Red Wings prepare for life w/o Hossa

[HudlerFanatic 4]

http://www.mlive.com/redwings/index.ssf/20...r_life_wit.html

Red Wings prepare for life without Marian Hossa

by Ansar Khan

Wednesday July 01, 2009, 12:05 AM

DETROIT -- As NHL free agency opens at noon Wednesday, the Detroit Red Wings are preparing for life without star forward Marian Hossa.

The club made Hossa a non-negotiable offer of a long-term deal worth $4 million a season. General manager Ken Holland said Tuesday evening that he hadn't spoken to Hossa's agent Ritch Winter.

"I'm not planning he's going to be here,'' Holland said. "I'm not expecting that call (from his agent). Would I like that call? Yes. I'm assuming they want to explore all their options.

"I'm not optimistic. I'm assuming on the open market he's going to get significant offers.''

Holland said if Hossa, who earned $7.45 million this past season, were to stay in Detroit, it would be at a "bargain-basement price'' because the Red Wings are roughly $3 million under the $56.8 million salary cap.

"They know where we're at,'' Holland said. "Would I be prepared to move a player or two to make some space? Maybe. But they have bigger hopes.''

Winter did not respond to phone messages.

Hossa led the Red Wings with 40 goals during the regular season but struggled in the playoffs, with six goals and nine assists in 23 games, including no goals and three assists in the seven-game Stanley Cup final against the Pittsburgh Penguins, the team he left to sign with Detroit last summer.

Hossa, 30, is one of the premier free agents who apparently will hit the open market today, perhaps attracting offers of $6 million a season or more. Los Angeles, Minnesota, Montreal, the New York Rangers and Vancouver, if it fails to re-sign twins Daniel and Henrik Sedin, are among the clubs rumored to have an interest in Hossa.

Samuelsson, Hudler talks

Holland made an offer to right wing Mikael Samuelsson, believed to be a slight increase from last season's $1.2 million salary. But Samuelsson is expected to explore the market and probably won't return.

"They got bigger aspirations than what I got (to offer),'' Holland said. "We'll talk one more time before noon (today).''

Samuelsson's agent, Rick Komarow echoed those sentiments.

"There's always a chance, but it's most likely he'll hit the market,'' Komarow said. "The issue is trying to find the right number for everybody. We're not there yet, and I'm not sure we'll get there.

"Sammy loves Detroit. It's been a great run.''

Without Hossa and Samuelsson, Holland will have a small amount of cap space to shop for a free agent, but he also has to leave some money for forward Jiri Hudler, a restricted free agent who is due a significant raise from his $1.15 million salary after posting career-high totals in goals (23) and points (57).

"We'll work the phones, got a little bit of (cap) space, but probably not going to be overly active,'' Holland said. "We'll explore the market for depth players, support players. The core of the team is in place.''

Holland has spoken to Hudler's agent, Petr Svoboda, exchanging numbers and discussing comparable players should he file for arbitration by Sunday's deadline.

"I can't go spend the money we have set aside for Hudler,'' Holland said.

He added, "(Svoboda) told me the area he thinks they're in. We see things a little differently, but I can't say we're dramatically apart. I got an idea of what it'll take to sign Hudler.''

Holland said he's informed the agents for forwards Darren McCarty and Aaron Downey that they won't be offered contracts for now, but he will stay in touch.

Winter told the Red Wings last weekend that another one of his clients, unrestricted free-agent forward Tomas Kopecky, will explore the market. He is likely to sign elsewhere.

[gcom007 1,465]

I'm not liking it...Sammy leaving and Hossa and it'll be easy to lose Hudler. That will not be good, but again, I'm not sold on Hossa being totally over. Improbable? Yeah. I would've said it was far more improbable that anything would be done last year though too as would we all. We'll see...

[Detroit # 1 Fan 2,204]

You mean life as Stanley Cup champs? Hey sounds good to me....

[rage 24]

Why the hell wouldn't Hossa or his agent call Holland to let him know they are not signing the deal? WTF?!?!

[VM1138 1,921]

Sounds like he has every intention of keeping Hudler. Good for now.

Looks like Sammy might even stay, but the "meet one more time" comment seems to suggest he's leaving unless no one offers him a better contract.

So...

Hudler stays.

Howard is officially on the roster.

Sammy goes.

McCarty goes.

Downey goes.

Hossa goes.

Conklin goes.

Turning out to be a bit more active than I thought already.

Edited July 1, 2009 by VM1138

[gcom007 1,465]

Sounds like he has every intention of keeping Hudler. Good for now.

Looks like Sammy might even stay, but the "meet one more time" comment seems to suggest he's leaving unless no one offers him a better contract.

So...

Hudler stays.

Howard is officially on the roster.

Sammy goes.

McCarty goes.

Downey goes.

Hossa goes.

Conklin goes.

Turning out to be a bit more active than I thought already.

It doesn't sound like Sammy's staying to me much at all. And planning to keep Hudler is different than pulling it off. If he gets offered anywhere near $3 million, there's no way he stays.

[HudlerFanatic 4]

I'm not liking it...Sammy leaving and Hossa and it'll be easy to lose Hudler. That will not be good, but again, I'm not sold on Hossa being totally over. Improbable? Yeah. I would've said it was far more improbable that anything would be done last year though too as would we all. We'll see...

Huh? Wouldn't it be easy to SAVE Hudler......

To Keep Hossa, they would have to get rid of everyone that is "testing the free-market" and still there wouldn't be any money to give to anyone else....it just doesn't fit the equation.

I have a sneaky feeling that Sammy thinks he is a better player than what he is and is being greedy wanting a 1st line position for over $3 MIL, where as I believe Hudler knows what he has w/ Detroit and will keep the talks going until the very last possible moment.....taking a possible 3-5 yr deal with this year being a slight raise, and then going up a little every year.....

But I don't know much, just my opinion!

[LeftWinger 5,153]

Another Hossa is gone thread? Maybe the Hudler lovers can turn this into a "Lets give 90% of our cap space to Jiri" thread as well.

Thanks for the effort Hossa, good luck whereever you go!

Just say "NO" to Hudler

[under_par_00 45]

We still will have 2 very potent lines with

Z - D - Homer (Cleary)

Franzen - Filppula - Hudler

And now we have cap space to sign a few hungry depth players.

[gcom007 1,465]

Huh? Wouldn't it be easy to SAVE Hudler......

To Keep Hossa, they would have to get rid of everyone that is "testing the free-market" and still there wouldn't be any money to give to anyone else....it just doesn't fit the equation.

I have a sneaky feeling that Sammy thinks he is a better player than what he is and is being greedy wanting a 1st line position for over $3 MIL, where as I believe Hudler knows what he has w/ Detroit and will keep the talks going until the very last possible moment.....taking a possible 3-5 yr deal with this year being a slight raise, and then going up a little every year.....

But I don't know much, just my opinion!

Easy? You think Hollands going to match $3 million for Hudler if he won't go over $4 million for Hossa? No way in hell.

Sammy's worth a good deal more money than he's going to get from the Wings and he deserves it. He's never made his money. No one can blame him for wanting to capitalize on it now.

Hudler? The fact that Holland said they're a bit apart and the agent wants more doesn't bode well for things if you ask me. Someone will throw a bit of money at Hudler and they know the Wings aren't going to dig that deep for him and they'll be able to do it and not even have to give up a #1 pick. Hudler doesn't have to sign it, but I don't have the highest of hopes.

Soooooo...like I've been saying for awhile, I'm not too worried about losing our other guys considering there's a real good chance we're going to lose them anyways.

[Winged_Wheeler 3]

Here we are back in the rebuilding process. Some of our young guys need to learn how to lose before they can learn how to win. Let's all hope for a great 2009-2010 season and hopefully another great Cup run.

[Pavel Hossyukstrom 2]

I hope he goes back to the Eastern Conference

[Drake_Marcus 890]

Without Hossa and Samuelsson, Holland will have a small amount of cap space to shop for a free agent, but he also has to leave some money for forward Jiri Hudler, a restricted free agent who is due a significant raise from his $1.15 million salary after posting career-high totals in goals (23) and points (57).

"We'll work the phones, got a little bit of (cap) space, but probably not going to be overly active,'' Holland said. "We'll explore the market for depth players, support players. The core of the team is in place.''

Holland has spoken to Hudler's agent, Petr Svoboda, exchanging numbers and discussing comparable players should he file for arbitration by Sunday's deadline.

"I can't go spend the money we have set aside for Hudler,'' Holland said.

He added, "(Svoboda) told me the area he thinks they're in. We see things a little differently, but I can't say we're dramatically apart. I got an idea of what it'll take to sign Hudler.''

Ahhh, now we can finally stop hearing the size-freaks shout about Hudler being unlikely to return and deserving little or no raise.

This article makes it pretty clear that Hudler's the most likely to stay.

I'd like to hear where they are with Leino, though.

[Pavel Hossyukstrom 2]

Sounds like he has every intention of keeping Hudler. Good for now.

Looks like Sammy might even stay, but the "meet one more time" comment seems to suggest he's leaving unless no one offers him a better contract.

So...

Hudler stays.

Howard is officially on the roster.

Sammy goes.

McCarty goes.

Downey goes.

Hossa goes.

Conklin goes.

Turning out to be a bit more active than I thought already.

not so fast. don't be surprised if the Wings don't go after Legace to backup Ozzie next year.

[thedisappearer 291]

Any Leino news?

[Drake_Marcus 890]

Sounds like he has every intention of keeping Hudler. Good for now.

Looks like Sammy might even stay, but the "meet one more time" comment seems to suggest he's leaving unless no one offers him a better contract.

So...

Hudler stays.

Howard is officially on the roster.

Sammy goes.

McCarty goes.

Downey goes.

Hossa goes.

Conklin goes.

Turning out to be a bit more active than I thought already.

Don't forget that Helm and Ericsson are guaranteed roster spot holders next season (as per Holland's comments). Leino is very likely to play here too.

[rage 24]

Am I the only one that is going to be pissed if Hossa's agent doesn't notify Holland about their decision to pursue free agency?

They could have at least traded his rights and gotten a draft pick.

[Drake_Marcus 890]

Another Hossa is gone thread? Maybe the Hudler lovers can turn this into a "Lets give 90% of our cap space to Jiri" thread as well.

Thanks for the effort Hossa, good luck whereever you go!

Just say "NO" to Hudler

"People who post positive feelings about Hudler are hijacking the thread for their "Hudler lover" ways, but you can hijack it to shout that Hudler is the wrong choice with impunity?

Doesn't that strike you as hypocritical?

[rage 24]

not so fast. don't be surprised if the Wings don't go after Legace to backup Ozzie next year.

No. Holland already said it'll be Ozzie/Howard next season.

[gcom007 1,465]

Am I the only one that is going to be pissed if Hossa's agent doesn't notify Holland about their decision to pursue free agency?

They could have at least traded his rights and gotten a draft pick.

No, you won't, but that doesn't make you right and Hossa wrong by any means.

[gcom007 1,465]

not so fast. don't be surprised if the Wings don't go after Legace to backup Ozzie next year.

I will feel like hanging myself if we were to sign Hossa. Even if you're just trying to make a joke, let me be clear:

NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[RockyMountainWingGal 108]

Easy? You think Hollands going to match $3 million for Hudler if he won't go over $4 million for Hossa? No way in hell.

I keep trying to point this out, but for some reason alot of posters on here think Huds is actually worth 3 million. Red glasses i tell ya. Nice third line player, been fun to watch, but my guess is he goes to arbitration. I'd be shocked (and pissed) at 3 mill.

[Drake_Marcus 890]

Am I the only one that is going to be pissed if Hossa's agent doesn't notify Holland about their decision to pursue free agency?

They could have at least traded his rights and gotten a draft pick.

I think the biggest reason why this is going down like this is that Hossa doesn't want to take the Detroit offer off the table, he just wants to explore other options. I dunno, though. It would've been nice if we could've dealt his rights to someone for a pick and a conditional pick.

[gcom007 1,465]

I think the biggest reason why this is going down like this is that Hossa doesn't want to take the Detroit offer off the table, he just wants to explore other options. I dunno, though. It would've been nice if we could've dealt his rights to someone for a pick and a conditional pick.

I'm thinking this too. I'm really not sold on it being done. I think he'll hear out some other offers, but I don't think this is done with the Wings especially with the way things are looking for Sammy/Huds.

[LeftWinger 5,153]

"People who post positive feelings about Hudler are hijacking the thread for their "Hudler lover" ways, but you can hijack it to shout that Hudler is the wrong choice with impunity?

Doesn't that strike you as hypocritical?

Yes, it does, but who cares right? Because we all know that Hudler is God and deserves $3.0m, when we were only going to offer Hossa $4.0m.... Hudler can stay, for $1.2m... anything else is NOT overpaying him, but missusing our cap. He needs to give a hometown discount to stay so we can ice the best possible team this season, not so we can sign a $400,000 Joe UFA to skate on the 4th line... PLUS only have Meech as the 13th forward AND the 7th defensman. Yeah, that's depth for ya! Meech is your only savior for ALL injuries because you cannot call anyone up for $250,000.....

Yea, lets give Huder $2.5m of our $3.3m.....