Holland confirms that Hudler will play in KHL

[Heroes of Hockeytown 694]

I'm saying he should have realized Hudler would not sign for less than Filppula for the opportunity to play crap minutes for Babcock

This is totally true and probably a prime motivating factor for Hudler... When there's five minutes left to go in a game and you're down by one goal, how can you send Kopecky, Maltby, and Draper over the boards but glue Hudler to the bench? I like Babcock a lot, but I know I'm not alone in acknowledging his complete mismanagement of Jiri Hudler.

But for Hudler's dawdling maybe the money he was offered would be going to Sammy instead. I can't really think of a good way it could have put into place that would've kept Hossa around, other than moving one or two players, which just leaves more spots on the roster that need to be filled and no cap space to do it with.

Well, I'll miss the little guy. He's a good NHL player and he has tremendous vision. And he scored probably one of the most important but looked-over goals in Wings' history with the game-winner against the Pens last season.

[beepbeep 3]

Are you seriously suggesting Holland would get nothing if he offered up exclusive negotioation rights for the #1 free agent in the league?

I campaigned for Holland to trade either Lebda or Meech for picks instead of letting Quincey get away for nothing.

Lebda and Meech are rather similar players, while Quincey had some size and PK abilities.

That irked me as well (losing another asset for nothing).

I thought the same thing about the Lebda/ Quincey situation. Quincy played well for the Wings the prior year in the playoffs when the Wings needed him...Lebda at that time, I thought had more trade value because Quincey had such a bad training camp....I don't blame Hudler one bit if he tells the Wings to kiss his royal ASS....Holland has treated him like s*** from the get go.....Puts him on a top line for 2 stinking games and because he doesn't create instant offence dumps him back to s*** minutes........Bullheaded f***** sure as hell kissed Hossa's ass when he was squeezing his f***in stick so hard during the playoffs that he could't score s***.......

[uk_redwing 495]

Whooptido....so did you talk to Hudler and that's what he told you.....Hudler's press release...is there a video somewhere??

Holland doing nothing worng...letting players go, getting nothing in return, having less forwards than we need....but signing defencemen when he had already to plan on trading one that we already have.....??????

Hudler HAS signed with the KHL. Get over it.

And for the last god damn time, all the defensemen Holland has signed so far have been on 2-way deals for GRAND RAPIDS.

[joeschmo 0]

Why is everyone acting like he's gone? He's not gone yet! He is still talking to the Wings. This is a backup plan. Doesn't seem like a good one but that's another argument.

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=284076

HES GONE

[StevieY9802 6]

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=284076

HES GONE

Yeah and I posted that at 8:50 am before it was 100% official.

[HudlerFanatic 4]

Hudler HAS signed with the KHL. Get over it.

And for the last god damn time, all the defensemen Holland has signed so far have been on 2-way deals for GRAND RAPIDS.

Dude...seriously.....no need for bringing God into the situation or being an ass...I've posted 2 things and you're telling ME to get over it....I wasn't even complaining about him leaving. (except my damn joke about kicking his ass!)...I said I could kinda see his point.....

...and UNTIL Holland says "Hudler has left the building" he's not gone..

..the thread does say"......will continue to talk to Red Wings....."

Get over yourself......can people on here just make comments without getting railed....damn man!

[egroen 384]

What was Hudler's money this year? I haven't read anything that said for sure what the Wings were offering they were all guesses so how do you know Sammy would have taken whatever that was. I don't think Sammy is worth what he got from the Canucks and I am sure the Wings wouldn't have given him that so why would he stay? And why would Holland have traded Hudler rights? Now you are just getting crazy. This guy is leaving the NHL. And don't say Holland shouldn't have assumed he was gonna be able to sign him. A RFA who you had been talking to and filed for arbitration. That sounds like a guy who you have a good shot at keeping around. If Holland shouldn't have thought he was sticking around and should have traded his rights then every GM should trae their RFA's. I think this came up real quick. Where would have been the clue to trade him?

Sammy signed for $2.5m in Vancouver -- I assume he would have signed for less to not uproot and stay in Detroit.

Holland should have assumed Hossa and Hudler were not going to accept his low-ball offers and made a choice -- either be willing to trade someone like Filppula, Draper or Holmstrom in order to have the space to make them a real offer, or prepare to let them go and get all you can for their rights.

The clue to trade Hudler's rights was when you offered Filppula $3m when he was barely scoring over 30 pts.

[egroen 384]

May as well throw Babcock under that same bus since he's the one who determines playing time/lines/etc etc.

Holland and Babcock were on completely seperate pages in regards to Kopecky, Samuelsson and Hudler.

Holland was prepared to let both Kopecky and Samuelsson go in order to sign Hudler -- but then expected Hudler to sign for essentially Samuelsson money.

Sammy (and even Kopecky) had the spot that Holland seems to have had in mind for Hudler -- yet Babcock would not play him there.

If Hudler is something special why didn't a rival GM throw an offer sheet Hudler's way?

He filed for arbitration.

[NomadFromKazoo 42]

I don't appreciate Hudler's tactics. I hope Kenny calls his bluff and lets him walk.

Actually, this could work out for us. I really like Hudler, but I don't think an ultra small skill player is what we really need right now. While our being a bunch of soft pansies is greatly exaggerated, bigger players is clearly the trend right now. I think Hudler frankly at this moment is more valuable for other teams with less skill and more size then we have. But I hate to just lose him, he has a big heart and as the NHL and our team evolved 2 years could possibly make him a lot better fit for both the team and hopefully the cap then.

So...maybe we look at this as a 2 year assignment for him to earn decent money and us to work out our cap and in 2 years he comes back without bitterness with both sides knowing it was about "the cap." The risk is we lose a guy who while being a decent player for us really isn't the right fit to the puzzle right now and maybe in 2 years he is. But if that happens at least he doesn't tie up the cap now when we can't afford him and we have the cap to go after someone else later.

Just a thought.

Edited July 8, 2009 by NomadFromKazoo

[Glubki 17]

Dude...seriously.....no need for bringing God into the situation or being an ass...I've posted 2 things and you're telling ME to get over it....I wasn't even complaining about him leaving. (except my damn joke about kicking his ass!)...I said I could kinda see his point.....

...and UNTIL Holland says "Hudler has left the building" he's not gone..

..the thread does say"......will continue to talk to Red Wings....."

Get over yourself......can people on here just make comments without getting railed....damn man!

Not until you have been here for at least a year - after that the old school regulars lighten up a bit...

[HudlerFanatic 4]

Not until you have been here for at least a year - after that the old school regulars lighten up a bit...

Haha! thanks for letting me know....!

[egroen 384]

Actually, this could work out for us. I really like Hudler, but I don't think an ultra small skill player is what we really need right now. While our being a bunch of soft pansies is greatly exaggerated, bigger players is clearly the trend right now. I think Hudler frankly at this moment is more valuable for other teams with less skill and more size then we have. But I hate to just lose him, he has a big heart and as the NHL and our team evolved 2 years could possibly make him a lot better fit for both the team and hopefully the cap then.

So...maybe we look at this as a 2 year assignment for him to earn decent money and us to work out our cap and in 2 years he comes back without bitterness with both sides knowing it was about "the cap." The risk is we lose a guy who while being a decent player for us really isn't the right fit to the puzzle right now and maybe in 2 years he is. But if that happens at least he doesn't tie up the cap now when we can't afford him and we have the cap to go after someone else later.

Just a thought.

The strange thing is he will be forced to play out his "arbitration" award when/if he returns -- so he might be a hell of a lot better player after a year or two in Russia, but has to play for a salary awarded after a 57 pt season in the NHL.

Edited July 8, 2009 by egroen

[StevieY9802 6]

Sammy signed for $2.5m in Vancouver -- I assume he would have signed for less to not uproot and stay in Detroit.

Holland should have assumed Hossa and Hudler were not going to accept his low-ball offers and made a choice -- either be willing to trade someone like Filppula, Draper or Holmstrom in order to have the space to make them a real offer, or prepare to let them go and get all you can for their rights.

The clue to trade Hudler's rights was when you offered Filppula $3m when he was barely scoring over 30 pts.

Samuelson put his house up for sale before free agency started, that doesn't sound like a guy who was really planning on staying.

Filppula was signed with the expectation of what he will do later in his career. Kinda like Kronwall. When Kronwall was signed to a deal worth 3mil a year he had never played a full season with the Wings. What do you think about his deal now?

I never expected Hossa to stay and I didn't expect any team to offer up anything to talk to him when you knew you could talk to him at noon on 7-1. So while it sucks I'm not upset cause if I was a GM I wouldn't do it.

As for Hudler, again, Holland gave him an offer, which his agent said was a good offer so it was obviously at least a starting point and he filed for arbitration. Those aren't moves by a guy who wants to go so Holland wasn't gonna trade him. You are just looking for someone to pin this on. This is Hudler taking the money and not communicating it with Holland that he might be going. If Hudler wanted to stay and wanted more he should have negotiated not just left. I put this on Hudler and Hudler alone.

And you keep comparing it to last years team. Last years team was beyond stacked and this team was never gonna be close to that talent wise so you need to get over that. Yes they lost 80 goals but if they can get their team D back to where it was the two previous seasons they won't need to make up all those goals. 07 they gave up 191 goals and 08 179. They gave up 240. If they can get back down to around 200 goals against then they only need to make up 40 which I think Cleary, Hank, and Fil will have better years than last and maybe Leino and Helm will help too.

Anyone here who thinks they are smarter than Kenny Holland or would do a better job why are you talking on a message board? Go do the job. I'm gonna trust the 4 time Cup winning GM over what people in here think. Will he make mistakes? Yes. Will his good moves outweigh his bad ones? Totally. If Holland did the moves people here wanted, Marc Denis would have been signed in the summer of 05 instead of Ozzie.

[russianswede919293 95]

I'm saying he should have realized Hudler would not sign for less than Filppula for the opportunity to play crap minutes for Babcock.

Babcock went out of his way to not play Hudler, even when the team needed goals... so he should have just gone after the guy Babcock would actually play -- Samuelsson (or another free agent) and gotten some compensation for Hudler's rights.

I disagree here. Babcock didn't play Hudler as much even strength, because he is not as good defensively as Filppula, however Filppula never logged any PP time, and Babcock even kicked Cleary off the PP this year to keep Hudler on the PP. Babs had a role for Hudler, and it was an accurate one for the roster we had.

[egroen 384]

Samuelson put his house up for sale before free agency started, that doesn't sound like a guy who was really planning on staying.

Because Holland was probably offering him $1.5m, if anything.

You really do not think he would have loved to stay if given a decent offer?

Filppula was signed with the expectation of what he will do later in his career. Kinda like Kronwall. When Kronwall was signed to a deal worth 3mil a year he had never played a full season with the Wings. What do you think about his deal now?

Several of us were all for Holland letting Filppula go to arbitration -- he would not have gotten anything remotely close to $3m. He had played two full seasons with the Wings, scoring 17 and 36 points respectively.

In what world would Hudler and his agent not think they deserved just as much, if not more, especially based on potential -- scoring twice as much, playing only 12-13 minutes a night so far and at the age of 25?

I never expected Hossa to stay and I didn't expect any team to offer up anything to talk to him when you knew you could talk to him at noon on 7-1. So while it sucks I'm not upset cause if I was a GM I wouldn't do it.

What is the difference between Hossa and Bouwmeester? Asides from Hossa being much better? Holland admitted he had offers for the negotiation rights of Hossa at the draft.... obviously he should have taken one of them.... or he should have been willing to make a trade in order to seriously attempt to retain him.

Anyone here who thinks they are smarter than Kenny Holland or would do a better job why are you talking on a message board? Go do the job. I'm gonna trust the 4 time Cup winning GM over what people in here think. Will he make mistakes? Yes. Will his good moves outweigh his bad ones? Totally. If Holland did the moves people here wanted, Marc Denis would have been signed in the summer of 05 instead of Ozzie.

Unless you feel the only people capable of critiquing the president of the United States are a handful of old, rich, white dudes, than we can feel free to critique a general manager. Pointing out mistakes does not mean he is a terrible general manager.

Edited July 8, 2009 by egroen

[russianswede919293 95]

Its too bad Hudler is gone. I always liked him a lot. I'm very upset with how everything went down but I'm sure he has reasons. That being said, if he does end up back here, he will have to earn my love back. Mlive had something up saying they had a 2.5 million per year long term offer on the table for him that he took better money for in Russia. Its not that the Wings didn't want to pay him more then Filppula its that they didn't have the cap to do it. They were willing to give him all they had to give with the cap, let everybody else walk, and keep him, and it wasn't good enough...He could have gone 1-year and gotten more next year...Until we know the actually monetary value of his offer, there are many conflicting reports, its hard to judge what this all is.

Jiri, I doubt you'll ever be a Wing again...best of luck to you...

Here's hoping Leino puts up one hell of a rookie year.

[egroen 384]

I disagree here. Babcock didn't play Hudler as much even strength, because he is not as good defensively as Filppula, however Filppula never logged any PP time, and Babcock even kicked Cleary off the PP this year to keep Hudler on the PP. Babs had a role for Hudler, and it was an accurate one for the roster we had.

In all seriousness, why would Babcock play Draper, Maltby and Kopecky over Hudler in third periods when the wings were trailing? Let alone Filppula.

It was flat out weird.

Babcock would often go out of his way to not play Hudler. It just seems he was not on the same page as Holland.

I would not have been surprised if Samuelsson was signed right away, given how much Babcock loved to play him.

Instead, Holland was caught sitting on his hands.

[dicksmack 33]

I think the KHL signing was for leverage with Holland. Before somebody says it, I'm not comparing him to Datsyuk as a player but Pavel and his agent had to play dirty ass hardball with Kenny just to get a fair deal. I have no animosity towards Hudler for what he's doing. Apparently you're expected to file for arbitration to avoid NHL offer sheets being thrown at you, so Huds is posturing with an outside league. It's a good tactic... So what's the big deal?

[beepbeep 3]

May as well throw Babcock under that same bus since he's the one who determines playing time/lines/etc etc.

If Hudler is something special why didn't a rival GM throw an offer sheet Hudler's way?

There's still a chance for Hudler to sign - albeit a somewhat slim chance.

Hello, Hudler filed for arbitration eliminating any chance of an offer sheet.... Who said he was special??? What I said was, he was treated s***ty......

[Pskov Wings Fan 71]

Russia's appalling economy? Ours isn't so great anymore...

State of the economy does not matter as much when you have the money (as Hudler would).

[uk_redwing 495]

Dude...seriously.....no need for bringing God into the situation or being an ass...I've posted 2 things and you're telling ME to get over it....I wasn't even complaining about him leaving. (except my damn joke about kicking his ass!)...I said I could kinda see his point.....

...and UNTIL Holland says "Hudler has left the building" he's not gone..

..the thread does say"......will continue to talk to Red Wings....."

Get over yourself......can people on here just make comments without getting railed....damn man!

[evilmrt 636]

I think the KHL signing was for leverage with Holland. Before somebody says it, I'm not comparing him to Datsyuk as a player but Pavel and his agent had to play dirty ass hardball with Kenny just to get a fair deal. I have no animosity towards Hudler for what he's doing. Apparently you're expected to file for arbitration to avoid NHL offer sheets being thrown at you, so Huds is posturing with an outside league. It's a good tactic... So what's the big deal?

Leverage how? Hudler wants us to trade someone away, free up more cap space by replacing them with another AHLer, and dump the extra money on him? Seriously, its a salary cap world, I don't know what he expects to get by using this KHL nonsense as leverage against Holland.

[GMRwings1983 8,794]

Just heard this today about Hudler.

Figures someone like him would go to the KHL with the rest of the softies. I still hate the KHL, though.

However, Hudler was way too overrated on this site. We do have some scoring depth issues now, but if the Holland is the god everyone makes him, he'll figure something out. No worries about this. Small fish (literally) leaving the pond.

[sibiriak 84]

Yes, last year the KHL was forced to slash salaries 5-20% depending on their value in order to operate http://www.ontheforecheck.com/2009/4/8/826...slash-contracts lets assume the contract is 4 years 20 million, and this occurs again...it is now 4 years 16 million...then lets say it happens again the next year since the economy got worse again...its now 1 year 4 million 3 yr 10 million...

A KHL contract is not what it may seem to be...

Which is why the rumoured contract would be front-loaded. Get most of the money early, before stuff can happen.

[Guest mindfly]

Have YoungGuns commented on this he was like the biggest Hudler-asslicker on this site