Mule close to signing

[titanium2 867]

I'm not going to start a new thread since this is somewhat related.

Isn't there a consideration for a change to the CBA for a team to re-sign a player they've drafted and developed and have only a percentage of their average annual salary count against the cap?

If only this were in today.

[kylee 727]

its very good news that Franzen is close to signing a long term deal with the Wings - he has proven since the 07 playoffs that he is a real force.

but i love you hossa, please re-sign here... id back flip.

[Guest Four]

Wise words. In 11 years, Holland helped build a team to win 4 cups. 1 cup every 3 years on average. And guess what, I've seen threads, not surprisingly, after losses, calling for him to be fired. At some point it registers in my head why Holland is the GM and people here (myself included) are not, with the blow-the-house-up mentality for things that aren't even failing. This team is still in ******* SECOND place. Not barely making the playoffs, not out of the playoffs. I trust this GM more than any other in the league, and he's damn well earned it.

That's just Mindfly, ignore him.

Franzen's long-term figures are probably:

5M - 5M - 4.5M - 4.5M - 3M - 3M - 2M -2M

Caps out at 3.75M/8yrs

Edited April 3, 2009 by Four

[Opie 308]

Cool! $4M for Franzen! That means we'll be getting a 1st, 2nd and a 3rd when Hudler signs elsewhere for his $4M!!! YEAH!!!!!

Hossa & Franzen at any expense! Bye bye Huds, Flip & Sammy!

You and I don't agree much but this one we see EYE TO EYE!

Sammy is a free agent, last chance to get paid, in Det Sammy is worth 1.5 mil up to 2 mil( if Hossa is gone) open market he gets closer to 3 mil.

Flip, not saying I hate him or he isn't worth the money, but I would rather spend that money on Hossa + Abdelkader/Leino/Helm.

However I see that situation as being very unlikely, and next year the team going with Dats Flip Franzen (If signed), Z Homer Hudler.

As much as we have pined to see the young talent come up from GR, I think that stockpiling of talent could make a Lids, Dats, Z, Ralf, Hossa, Franzen team possible, unlikely but possible.

EDIT: Forgot this, Hudler, much like Flip, is a player I would love to keep around long term, unless it makes signing Hossa possible. Players like Hossa are much more rare than Hudler currently, now Hudler could turn into Rocket Richard #2, or he could be a short Micheal Ryder, or he could be the next St. Louis, or he could be the next bust, I think the latter is unlikely, but I still sacrifice his long term positive to the team for Hossa's short term impact. I am like the US gov't, I sacrifice the future for the present!

Edited April 3, 2009 by Opie

[elriqo28 2]

We need to trade (yes I know a few have NTC) a combo of Kronner/Stu/Cleary/Meech/Lebda/Draper/Sammy convince Ozzy/DMac/Maltby all to retire. Then we can sign Mule/Hossa/ and bring in Doug Weight for cheap . Bring up some youth Leino/Helm/Abby etc.

great plan....******!

[b.shanafan14 733]

Everyone just needs to calm down about signing Hossa. No one wants Hossa to have a career in Detroit like I do, I think he is good for the team and I think he deserves to finally settle someplace long-term with a winning team. That said, the plan was always to sign Franzen and Hossa, one of them signing before playoffs is A GOOD THING. And Hossa waiting til after playoffs to finish negotiations maybe be for the best too.

Hossa and the Red Wings both know his worth. They both know on an open market the guy is going to rake in dollars and term. Hossa wants to settle down someplace. Hossa realizes the Wings can only give him so much, its whether or not its worthwhile to him to take it. And nothing builds a team like a long playoff run, which is hopefully what we get out of this spring.

Bottom line: If Franzen signs we are half done and avoid making any rash decisions on Hossa. And if in the end Hossa is forced to take a better deal elsewhere, I wish him the best of luck, the guy deserves to settle down somewhere. Either way, the Wings will still be a great team, sans Hossa presents cap space.

Edited April 3, 2009 by b.shanafan14

[toby91_ca 620]

Someone mentioned it, if Lidstrom signs an extention, does his total cap hit go down for his remaining year?

No

[toby91_ca 620]

Good for Franzen and the Wings if he re-signs at a reasonable contract -- hopefully with some sort of stipulation that concerns the future cap hit, if the Wings are smart.

Not possible.

[swiss_fan 3]

imagine this scenario, just for fun

we sign Franz to a 3.5 longterm deal

we sign Hossa to a 6 mil longterm deal

we trade kronner, stuart and Fil for number 2 pic: Hedman

we sign Bouwmeester at around 5/y in free agency

we receive 2 picks for Hudler rights

we let go Lebda and Chelios

HAHAHA wouldn t it be the best possible scenario?

(no idea if it would fit in the cap space but anyway at the first sight it would be close to)

[DatsMyWings13 4]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6hWmSeaRdA

This is a great goal by a great player. I look forward to a long term deal being signed soon!

Edited April 3, 2009 by DatsMyWings13

[toby91_ca 620]

imagine this scenario, just for fun

we sign Franz to a 3.5 longterm deal

we sign Hossa to a 6 mil longterm deal

we trade kronner, stuart and Fil for number 2 pic: Hedman

we sign Bouwmeester at around 5/y in free agency

we receive 2 picks for Hudler rights

we let go Lebda and Chelios

HAHAHA wouldn t it be the best possible scenario?

(no idea if it would fit in the cap space but anyway at the first sight it would be close to)

Even with getting rid of the players you mention, they wouldn't be able to fill out the roster and get under the cap

[j.hoop 64]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6hWmSeaRdA

This is a great goal by a great player. I look forward to a long term deal being signed soon!

that goal was so epic.

[soultrain 43]

lets hope the golden moldies retire at the end of this year and lets also hope for the least productive on the red wings get traded for some draft pics...lets hope for a semi-youth movement to fill the gaps and so we can keep hoss and the mule. i hope the wings can stay strong for another year so we can get a goalie who wants to win bad enough to take a pay cut. the team would be set for another 5+ years. I trust Kenny Holland to make things work out for the best.

[Dimaline312000 51]

imagine this scenario, just for fun

we sign Franz to a 3.5 longterm deal

we sign Hossa to a 6 mil longterm deal

we trade kronner, stuart and Fil for number 2 pic: Hedman

we sign Bouwmeester at around 5/y in free agency

we receive 2 picks for Hudler rights

we let go Lebda and Chelios

HAHAHA wouldn t it be the best possible scenario?

(no idea if it would fit in the cap space but anyway at the first sight it would be close to)

I like the general idea of how you think but I don't see the wings signing Bouwmeester. I can see Chelios leaving and maybe getting rid of Lebda, Filps, Hudler and I think Sammy. Stuart is a possible trade but I don't think the Wings are looking to do anything with Kronwall I think they like his play to much to move him unless the deal was that perfect. I would love to see the Wings get a high draft pick along with whatever draft picks spot they get this coming draft. (I hope the Wings get the #30 Draft Pick). I see the Wings not signing anyone big off of free agency but rather bringing some players up from GR.

[LeftWinger 4,970]

This is entirely possible! First thing, why would they trade Stuart, when he already took a huge discount to stay here? He could have gotten $5M EASILY from somehwere else. He is making very little money and is worth every penny of it! End of Story. We've talked about this plenty before, you have to trade Filppula for sure, that frees up $3M, that gives the Wings a little over $12M in cap space. Hossa cap hit is $6M, Franzen's is $3M. You lose Chelio's salary, trade Lebda for a pick (lose his salary,) lose Sammy's salary, lose Hudler's salary (plus get a 1st 2nd and 3rd after he signs for $4M somewhere.) That will give you plenty of money to bring up Ericsson, re-sign Leino, bring up Helm & Abdelkader and Howard 's salary is a wash of Conklin's.

If you don't think a player exchange of Flip, Huds, Sammy, Chelios, Lebda & Conklin for (re-siging long term) Hossa & Franzen and Leino, Helm, Abdelkader, Ericsson & Howard, you are crazy! In this cap world, the kids are going to have to be here soon (or risk losing them like Quincey) so if you do or dont win all the marbles this season, you may as well do it next year. Bring the kids up with a core of Dats, Zetts, Homer, Cleary, Hossa & Franzen up front? Oh MY! Even without Flip and Huds, those are still two VERY lethal lines! Follow those up with Abdelkader/Helm/Leino and then Maltby/Draper/Kopecky? You pretty much don't lose a step!

Zetts/Dats/Homer

Hossa/Franz/Cleary

Leino/Helm/Abdelkader

Kopecky/Draper/Maltby

Downey (or some other surprise in training camp)

Lids/Rafi

Kron/Stu

Ericsson/Meech

Lilja (if healthy!)

Osgood/Howard

It all fits, its all fine. Lest you forget the 1st, 2nd & 3rd pick for Hudler, the 3rd for Filppula and the late rounder for Lebda! Then make Chelios your NEW defensive coach and call it a day!

heck, if you don''t quite fell Abdelkader is ready (he still has GRR options) sign Weight for $500,000 or so (although he'd probably want $1M) and those two salaries would wash (although Abby makes more than $500,000 so that would even provide you with a few extra dollars.)

Edited April 3, 2009 by LeftWinger

[dallas27 7]

that goal was so epic.

Not to take away from Franzen's goal, which was pure awesome, but how quick we forget:

[RedSea 31]

Hossa has 8 more points than Franzen and has played in 5 more games. Franzen has a better shooting percentage. Franzen has almost 20 less penalty minutes (we'll consider it closer to 10 since Hossa got that 10 minute misconduct for the fight). Franzen has 22 more hits than Hossa. Franzen is close to a year younger than Hossa. They both see time on the power play and on the penalty kill.

So what I'm getting at is that some people are dying to pay Hossa 2-2.5 million more compared to another forward who is producing near the same level. Franzen even excels in the physical department by registering more hits than Hossa. Sure, Hossa had one mediocre fight, but Franzen seems to mix it up more (unfortunately, Franzen won't fight when the time asks for it).

I won't lie, at first I was all for signing Hossa over Franzen. But throughout the season, as the stats have proven, Franzen has been a damned fine player who can easily play on the top line like Hossa. Franzen just doesn't have the exposure and long track record of success of Hossa and therefore Hossa costs more.

As of today, I would much rather take that 2 million saved from signing Franzen over Hossa and put it towards Hudler and Leino. Part ways in a respectful manner with Hossa because we simply afford him. We'll be thankful we don't have a crapload of guys making 6+ million once the cap (supposedly) goes down in 2010.

I hate to lose Hossa, he's one of the best forwards in the league, but we have to face salary cap reality. You've got to put talent on every line these days and that means sacrificing the top end. And hell, I wouldn't consider signing Franzen all that much of a sacrifice. Ever since Homer went down last March, Franzen has been on fire and we would be mistaken not to sign this guy for a long term discount while he's still under the radar.

But if Holland REALLY wants to keep Hossa, then I could see us trading Filppula and maybe Kronwall to make room for Hossa, Leino and Ericsson next year. But I have faith in Kenny to do the right thing, and that right thing is to sign Franzen first and let the pieces fall into play in the offseason.

Maybe Hossa will sign for one year at $3 million so we can see where the cap goes next year (I can dream, can't I?).

[TheOwl 77]

If you don't think a player exchange of Flip, Huds, Sammy, Chelios, Lebda & Conklin for (re-siging long term) Hossa & Franzen and Leino, Helm, Abdelkader, Ericsson & Howard, you are crazy!

What's crazy is having Osgood and Howard in net with zero cap space. Also the fact you'll have 5 players making 6 million or more.

Losing Flipulla and Hudler for Hossa would be a HUGE mistake. We can easily keep Flip, Sammy, Hudler, Franzen, Leino, Ericcson and have room for a second goalie. If Hossa really wants to step up and take a discount, he should sign for 4-5 million. He's already made over 30 million dollars. 6 million instead of 7 million for Hossa is no discount. Even right now he's overpaid by league standards. He's not a top 10 forward in the league. He's simply overrated.

[LeftWinger 4,970]

What's crazy is having Osgood and Howard in net with zero cap space. Also the fact you'll have 5 players making 6 million or more.

Losing Flipulla and Hudler for Hossa would be a HUGE mistake. We can easily keep Flip, Sammy, Hudler, Franzen, Leino, Ericcson and have room for a second goalie. If Hossa really wants to step up and take a discount, he should sign for 4-5 million. He's already made over 30 million dollars. 6 million instead of 7 million for Hossa is no discount. Even right now he's overpaid by league standards. He's not a top 10 forward in the league. He's simply overrated.

that is great, and maybe he will sign for a cap hit of $5M, that would be even better! I guess we will see what he thinks is "a fair contract." I don't think Holland will try and undercut him, but maybe see what he is looking for as "less to stay." It could very well be $5M instead of $6M. If he doesn't sign soon, then it ain't happening until after the playoffs, so, he'll either wanna to stay and try for a 2nd Cup (three for us) OR not win the Cup and decide that what Holland is offering isn't fair enough. This is a card game, neither guy wants to show his poker face. Holland wants Hossa long term, Hossa wants to be here until he retires. Holland is hoping to win the Cup and have Hossa be a intrical part of it, but still want to be here for less. Hossa wants to win the Cup, and just like last season, be a big scoring factor, perhaps even the Conn Smythe winner and hope that the "far less" to stay is a little more than what it would be if he pooted out in the playoffs, which would benefit Holland.

Game on, lets git er dun! Go Wings!

In the end, nobody knows what either Hossa or Franzen are thinking, so it's easy for us to say if they want to win, take less! I think Franzen should take $2.5 and Hossa $5, but that probably won't happen!

also, when talking about having Osgood and Howard with no cap space, you have to remember how many contracts are expirig AFTER next season. If Lids decides to stay it will be for much less, he will probably be in the $4M range. Holmstrom and Maltby also will be expired, I can imagine if they don't retire they will also be taking paycuts. So we win this year, hold on tight with Ozzie/Howard next year. Then score a netminder the next, if Howard isn't the one. You have to look long term, not next week.

Edited April 4, 2009 by LeftWinger