2008 nhl free agents

[LeftWinger 5,153]

...FEDOROV...Foote...Legwand...Rolston...Bryz or Kolzig...

...too much money in Sudin or Naslund. Unless Detroit trades for Sudin at the deadline (which rumors out of Toronto (yeah I know) says it's gonna happen.) Then Sundin may be easier to sign next off season...

...I'd really like to see Foote here, even though he is not as good as he used to be, plus at who's expense? Lilja? Chelios will ALWAYS be here until HE decides to call it quits...

...Rolston MAY come home (he has Rafalski to try to lure him.) Legwand would be awesome in the Wings uniform, but would Nashville let their adopted son go? Feds is a guarantee, if not by the deadline, then for sure UFA...

...They definately need to let Hasek go (whether he retires or not) Bryz would be my first choice, but an older Kolzig may do the trick too... (or maybe Osgood/Howard(man we beat that horse to death!))

[Flip-check 6]

I don't even know how they could resign him. There's no way.

Unless they dumped Kronwall, Samuelsson, Chelios, Lilja.. hell anybody who's not a star and making +$1M. And that'd be tight as it is.

Hossa would be great, but man would the Wings have to clear house to fit his salary in, especially when you factor in Zetterberg re-signing after the 09 season.

They'd have at least 20 mill in salary tied up in Z, Dats and Hossa. And I'm guessing Lids will still get a decent chunk.

[Dabura 12,232]

Apparently you guys missed the part about chocolate and puppies.

A puppy's smile is worth 10 grand, easily.

[Flip-check 6]

Apparently you guys missed the part about chocolate and puppies.

A puppy's smile is worth 10 grand, easily.

If it can be added as "dead money", I'm all for puppies.

[Guest wingswillwincup]

I think $3 is a little on the high side. Draper's cap hit this year is like 2.1 and next year he'll be 1.8 or something.

I'd say somewhere around a high 1 max. And I'm not sure what it'd take to get Hossa, but considering he'd be a rental... he's probably a lot more attainable than some would think.

It just depends what kind of deal the Thrashers want in return, picks/players or a combination of both.

dont forget though draper is on the decline and cleary is still in his late 20's , some team will offer him 2.5-3 million , i can totally see that happening

Im personally not willing to give up high end picks and prospects and/or maybe hudler for a guy whos gonna be with us for a few months and lets be honest has been really struggling this season , thats just me

[Detroit # 1 Fan 2,204]

The Wings will re-sign Cleary. 4-5 years I'd say 1.5 to 1.8 million per year. He wont go to UFA, same with Lidstrom, the Wings will have those 2 locked up before seasons end.

[Guest wingswillwincup]

The Wings will re-sign Cleary. 4-5 years I'd say 1.5 to 1.8 million per year. He wont go to UFA, same with Lidstrom, the Wings will have those 2 locked up before seasons end.

and what about franzen ?? hes a big body can score 15-20 if given the chance , he can get just over as well id figure , filppula will need a raise , hudler if we keep him , we'll need cash to get a real goalie if howard fails , we better hope lidstrom takes a nice paycut or we can be screwed down the road which is the reason why i was pissed we signed rafalski at 6 mill per for a long term deal , schneider for 2 yrs at what he got from the ducks might of been the best option , his 5.5 would of came off the books when zetterbergs big deal was to come , that being said rafalski has been playing well but we might regret it down the road, lets hope not

[Detroit # 1 Fan 2,204]

If Franzen continues to play the way he has, Kenny can get him for 1.5 easy. Same with Filpula. Hudler is #1 on this team for trade bait IMO, if we do re-sign him shouldnt be more then 1.8.

Nick, I think he may just take 5 million. Stevie took paycuts, Nick is classy in Steves mold, you never know.

Zetterberg (6.8) Datsyuk (6.7) Holmstrom (2.95)

Free Agent Filpula (1.5) Free Agent

Cleary (1.8) Draper (1.5) Maltby (650)

Drake (650) Franzen (1.5) Downey (450)

Kopecky (750)

Lidstrom (5) Free Agent

Rafalski (6) Kronwall (3)

Free Agent Chelios (500)

Lebda/Quincey (670)

Free Agent

Ozzie (1.2)

$$$ = 41620000

If the cap goes up, we'd have 12+ million to get 2 top 6 wingers, 2 d-man and a goalie.

[FinRedWing 172]

If the cap goes up, we'd have 12+ million to get 2 top 6 wingers, 2 d-man and a goalie.

D-men would have to be cheap then.

But I do like your tactic that we sign 5 UFA's,July would be exciting as hell.

[Superman54 91]

Lets Give Kolzig A Cup!!!!

[YoungGuns1340 1]

Im really starting to wonder why we even keep Franzen around. His third season so far hasnt been anything special. I think a guy like Avery would bring more to the table, albeit different things. I think Franzen *could* be a 20 goal scorer who hits like hell, but Im starting to doubt hell ever reach that potential. Same with Filppula being an offensive threat.

I think the Wings should get rid of either Sammy or Franzen at the deadline. Hudler has shown a lot of promise, and hes signed on the cheap...exactly what you need from a kid that could get 20 goals.

As for whoever said Commodore would get 1.8M...thats a joke. More like 3M. And Rolston will get at least 4.

IMO, Detroit should sign Lidstrom to a one year contract, so that when Zetterberg re-signs with Detroit, they can hold contract negotiations with Nick knowing already what Hank will get, and what they can afford to give Nick. I doubt hed walk away from one last year at 5.5M, if Zetterbergs 7M per contract doesnt allow them to give Nick more in 09/10

Fedorov - 2.4, 1 year contract

Rolston - 4.2M, 3 year contract

Filppula - 1.5M, 3 year contract

Cleary - 2M, 3-4 year contract

Downey - 500k, 1 year contract

Quincey - 600k, 2 year contract

Commodore - 3.3M, 3 year contract

Osgood - 2M, 2 year contract

Lidstrom - 6.8M, 1 year contract.

Datsyuk(6.7)-Zetterberg(2.65)-Holmstrom(2.25)

Hudler(1.15)-Fedorov(2.4)-Rolston (4.2)

Sammy(1.2)-Filppula(1.5)-Cleary(2)

Maltby(880k)-Draper(1.58)-Downey(500k)

Lidstrom(6.8)-Rafalski(6)

Kronwall(3)-Commodore(3.3)

Quincey(600k)-Lebda(650k)

Ericsson/Meech (500k)

Osgood (2M...I dont think hes going to slow down too much)

Howard (800k...I'm not sold on this guy, but if Osgood keeps playing well, itd be good to see Howard start some 25 games or so. If this situation doesnt work out, we can address it later in the season. )

I think its crucial to go with a goaltender tandem that doesnt have any goaltender signed to a contract longer than 2 years. Lidstrom will likely retire in 2 years, and when he does, were gonna have to get a big presence in net in order to make up for him. (If Ryan Miller continues to improve....)

Total: 50.65M

(for those of you who dont know..the cap is supposed to go up. Wed likely have 1.5M+ in extra cap room)

[Guest wingswillwincup]

Lets Give Kolzig A Cup!!!!

yup i think he'd be an upgrade and wouldnt cost us much

[Dabura 12,232]

I'm not overly concerned about Franzen; he's had some bad luck with injuries, which has made it hard for him to get a rhythm going, let alone gel with players he wouldn't even necessarily gel with in the first place.

Stick a healthy Franzenstein on a line with Hank or Dats and Hossa and I guarantee you that line would eat fools for breakfast.

[Viperar 16]

yup i think he'd be an upgrade and wouldnt cost us much

i think kolzig pretty much wants to stay in DC but if he cracks enough after this year, that would be awesome, i would def not mind seeing kolzig in a winged jersey

[detroitdan 0]

they'd better re-sign Cleary! I don't want to get his name on the back of my jersey only for him to sign somewhere else after the season!

[Grittzkey 1]

I'm not overly concerned about Franzen; he's had some bad luck with injuries, which has made it hard for him to get a rhythm going, let alone gel with players he wouldn't even necessarily gel with in the first place.

Stick a healthy Franzenstein on a line with Hank or Dats and Hossa and I guarantee you that line would eat fools for breakfast.

You can put anyone on a line with Hank or Dats Hossa and id be great..

Franzen needs to establish himself as a legit scoring threat to even be thought of us a top 6 forward.. put him on the 4th line where he belongs and have him fight it out with Drake,Downey,Ellis,Kopecky to get into the line up.

[Dabura 12,232]

You can put anyone on a line with Hank or Dats Hossa and id be great..

Not necessarily, but point taken.

I don't think, though, that he should necessarily be held to the goal-scoring standard you're talking about. Ideally, if he's playing on one of the top lines, he's the muscle, the energy guy, the spark plug, the guy who does the hard things -- not unlike Homer. Given the right linemates, I believe he could really excel at the role on the second line, maybe even the first.

[irishtemper14+25 11]

no offense, i dont think franzen deserves his playing time...huds is putting up a lot more pts on the fourth line and kopecky seems to be working harder than franz, but i wouldnt mind shellin him off at the deadline if he continues to not produce on the second line

[YoungGuns1340 1]

no offense, i dont think franzen deserves his playing time...huds is putting up a lot more pts on the fourth line and kopecky seems to be working harder than franz, but i wouldnt mind shellin him off at the deadline if he continues to not produce on the second line

I entirely agree. I keep on waiting for Franzen to make that next step...to actually land that wrister, and make the hard hits that he can game in game out, but Im starting to think he lacks the work ethic. IMO, hes getting the nod over Hudler in Babs book simply because of his size, but he never seems to create much by using it.

I keep waiting for Franzen to establish himself as the Swedish Cleary, but I dont think hes going to at this point. Granted, theres still plenty of time to establish himself before the deadline, but if not theres no reason he shouldnt be counted as trade bait.

[eva unit zero 271]

Wings roster, as signed for next season; players expected to retire are not listed:

Datsyuk 6.7m/Zetterberg 2.65m/Holmstrom 2.25m

Hudler 1.015m/Filppula RFA/Samuelsson 1.2m

Maltby 883k/Draper 1.583m/Cleary UFA

Franzen 942k/Kopecky 500k/Downey UFA

Ellis 475k

Lidstrom UFA/Rafalski 6m

Kronwall 3m/Lilja UFA

Lebda 650k/Chelios UFA

Meech 483k

Quincey RFA

Osgood UFA

Howard RFA

So we're looking at a total of about 28.332m. We would need to sign a minimum three forwards, three defensemen, and two goaltenders with the remaining 22m under the cap. Now let's look one season beyond to see where the Wings stand after 08-09.

Datsyuk 6.7m/Zetterberg UFA/Holmstrom 2.25m

Hudler RFA/Filppula RFA/Samuelsson UFA

Maltby 883k/Draper 1.583m/Cleary UFA

Franzen UFA/Kopecky UFA/Downey UFA

Ellis UFA

Lidstrom UFA/Rafalski 6m

Kronwall 3m/Lilja UFA

Lebda 650k/Chelios UFA

Meech 483k

Quincey RFA

Osgood UFA

Howard RFA

That would be a total of 21.55m, leaving about 29m to sign a minimum eight forwards, three defensemen, and two goaltenders. Holland should be expected to negotiate new deals for Zetterberg, Hudler, Filppula, Lidstrom, Cleary, and perhaps even Franzen and Osgood BEFORE any major free agent signings will be made this season. For those players, we should expect cap hits like this:

Zetterberg 7m

Hudler 1.5m

Filppula 1.2m

Cleary 1.8m

Franzen 1.2m

Lidstrom 7.6m

Osgood 1m

With Lidstrom, Filppula, Cleary, and Osgood needing new deals this summer, that adds 11.6m onto our cap next season for 2-1-1, leaving approximately 10m to sign a minimum 1-2-1 to finish out the roster. An average 2.5m per player. Sounds great, right? Not so fast.

Now let's factor that into the 'two-year' projection. That's an additional 21.3m for 4-1-1, meaning the Wings would only have about 7.5m to fill out 4-2-1. That's an average of barely over 1m. Still decent cap room, but a huge difference from what the Summer '08 figures look like.

Let's flesh out the 09-10 roster a little more. Kopecky, Ellis, Quincey, and Howard will all likely be brought back. Assume the first two see deals hitting the cap for 550k, with Quincey and Howard getting 850k. That's 2.8m out of our 7.5m available that goes away for 2-1-1. This leaves us 4.7m to fill up two forward slots and a defense position. Chelios seems likely to retire after next season, so we'll figure Quincey's 850k is covered by Chelios for the same rate in 08-09. Howard's contract would hit next year. So to fill that 2-1-0, we have about 9m to fill it for next season, followed by 4.7 the following year for the same three players. We need to sign a depth forward, a scoring forward, and a defenseman if possible. We'll assume 500k to cover the depth forward, be it Downey or someone else. That means 4.2k to cover a forward and a defenseman. Here's where it truly gets interesting. We could bring back Andreas Lilja, likely for about 1.2m, and have 3m left under the cap to cover a forward and bonuses; or we could let Lilja walk, and bring in Jakub Kindl, whose cap hit is 822k, and have about 3.4m under the cap.

All of these calculations are based on the cap level stagnating at 51m, so it's entirely possible the Wings will have more space than that. I would hope we could bring in Brian Rolston or Marian Hossa, but it's more likely to be a guy like Ryder or Brunette for that amount.