Possible Deals for Cleary, Lilja on the way

[Zion 93]

Umm becuase he's a good PKer, has a crap load of blocked shots, and is a semi-physical guy. I'm glad Kenny's resigning both of them. Now he just needs to lock up Fil too.

Agreed. To say that Lilja is absolutely worthless is just plain wrong. He may be slow and clumsy at times, but could you imagine how much smaller our defense gets WITHOUT him?

[55fan 5,133]

I had said I wouldn't cry if Lilja wasn't re-signed. I've changed my mind. Re-sign him, but make off-season boxing lessons part of his contract. Problem solved.

[e_mcgrath88 0]

Cleary is going to want Pat Sharp money.. that sucks balls.. if he leaves he wont have the same success anywhere else..

[daniel1 32]

Cleary is going to want Pat Sharp money.. that sucks balls.. if he leaves he wont have the same success anywhere else..

I don't think he'll leave, but i do think he'll get a nice raise. I can see 2.2 - 2.6/yr for 2-3 years. He's a bonafide 2nd liner now and he'll wanna be paid like one too.

Lilja will take 1.5/yr or so... I hope we don't commit to him for any more than 2 yrs though. We do have several young D-men coming up to think about.

[Nev 1,085]

you guys expect too much from Lilja - he's a 3rd pairing d-man earning not too much.

As for that turnover, you think he would have been on the ice with Selanne if Schneider and Kronwall were healthy? Exactly.

Cleary worries me though. That crazy Pat Sharp deal may make it hard to keep him, and reading between the lines on Hollands comments he seems to be saying "if we can't get DC signed before the trade deadline, we'll move him"

[Guest LivingtheDream]

Do we need to worry that Cleary might be attractive to other teams? I have the feeling loyalty is a big thing in his book though. He is outstanding in his work ethic and it is paying off. He was a guy with skill who up until the WIngs didn't live up to his potential. The Wings seemed to be just what he needed and he seems to be just the kind of player we needed and need.

[Nev 1,085]

Loyalty is one thing, but Cleary earns a paltry $675,000 and has an agent who can see $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ in front of his eyes. 4 years, for $10M or $11M would be a fair deal but if he's not signed by the summer someone is going to be offering him $14-15M over the same period.

Who wouldn't want a hard working, gritty team guy who can put the puck in the net?

[egroen 384]

This Cleary signing *really* worries me. Loyalty only goes so far when you could possibly make close to double the money with another team. He's young and should have a lot of years in front of him so he might not mind going to a team that is in a rebuilding phase and willing to fork over Sharp-like money for a do-it-all type guy.

If Cleary decides to stay for around 2 1/2 million with the Wings, well... he is going to be one of my favorite players. But I have a sneaky suspicion we will lose him (as I know Holland will not pay $4 million a year for him).

[stormboy 47]

i think cleary is worth more than we can pay him. he might score thirty goals this season. whether or not he'll stay, i can't say. last year was by far his best career year, with forty points and twenty goals. he's only one goal away and three points away from his entire total last year. teams aren't going to look at the fact that his career average is somewhere in the twenty point range...their going to see this 30-30-60 season. which, i think he can repeat, but it's hard to say. and with needing to sign hank soon, i don't think holland will pay cleary $4 million a year, even though he might be worth that if he continues to play like this.

lilja i can take or leave. 1.25 mil is plenty...if he doesn't want that, let him go.

---------

players with similar point production as cleary at th is point in the season:

dan cleary, DET, RW. 37pts, +21. salary: 675,000. on pace for career-best season, by far, after having a career-best season last year.

brad richards, TB, C. 08 season: 40pts, -23. salary: 7.8 million. former 91-point getter. career -53.

j.p. dumont, NSH, RW. 08 season: 39pts, +6. salary: 2.5 million. best season, 66pts, +14; 5-time 20+ goal scorer.

alex tanguay, CGY, LW. 08 season: 38pts, +12. salary: 5.25 million. one-time 80+ point getter, 5-time 20+ goal scorer. on pace for worst year in five seasons.

pierre marc bouchard, MIN, RW. 08 season: 38pts, +3, 8 goals. salary: 2.5 million. small size, little grit.

[2probert4 8]

When i first saw this I thought that The Wings were looking to trade Dan Cleary!! I now have to clean the crap out of my boxers!! Don't scare me like this people, but yes, resign them all. Lilja has been awesome this year, and he has improved over the last two seasons. If the Wings trade Lilja for Rob Blake that could be the worst trade ever. I like what we got, we would have to give up too much to get a second line scorer, so stick with what we have!!!

Lilja is/has never been awesome, why do people wear the homer hat because he plays for the Wings? He has his moments but more of them are spectacular. I will be glad when Quincey / Ericsson / Kindl are ready so this guy gets phased out. Add whomever they trade for at the deadline to that list.

[2probert4 8]

They may or may not. Who knows. But since it will realistically only take $1.5M at the most to re-sign Lilja, is it really worth taking the risk of throwing Ericsson, Meech, or Quincey out there? With Lilja, you know what you're going to get. With the other 3, we have no idea yet.

Quincey could play now, he did fine during the playoffs last year in Schneiders absence. Ericsson is close. Griffs had been playing him at RW in a Homer type role on their PP.

[puckloo39 5,686]

With a nice raise Lilly can buy himself a much better pad.

*smashes tomatoes over my own head*

did you use a "Lilly-hammer" to smash the tomatoes, Lou?

I hope Lils and Cleary both stay longterm with the Wings. I like them both, very much.

[VM1138 1,921]

I'm suddenly kind of concerned about Cleary. His re-signing is not a given. I never thought of this before, but in the articles I've read and the comments everyone has made, they don't seem to be the generic "no worries here" type attitude they have for most of the players. I have no real information, but the gist I get from the articles by reading in between the lines is that there is a little hitch somewhere in re-signing Cleary.

I'd hate to lose him, he's becoming our heart-and-soul guy.

[Turkey 0]

I'm suddenly kind of concerned about Cleary. His re-signing is not a given. I never thought of this before, but in the articles I've read and the comments everyone has made, they don't seem to be the generic "no worries here" type attitude they have for most of the players. I have no real information, but the gist I get from the articles by reading in between the lines is that there is a little hitch somewhere in re-signing Cleary.

I'd hate to lose him, he's becoming our heart-and-soul guy.

I suspect the hitch is over concern that he may ask more than the Wings are willing to pay when they have to sign Z in a year and have a number of younger players that will also be wanting their money soon. I've been worried about this myself.

[Hank 0]

Re-sign Cleary long term for sure. Get Babcock locked up.

I have no idea why they would re-sign Lilja, dont want to see him back.

Me too. I think Quincy is more than ready to step in and do more than what Lilja can do.

[YoungGuns1340 1]

I suspect the hitch is over concern that he may ask more than the Wings are willing to pay when they have to sign Z in a year and have a number of younger players that will also be wanting their money soon. I've been worried about this myself.

If you want to make room to re-sign Cleary, then you cut Sammy (trade) and Franzen loose. I dont think theyll let him walk. I think their issue here is what Ken Holland mentioned about them having money at the deadline. Im thinking theyre looking to trade for a player that might not be just a rental, and if thats the case theyre gonna need to know Clearys number beforehand to see if they can take on that salary next season as well, or if they shouldnt put all their eggs in one basket and trade a lot for someone they wont end up re-signing...

"I'd be uncomfortable to go out and get a potential unrestricted free agent (via trade) and then have all these players leave. Ideally, we'll have a deal in place with Dan Cleary, and then I know what money I'll have under the cap, and we can set our sights on other things. If we don't have a deal, we've got some decisions to make."

Think about it this way. If Detroit is, for example, really serious about getting Prospal for example, then theyll probably want to re-sign him since theyll give up a decent amount for him. If thats the case, they may not be able to do that If Cleary wants 3.5M and they sign him to that salary before they get Prospal. If they do re-sign Cleary to 3.5M, then maybe they go after a guy like Malone instead of a guy like Prospal.

[Nev 1,085]

Been ruminating more on Kennys semi-cryptic comments........clearly if Cleary wants somewhere in the $3-4M range either he's going to have to walk, or someone else is going to be shifted to make room.

The more I think about it, the more I think that if we want to keep DC, Huds will be moved before he gets his payday (probly in the $2-3M range if he keeps up his points)

[Hank 0]

Been ruminating more on Kennys semi-cryptic comments........clearly if Cleary wants somewhere in the $3-4M range either he's going to have to walk, or someone else is going to be shifted to make room.

The more I think about it, the more I think that if we want to keep DC, Huds will be moved before he gets his payday (probly in the $2-3M range if he keeps up his points)

If Cleary wants anything over $2M he's crazy. He won't get the kind of numbers he has here and he won't be close to winning a Cup anywhere else.

Saying that, Toronto will sign him where he'll average 11 goals per year while making $4M/year and having his pick of golf courses in April.

[mmorland 16]

This team needs Cleary more than they realize. He's one of those players that you can't replace, the heart, the determination, etc. Detroit pratcially rebuilt this kid into an everyday player who can contribute, now they need to retain him. Hopefully mangaement can talk him down a bit and help him realize the perks of staying in Detroit.

[Kp-Wings 3]

Agreed. To say that Lilja is absolutely worthless is just plain wrong. He may be slow and clumsy at times, but could you imagine how much smaller our defense gets WITHOUT him?

You act like Lilja is godzilla on skates or something.

There are plenty of other big guys who don't suck ass like Lilja does. I don't know why everyone is all of a sudden riding his coattails, especially on this ridiculous PK stuff. He isn't that good on the PK. He makes terrible mistakes trying to clear the puck out of the zone, and has cost the Wings numerous times in that catagory. How is it I'm the only one who's seeing this?

The fact that Lilja wants a raise is bad enough. He's making a 1 million right now, and doesn't deserve anything more than that. The only thing he does properly is block shots, which is not that hard of a quality to find in other players. I don't know how blocking shots all of a sudden warrants a raise in salary, unless the Wings want to pull a Jay McKee type signing with Lilja.

There are guys in the minors that will be ready to play in the NHL soon. I don't see why the Wings should continue to waste a spot on Lilja, which prevents them from ever making it up here.

Edited January 22, 2008 by Kp-Wings

[VM1138 1,921]

I agree, there's no reason to lock up Lilja long term. He's easily the weakest defenseman (though he has his good moments), and Quincey is in the Wings, eager to play considering he's already displayed NHL caliber ability in the PLAYOFFS no less.

I don't know how possible this is, but I say we get a rental defenseman, someone who doesn't make mistakes but can throw his body around (don't worry about offense, obviously), and to get a long-term scorer locked up, preferably someone who can throw his weight around, and then have him replace Franzen.

EDIT: Could we get anyone for Lilja? Would anyone even want him? Maybe we could convince a team hurting on the PK he'd be good for them, and thus get someone halfway decent who's maybe not so great on the PK but better at something else? Perhaps from a team already brimming with physicality?

Edited January 22, 2008 by VM1138

[e_mcgrath88 0]

If Cleary wants anything over $2M he's crazy. He won't get the kind of numbers he has here and he won't be close to winning a Cup anywhere else.

Saying that, Toronto will sign him where he'll average 11 goals per year while making $4M/year and having his pick of golf courses in April.

thats true, but Pat Sharp is putting up similiar numbers and he just signed for something like 3.8M per. I say we trade Cleary before he walks.

Dan Cleary-- "hey Kenny, i hope you have been saving up for a rainy day cuz guess what......................It's Raining!!"

[Nev 1,085]

If Cleary wants anything over $2M he's crazy. He won't get the kind of numbers he has here and he won't be close to winning a Cup anywhere else.

ANd if you think we can resign Clearly for less than $2M, you're crazy

There are a lot of desperate teams out there with a lot of salary cap space. On 20 other teams in the league Cleary would wear an A or a C.

I *really* hope he resigns with us, because he is starting to become to Detroit what Wendel Clarke was in Toronto and Gary Roberts was in Calgary.

[detroitdan 0]

I have to think Kenny is working on this already...I got a chance to meet Cleary's agent, JP Barry, last year at a conference and have a discussion with him...he is a very reasonable guy and he knows how much Cleary likes Detroit and the organization...there are going to have to be concessions on both sides to get this done (maybe longer term, 4-5 years, for less money) but I think he'll be a Red Wing for many more years to come

[Guest LivingtheDream]

This team needs Cleary more than they realize. He's one of those players that you can't replace, the heart, the determination, etc. Detroit pratcially rebuilt this kid into an everyday player who can contribute, now they need to retain him. Hopefully mangaement can talk him down a bit and help him realize the perks of staying in Detroit.

I think you are on to something and they will work this out. $$$ is one thing and it is important, but remember all the things DC said about this being his second chance, how he has learned to work hard... that all happened here with the Wings organization. I'm giving the guy some faith. Think about your own jobs and taking new jobs. Is it always just about the $$$? Sure, these are bigger dollars, but when it comes down to it, most people need to be happy about where they are going every day and that is important too. I see a fair compromise, perhaps even a two year where DC can prove that he is indeed a top 6 forward for the long term.