Holland: Defense is set, waiting for cap figure

[Aussie_Wing 354]

mlive

This is concerning, especially for all anti re-signing Hossa people...

Despite Hossa's disappointing playoffs, particularly a pressure-packed finals against his former team, Holland said he will resume talks with his agent, Ritch Winter, within a couple of weeks, hoping to sign him to a long-term contract.

"The only game he looked real tight was Game 6," Holland said. "It was tough for him, it looked like he had a lot of pressure on him."

[Cern 0]

Please don't. We really need the cap wiggle room and we can win the Cup without him on the roster.

[crotty99 302]

I think that he will be staying. I have a feeling it would be less money than Z and D. Even with his bad PO's we all know what he is capabale of so if he wants to stick around for a decent figure why not?

If he wants => D/z money then yea bye bye.

[skyphoenix 153]

I hope he stays for around for a few years for about 5 or 6 mil.

[Guest Four]

I hope he stays for around for a few years for about 5 or 6 mil.

You can pay him from your own wallet then.

[RedStormRising 7]

I hope he stays for around for a few years for about 5 or 6 mil.

Agreed. Hossa will be my next jersey purchase. When/If the Wings sign him...

[skyphoenix 153]

You can pay him from your own wallet then.

Well its not like you are paying for him.

[chrisdetroit 189]

If he stays, we probably dump Hudler and Sammy and 1 other which frees up 3 spots. Helm takes Hudler's spot, Jay takes Sammy's spot and Abby takes the 3rd spot or we keep kopy and Abby stays in GR.

If he goes, we keep Sammy and huds and Helm takes kopy's spot. Jay and Abby go back to GR.

To get Jay in the line-up we need to move somebody...

[maltbymaniac 13]

sign hossa and stipulate it to make sure we get some free roast beef sandwhichs next season and im good 2 go.

[TheOwl 77]

I hope he stays for around for a few years for about 5 or 6 mil.

How are the Wings going to sign Hossa with for 5 million with only 6 million of free cap space next season? Especially since the Wings also have to fill a back-up goalie spot and 3 more forward spots? All of the Wings UFA's make nearly the bare minimum (except Hossa), and will have to be replaced with the bare minimum.

The Wings won the cup without Hossa, and Hossa obviously didn't help the Wings this post-season. The chemistry was way off. Signing Hossa to a huge deal might not be a problem since Lidstrom's salary goes off the books after next season, but really, would you really want him for 6 million a season? Which would also mean Holland trading Flipulla, or some other significant salary.

[b.shanafan14 733]

Hossa is a great guy and a great player, but I see signing him long-term as team suicide. Not only will we be flush with the cap, but we'll lose guys like Hudler and have to move at least one of Cleary or Filppula, both who are only getting better it seems and who have both been huge character guys for the club. Our depth and experience will take a huge hit, messing with a winning formula, and if the cap drops the season after, we'll be even worse off.

I don't want to wake up two years from now and realize that Wings have become the Senators, losing depth and character to pay big names. And I don't think there is a person on this board who can honestly say that his post-season disappearance didn't make them a little shy about handing the increased role to him.

That said, if he is signed, I'll support him. He'll be a Red Wing, and that makes you swell in my book. I do think he deserves a place to settle.

[dani 0]

I think signing hossa for lesser money on long term contract would be good move.

and don't forget about ville leino, babcock said in the beginning of the season that he is the best player he ever send to minors. next season he might be also on the team roster

[wmubronco420 25]

if it means getting rid of filpula then i really dont want to resign hossa, but if we get to keep flip then i say do waht it takes to re-sign hossa. I really dont understand why anybody would want ot get rid of one of the best players in the leauge for huds and sammy. i mean, if you thought hoss was invisible in the finals then what the hell do you call hudler?

[Casey 145]

Hossa at 7M is a waste of a roster spot. Hossa at half that might be worthwhile, but I'm still not a fan.

[TheOwl 77]

If I'm not mistaken no team spends more on their 6 defensemen then Detroit. Why? I mean really, with all of the Wings great defensive forwards, why spend a third of the cap on 6 defensemen. Let Rafalski go. Then we can keep Leino, Hossa and still have oodles of cap room to get a decent third liner.

[Jedi 1,865]

If I'm not mistaken no team spends more on their 6 defensemen then Detroit. Why? I mean really, with all of the Wings great defensive forwards, why spend a third of the cap on 6 defensemen. Let Rafalski go. Then we can keep Leino, Hossa and still have oodles of cap room to get a decent third liner.

That NTC of his tends to put a damper on that.

[b.shanafan14 733]

How are the Wings going to sign Hossa with for 5 million with only 6 million of free cap space next season? Especially since the Wings also have to fill a back-up goalie spot and 3 more forward spots? All of the Wings UFA's make nearly the bare minimum (except Hossa), and will have to be replaced with the bare minimum.

The Wings won the cup without Hossa, and Hossa obviously didn't help the Wings this post-season. The chemistry was way off. Signing Hossa to a huge deal might not be a problem since Lidstrom's salary goes off the books after next season, but really, would you really want him for 6 million a season? Which would also mean Holland trading Flipulla, or some other significant salary.

This was my problem all season too. Everyone underachieved because we were forcing things with Pavel and Hossa. Hossa got 40 goals, but when he wasn't scoring goals, he looked like Shanahan in his last season as a Wing (much as I love him). Pavel seemed to look that much better because he seemed to have to do a little more to compensate for the lack of chemistry. We moved Zetterberg's line around so much, it became hard for him to find a rhythm without Pavel.

The only players I felt ever showed they could play well on a line with Hossa was Filppula and Franzen, seemingly the no-brainer line since Hossa's acquisition, and yet we only saw them together in one or two game instances. Sign Hossa, you'll probably have to lose either a 2nd line center coming into his own in Filppula (could play on the first line in probably 10 clubs) and/or a character guy and younger/faster/better Holmstrom replacement in Cleary who is starting to find a scoring-groove with the team (this also means increased/same role for Holmstrom who after seeing this post-season, I believe is too banged up to play hard, good minutes on the top-two lines anymore)

I just hate the idea of moving players and changing the formula that won us a Cup to put us in worse shape than we are this year when we lost the Cup.

[datterberg1340 626]

Hossa at 7M is a waste of a roster spot. Hossa at half that might be worthwhile, but I'm still not a fan.

I agree Hossa should walk. Even if he takes a great discount to sign here long-term, it's still too much of hit to our depth, which really was the only reason we made it as far as we did this year, Hossa did not help us much, especially when we needed him most. Let the young players come up and infuse a little youth and exuberance in this team.

[Seraph 240]

Kenny will resign him and everyone will be praising him again in a few months.

Everyone loved him a few months earlier too.

[Cern 0]

Kenny will resign him and everyone will be praising him again in a few months.

Everyone loved him a few months earlier too.

A few months earlier we also knew that keeping him beyond his one year was going to obliterate the roster too. Whether or not he's 'liked' is unimportant, the numbers simply don't work favourably with him staying.

[NomadFromKazoo 42]

Please don't. We really need the cap wiggle room and we can win the Cup without him on the roster.

I'm not saying you're doing this because I don't know, but it's silly how when he was the second highest producer on the team at the end of the year everyone wanted him back, then they went back and forth through the playoffs as he had good and bad games (with bad being defined only as goals), and after the finals they want him gone. It's silly and thank God Kenny doesn't run the team with such short sighted mentality. If you can lock up a premium talent like Hossa you do it in a second. No, I don't want to lose guys like Sammy and Huds, but the truth is that the mid-tiers are just a lot more replaceable then premium players and the expectations placed on Hossa in the playoffs were nuts. He'll do great as a Wing, it's the short term knee jerk sign him/dump him mentality that would destroy us as a premium team. Fortunately again Holland is ignoring that nonsense.

[thedisappearer 291]

Let Rafalski go.

NTC. Why can't people understand a chunk of our players have NTCs?

[Doc Holiday 0]

NTC. Why can't people understand a chunk of our players have NTCs?

Because reality doesn't matter when you want a player off the team.

[Theophany 110]

I love seeing people saying that they don't want Hossa no matter what he signs at.

"40 goals during the season sucks and isn't worth any amount of money."

That's pretty much what you're saying, nevermind that Hossa will probably be taking a significant discount (something like ~$4 mil, possibly less since we also need to sign Leino and maybe one or two other players).

Hossa has said that he wants to end his career in Detroit; I'd be willing to bet that he'd take significant discounts to play for a team that's been a Cup contender (on top of having the most veteran presence of any team still playing) for the rest of his career.

If he signs for $2-3 mil a year, I guarantee that 99% of you would change your tune, especially if he has another 40 goal season.

Edited June 14, 2009 by Theophany

[Cern 0]

I'm not saying you're doing this because I don't know, but it's silly how when he was the second highest producer on the team at the end of the year everyone wanted him back, then they went back and forth through the playoffs as he had good and bad games (with bad being defined only as goals), and after the finals they want him gone. It's silly and thank God Kenny doesn't run the team with such short sighted mentality. If you can lock up a premium talent like Hossa you do it in a second. No, I don't want to lose guys like Sammy and Huds, but the truth is that the mid-tiers are just a lot more replaceable then premium players and the expectations placed on Hossa in the playoffs were nuts. He'll do great as a Wing, it's the short term knee jerk sign him/dump him mentality that would destroy us as a premium team. Fortunately again Holland is ignoring that nonsense.

It's not just stemming from the playoffs. It was already well known that the cap really was working against having him extend his contract, that dosen't change with Hossa's personal performances. The math simply dosen't work if we want to keep the roster at least somewhat intact. I'd much rather see him walk - our top six is already great even without him playing for us, it's our bottom six that really could use some retooling, something we can't do if Hossa eats up the rest of the cap. I was thinking the same thing months ago as I am now.

What would be the best of both worlds in the long run (though I don't know how viable it would be) is if Hossa took another short contract somewhere else, wait for Lidstrom to retire or take a smaller contract, then come back to the Wings with that extra cap room.

Edited June 14, 2009 by Cern