Rafalski a Red Wing: 5-years, $30-million

[Cruiser008 37]

The contract is a bit steep, but consider the following:

- 5-years at $6 million per year is comparable to 2 years at $5.5 million per year given that we expect the cap to go up ~8-10% every year from here on in.

- Rafalski is more durable, better defensively and just as good offensively as Schneider right now

- Rafalski's production actually increases in the playoffs so he really steps it up in the postseason

We needed a no. 2 D-man with Schneider's departure, and we got the best D-man on the market; can't complain too much about that.

The real question now is this: can we resign Markov at a reasonable price? And if not which defensive defenseman will replace him?

Edited July 1, 2007 by Cruiser008

[Rice 42]

Another thing to think about is that Rafalski is a proven number one defenseman. Lidstrom may not be around for much longer, and Rafalski can step in comfortably. Granted, he's not as good as Nick, but who is?

[spydrwebb 0]

The real question now is this: can we resign Markov at a reasonable price? And if not who is the defensive defensement that will replace him?

quincey

i know, i know... not straight across the board but use what you have, give the kid more of a chance. he was a pistol in the post season and is sure to get even better over the summer.

[Guest Shoreline]

quincey

i know, i know... not straight across the board but use what you have, give the kid more of a chance. he was a pistol in the post season and is sure to get even better over the summer.

I also wonder when Meech will be ready to come up from GR..

[spydrwebb 0]

I also wonder when Meech will be ready to come up from GR..

imo, meech doesn't make the cut. quincey and kindl will fill in nicely in time.

[Opie 308]

I think the young guys will get a chance to step up, and if they need some one they will save room.

[Draper_Rocks#33 4]

Now if we can sign bert,hasek,and Kozzie

[MaynardJKeenan 1]

Hes put up big points in NJ on a defensive minded team and will definitely benefit from playing with Schneider on the PP. All those are a plus.

In case you missed it, Schneids is a Duck. Great signing Kenny!!

[Guest DetroitIan]

Kenny is the man. I mean to lose Schneider, just to gain a Rafalski the same day is genius. Rafalski + Lidstrom = Deadly.

[kindlwillbegreat 0]

you couldnt be more wrong

how so ?? if lidstrom is still playing in 3 yrs and makin 7 million we'll have 4 players making 28 million total and well have to give pay increases to cleary franzen lebda filppula etc... we will be the next tampa bay, if howard doesnt work out and we need a goalie , we'll be screwed

[WingsFANstuckintheSOUTH 10]

my gut feeling on this is that Detroit knows next year that Lidstrom might reitre and they needed a solid Dman to anchor the future...If you think about it next with chelios and Lidstrom possibly gone they would have been very young and inexpierenced...this s a move to give Detroit a #1 man after lidstrom leaves to avoid any drop off.

[Guest DetroitIan]

my gut feeling on this is that Detroit knows next year that Lidstrom might reitre and they needed a solid Dman to anchor the future...If you think about it next with chelios and Lidstrom possibly gone they would have been very young and inexpierenced...this s a move to give Detroit a #1 man after lidstrom leaves to avoid any drop off.

And if Lidstrom plays for another 3 seasons, we will just have that much more talent on the blue line. This was a perfect signing by Kenny.

[canadienhater 0]

Wtf? Why in the hell would you want Drury? He wouldn't fit here at all. We don't need ANOTHER center.

datsyuk

fillipula

draper

thats three

[WhiteLightning91 105]

I also wonder when Meech will be ready to come up from GR..

No way Meech plays over Quincey. Meech is out of waiver options so most likely he will be picked up by another team.

[Detroit # 1 Fan 2,204]

datsyuk

fillipula

draper

thats three

Kopecky

Franzen

Zetterberg

Thats 6

[Dabura 12,232]

This is a good signing. Rafalski is definitely an upgrade over Schneider, and while his price tag and the length of the contract may seem a little dodgy, you have to consider three things:

1. We needed a top-4 guy. Badly.

2. Looking at other recent signings, Rafalski could have easily fetched more than $6 million. I don't want to call the signing a steal, because it's not. But Holland knew that this was about as good as it would get with the available big-name top-4 crowd.

3. We're going to need a veteran presence on the blue line when Chelly and Nick are gone.

[Guest DetroitIan]

Kopecky

Franzen

Zetterberg

Thats 6

Yeah we are absolutely over-loaded with centers. That is definitely the last thing we need. Kenny will be looking at a Winger for sure. Or atleast he should be.

[canadienhater 0]

Kopecky

Franzen

Zetterberg

Thats 6

kopecky and franzen are more wingers and i think they want to keep dats and z together

[Guest DetroitIan]

2. Looking at other recent signings, Rafalski could have easily fetched more than $6 million. I don't want to call the signing a steal, because it's not. But Holland knew that this was about as good as it would get with the available big-name top-4 crowd.

Absolutely! I thought Rafalski would have got 6.5-7 Mill. It might have seemed like we overpayed. But we truly didnt. If anything, we underpayed a little. Rafalski could easily have got more than 6 mill per year. This is a perfect signing by Ken Holland. What a GM!

[Matt 1,049]

With the Rafalski signing everyone can effectively scratch Markov and Smyth off their wish lists.

[Guest DetroitIan]

kopecky and franzen are more wingers and i think they want to keep dats and z together

I have seen Kopecky on the wing quite a bit. But Franzen frequently plays center. More often than not, Franzen is a center.

[Guest nutz2u]

But he's just soooo small. Does anyone know if the contract is front loaded at all?

[Heaton 1]

But he's just soooo small. Does anyone know if the contract is front loaded at all?

All that matters is the cap average afaik.

[Guest DetroitIan]

With the Rafalski signing everyone can effectively scratch Markov and Smyth off their wish lists.

Thats the first thing I thought about. No way we're signing Smyth now. It seams like maybe there is a slight, slight chance of still re-signing Markov. But Smyth will never be in the winged wheel.

[therock48880 14]

Im not talking about Schneider. Im talking about the fact that, if you include Quincey, we now have 7 Dman, and none of them are as physical as Markov.

This is exactly my concern. As it stands right now, the softest team in the league last year just got softer. They need a big, physical d-man that can knock someone off the puck. But they also need some big, physical forwards and there isn't enough money to get all of that.

I like Rafalski as a player, I'm just not convinced that he's the type of player they need and I don't like the five year contract.