A "Fresh Take" on the cap space

[lidstromfan5 3]

Ok, I have thought long and hard about this extra cap space. First of all, I am all for getting a top 6 forward not named Fedorov or Forsberg. Secondly I am not for signing someone in free agency, nobody out there really stands out as a gamer in my eyes, the one player I would have hoped for was Smyth and he is gone. So I have considered every option out there and this is my view on the situation. Brian Rolston is a free agent after this season. Currently he is making 2.5 million or close to somewhere in that neighborhood. First of all for those people who dont know Rolston but most of you should, he plays for the Wild, has tremendous speed, a extremely powerful shot, and is basically a beast at killing penalties. For those people out there who love big guys, Brian brings it, he is 6'2 210-215 lbs. He is basically a 30 goal scorer every year on a defense first Wild team. One thing is that he is 34 which is not old but is definantly getting up there. He is not necessarily a great passer, but if he is on a line with Filpulla or Datsyuk he wont need to be. Ok, so here is my plan, also if in a perfect world this could happen we would also have money left for a depth defenseman. I say around the time Minnesota is out of the playoff hunt which may or may not happen we do whatever possible to package a deal to get Rolston. He is basically what the wings need. A top six forward with size who can score. Now I have no idea what the Wild would want for him but I frankly would not care all that much. I mean there are obvious exceptions like Datsyuk, Zetterberg or any young player out there. But at the deadline if he is available it shouldn't take to much to get him. Now if he resigns during the season then just forget all about this, and if he goes into free agency I say give it a shot, he could do like Rafalski and take a hometown discount as he is from Flint. Ok, that is my take. I am open to all criticism but hey at least I am not saying sign Forsberg or Fedorov.

[Bannedforlife 403]

Ok, I have thought long and hard about this extra cap space. First of all, I am all for getting a top 6 forward not named Fedorov or Forsberg. Secondly I am not for signing someone in free agency, nobody out there really stands out as a gamer in my eyes, the one player I would have hoped for was Smyth and he is gone. So I have considered every option out there and this is my view on the situation. Brian Rolston is a free agent after this season. Currently he is making 2.5 million or close to somewhere in that neighborhood. First of all for those people who dont know Rolston but most of you should, he plays for the Wild, has tremendous speed, a extremely powerful shot, and is basically a beast at killing penalties. For those people out there who love big guys, Brian brings it, he is 6'2 210-215 lbs. He is basically a 30 goal scorer every year on a defense first Wild team. One thing is that he is 34 which is not old but is definantly getting up there. He is not necessarily a great passer, but if he is on a line with Filpulla or Datsyuk he wont need to be. Ok, so here is my plan, also if in a perfect world this could happen we would also have money left for a depth defenseman. I say around the time Minnesota is out of the playoff hunt which may or may not happen we do whatever possible to package a deal to get Rolston. He is basically what the wings need. A top six forward with size who can score. Now I have no idea what the Wild would want for him but I frankly would not care all that much. I mean there are obvious exceptions like Datsyuk, Zetterberg or any young player out there. But at the deadline if he is available it shouldn't take to much to get him. Now if he resigns during the season then just forget all about this, and if he goes into free agency I say give it a shot, he could do like Rafalski and take a hometown discount as he is from Flint. Ok, that is my take. I am open to all criticism but hey at least I am not saying sign Forsberg or Fedorov.

I'm holding out for Heatley. Of course, if we could get both that wouldn't be such a bad thing...

[BerkeleyWingsFan19 0]

Heatley....riiiiiight.

I'm holding out for Ovechkin and Crosby.

[orangegoalie 0]

First off.....Fedorov is still Feds....he was on a lousy Amahiem team, and now a lousy Columbus team. He cant be expected to take a team to the cup. Hes an AMAZING player he can play 2 way hockey and is always a threat. Foresberg......what can you say. Set him up and hes still gonna put the puck in the net 8.7/10 times hes given the chance. Yes, hes slower but hes still AWESOME!!!, and he can set up a play just as well as ever.

Now onto this Rolston mumbojumbo..........No. He is a good solid player but no where near the force feds or foppa could provide.

If i had to chose i would take feds. Only cause he knows the wings. He can play 2 way hockey AND well. And i truly believe he misses DET and would love nothing more than to bring another cup to his FIRST TEAM.

[egroen 384]

I would love Rolston -- plays hard every single game and you can put him in any forward position.

I think he is going to be easily looking for that $4M contract range though.

[Wildwings44 5]

Your topic title is quite misleading.

[wingsfan40 0]

Your topic title is quite misleading.

Exactly, I hate having to open a thread just to find out what its actually about

[detroitdan 0]

I'd like Feds to come back...just so that it would cement his jersey retirement

[Wing Nut 19 0]

I think Rolston would be cheaper than Feds or Forskin.

And he would provide some much needed size.

[Opie 308]

Rolston is more of what this team than Feds or Forsberg are. The odds of Forsberg playing a full season and being healthy going into the playoffs are about the same as me winning powerball.

Feds, past his prime and with his less than stellar work ethic it would not be a good choice for the youngsters to learn from.

Rolston, hard worker, great on the PK, solid defensively. Would be a great fit to this team.

However if the wings are plucking from the wild I would much rather see Pavol Demitra.

Orange Goalie, while I hope that what you say is true about feds, I will continue to think that the only thing feds cares about is feds, until I see or hear of him signing for a lesser contract to prove his desire for another cup. Not sign a beefy contract to fatten his wallet.

To all of the Heatley wanters,

I am sure you are just wanting him for the sheer skill and numbers he puts up (must admit that he would be a pipe dream), but remember if this team signs Heatley you can kiss Zata good-bye.

No way this team can afford Heatley, Rafalski, Datsyuk, and Zetterberg.

Edited August 8, 2007 by Opie

[Herr Hockey 0]

He was the answer to one of my questions in the "In your opinion" thread yesterday. He played with Rafalski in NJ, and is a Flint, Michigan guy. This is one signing that stands out as truly realistic, unlike Heatly, which is not going to happen in a thousand years. Honestly I hope that kid gets a big juicy extension, just so that we don't have to read about it on this forum.

[YoungGuns1340 1]

First off.....Fedorov is still Feds....he was on a lousy Amahiem team, and now a lousy Columbus team. He cant be expected to take a team to the cup. Hes an AMAZING player he can play 2 way hockey and is always a threat. Foresberg......what can you say. Set him up and hes still gonna put the puck in the net 8.7/10 times hes given the chance. Yes, hes slower but hes still AWESOME!!!, and he can set up a play just as well as ever.

Now onto this Rolston mumbojumbo..........No. He is a good solid player but no where near the force feds or foppa could provide.

If i had to chose i would take feds. Only cause he knows the wings. He can play 2 way hockey AND well. And i truly believe he misses DET and would love nothing more than to bring another cup to his FIRST TEAM.

How can you spew all that lover-boy crap about Fedorov and then say Rolston isnt what we need?? Newsflash, pal. At this stage of the game, Rolstons and Fedorovs defensive games are comparable as is their speed, yet Rolston is the one putting up 30 goal seasons in the new NHL. Fedorov? Hes floundering.

The funniest thing about your post is that you put all this emphasis on a two way game, yet thats exactly what Rolston is. Not to mention Rolston has one of the best shots in the game right now. He can put away the slappers in SHOOTOUTS for gods sake, even when the goaltender knows its coming. Hed be a better replacement for Shanahan down low on the PP than Shanahan would. THATS how good Brians sot is. Not to mention hes a good ole Michigan boy AND hed be a GREAT player for Detroit to re-sign (even if it is to 4M per..hes worth it)

The only thing Im not so sure about is Detroits chance of actually getting him. If Backstrom proves to be the real deal, then I dont see why Minny would miss the playoffs other than the improvement of Colorado and that Vancouver wont go through an identity-searching period this year and bust half their season.

Edited August 8, 2007 by YoungGuns1340

[Guest snowman89]

First off.....Fedorov is still Feds....he was on a lousy Amahiem team, and now a lousy Columbus team. He cant be expected to take a team to the cup. Hes an AMAZING player he can play 2 way hockey and is always a threat. Foresberg......what can you say. Set him up and hes still gonna put the puck in the net 8.7/10 times hes given the chance. Yes, hes slower but hes still AWESOME!!!, and he can set up a play just as well as ever.

Now onto this Rolston mumbojumbo..........No. He is a good solid player but no where near the force feds or foppa could provide.

If i had to chose i would take feds. Only cause he knows the wings. He can play 2 way hockey AND well. And i truly believe he misses DET and would love nothing more than to bring another cup to his FIRST TEAM.

SERIOUSLY GET OVER FEDEROV!!! HE IS FINISHED!! HOF player but FINISHED!!

I want to thank the creator of this thread for coming up with a great original and entirely possible option. Rolston would be a great addition to the Red Wings,

"I understand Forsberg and Federov is as well" the horse has been dead for about a month now on those subjects.

SERIOUSLY GET OVER FEDEROV!!! HE IS FINISHED!! HOF player but FINISHED!!

[Feldmarschall 9]

Rolston > Feds, at this point. Still, Minnesota should make the playoffs again, and thus they will not let him go. Assuming he has another season like his last one, they'd be stupid not to re-up him for another year, at least.

[eva unit zero 271]

SERIOUSLY GET OVER FEDEROV!!! HE IS FINISHED!! HOF player but FINISHED!!

I want to thank the creator of this thread for coming up with a great original and entirely possible option. Rolston would be a great addition to the Red Wings,

"I understand Forsberg and Federov is as well" the horse has been dead for about a month now on those subjects.

SERIOUSLY GET OVER FEDEROV!!! HE IS FINISHED!! HOF player but FINISHED!!

Fedorov has been scoring at about a .75 PPG (when at forward) every season for the last ten years except the 02-03 season. Peopl act like the guy is finished because he's not scoring like he did in 02-03 or 93-94....guess what, he USUALLY didn't!

[Guest snowman89]

Rolston > Feds, at this point. Still, Minnesota should make the playoffs again, and thus they will not let him go. Assuming he has another season like his last one, they'd be stupid not to re-up him for another year, at least.

You are correct! Unfortunately

[YoungGuns1340 1]

Rolston > Feds, at this point. Still, Minnesota should make the playoffs again, and thus they will not let him go. Assuming he has another season like his last one, they'd be stupid not to re-up him for another year, at least.

Players do have a choice in the matter. Therse no telling if hed like to come back and play for his hometown team.

[jaymcfly 0]

the rolston deal doesnt matter anyway cause minnys going to make the playoffs this year and like someone else said if the wings are going to pull players from the wild demitra would be a better choice than rolston. someone a little more realistic may be dumont from nashville. hes 29, has pretty good size, and can put the puck in the net. plus nashville is most likely going to be out of the race this year after their talent dumping.

[martyrme19 73]

Whoo! Ya Rolston!

I wanted this guy to be a wing for 5 years now. I always thought he was just the makeup of a prefect Red Wing player. You know how you can just picture guys in a jersey but not in other jerseys? Ya, Rolston was born to wear a Red Wing jersey. Thats why he's usually the first guy I trade for on all my hockey games

Anyways, I'd like to say that the Wild will be making the playoffs, and if they don't, they'll be close enough by the trade deadline that they'll still be a buying team around then and wont trade off any of their players.

So, unless Rolston says openly he wants to test the market, I dont see the wild trading him. In fact, I'll be suprised if they dont extend his contract this year.

And Opie, if you have free pickens to the wild team, would you really pick demitra of gaborik? I'd love to have gaborik but I think he's there for the long term. And the wild picked up demitra specifically to play with gaborik cus they're from the same place.

So ya, Roltston is gonna have to be picked up from the FA market. And I say by all means, grab him. We can still get foppa this year, sign him to a 1 year deal, then pick up Rolston in the offseason. Is this Feds last year on contract? If we trade for him this year, how long are we stuck with him and his huge salary? I hope its done after this year. In which case, wouldnt it make more sense to sign foppa (pr better yet salami) to a one year deal and then venture out to the FA world and sign Rolston or Feds? Or better yet, trade sammy, drop drake, and i'll play goalie and that way we can sign both??

[Opie 308]

Martyrme19:

only because of free agency. Demitra is a UFA next year where as Gaborik is there for another year. But if all things were equal hell yeah I would take Gaborik!!

[Pskov Wings Fan 71]

Martyrme19:

only because of free agency. Demitra is a UFA next year where as Gaborik is there for another year. But if all things were equal hell yeah I would take Gaborik!!

Gaborik is making $7M. I just do not see any way to fit him under the cup.

[Opie 308]

Well there is that little tid bit that Pskov just pointed out, Demitra is at 4.5 this year and I could see that fitting in under the cap at the deadline with Min picking up some of his salary (for the year). However in order to happen Min would have to be out of the playoff chase. Which in that division is not completely out of the picture.

[glasgowcelticwing 18]

Rolston's a great player but for me i'd rather see Forsberg or Fedorov going to the Wings. Out of the three though i'd take Feds. IMO he is still more than capable of producing a very high points production....obviously not as high as he used to , but if he got back playing for a big team again who's able to create ,and have a higher calabre of player playing beside him every shift he'd get the job done.

[GMRwings1983 8,794]

I like Rolston's all-around game, but do we really need another center on this team? Also, he'll be about 35 next year, so it's a big gamble to suggest that he can still play at an all-star level for several more years.

[Drake_Marcus 890]

But at the deadline if he is available it shouldn't take to much to get him.

Fedorov has been scoring at about a .75 PPG (when at forward) every season for the last ten years except the 02-03 season. Peopl act like the guy is finished because he's not scoring like he did in 02-03 or 93-94....guess what, he USUALLY didn't!

Most people just read the negative posts and assume Feds must be really down hill given that and his age. Few people actually check the stats to see that he's still nearly a point-per-game player. I wish we had enough top six talent that 06-07 Feds couldn't break the squad.

Honestly- who actually believes he's going to be making more then 3 mill after this season? Or that we don't need a ~50pt player who plays mind-numbingly good D, fantastic PP and PK and all three forward positions?

Not to mention Rolston has one of the best shots in the game right now. He can put away the slappers in SHOOTOUTS for gods sake, even when the goaltender knows its coming. Hed be a better replacement for Shanahan down low on the PP than Shanahan would. THATS how good Brians sot is. Not to mention hes a good ole Michigan boy AND hed be a GREAT player for Detroit to re-sign (even if it is to 4M per..hes worth it)

Rolston's a player in Shanahan's mold, no question. And exactly the kind of player the Wings need.

Unfortunately he's also the exact kind of player 29 other teams want. He'd get a s***-ton of offers.