Marian Hossa will test free agent market

[YoungGuns1340 1]

Franzen is a Red Wings draftee who is big and strong...that alone is worth like 65 points right?

Plus hes Swedish and has a cool nickname. Better add another 10 points..

[wingsdiehard13 33]

Spector is reporting that The Habs, Bruins, Rangers, Red Wings, as well as the Penguins could be in the bidding for Hossa.

http://www.spectorshockey.net/index.php?op...rs&Itemid=9

[AUWingsFan 0]

I'm actually happy to hear that Hossa will test free agency because I hold out hope that he'll decide he wants to play for the Wings and sign for less money that he might elsewhere. I know he is giving up a good opportunity to win the Cup with Pittsburgh but if you were given the choice between going to the defending Stanley Cup Champs or return to a team that came up short which would you choose??

I know he probably won't sign here, but unless I'm missing something he could still sign anywhere but Pittsburgh for less than they offered him, that's the benefit of him being an unrestricted free agent correct???

Hopefully he wants to win and is willing to take less money to do so.....

But just for the record I don't want to lose any of our up and coming talent like Franzen or Filpulla to sign Hossa, so if we can't fit him without being dangerously close to getting ourselves into cap trouble then I say Kenny doesn't even bother....but it never hurts to ask so hopefully Kenny will at least see if he's interested......

[Kp-Wings 3]

Hossa is not going to take a paycut to play here. He just turned down Pittsburgh's seven-something million offer, and even if they are losing players, they are still a Cup contender (which Hossa apparently has stated he wants to play for, yet is turning one down right now).

Hossa had a strong playoff series, especially in the finals; you can't tell me he's going to take anything less than 8-9 million. Considering the Wings just won the Stanley Cup, and already have a very strong team, do they really even need him? I know he's a great player, but the teams long term benefits could be at stake with his probably huge contract eating away at cap space.

Edited June 22, 2008 by Kp-Wings

[RWK23 0]

He would have been stupid not to test the market. I mean, he needs to at least see what he's worth. This offer will be on the table three weeks from now. There's no need to rush. He's making the right decision.

[kylee 727]

hmmm hossa a red wing part 2.

im open to the idea for sure, but only a multi year deal.

not this one year nonsense.

[datsyukonethree 0]

SUCK IT PITTSBURGH!

[BlakChamber 8]

As to the guy talking about Franzen, I have to say I'd rather have Franzen. He's shown he's the real deal. A whole season could put him among the best players in the league. I'd rather have him, "Hossa Lite", who is homegrown, comfortable in our system, reliable, and relatively cheap (long term) than an expensive gamble that could or could not pan out, and possible not hang around.

I like Hossa, but Franzen all the way.

Are you high? I like Franzen too, but if I had to pick between one of the best players in the world and a guy who had a hot playoff, its a no brainer.

[FireCaptain 563]

Everyone neglects to add Chelios in there.. I know there's no official announcement yet, but check out this interview quote. I think it's pretty obvious he's coming back.

Went down one day just a little wear with and tear my old age and body. Everything looks good and it was time I needed to clean it up and I have 3 months to heal and get it back and hopefully have the best comeback ever...It was the first surgery like that in 6 years. The last thing is the ACL before the last Cup [and I've] been relatively healthy [and the] knees have been holding up, [and] hopefully [i'll] buy another 5 years out of this one.

3 months to heal.. hmm, sounds just about September-ish.

FTA: http://blog.mlive.com/snapshots/2008/06/fr...lios_trans.html

So, take a cool 1 mil off your deadline amount.

Lidstrom (7.45) - Raffi (6)

Kronwall (3) - Ericsson (1)

Lebda(.65) - Quincey (.6)

Meech (.483)

That leaves 1.4M available at the trade deadline, if NEXT years cap rises by only 3M. For those counting, that would be enough money to add a $4M Dman at the trade deadline.

[Dabura 12,207]

Hossa is not going to take a paycut to play here. He just turned down Pittsburgh's seven-something million offer, and even if they are losing players, they are still a Cup contender (which Hossa apparently has stated he wants to play for, yet is turning one down right now).

Hossa had a strong playoff series, especially in the finals; you can't tell me he's going to take anything less than 8-9 million. Considering the Wings just won the Stanley Cup, and already have a very strong team, do they really even need him? I know he's a great player, but the teams long term benefits could be at stake with his probably huge contract eating away at cap space.

Firstly, the fact that he turned down the Pens' offer doesn't necessarily mean he won't take a paycut to play elsewhere. If anything, the fact that he turned down that sizable offer suggests he could be looking for more than just a good financial situation -- i.e., playing for an even more competitive team, such as the Wings. Secondly, the fact that he turned down an offer from a Cup contender after stating he wants to play for a contender doesn't mean he's being hypocritical, contrary to what you seem to be implying. Maybe he just doesn't want to play for the Pens. Are they the only Cup contender around? Apparently not.

Thirdly, as NN said, there are players on the Wings' roster right now that aren't truly needed. The "need" argument is a soft one; if you're Ken Holland and you learn there's a chance you could have Hossa and possibly still have room to retain your core players, you make a call. Doesn't mean you necessarily have a great shot at snagging him (like I said, it would take a miracle), but it's worth inquiring, especially if you hear whispers about, say, the Stars and Sharks pitching substantial offers.

Fourthly, to the guy who said he'd take Franzen over Hossa: wtf.

[YoungGuns1340 1]

Everyone neglects to add Chelios in there.. I know there's no official announcement yet, but check out this interview quote. I think it's pretty obvious he's coming back.

3 months to heal.. hmm, sounds just about September-ish.

FTA: http://blog.mlive.com/snapshots/2008/06/fr...lios_trans.html

So, take a cool 1 mil off your deadline amount.

Take another look, buddy. Thats the roster for 2009-2010. Chelios also hasnt made 1M in at least 3 years. And he shouldnt be coming back in 09-10.

Edited June 22, 2008 by YoungGuns1340

[YoungGuns1340 1]

$3 large for Hudler .....Def not worth that kinda cabbage.

We'll have this discussion after another season, when Hudler is actually able to re-up. Chris Kelly just pulled in 2.2M over 4 years. And thats with a whopping 30pts this season.

[norrisnick 1]

With rough estimates of:

$8M for Hossa.

$7.5M for Z.

$3M for Fil.

$3M for Franzen.

$2M for Hudler.

$1.25M for Jimmy.

$1M for Cheli, Lilly, or a comparable.

$1M for Ericsson.

$850K for Quincey.

And $500K for a random scrub.

I'm coming up under the projected cap for this coming season and around $62M for '09-'10. Obviously there would be tagging issues involved if all the new contracts were signed this summer, as well as $62M would be cutting it awfully close to whatever the next cap may be.

BUT... those are generous estimates. I'm carrying 13 forwards, 8 D, and 2 goalies. And no one under contract gets traded away. I'm more than confident in Kenny's abilities to get a bit more creative if we seriously want to take an attempt to sign Hossa and take another solid step ahead of the rest of the league. After talking a half-hearted stab at Elias a couple years back he could take a real one here.

[norrisnick 1]

We'll have this discussion after another season, when Hudler is actually able to re-up. Chris Kelly just pulled in 2.2M over 4 years. And thats with a whopping 30pts this season.

My new plan is to re-sign everyone but Zetterberg this summer so they can't get too expensive. Come to a handshake agreement with Z who really shouldn't get that much more expensive over the course of the season unless he goes completely nuts on us and put the official signing off until next summer. That way we lock in everyone and avoid the tagging issue like Anaheim did when they extended Getzlaf mid season and his salary jumped by $5M.

[egroen 384]

Three forward super stars can be contained by a defensive team pretty well. Anaheim did it to Ottawa and the Wings did it to Pittsburgh.

I would prefer Franzen and Fillpula to Hossa. They are cheaper combined, are assets that can be applied to seperate lines, both play in all situations and you get a lot more minutes out of them (combined).

[VM1138 1,921]

It's really not that shocking to pick Franzen over Hossa. Franzen was putting up similar numbers to Hossa the last part of the season, and every time he returned from an injury (after the initial one) never missed a beat, which makes me think he's the real deal. I'd rather take a CHEAP risk on Franzen and see where that goes tahn risk tying up all our money in a single player who has been sort of a problem for his past two teams who could very well bolt if he doesn't sign long-term. That could also mess with the chemistry, too.

Like I said, give us Franzen and a few other scorers over Hossa any day of the week.

Edited June 22, 2008 by VM1138

[edicius 3,269]

Just throwing this out there... Could Hossa's reluctance to sign with the Pens be due to an issue with Therrien? I don't have anything on which to base this, but just thought it was worth a mention.

[omnipotent_hudler 0]

Just throwing this out there... Could Hossa's reluctance to sign with the Pens be due to an issue with Therrien? I don't have anything on which to base this, but just thought it was worth a mention.

honestly I think it's just that he knows that his stock is about as high as it's ever going to get right now. He can get a long term, guaranteed big money contract and be set for the next 7-8 years regardless of performance. Like I said before I think it's going to be a 6-7 years at 8-8.5 mil a year and it will be MTL, SJ, or DAL

[Guest EZBAKETHAGANGSTA]

Three forward super stars can be contained by a defensive team pretty well. Anaheim did it to Ottawa and the Wings did it to Pittsburgh.

I would prefer Franzen and Fillpula to Hossa. They are cheaper combined, are assets that can be applied to seperate lines, both play in all situations and you get a lot more minutes out of them (combined).

Good point, however Anaheim at the time had two of the top 3 defesenmen in the game and the wings this year had the best defense in a leauge. Every other team does not have the priorly mentioned assets. You think a team like Philly could stop Dats, Z and Hossa? Please.

All in all I'd love to keep Franzen, and I think Kenny can get creative and maybe keep him if we do sign Hossa (Which im still considering just a pipe dream) however i would not be heartbroken if we effectivily had to let franzen go for Hossa

[Glubki 17]

honestly I think it's just that he knows that his stock is about as high as it's ever going to get right now. He can get a long term, guaranteed big money contract and be set for the next 7-8 years regardless of performance. Like I said before I think it's going to be a 6-7 years at 8-8.5 mil a year and it will be MTL, SJ, or DAL

I wouldn't be surprised to see the Capitals or the Bruins go after him either - the Caps need defensemen more than a winger but the have plenty of cap space (17-18m) left and the Bruins would have to dump Glen Murray...

[omnipotent_hudler 0]

I wouldn't be surprised to see the Capitals or the Bruins go after him either - the Caps need defensemen more than a winger but the have plenty of cap space (17-18m) left and the Bruins would have to dump Glen Murray...

yeah but I think Hossa is serious about playing for a contender, so that kinda rules out the Bruins

oh snap

[XxGoWingsxX 0]

-The lack of a comma made the title seem somewhat misleading; at first I thought Hossa had rejected trying free-agency, lol

-How about we actually bother seeing how Franzen does next season before we start speculating that he's going to get a big contract in 2009? He had a surge at the tail end of the season, but the 60-odd games before that he wasn't achieving anything close to that kind of scoring performance. Not to mention that the majority of the goals he scored in the playoffs were against an embarrassingly bad and injury-plagued Colorado team. Nothing says he *won't* keep it up, but let's see if his offensive output was a flash-in-the-pan or not before we start envisioning huge extension contracts to both zetterberg AND him.

In franzen's defense on this one....i believe it was about an ice time/confidence thing. When homer and cleary were injured he moved up a line and saw more playing time. He got a couple nice plays and assists...cofidence goes up, and he starts to realize he can push his way through people to the net. Scores a couple goals confidence boosts more...so then he gets on a run and realizes that with his size and weight it's hard for people to stop his momentum in front of the net. Homer and cleary come back and he moves back down a line and he still has that confidence....hence he goes on a long run of scoring. He gets injured in round 3, comes back early in round 4 and only had like 1 goal i think but his play picked up right where he left off and has nice setups and assists...never really found his scoring grove again but the 1 he did get in the finals was a beautiful goal....i think alot of people aren't crediting franzen enough.

[dallas27 7]

This just made my day. My pipe dream of several, several months to land Hossa is finally coming to fruition.

At least 55 goals in the regular season if Hossa is a Wing. At least 15 in the playoffs. Gah, just imaging him in the Wings system makes me salivate.

[wingsdiehard13 33]

This just made my day. My pipe dream of several, several months to land Hossa is finally coming to fruition.

At least 55 goals in the regular season if Hossa is a Wing. At least 15 in the playoffs. Gah, just imaging him in the Wings system makes me salivate.

Exactly, Could you imagine Pavel feeding Hossa?

[Dabura 12,207]

It's really not that shocking to pick Franzen over Hossa. Franzen was putting up similar numbers to Hossa the last part of the season, and every time he returned from an injury (after the initial one) never missed a beat, which makes me think he's the real deal.

The thing with Hossa is, there's no uncertainty as to whether he's "the real deal" or not -- he absolutely, unequivocally is. This is the same guy who netted a hat trick against the Wings this past season playing for a woefully outmatched Thrashers team (who went on to cream the Wings in that game, if memory serves), and then went out and almost singlehandedly pushed the Wings to seven games in the SCF. If Ken "Caution" Holland can sign him to a solid contract, then there's no "risk"; he's not going to pull a disappearing act, and even if he does come up short on the scoring side of things (which he won't. Not with a supporting cast like the one the Wings can give him), he'd still be a better defensive forward than Mule or Flip is at this point in their respective careers. I don't know what data this "playoff flop" argument is based on. Like YoungGuns said,

Hossa: 61 playoff points / 75 playoff games = .81 PPG

Datsyuk: 54 playoff points / 82 playoff games = .66 PPG

And, as eva explained, this past postseason was his first spent on the first line. It's no coincidence that this was his "breakout" postseason performance. Similarly, as eva also pointed out, this past regular season was the first in which he scored fewer than 30 goals (29 to be exact) since the '99-'00 regular season. That's the very definition of consistency.

But a lot of this is sort of moot, as Holland might not even have to choose between signing Hossa and retaining a core player like Franzen. Hossa at about $8 million + retention of our present core is possible. Not likely, but not impossible. And again, if there's even a slim chance this can be pulled off, Holland will make a phone call. And for good reason; adding Hossa to our top-6 (sans Sammy) would give us one of the sickest one-two punches in NHL history.