evilmrt

Agreed. Bring some of these down-on-their-luck players into the Wings system, and they often flourish. Remember Sammy?

Um, he was going to arbitration and would have gotten more than 2.5 mil....so his choice in jumping ship to the KHL makes little sense.

Wow, the KHL screws us, and no compensation. I guess its a two way street. I'm honestly surprised about Hudler pulling this. The Wings developed him into what he is now, and then he bolts as a RFA to Russia? Don't let the door hit your ass on the way out, Huds.

Leverage how? Hudler wants us to trade someone away, free up more cap space by replacing them with another AHLer, and dump the extra money on him? Seriously, its a salary cap world, I don't know what he expects to get by using this KHL nonsense as leverage against Holland.

Weird. I thought Toronto would offer him a contract since they have absolutely NOTHING UP FRONT!

Wow, what a shame! He was a great player, a classic, a professional, up there with the greats. We knew he was the last of an era after Stevie retired, and now the moment has come. Players like Joe Sakic and his kind are why players resent the new crop, and yes I'm talking about Crosby.

Kaberle for Koivu, Tanguay, or Kovalev? Obviously the player's worth goes in that order as well.

Put him in the minors or make him play backup goalie. Nobody wants an idiot like Heatley on their team, least of all the Senators.

Seconded. NYR sucks, and they will continue to suck in 2009-2010 and beyond. What a stupid deal. Did they forget there is even a salary cap???

Probably is, lots of celebs and famous sports players are on twitter. I don't know why more NHL players aren't. Minnesota actually made a good deal with Havlat, since Gabby was going to eat up alot more cap space. I would have liked to see some bigger changes, but they could have done nothing and been worse for it.

Yep, they're overpaying purely based on psychology, and the increase in contract $$$ has little to do with the actual value of the players. The unfortunate thing is that teams are really going to be hurting when the cap shrinks. All I can say is, I'm glad Kenny Holland doesn't play the whole July 1st game. And the Wings are much better for it. On that note, is anyone surprised that Sammy hasn't gone yet? Seems like if he didn't get a better offer today, odds go down that he will get a high amount in the coming days.

I think Holland is just avoiding the July 1st frenzy that goes with the first day of free agency. We've all seen deals today that were a little too high, and he knows this (I think hes even commented on it before). Wait until things calm down, and the psychologically inflated prices come back down to where they should be. This is the same kind of panic you guys were spreading on draft day...which is funny, because everyone knows how amazing the Wings are at finding diamonds in the rough/late rounds.

Yeah I think they've shored up the D, now its time to put some more firepower up front. Predictions?

Heut won't take them back to the WCF or even the Finals, for that matter. Sorry Chicago!

No clue on how this works, but why can't GR just offer McCarty a contract to play there only? I think his role on the team is valueable as far as experience and mentoring.

I'm confused about two things here. One, who the heck is "Homstrom"? It would be confusing to have Holmstrom and Homstrom on one line. Two, you actually think Holmstrom will play 2011-2012?

Well, playing at the Palace for 1 season isn't that bad....IF the renovation plans are worth it. Someone posted photos of the original construction of the Joe earlier, and it didn't look like expansion or major modifications could be made to the existing structure. This sounds like either the renovations would be minimal (new seats, bathrooms, repaint everything, lighting), or that it would basically be rebuilt in the same spot....which would probably take longer than one season. Also the mlive writer suggesting that the Wings would move to Windsor is hilarious...that won't happen in THIS post-9/11 world, not with the border being the interrogation and traffic jam fest that it is.

I guess you guys are right, no reason to choose him 29th, might as well get an extra pick out of it.

Yeah, Pronger is out of the West....hoooray

A good Spitfire goes to a crap team like Nashville. BAH

Well, its official. They won't be staying at the Joe long-term. Freep So, the Palace for 2010-2011?

Who the heck is this guy? I didn't know we had any russian prospects anymore. Also, looking forward to seeing Sebastien Piche in GR.

It would be worth it if Hedman was ranked a little lower. I swear, Burke better make a good move here. I see Boston wasn't making a good offer, so he should take the Dallas offer instead.

Yeah, its a business move and Mr. I is putting himself in a better position for a new arena. If worse comes to worse (and it could in this economic climate), the Wings can play 1-3 seasons in the Palace and by that time, the city, county, and state will be begging them to come back to downtown Detroit. And it works, the Palace is actually a nicer venue than the Joe...as much as that pains me to say. Heres a shot of the Palace in hockey mode:

Ok, Rajala? Hes tiny...and they might be able to pick him up in the 2nd round anyway. Unless the scouts know something we don't (and its a good bet that they do, the Wings have the best scouting in the NHL), I'd go with Erixon, Klingberg, or even Ellis if he is somehow still available then.