So which defenseman is going to be traded? (poll)

[miller76 463]

This years salary for these d-men:

23 Stuart, Brad D 3.750 (we know, he has a no trade clause)

55 Kronwall, Niklas D 3.250

3 Lilja, Andreas D 1.250

52 Ericsson, Jonathan D 0.900

22 Lebda, Brett D 0.850

14 Meech, Derek D 0.500

[tingnoel 4]

This years salary for these d-men:

23 Stuart, Brad D 3.750 (we know, he has a no trade clause)

55 Kronwall, Niklas D 3.250

3 Lilja, Andreas D 1.250

52 Ericsson, Jonathan D 0.900

22 Lebda, Brett D 0.850

14 Meech, Derek D 0.500

I think it'll be Lebda or Meech... I'm not sure which one though.

[Statts 4]

Stuart, Kronwall,and Ericsson wont be traded.

Lilja wont be traded because he is not cleared to play. No team will take a chance on him.(LTIR?)

If someones salary has to come off the books it is between Lebda or Meech. If it comes to that IMO one will be lost on waivers and not traded.

[AtomicPunk 296]

I personally like Lebda for his speed and ability to skate with the puck. I would think he would be more valuable than Meech. IMO.

[revnic 0]

lol @ Kronwall being an option

[The Mule 0]

Please let it be Lebda.

[Icesurfer 75]

Now how does this post get 5 stars?

How boring! This has been rehashed a zillion times already. We are really scraping the bottom of the barrel for news stories.....LOL.

Meech already knows as well as a bunch of writers that he is the one to go!

Meech knows

Meech knows again

What's more interesting is .....who will be the SECOND player moved? Because when Lilja comes back, the Wings need to get rid of about an additional $500,000.00. Some are talking about Helm being sent down.... but I don't think so.

Edited September 11, 2009 by Icesurfer

[P. Marlowe 748]

Now how does this post get 5 stars?

How boring! This has been rehashed a zillion times already. We are really scraping the bottom of the barrel for news stories.....LOL.

Meech already knows as well as a bunch of writers that he is the one to go!

Meech knows

Meech knows again

What's more interesting is .....who will be the SECOND player moved? Because when Lilja comes back, the Wings need to get rid of about an additional $500,000.00. Some are talking about Helm being sent down.... but I don't think so.

Yep.

If Lilja comes back late enough on the season then Red Wings might not have to move anyone else.

[Drake_Marcus 890]

Now how does this post get 5 stars?

How boring! This has been rehashed a zillion times already. We are really scraping the bottom of the barrel for news stories.....LOL.

Meech already knows as well as a bunch of writers that he is the one to go!

Meech knows

Meech knows again

What's more interesting is .....who will be the SECOND player moved? Because when Lilja comes back, the Wings need to get rid of about an additional $500,000.00. Some are talking about Helm being sent down.... but I don't think so.

Yeah, on a team desperate for cap room you think it's obvious they'd trade Meech over Lebda.

->Meech is cheaper than the current league minimum salary.

->Meech can play forward so he effectively serves as two different types of injury replacements.

->Meech makes about $150,000 less than Lebda and plays an identical game.

->Both Meech and Lebda are spare parts once Lilja comes back (which is the only time either will be traded anyway).

->Lebda may be a veteran who has cup experience but his contract is up this year and he'll want more-- there's no way he'll be wearing a Winged wheel next October. Meech won't get much of a raise next year-- expect he'd play for the league minimum again.

If Lilja comes back early Meech as a far better chance to stay here than if he comes back late. A late return by Lilja effectively negates the salary advantage Meech has over Lebda, which is really the only important advantage (I'm sure Lebda is capable of playing forward as effectively as Meech if pushed to).

So, in summary-- the choice isn't as clear cut as you make it out to be. It all depends on when Lilja returns.

[Icesurfer 75]

Yep.

If Lilja comes back late enough on the season then Red Wings might not have to move anyone else.

It would be in the very last month of the season in order for that to happen. With Lilja's salary included the Wing's are 971,000.00 over the cap. You can NOT use his salary as cap space. You get CAP RELIEF up to 1.25 mil which is not the same thing as cap space. But I am sure they have to designate which salary on the current roster is to be used toward that cap relief and it can not be a salary over 1.25 mil. So it would be someone like Ericsson's salary. Then you also have to take into consideration any call-ups if no one else goes on LTIR. Wings have about 250,000 of wiggle room as it stands now. But the way Lilja is talking and if he is cleared to play within a month or so and he says he is ready to play then the Wings are going to have to make 2 moves if one of them is Meech.

As the rule states when Lilja comes off LTIR the Wings have to immediately comply with the salary cap based on Lilja's salary of $1.25 mil... not a salary lower just because it is later in the season.

Edited September 11, 2009 by Icesurfer

[Finnish Wing 110]

Meech is too important. Can play both F and D. Salary won't be an issue with him either. Lebda will be moved and a forward will be sent down. I think?

[e_prime 1,936]

I love that Stuart has two votes and no explanation.

C'mon. If you're going to make that bold of a statement, back it up with an explanation...

...and why aren't Rafalski and Lidstrom trade options while we're at it?

Edited September 11, 2009 by e_prime

[Shaman 713]

Meech is too important. Can play both F and D. Salary won't be an issue with him either. Lebda will be moved and a forward will be sent down. I think?

if we lose a better D man because of meech's ability to play pisspoor in two postions again ill be pissed

[Buppy 1,720]

With 13 forwards on the roster, Meech's ability to be a terrible forward as well as a terrible defenseman isn't that important. Besides, I'm sure Lebda could suck as a forward if we really needed him to. He does a good job sucking on defense.

But as Icesurfer already noted, neither player makes enough to cover how much we're over the cap. So if Lilja plays this season, we would still need to move someone else, either via trade or assignment to GR.

[GMRwings1983 8,794]

No one was traded last year, so why would this year be any different, especially now that Chelios is gone?

With the injuries this team has had the last few seasons on defense, minus a Chris Chelios now on the depth chart, this team has less depth than it did last year when it made no moves.

[egroen 384]

I would think they would keep Meech because his is cheaper, more versatile and a little bigger than Lebda.

Lebda should also have a higher trade value (while Meech might not return anything)... but I sure will miss Lebda's hip checks!

No one was traded last year, so why would this year be any different, especially now that Chelios is gone?

The Wings are almost $1m over the cap with a healthy Lilja.

Edited September 11, 2009 by egroen

[shoe 165]

23 Stuart, Brad D 3.750 (we know, he has a no trade clause) Cant see it happening why trade a young tough defenceman who can log minutes and play hard in any situation.

55 Kronwall, Niklas D 3.250 Wings dont trade players they developed they gave this guy a big contract early in his career hes here to stay

3 Lilja, Andreas D 1.250 I think they like him and how do you trade a guy who just came off a concussion.

52 Ericsson, Jonathan D 0.900 Not the way Babcock praises him

22 Lebda, Brett D 0.850

14 Meech, Derek D 0.500 So its down to these 2 I think Lebda on another team could be a 4/5 deffenceman rather than a 6/7 guy in Detroit. meech really hasnt done much so a team could gamble on him and try him out in a 3/4 position and he might drop to a 5/6 guy.

I think if Holland was to trade away one of these 2 he might ask them who would like an increased roll on another team Im guessing lebda would rather play for the wings where as meech might like a chance to prove he is ready to play an increased roll for a team like Atlanta Florida or LA.

[Vladinator 0]

If the wings can get some sort of commitment from Lidstrom for beyond this season, then I would look to move Rafalski. If they can get someone to take his salary it would open up a top 4 spot for Ericsson and free up a lot more cap space than moving anyone else.

Ericsson could then be paired with and learn from Lidstrom and we would have some wiggle room in case there are any injuries or if all of our projects (Eaves, Williams, Bertuzzi) fail.

Plus, I would prefer to keep both Kronwall and Stuart. Ericsson is good enough for top 4 minutes, and of the top 4 Rafalski would be the one I would most like to see go...

Edited September 11, 2009 by Vladinator

[GMRwings1983 8,794]

If the wings can get some sort of commitment from Lidstrom for beyond this season, then I would look to move Rafalski. If they can get someone to take his salary it would open up a top 4 spot for Ericsson and free up a lot more cap space than moving anyone else.

Ericsson could then be paired with and learn from Lidstrom and we would have some wiggle room in case there are any injuries or if all of our projects (Eaves, Williams, Bertuzzi) fail.

Plus, I would prefer to keep both Kronwall and Stuart. Ericsson is good enough for top 4 minutes, and of the top 4 Rafalski would be the one I would most like to see go...

Rafalski is getting old, but nowadays, defensemen can contribute to a team well into their late 30's and even their early 40's.

He was one of the leading scorers last year in the NHL amongst defenseman, so trading him would be a terrible idea if you ask me. Also, there's no telling whether Lidstrom will be healthy this year, because he's had some scares the last few seasons with his health.

[Pucks 66]

This poll should only have 2 names on it. Lebda or Meech. 3 if you want to throw in Lilja for good times.

[Vladinator 0]

Rafalski is getting old, but nowadays, defensemen can contribute to a team well into their late 30's and even their early 40's.

He was one of the leading scorers last year in the NHL amongst defenseman, so trading him would be a terrible idea if you ask me. Also, there's no telling whether Lidstrom will be healthy this year, because he's had some scares the last few seasons with his health.

Any defenseman with offensive ability playing alongside Lidstrom on the wings top line and top powerplay unit is going to be among the leading defense scorers...

Moving rafalski would free up more salary room than moving any defenseman other than Lidstrom (which isn't going to happen). Lidstrom, Stuart, Kronwall, & Ericsson would be as good of a top 4 as any other team in the league can boast. Of our top 4, rafalski bring the least to the table in my opinion. Yes, he has some offensive upside, but once again any defenseman with offensive ability playing in that position is going to shine (look at Schnieder here and what he did since leaving here...and even before coming here, he put up some good numbers for some seasons but had just as many with bad numbers...here his numbers were consistant, mainly because of those that he was playing with...rafalski benefits the same way).

[hokeychik22 17]

http://detroitnews.com/article/20090911/SP...on-bubble-again

i like both guys but if we keep meech, dont think he would be helping much on D, i'd perfer to see him on forward... i'd say wait til training camp is over and the guy that plays best and proves he wants to stay, then stays..

Edited September 11, 2009 by hokeychik22

[eva unit zero 271]

if we lose a better D man because of meech's ability to play pisspoor in two postions again ill be pissed

So you voted Lebda then, as he is no better than Meech and plays the same game, and Meech:

-Costs less than the league minimum.

-Actually has the potential to improve beyond the 6/7 defenseman level that he and Lebda currently play at.

-If he stays, will cost less than Lebda's current salary for the next two or three years (or more) even though he likely will be considerably better in that time than the best Lebda will be at any point in his career. Lebda will probably be gone by the start of next season regardless of if he's traded with Kindl and Kolosov ready or close to ready, and Kindl perhaps already a better option than either Lebda or Meech.

[FinRedWing 172]

Voted Lebs,more $ off the books than from Meech.

[Spongewingredpants 75]

Lebda or Meech uness Lillja is well enough to be traded