Detroit to offer Hossa long term deal

[NecroPlasm 0]

Hossa will be a Red Wing next season, I dont see a logical reason for letting him go unless he asks for too much money. Obviously salary and length of contract are very important issues, but the guy wants to stay in Detroit and seems to be willing to once again sign at a discounted rate. Its not gonna happen at 4 mil tho, I would think it'd have to be more into the 5.5 - 6 at the very least. Theres teams out there that'll pay him the max.

Sure we may have to watch Samuelsson and Hudler leave, and while they're good players, they're not Hossa. Added with the fact that the Wings have plenty of players in the minors ready to burst out into the NHL scene, to me it seems like a no brainer. While some of the younger guys wont completely make up for the loss of some depth players like Samuelsson and Hudler, the fact that Hossa will still be around, tilts this in the favour of keeping Hossa.

Having Hossa bomb in the finals may turn out to be a blessing in disguise. It could allow the Red Wings to lock him up for some years at a nice discounted rate. Had he been the saviour to shut the lights out on the Pens, theres no chance in hell Detroit would even have the opportunity to resign him. A player with a 40 goal season, solid two way skills, a successful playoff run, and a big reason for a Stanley Cup win is worth more than Detroit can afford, discounted or not. Although no deal is worth losing the cup for, there could be some positive things resulting from the loss.

Besides, I dont think his lack of production was really all his fault in the finals. He controlled the puck well, back checked hard, but never got the room he needed to unleash his shot. While he wasnt at his best, I dont think the team/coaching staff did enough to give him good opportunities to use his shot (or really good D from Pittsburg). Lets not forget, Crosby didnt do much either, and everyone is on his bandwagon right including his name with some of the best ever. Dont let the media impede your judgement. Hossa is a fantastic player.

Edited June 16, 2009 by NecroPlasm

[PROBIE4PREZ 58]

Detroit will have to move a D-man and put Lilja's 1.25 Million dollar cap hit on long term I.R. Sounds like his headaches arent going away anytime soon.. thats terriable .. but it also will free up some much needed loot

[Hockeytown0001 7,652]

Hopefully the Wings can re-sign Hossa. Any time you can take a 40 goal scorer, you do it.

[NeverForgetMac25 483]

Eh. The 4 million is a nice bargain price, but I dont even want Hoss here, use the money elsewhere. What happens if you give him a long term deal and he s***s the bed in the playoffs again next year? Where do you go from there?

While Hossa's most recent playoff performance leaves a lot to be desired, who else are you gonna sign with Hossa's ability for a $4 million cap hit? I'd absolutey re-sign him for that.

[PROBIE4PREZ 58]

Get me Kenny H's # ive solved it .. and its a 23 man roster! hah .. one problem is I dont exactly know if you can call a player on long term I.R a roster player...?

( mock lines )

Homer - Pavel - Hossa (4.5)

Franzen - Z - Cleary

Helm - Val - Leino (.775)

Maltby - Draper - Kopey (.575) .. Babcock stated that he wants Abdelkador in GR next season so Kopey at dirt cheap makes sense .. wing devoloped and all ..

Downey (.475) another dirt cheap player to plug holes

Raffi - Lids

Kronwall - Stuey

Ericsson - Lebda

Lilja (-1.250) put on long term IR wont count against cap.

Meech (.500) plug roster hole .. another wing devoloped player ..

Osgood - Howard

equals ... drum roll please .. around 58.1 mill ..lets all pray the cap goes up 2-3 millie

[Snazzy 0]

Hossa loves it here in Hockeytown. Can't blame him for wanting to be part of the dynasty.

[C-TownWing 0]

Yeah I thought it wouldnt happen but if we load up his contract at the beginning like this over ten years you could get a 4.5 million cap hit:

Yr $mil

1 7

2 6

3 6

4 6

5 5

6 5

7 4

8 3

9 2

10 1

If hes only going to play till hes 37, then the last 3 years dont count against the cap, cause he was less then 35 when he signed it. So for those 7 years he averages 5.57 million in pay per year. If he plays till hes 36 then he makes 5.833 with a cap hit of still 4.5. Thats semi realistic but still a bit low.

Yeah, I wasn't thinking about "cap hit" vs. "salary" when I said that.

That's crazy enough that it just might work. Dude's 30. I don't know what someone else might be considering throwing at him 7/1 if we don't get it done, but 5 million is pretty freaking good for a 35-36 year old not named Nick Lidstrom. It doesn't seem like such a bad deal when you line it up like that--his actual salary is pretty close to market value for the first four years, and depending on when he goes into decline, maybe even above market value after that.

Still, if Kenny gets him in at a $4 million cap hit, I'm building a shrine to him in my living room.

[Mors 201]

Any solution to the cap issue that involves resigning Kopecky for an even longer term is no solution at all. Haven't the GR kids proven that Kopecky is worse than all of them? Helm > Leino > Abdelkader > Kopecky.

[55fan 5,133]

Thinking with my heart, I do not want anything that will lose me my Sammy.

Thinking with my brain (which is what it's there for), Hossa for $4/10 is a great deal.

Maybe we could talk him down to $3.5 if we threw in a promise to sign his buddy and landlord Kopecky with an under the table agreement to provide a live-in nanny so Hossa won't have to babysit. Throw in a couple of cases of Vernor's and he will never want to leave the Detroit area. (I'm kidding on this part.)

If Hossa does sign, I hope he gets put on a line with Flip and Mule, and leave Z, Dats and Homer (or Cleary if Homer doesn't get better after his injuries are healed) together. Last season there seemed to be so much changing of the lines that it didn't set in well enough to be effective in the playoffs. We saw flashes of chemistry, but nothing was cemented by the time they got up to the big games.

Edited June 16, 2009 by 55fan

[talex 1]

I wouldn't sign him. Not just because he wasn't prepared for the playoffs, but because of his character. If we sign him long term he will want out if the team starts going South. He tries when things are going well and folds when their not. Lets save the money and get rid of Hudler and Samuellson and we can go after a solid scoring threat (im thinking someone like Helm but who can bury the rubber)

Still can't believe we lost 4 of 5 though.

Only guy like that is Ovechkin and We will never see him with a Winged Wheel...

Hoss at 4 to 5 Mil is a steal, playoff chocker... -=Heh=- what about the rest of the team... Also, everyone looks at the inuries as they come out and say "oh well I don't feel so bad now", well Hoss had to play with those guys as well which changed how the lines were working. Hoss looked to be working hard every shift, just had a drought like many others.

With the Cap the Wings need to make it through the next 2 years before the possibility of some real numbers starting to be shed (lids, homer, draper, malts). If they can patch things together (which I think they will have an elite team no matter what they do with lids, raf, z, dats, mule, cleary, flip etc.. especially with Helm, Leino coming up full time, they could loose a Sammy and Huds and stay very elite. Who knows what will happen... but Hoss on the team makes for a better Wings Team.

Take whatever Combo you want put...

Z

Dats

Mule

Hoss

Cleary

Flip

...on the ice in any Combo and you have the best top 2 lines in the NHL (1 -2 punch) take out any one of them and it look no where near as dominate.

Given no talk of injury I was most disapointed with Franzen in the finals, normally a difference maker, this years finals was barely noticable.

Unlike others I have been looking forward to this off season very much, it is exciting to think about what they may do, not to mention Helm full time. Leino... well 1 spin around goal did not seal the deal for me, so it will be interesting. Conks wants to stay, Hoss wants to stay, Sammy is probably going to get some great offers, as could Huds (whom I felt his size was a liablity at times in the finals, but is a high skill guy in reg season).

Wings will be among the NHL elite next year and I believe we will be treated to another playoff run next year as well...

Although I despise the cap... This offseason is going to be fun, but I guess that's just me.

[crotty99 302]

I would take him in a heartbeat at 4m.

As a side note: Does anyone else wish Babs put Dats/Z/Hoss out together? Obviously not for a game because that would strip us of depth but i would have loved to have seen them out there every now and then. It just seems like it should be perfect.

[Lancz 0]

If we get Hossa for 4-5mil he better get a lifetime supply of Hot-N-Ready. He's got such a great shot I don't see how we can pass that up if he takes a big discount.

[Dimaline312000 51]

I say give Hossa another chance. I like having Hossa here in Detroit; yes he didn't deliever in the playoffs but a lot of players didn't deliver in the playoffs. I think now that he has a season in Detroit under his belt he will be a better player for the Wings for the entire season and playoffs. I hope the Wings and Hossa work something out I sure would love to see him stick around for a while. Just because he didn't do well in the playoffs this season doesn't mean he can do better in the coming years.

[FedorovMan91 1]

Get me Kenny H's # ive solved it .. and its a 23 man roster! hah .. one problem is I dont exactly know if you can call a player on long term I.R a roster player...?

( mock lines )

Homer - Pavel - Hossa (4.5)

Franzen - Z - Cleary

Helm - Val - Leino (.775)

Maltby - Draper - Kopey (.575) .. Babcock stated that he wants Abdelkador in GR next season so Kopey at dirt cheap makes sense .. wing devoloped and all ..

Downey (.475) another dirt cheap player to plug holes

Raffi - Lids

Kronwall - Stuey

Ericsson - Lebda

Lilja (-1.250) put on long term IR wont count against cap.

Meech (.500) plug roster hole .. another wing devoloped player ..

Osgood - Howard

equals ... drum roll please .. around 58.1 mill ..lets all pray the cap goes up 2-3 millie

Get out of Holmstrom fro the first line. We have seen the amount of skill Fippula has is waste if he is in the 3rd line. The issue of injury is not a businnes at this point because he is overpaid; 2.25 million for only fewer than 40 points production?

I would rather have Zetterberg with Datsuyk and Cleary; Hossa with Filp and Mule. I don't mind to trade either Holmstrom or Kronwall to get a good prospect.

[OsGOD 3]

If we get Hossa for 4-5mil he better get a lifetime supply of Hot-N-Ready. He's got such a great shot I don't see how we can pass that up if he takes a big discount.

its been a good two months since i have seen it... remind me what it was like

[chrisdetroit 189]

We actually can't call him a Playoff choker when last year he was one of the top scorers in the Playoffs! I think the pressure hurt him this year! I will take him!

He had a bad playoff this year. The important thing is that last year he proved that he is capable of great playoffs. Will he have a great year every playoff? Probably not but he has shown what he is capable of.

Datsyuk also didn't have a good playoff even before he was injured but he has shown what he is capable of.

4 mil? Hell yea, I'd take him

[VM1138 1,921]

Great news. Hossa carried thsi team in the regular season. And no serious fan wants to kick out a world class player with a huge work ethic and good teamwork because he had an average playoff run on a team that struggled as a whole.

He's gonna have a chip on his shoulder, and chances are he'll have a great playoff run. For 4 million, why the hell WOULDN'T you make that move? There's no single or group of players out there that would have that kind of skill for that value.

[b.shanafan14 733]

if they can somehow get home for around $4mil thats great, otherwise, I don't like losing one of Cleary or Filppula

[Echolalia 2,961]

The title of this thread is quite misleading. The author of the article suggested a possible long term deal at a hypothetical 4 million. Holland just said that they were planning on talking. Having said that, I still would gladly take Hossa on this team if Holland can reduce the roster damage as much as possible. I have faith that he can produce in the playoffs and I would rather take the gamble that he'll be producing for the Wings instead of against them.

[VM1138 1,921]

if they can somehow get home for around $4mil thats great, otherwise, I don't like losing one of Cleary or Filppula

I don't think we'd have to. When people were cruncing the numbers before this 4 million number came out, they were talking more like a cap hit of 5 or 6, and it still worked out to where we'd lose Hudler, Sammy, Lebda, etc. But Cleary and Flip would be safe.

I'm getting way too excited for next season now. I feel like the Wings should have won, had they been healthy and after having a summer to recover I feel like they'll be unstoppable next season in the playoffs.

[wings1wings1 3]

Hossa at $5 million cap hit is a bargain to be jumped on at the cost of guys like Sammy, Hudler, etc.

Except that you'd still be about 3 million over the cap if you did that (got rid of Sammy and Hudler and signed Hossa for $5m). Do the math: http://www.capgeek.com/cap_calculator.php. Remember, you have to sign a backup goalie and you have to replace whoever you get rid of with players that are at least earning the league minimum. Even with that, your millions of dollars over the cap. Who are the "etc" people that are expendable beyond Sammy, Hudler, Kopecky?

Basically, to get Hossa signed, we're going to have to trade someone good or someone(s) is going to have to retire, in addition to getting rid of UFA/RFAs. I'd love it if Homer and Draper retired, but neither is likely to do so. The organization almost certainly won't trade them and so where does that leave us? Trade Flipper, who just had a monster playoff? Trade Cleary (same deal)? Holland already said that the defensive corps is set.

My point is, everyone needs to crunch numbers before saying it's just a matter of getting rid of some UFA or RFAs to sign Hossa. It's not. There's likely going to be some pain involved, beyond just signing someone to a long, expensive contract who just showed that when the pressure is the greatest, he cannot really deliver. No Steve Yzerman or Hank Zetterberg, this one.

[VM1138 1,921]

No Steve Yzerman or Hank Zetterberg, this one.

There's only one Steve Yzerman. And only one Zetterberg. We don't NEED (and won't find) another one of them. We just need a hard-working, goal scoring, defensive forward with a great shot and that's exactly what Hossa is.

[wings1wings1 3]

There's only one Steve Yzerman. And only one Zetterberg. We don't NEED (and won't find) another one of them. We just need a hard-working, goal scoring, defensive forward with a great shot and that's exactly what Hossa is.

Actually, we won the cup without him. Who did he replace again (after the '08 season)? That's right: no one. A little more pressure spread out on our offense might be just what this team needs to pull the trigger and also tighten up defensively (during the regular season). When you think someone else can score maybe you get a little comfortable?

[Finnish Wing 110]

Actually, we won the cup without him. Who did he replace again (after the '08 season)? That's right: no one. A little more pressure spread out on our offense might be just what this team needs to pull the trigger and also tighten up defensively (during the regular season). When you think someone else can score maybe you get a little comfortable?

Wings won the cup in '08. But when Todd McLellan left to Sharks he bite off a big piece of our playing type. Many of you are just talking about the players. I agree, players play, coaches coach. Luckily we still have teh most modern type of playing in the entire league, but it's not as good as 08-09.

I've also wondered why arent there more Finnish coaches coaching in the NHL. Cuz' there are teams in NHL whose coaches have earned that job just by playing or growing big mustasch or big stomach. Finnish coaches are tactically very modern. The may not be so good at screaming to players or to refs, but the would be great addition tactically for many teams here.

Edited June 16, 2009 by Finnish Wing

[LeftWinger 4,951]

Sign Hossa, period. Brad McCrimmon should be let go and the likes of Jaques Lemaire or Guy Charboneau, Denis Savard should be offered the job.

Hossa at $4 million highway robbery (for Holland) and it shouldn't cost us Cleary or Filppula. Just because Holland says the D is set doesn't mean he won't trade away someone, he just means he isn't looking to add anyone from outside of the organization...

Hint Hint - Trade one of Rafi, Stuart or Kronwall and Ericsson steps right in to the lineup without having to waive Lebda or Meech. Of course you could always trade of one those two, but it wouldn't open up as much cap space.

If Hossa signs for a cap hit of $4 million, it will cost us roughly $3 million to bring up Ericsson, Helm, Howard, Abdelkader and re-sign Leino. We will need around $7 million of cap space...

Edited June 16, 2009 by LeftWinger