What if Hossa Were Available?

[Hank 0]

I'm only speculating at this point as there is no proof of Atlanta shopping Hossa around.

However, the Thrashers are struggling and I don't see them making the playoffs. Also there have been unconfirmed rumors that Hossa doesn't want to resign with Atlanta because of the direction they're going in. (Hossa refused to take part in the shootout the other night against the Habs because he wasn't 'feeling it').

Saying all of that, if Hossa did want out of town and Wadell was willing to dish him off, would you want him? And if so, for how much?

Atlanta needs centres and mobile Dmen. Would you give up Filpulla and Kronwall for Hossa knowing that he'll be a UFA after the season is over?

My thoughts would be to go for it. Hossa is an amazing talent and he would help round out our scoring greatly. I can only imagine how awesome it would be to see him and Dats or Zetterberg together.

Resigning him would be the hard part. With Dats making $6.7M, Rafalski $6M and Zetts and Lids looking at around $7M per year it would be extremely tough to fit under the cap.

I would hope that if this deal were possible, Holland could convince all 3 (Lids, Zetts, Hossa) to take a minimal pay cut to get them all under the Cap. You could front load all their contracts to give them huge $$ in the first 2-3 years and then lighten up in the back half.

What are your thoughts? Who would you be willing to deal?

Would you be partial to sending Jakob Kindl off in a packaged deal? Would you deal Hudler? Filpulla? Ericsson? Etc?

[auxlepli 17]

No.

The Wings are playing very well right now. I wouldn't upset the apple cart.

Also, who's to say he'll "feel it" in Detroit.

[GSBrooks13 204]

To be honest I think it would be a very nice day when I watch Hossa in a Red Wings uniform. But that being said I am not willing to make a deal that could hurt us in the long run. Ever since the Bertuzzi deal last year I have lost my taste for trading away prospects so I think Kindl and Ericsson are out of question. The most I would be willing to ship out for Hossa would probably be Hudler, Kronwall and a few conditional draft picks (the condition being he resigns with the wings next year)..

Other than that I don't really see it being in our favour to unload a handful of high potential players to get 2/3 of a season out of a player who may or may not benefit our team.

[Matt 1,049]

In my opinion Hossa would be the best fit of any of the options out there -- he'd just cost a mint in assets. He brings incredible scoring punch from the wing, has good speed, size, instincts... pretty much everything.

He's actually a player I would think that Holland would want to tie up to a multi-year deal once he acquired him. If Waddell figures that the cost would be higher.

I've discussed this a bit with some other members over IM and I would think to get the foot in the door with talks would require at least one 1st (probably two) along with Filppula and Kindl.

I don't know if Atlanta, for all of Kronwall's promise, would be willing to take on that contract at this point.

[union drone 0]

I think that Hossa and Perry should play on the same team. That way when Hossa doesn't feel "it", Perry can give him some help. *cue reel from last years Wings vs Ducks series*

Seriously, though, I can't really see the Wings getting Hossa. Even if Atlanta shops him around, they will want a franchise player in return (or possibly an ensemble of good players with some upside). If they expect to lose him as an UFA, then they might expect a lot less for him, but he likely becomes a rental for us...which means that if the Wings don't win the cup with him and don't resign him, we threw some prospects out the window for nothing.

Hossa is a very good player, but I just don't see it happening unless there is a strong indication that Hossa wants to sign a reasonably-priced long term contract. But then again who knows what Holland has up his sleave...

[BeeRYCE 2]

Yeah, don't mess with a 10-2-1 Wings team at this point. Also, Hossa is a legitimate top 10 elite NHL first liner, we don't need someone of his class. A good second liner would work nicely, someone maybe worth $3-4M max.

[Matt 1,049]

No.

The Wings are playing very well right now. I wouldn't upset the apple cart.

Also, who's to say he'll "feel it" in Detroit.

If Hossa were to be moved it wouldn't happen for quite some time. His salary is too much to eat at this point.

But then again who knows what Holland has up his sleave...

Holland did say back near training camp that the Red Wings had the capability to add one more "elite level" player to the roster.

[SweWings 45]

I really like this guy - natural goal-scorer - and I'd love to see him playing for the Wings. Will it happen? - not very likely, no. He'll want to go to a contender if he leaves Atlanta but he'll also want money - can Detroit offer that? I'm not so sure...This wouldn't have been a problem 5 years ago btw...

[b.shanafan14 733]

No.

The Wings are playing very well right now. I wouldn't upset the apple cart.

Also, who's to say he'll "feel it" in Detroit.

I agree, pretty Yashin-like if you ask me... I would much rather have a young guy with infinite potential then someone who would opt out of a shootout if the wind ain't at his back

[SweWings 45]

Oh and Spector deals with Hossa a little bit too. It seems unlikely they'll move him unless they get a monster deal. And I do mean monster...

[Opie 308]

I have never heard of Hossa being a player that isn't really a team player, but when a gifted natural goal scorer like that opts out of a shootout because he is not "feeling it" that worries me about him.

That is a very primadonna attitude and that changes my opinion of him.

[Hank 0]

Just to play devils advocate here.

I did a quick Excel sheet with all the salaries the Wings have on the books at this point as well as my estimated resignings (indicated in bold) and if Filpulla and Kindl were used to get Hossa out of Atlanta.

The only way I see us coming close to keeping everyone under contract is to sign Lids to a deal that averages $7M a season and then sign Zetts and Hossa to deals that average $6M. I know that sounds very optimistic of me, but if they front load the contracts so that Z and Hossa make a HUGE chunk at the beginning they may go for it. Especially if they feel they can win it all with them all together. So for example both Z and Hossa take a 5 year deal worth $31M but the first two years pay out $10M and 9M respectively with the final 3 years paying $4M a season.

The first couple of years look doable but year 3 looks tight as we'll have a little over $45M on the books with only 11 forwards and 5 dmen signed. And who's to say the cap doesn't go down.

Anyway, this is a really rough estimate of resignings. I'm sure I got something wrong. But I thought it would be good food for thought.

Edited November 1, 2007 by Hank

[Aussie_Wing 354]

NO to any deals that see us giving up Kindl, Filppula, Hudler ect. Too much to be giving away, even if Hossa is one heck of a player.

[BeeRYCE 2]

I have never heard of Hossa being a player that isn't really a team player, but when a gifted natural goal scorer like that opts out of a shootout because he is not "feeling it" that worries me about him.

That is a very primadonna attitude and that changes my opinion of him.

I think that's a very wise move actually. To not be confident in yourself leads to simply not scoring, and not scoring means it effects your team. He could be selfish and just take the shot regardless of how unconfident, and ultimately screw his team over, or he could realize that there are 20 other guys on the team, some of which feeling more confident, allowing one of them to take the shot in his place. Him not participating in a shootout is him realizing he wants a team victory.

[Aussie_Wing 354]

Just to play devils advocate here.

I did a quick Excel sheet with all the salaries the Wings have on the books at this point as well as my estimated resignings (indicated in bold) and if Filpulla and Kindl were used to get Hossa out of Atlanta.

"It was good to see Fil get one, he's had so many chances," Red Wings coach Mike Babcock said. "He's a really good player, he's going to take off here, we all know that. We just need to give him some time to get rolling."

Of all the players we would potentially trade, Flip would be the last one to depart.

[interminded 1]

I have never heard of Hossa being a player that isn't really a team player, but when a gifted natural goal scorer like that opts out of a shootout because he is not "feeling it" that worries me about him.

That is a very primadonna attitude and that changes my opinion of him.

That's one explanation.

Another one would be that he doesn't want to risk not scoring in the shootout because he's not feeling confident enough. He could opt to shoot anyway, but he doesn't.

For me, that's the opposite of primadonna behaviour.

[Opie 308]

BeeRyce- Interninded

never thought of it that way, good points.

[Hank 0]

Of all the players we would potentially trade, Flip would be the last one to depart.

Or the first if a top line talent like Hossa was to be had.

I like Filp and I think he has potential to be a very good player.

But if I had my choice, I'd trade potential for proven talent.

If Wadell called and said we could get Hossa for Filpulla, Kindl and a 1st I'd take the deal.

Especially if Holland could keep everyone under the Cap.

Hudler-Zetterberg-Hossa

Franzen-Datsyuk-Homer

Cleary-Draper-Sammy

Drake-Kopecky-Maltby

Not too shabby.

Or think about a Datsyuk-Zetterberg-Hossa superline on the PP or late in a game.

[Opie 308]

The problem I have with getting rid of Kindl and Flip is that is overpaying for a rental player.

Hossa would be a last minute deadline deal and the team that gets him will have him for a couple of months and then he is a free agent. If he is already saying he wants out of ATL then the teams looking at him are in a better situation.

Take the Kobe fiasco for example. He wants out and will not come back after his contract is up. The Lakers have two choices, trade him and get something in return, or keep him and get nothing at the end of the season when they lose him to FA.

That could be the same case with Hossa, so with that in mind the price to get him comes down a little. It is not like you are getting him with 3 years on his deal. This is a rental player situation.

[toby91_ca 620]

Don't forget that Hossa is younger than Datsyuk, so we wouldn't be talking about landing a rental player near the end of his career, it would need to be a long term investment by the team.

[GMRwings1983 8,804]

There's no way we can keep Datsyuk, Zetterberg, Lidstrom, and then add another star like Hossa. It doesn't happen that way anymore since the lockout. One of those above 3 would have to take a huge paycut of some kind.

[eva unit zero 271]

Kronwall would have to be involved. He's the only young player we have whose cap hit is significant enough to clear space for Hossa's incoming salary for the next few years.

[irishtemper14+25 11]

my opinion is more than likely if we keep the players i want us to keep and everyone knows we will like dats and zets...the only way that i will see hossa in the winged wheel is in my dynasty in nhl 08

[rick zombo 3,739]

When I look at Detroit's roster I see two holes that need to be filled.

- 2nd line winger

- #4 defencemen

Aquiring Hossa would break the bank. I'd rather spread it out and get a forward and a rental veteran physical D-man like Foote at the deadline.

[Heaton 1]

There's no way we can keep Datsyuk, Zetterberg, Lidstrom, and then add another star like Hossa. It doesn't happen that way anymore since the lockout. One of those above 3 would have to take a huge paycut of some kind.

It could work, but the risk is that if Filppula or Hudler blow up in the next year or so we'd have to let one of them go.

Or well, Filppula would probably have to be involved. Kronwall, Filppula, 1st, 2nd + another prospect I'm guessing and a conditional if Hossa re-signs. Might be too steep.