sibiriak

There's no way you can go through the season with 11 F and 7 D. What if someone gets the flu or something? Are you gonna play with less than 18 skaters? You better spend the $1.6 mil in cap space for 2-3 more roster players. Also, Leino is a RFA, which means the Wings have to make him a qualifying offer with a 10% raise over his current $845K. So he can't be making less than $927,500 next year. And where's Lilja with his $1.25 contract?

With the money the Habs already committed, it looks like Kovalev, Koivu and Lang (2 of the 3 at least) are all done there.

Well, how many players do you think you'd need to keep with the main club over the 82 games? Remember, that to not count against the cap, the player must be sent down and for most our guys that means going through wavers and probably being picked up. So I figure we need 2 G, 13 F, 7 D and 1 Meech who plays either position, at a minimum. More likely 14 F and 8 D because injuries will happen. So If Hudler gets $1.3 mil, and Leino gets $1 mil., and two more players at min. wage ($450K) Zetterberg - Datsyuk - Cleary Hudler - Filppula - Franzen Abdelkader - Helm - Leino Holmstrom - Draper - Malby FA, GR call-up Lidstrom-Rafalski Stuart-Kronwall Lilja-Lebda Ericsson-Meech Osgood, Howard we have a cap number of $57,520,653 which is $720,653 OVER the cap. Subtract one of the min wage scrubs and the roster is STILL over the cap.

If you plug your roster here: Cap calculator, you'll see that even assuming a minimum wage FA and that Hudler and Leino get very modest raises , your lineup will be OVER the cap. And you are still short from a 25-man roster. Also, where's maltby with his NTC contract?

Again, the Wings have no cap room. If both Hudler and Samuelsson are gone, the wings will have 9 F, 8 D and 2 G signed and $3,329,347 in cap space left to sign or bring up from GR 4 (!) more forwards. Bear in mind that there's a minimum salary of about $450K in the NHL. So if the 3 new forwards play for min wage, that would leave an absolute maximum of 1.9 mil. for a potential UFA forward. There's noone decent to be had at that price. And the 3 min wage scrubs would be brutal. Not to mention possible injuries, bonuses etc. There will be no UFA signings, barring a trade of a roster player.

The Wings have NO cap room and plenty of good under $1 mil. players in GR. What's the point of signing a slightly better (for now) veteran for $1 mil.? There's no cap space for anybody good who'll be more expensive.

That is true, and what I said is also true. So, what's your point?

Actually, Finland and germany fought on the same side. It's the Russians, the Finns would have fled from.

Both Russian papers say that Fedorov definitely sighed the deal with Magnitogorsk.

Both major Russian sports papers report today that S. Fedorov signed with Magnitogorsk "Metallurg" of the Kontinental Hockey League. (The former team of Evgeni Malkin.) His younger brother Fedor is already playing for Magnitogoprsk. The contract is rumoured to be for 2 years and around 3 mil. per year. SOURCE (IN Russian) Sport-Express

Dan Bylsma who is Pitt coach was a goalie. The one you speak of must be a different Dan Bylsma. EDIT - I was wrong, this is the same guy. Sorry.

DET/PIT: 4-2

After watching Datsyuk play in the last few games, it seems clear to me that he is playing hurt. Seeing the way he skates, it must be right groin or right knee. As a result, he can't do sudden starts/stops and therefore loses most of his moves. He is still playing great D and is good on faceoffs, but he can't quite shake the opponents off as we all are used to seeing him do, and so gets fewer good scoring chances. His balance is affected as well, and that hampers his shot accuracy and power. That's a pity, because rest is required for this injury to heal, and Pavel isn't likely to get any rest any time soon.

DET/CHI 4-2 PIT/CAR 4-3

I watched the video again after reading your comment, and I didn't see anything that could have possibly brought your comment on. What "extreme Russian nationalism"?

DET/ANA 4-2 VAN/CHI 4-2 BOS/CAR 4-1 WSH/PIT 4-2 please note the time of edit

Aussie, thanks again for the fun! If only I didn't miss that week I was in Hawaii... Or well, there were compensations

Round 1 SJS/ANA SJ/ANA 4-2 DET/CLB 4-2 VAN/STL 4-1 CHI/CAL 4-3 BOS/MTL 4-0 WSH/NYR 4-2 NJD/CAR 4-2 PIT/PHI 4-3 Western Conf Champion: Vancouver Easter Conf Champion: Boston Stanley Cup Champion: Boston

Well, I've crunched some numbers (data from NHL numbers). Assuming that the cap is at $58 mil. next year, the cap number for the Wings, carrying 12 F, 8 D, and 2 G (all current regulars + Osgood, Howard at current cap numbers, less Hossa) is $55.164 mil. That leaves $4.846 mil. in cap space. Even if Hossa is signed at ridiculously low $5.5 mil./yr (cap hit), the Wings will be 0.654 over the cap. That means a regular roster player (likely a forward) must be gone. Taking into account the cap hit of a replacement plus some necessary cap space for injuries/call ups, the salary of a departing player must be at least $2 mil. There are only 3 forwards who fit this number: Holmstrom (2.25), Filppula (3.00), Cleary (2.80). So if Hossa is signed, one of those players must be traded. The rest of the forwards make too little. so trading them won't provide nearly enough cap relief. Realistically, Cleary is the one that should go (value relative to cap hit), Filppula if a good deal can be found. Since teams rarely carry only 23 players on their roster, and Hossa is rumoured to be looking for a contract around $6 mil (cap hit), signing him would likely mean the need to trade both Cleary and Filppula (again, the rest of the regular forwards don't make enough to free much cap space, even if you trade and replace them with AHL palyers). Therefore, I reluctantly come to the conclusion, that if sighinhg Hossa would mean losing both Filppula and Cleary, the Wings shouldn't sign him. Mr. Holland, please prove me wrong!

Very few forwards play after 38 years old. Even fewer power forwards. I think, Franzen will probably play out no more than 8 years of his contract. And once he retires, his cap hit comes off the books.

Let's assume that Hossa (who is 30 years old) expects to play another 7-8 years and can realistically expect to earn $40-45 mil. over that period. With a Franzen-type contract, Hossa could earn that over the first 7 years of a $50 mil. 11-year contract with a cap hit of only $4.5 mil. or so.

So, if Franzen retires after 6-7 years, he will have played for $5-6 mil a year, with the cap hit of only about $3.5 mil/year? And the team won't have to pay him the reminder of the money if he retires early? Looks like Holland has found a genu-ine scott-free loophole in the CBA! I think, for his next number, he signs Hossa to a 20-year $50 mil. contract. That's only $2.5 mil. a year as far as the cap is concerned. Structure it like 9 8 7 7 6 4 2 1 0.5 0.5 0.5 ...

This was probably covered in Zetterberg's contract discussions, but does anybody remember how the cap hit is calculated, if a player on such long front-loaded contract retires before the end of it? Will the salary count against the cap after the retirement? And will the retired player actually keep getting paid?

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