Out goes 'Sammy,' in comes 'Abby':

[HudlerFanatic 4]

Out goes 'Sammy,' in comes 'Abby': Red Wings GM Ken Holland suggests that Justin Abdelkader will make team

Posted by George James Malik July 03, 2009 23:26PM

Somewhere along the way, either the Red Wings decided that they didn't quite have the salary cap space to re-sign one of their unrestricted free agent forwards, or Justin Abdelkader's playoff performance made a helluva impression on Detroit's braintrust. The Red Wings still plan on re-signing Ville Leino and Jiri Hudler, but Wings GM Ken Holland told MLive.com's own Ansar Khan that the subtractions of Marian Hossa, Tomas Kopecky, et. al. mean that Abdelkader has a solid shot of making the Wings' roster this season:

This is just a piece of the article, it's pretty long.....

You should also read the one titled:

Putting a price on self-confidence: Samuelsson personified the 'when he wants to be' player

Posted by George James Malik July 03, 2009 20:57PM

just a snippet of the article....

"He is a right-handed shot which we love about him," Henning said. "He has a familiarity with the twins. Plus, he's great on the power play. He has a great shot. There are a lot of pluses we like. He's certainly going to be on the top two lines."

Edited July 4, 2009 by HudlerFanatic

[55fan 5,133]

Link to the article.

[VM1138 1,921]

I love that Abdelkader will probably play, but with all of our Black Aces on the roster next season, is anyone else worried about us having virtually no backup depth? The roster's getting pretty thinly spread and the Wings have routinely had to deal with large spats of injuries during the last few years. We basically relied on the callups and now it seems we don't have as many to count on.

[henrik40 76]

I'm sure there's some capable guys behind Helm, Abby, and Leino. I don't know for sure if there actually are, I'm just saying Kenny knows what he's doing.

[Dimaline312000 51]

I sure hope Abs does make the NHL team this season. He's a great young player and I think he would bring a lot to this team.

[robb himself 143]

Abby , Helm and Leino will all make the team...and right behind them is Ritola...so no worries

[KrazyGangsta 79]

"He is a right-handed shot which we love about him," Henning said. "He has a familiarity with the twins. Plus, he's great on the power play. He has a great shot. There are a lot of pluses we like. He's certainly going to be on the top two lines."

I mean Sammy brings depth to any team and wouldn't mind having him here but let's be serious he was never great nor close to being good on the point / PP.

Abby shouldn't have a problem fitting on the team. He looked great the games he played in the playoffs. Looks like a clutch goal scorer to me. Haven't seen too many games but thus far most of his goals are game killers. Will get to watch him play more. This could also be great for the other kids in GR. They can get some experience here and there due to the flexibility of sending Abby down to GR.

[HudlerFanatic 4]

Link to the article.

LOL..>thanks....I coulda sworn I put that in there! Sorry!

[eva unit zero 271]

Signed forwards from last year's roster (in order of cap hit):

Datsyuk

Zetterberg

Franzen

Filppula

Cleary

Holmstrom

Draper

Maltby

So the Wings need a minimum of four forwards. They intend to sign Jiri Hudler and Ville Leino, and judging by the fact that neither RFA has received an offer sheet from any other team they should be able to sign both. They also intend to promote fan favorite Darren Helm, who is already signed.

This leaves one spot open; someone on either the 3rd or 4th line. This could be Abdelkader, McGrath, Ritola, a cheap free agent, or possibly someone else either from within the system or via trade; perhaps through trading expendable defenseman Brett Lebda or perhaps by dealing goaltending prospect Jimmy Howard.

[Casey 145]

Signed forwards from last year's roster (in order of cap hit):

Datsyuk

Zetterberg

Franzen

Filppula

Cleary

Holmstrom

Draper

Maltby

So the Wings need a minimum of four forwards. They intend to sign Jiri Hudler and Ville Leino, and judging by the fact that neither RFA has received an offer sheet from any other team they should be able to sign both. They also intend to promote fan favorite Darren Helm, who is already signed.

This leaves one spot open; someone on either the 3rd or 4th line. This could be Abdelkader, McGrath, Ritola, a cheap free agent, or possibly someone else either from within the system or via trade; perhaps through trading expendable defenseman Brett Lebda or perhaps by dealing goaltending prospect Jimmy Howard.

Deal Howard, and your backup goalie is...?

[eva unit zero 271]

Deal Howard, and your backup goalie is...?

Probably Larsson. Although a cheap reliable vet might be available also.

[Casey 145]

This helps your cap scenario how, exactly? Your cost for Larsson isn't going to be any lower than Howard, plus the fact that Larsson hasn't even played one second in the AHL, let alone the NHL.

[digitaljohn88 4]

This helps your cap scenario how, exactly? Your cost for Larsson isn't going to be any lower than Howard, plus the fact that Larsson hasn't even played one second in the AHL, let alone the NHL.

Larsson played half of last year in the AHL... but yes, I don't think it makes any sense trading Howard.

[eva unit zero 271]

This helps your cap scenario how, exactly? Your cost for Larsson isn't going to be any lower than Howard, plus the fact that Larsson hasn't even played one second in the AHL, let alone the NHL.

Larsson's cap hit is slightly lower...I was simply suggesting that Holland may trade Howard for a minimum-wage grinder or perhaps a prospect/pick if Larsson significantly outplays him at camp.

[Wingseroo 0]

That is the part people seem to not realize... Lebda, Meech, Howard, and Maltby if you were to move them or get rid of them cant really be replaced with any significant savings... 700k for a back up goalie is about as cheap as it gets... Meech makes under 500k cap hit!!! Lebda and maltby are both under 900K... All of these guys you move purely to replace not to gain cap room...

You want to clear cap room you need to start talking Lilja or Homer or bigger fish like Stuart... Some people like Lilja more then Lebda for instance (I actually prefer Lebda), but Lebda is more athletic and 6 years younger and hundreds of K's cheaper... Draper I think could be moved but his leadership defense/PK and faceoff skills make 1.5 mil a bargain... And I doubt Detroit wants to anchor both 3rd and 4th lines with rookie centers... Is the difference between Lilja and Lebda worth the money difference? salary aside I always go with the younger faster skater in that scenario, especially for a 3rd pairing defensemen...

[Casey 145]

Larsson played half of last year in the AHL... but yes, I don't think it makes any sense trading Howard.

Huh. So he did. Didn't show up on the Griffins' website for some reason.

[Brew McCrew 0]

Wow, Vancouver thinks he's great on the power play? Hahaha. He was god awful. I'm super excited he's gone for that reason alone. He's a good 3rd line forward but he had no business on our point for the power play.

[Heroes of Hockeytown 694]

Wow, Vancouver thinks he's great on the power play? Hahaha. He was god awful. I'm super excited he's gone for that reason alone. He's a good 3rd line forward but he had no business on our point for the power play.

If they do the right thing and put him on the wall and set him up for one-timers he could be good. Virtually all the goals he scored on the PP in his tenure with Detroit were when he snuck down off the point for just such a play.