Three players gone... what's next for Wings?

[redwashington2000 42]

Can somebody explane please what Wings will get for losing 3 players ???

It looks like we will lose 2 more.

[titanium2 867]

That's kind of the reality of free agency. If you don't like it then how do you watch sports in general?

[AD2044 0]

this goes to my point that Hossa should have been traded before today

[JayUp88 1]

We get Helm in return

[titanium2 867]

this goes to my point that Hossa should have been traded before today

Why would you trade a draft pick for his rights when the general feel is that he's going to turn down the Wings offer?

[deltawing 12]

this goes to my point that Hossa should have been traded before today

Yeah we're dumb for not doing that :/

[dat's sick 1,002]

Leino, Helm. Hopefully Sammy and/or Hudler return.

edit: Cammalleri would be a great fit on the Fil's wing on the 2nd line. Can we afford him?

Edited July 1, 2009 by dat's sick

[SDavis35 140]

We get Helm in return

Helm, Leino and Howard. Makes me feel comfortable.

[GVSUhockey 0]

well we took some of the pens guys and lost, so i dont see why it should be any different for chicago...they can take our guys but they still wont win....go wings

[LeftWinger 5,130]

We kinda knew we were going to lose most if not ALL of our free agents, so not too surprising, but I certainly hope Holland picks a couple of guys up. AndI don't mean Hudler & Sammy! If Wings go into next season without adding a couple of UFA from outside the organization, we lose. Hawks will now be the #1 in the central....

[scotzman 29]

We've got some good young players who will fit right into the system (as we saw in the playoffs). Helm, Ericsson and Howard will all be playing next year and that is a great thing. Maybe Abdelkader and Leino will even be with the big club. 5 young guys in the lineup is exciting to me.

Good riddance to Hossa and his little buddy Kopecky. Conks was great with us this year, but we have so much invested in Howard, that we have to give him a shot. Sammy and Huds need to get their big paydays, so I wish them well. They will not flourish in another system the way they did here. It seems like that is the case with most of the people that leave Detroit for more money...

I'm excited about the opportunities that are opening up... would love to see Neil or Lapperiere in the Winged Wheel, but I am not holding my breath.

[redwashington2000 42]

I was asking if wings are geting any compensations draft picks???

[NHLrules? 32]

Hopefully a tough stay at home D man.

I think we really need to upgrade on D. With Lids looking his age and the rest of the D looking average all last year we need to take a hard look at our D.

With the cap room we have we should be able to upgrade.

[Yak19 303]

We get Helm in return

Amen

10x the heart and the determination Hossa has and he is still developing.

[GoalieManPat 1,007]

Original poster really needs to simmer down. In reality the Wings only lost Hossa who weve known the last couple days was gonna be the fact. Other than that all they lost was a backup goalie and a player who is made of glass.

[Frozen-Man 144]

Why would you trade a draft pick for his rights when the general feel is that he's going to turn down the Wings offer?

A player's rights are ONLY traded when the team feels that they can't resign the player (otherwise they wouldn't trade the rights). The reason that a team trades a pick for the rights to a player is so that they can negotiate with him before any other team can and hopefully lock him up before he hits free agency.

[Chunkylover 26]

We kinda knew we were going to lose most if not ALL of our free agents, so not too surprising, but I certainly hope Holland picks a couple of guys up. AndI don't mean Hudler & Sammy! If Wings go into next season without adding a couple of UFA from outside the organization, we lose. Hawks will now be the #1 in the central....

Indulging in a little hyperbole? We lost this year and we had a great roster.

We've got some good young players who will fit right into the system (as we saw in the playoffs). Helm, Ericsson and Howard will all be playing next year and that is a great thing. Maybe Abdelkader and Leino will even be with the big club. 5 young guys in the lineup is exciting to me.

Good riddance to Hossa and his little buddy Kopecky. Conks was great with us this year, but we have so much invested in Howard, that we have to give him a shot. Sammy and Huds need to get their big paydays, so I wish them well. They will not flourish in another system the way they did here. It seems like that is the case with most of the people that leave Detroit for more money...

I'm excited about the opportunities that are opening up... would love to see Neil or Lapperiere in the Winged Wheel, but I am not holding my breath.

The Wings have great organizational depth at goalie especially since Osgood won't have a hangover this season. Hudler and Samuelsson work well here, but so will their replacements, Leino and Helm. Maybe Abdelkader comes up early.

Hopefully a tough stay at home D man.

I think we really need to upgrade on D. With Lids looking his age and the rest of the D looking average all last year we need to take a hard look at our D.

With the cap room we have we should be able to upgrade.

Lilja? I agree with KH, the defense is set. No real gaps, so long as no one is forced to play too far beyond their skill-level.

[MadMan Mark 0]

Holland should look at working a deal for Cammalieri. The D is set, young guys in GR, and a lot of money opening up after 2010 season. Wings are still the favorite in the West (screw Chi) and add to their depth next year with some big FA signings, if necessary.

[titanium2 867]

A player's rights are ONLY traded when the team feels that they can't resign the player (otherwise they wouldn't trade the rights). The reason that a team trades a pick for the rights to a player is so that they can negotiate with him before any other team can and hopefully lock him up before he hits free agency.

I agree. I'm saying that the Wings probably couldn't find another team to trade with because other teams knew their cap situation and figured that they wouldn't be able to sign Hossa anyways. If you know that then why sacrifice a pick? Just wait until free agency starts.

[Guest Shoreline]

Indulging in a little hyperbole? We lost this year and we had a great roster.

Every loss in the playoff meant season = over. Remember, finding rational posts means finding individuality. It's incredibly easy to panic and make such overreacting, knee-jerk nonsense like the poster you quoted. I, on the other hand, have faith that Kenny will do whatever it takes to better this team which was 2 goals away from a back to back cup win.

Edited July 1, 2009 by Shoreline

[MurphKronner55 0]

We need to get rid of Sammy and Hudler. Hudler is too small! We need some bigger players on our team. I wish Holland would dump Homer, Drapes, and Malts! He's too loyal. We need some grit on our team - not a dirty player, though, who throws guys into the boards head-first illegally. I'm glad Downey is gone. If we were to have a fighter on our team, I would want someone who has some skill too!

[CMatt89 63]

I say lose Hudler and Sammy too. We lose McCarty, Downey, Cheli, Hossa, Kopecky, Conklin,..thats 8 guys. And then in the next two years, we could lose 5 more guys.. Holmstrom, Maltby, Draper, Osgood and Lidstrom. Thats 13 players in 2-3 seasons. Bring in some young tough American/Canadian kids

Edited July 1, 2009 by CMatt89

[Frozen-Man 144]

I agree. I'm saying that the Wings probably couldn't find another team to trade with because other teams knew their cap situation and figured that they wouldn't be able to sign Hossa anyways. If you know that then why sacrifice a pick? Just wait until free agency starts.

What I am saying is that you trade for the rights no so Detroit can't sign him (like you said most teams knew that they probably couldn't) but rather so that you get a chance to negotiate with Hossa before the other 28 teams. Take Bouwmeester for example, everyone knew that he wasn't going to re-sign with Florida but Calgary didn't wait until free agency (in fact they gave up a 3rd round pick and Leopold) so that they could exclusively negotiate with him before the other 28 teams could and so that they could in fact sign him to a contract before free agency starts. They did just that, they got his rights Saturday and negotiated with him until Tuesday when they signed him without any other teams getting to make offers. You trade for rights not to get the player away from the team he is on but to keep him from getting offers from the other 28 teams.

[Zion 93]

It's over if Neil isn't signed.

Will have to buy out Lidstrom or trade Datsyuk to make room for some tough guys, the likes of Mike Brown, Steve Ott and Sean Avery and rebuild, a la the Blackhawks and Penguins, because they're clearly the teams to beat now...

/sarcasm

[bonan78 1]

The Red Wings will lose all of their UFA's, get compensation picks for Hudler, re-sign Leino for relatively cheap, and have room left to bring in a gritty checking forward with decent skill, and we will still be the team to beat in the West.

Hossa, he was a one year rental. it's a shame we were kept from retaining due to the cap, but that's how it goes.

Kopecky, never lived up to his potential, needed a fresh start elsewhere, hope for Chicago's sake he can stay healthy.

Conklin, deserved to be a starter, hope he gets the chance in STL, but he'll be competing with Lurch and Skeletor for the job.

Samuelsson, finally found himself here, he'll cash in on his Cup credentials elsewhere

Chelios, IMO was a mistake to sign him again last year, should have gone out on top, now he'll be lucky to get a roster spot.

McCarty, loyalty is great and all, but he needs to recognize that he's done, let him play in GR if he wants, but nothing more.

Downey, love the energy he brings, but his skill set is too much of a liability in our system.

Hudler, love his heart, but his lack of size and speed make him one-dimensional, and therefore replaceable.

Leino, He showed us what he can do in his brief stint, he deserves a real shot next year, and he will likely get it.

Too bad guys like Joel Ward and Mike Knuble are already taken, they would have been good pick-ups to give us more size and checking ability, still need to get a sandpaper-type guy, Likely won't be Neil for the money we'll have available. Laperriere is still an option, as are Moen and Grier from SJ. I hope we're not still sitting her next week with no new players signed.