. So offensively, not only are the current Wings not leaps-and-bounds ahead of Chicago, they're actually behind. As for goaltending, repeatedly I've mentioned they downgraded in net, but Huet is serviceable. Nothing more, but at the very same time, nothing less. I don't know how many more times I have to say that. Bringing Kopecky into the argument? Really? That's like me bringing Maltby in to the conversation. In other words, its a waste of time. You put so many words in my mouth this past post, its almost completely off-base for me to even respond to.

But you can't assume a quick start. You're just speculating and the Wings are more likely to come out a little gassed due to their recent post-seasons. The thing I find most humorous is how quickly some fans criticize other teams' off-season woes and completely disregard those that have happened to the Wings. Are the Wings better than Chicago: Yes. Did the Wings have quite a bit of roster turnover: Yes. Do the additions as well as the experience help the *4th* seed in the West improve: Yes. This isn't a shot at Detroit, but for those that truly believe the Wings are untouchable its time to start taking the glasses off. Chicago is going to be an improved team this year, and we'll see how quickly the young guns in Detroit adapt. That doesn't mean I think the Wings aren't going to win the division. Its just naive to think the Blackhawks who were only two seeds lower than Detroit and who gained valuable experience aren't going to push.

Washington also pissed away that series. Hiller is better than Huet, but Chicago has more balance up front and your underestimating their D, especially with Keith. You've got the blinders on if you think their offense won't be solid even without Kane.