With all the injuries, how much can we realistically spend?

[Viking_Erection 1]

With all the injuries, how much can we realistically spend?

Since Franzen is out 4-6 months, Flip out 4-6 weeks, Lilja out the year and now with Williams out, how much can Holland spend without going over cap when Franzen, Flip and Williams returns? I know this was discussed before, but now might be the time for Holland to spend a little to pick up someone without losing picks or young talent.

Of course we could use Griffin boys, but all these injuries is hurting the Grand Rapids team also. Man this year is fluky.

[Icesurfer 75]

Between Franzen, Filppula and Williams (if out 8 weeks) I estimated the cap relief to be about 3.89 mil. They had about .250 mil available under the cap. So far Abdelkader's salary has decreased that amount. Doesn't necessarily mean they can go out and sign someone for 3.89 mil. I suspect that Holland will wait as long as he can before deciding to go out and get someone. One of the reasons is that better players may become available closer to the trade deadline when teams start to fall out of the race and they are looking to dump players. Right now you are going to pay a premium and may not leave you with the room you want later to acquire a better player. So unless the Wings fall too far out of the race in the next few weeks I suspect Holland may not try to acquire someone just yet. He will give Jeremy Williams, Newbury, McGrath or Tardif a chance to see what they can contribute on the fourth line. Or he may pick up someone on the waiver wire. I have a feeling that at the trade deadline the Wings are going to need a lot of help. Don't expect Franzen to return to his previous playoff form of last year. And don't forget that ALL teams have been hit hard by the injury bug so the Wing's are not the only ones with depth problems right now.

Wings also have to leave some room for Lilja to come back which looks like a possibility. I think Babs would switch Lilja for Lebda in a heartbeat.

I hope Babs puts Leino on the second line and leaves the DHE Express line the same.

Edited November 8, 2009 by Icesurfer

[Rivalred 630]

Miroslav Satan

[Vladiator 116]

Between Franzen, Filppula and Williams (if out 8 weeks) I estimated the cap relief to be about 3.89 mil. They had about .250 mil available under the cap. So far Abdelkader's salary has decreased that amount. Doesn't necessarily mean they can go out and sign someone for 3.89 mil. I suspect that Holland will wait as long as he can before deciding to go out and get someone. One of the reasons is that better players may become available closer to the trade deadline when teams start to fall out of the race and they are looking to dump players. Right now you are going to pay a premium and may not leave you with the room you want later to acquire a better player. So unless the Wings fall too far out of the race in the next few weeks I suspect Holland may not try to acquire someone just yet. He will give Jeremy Williams, Newbury, McGrath or Tardif a chance to see what they can contribute on the fourth line. Or he may pick up someone on the waiver wire. I have a feeling that at the trade deadline the Wings are going to need a lot of help. Don't expect Franzen to return to his previous playoff form of last year. And don't forget that ALL teams have been hit hard by the injury bug so the Wing's are not the only ones with depth problems right now.

Wings also have to leave some room for Lilja to come back which looks like a possibility. I think Babs would switch Lilja for Lebda in a heartbeat.

I hope Babs puts Leino on the second line and leaves the DHE Express line the same.

I agree. I think that Lilja is the major part in the equation right now regarding any FA decisions. This is the first time that I can recall the Wings scrapping for forwards this early in the season though.

[gcom007 1,465]

With all the injuries, how much can we realistically spend?

Since Franzen is out 4-6 months, Flip out 4-6 weeks, Lilja out the year and now with Williams out, how much can Holland spend without going over cap when Franzen, Flip and Williams returns? I know this was discussed before, but now might be the time for Holland to spend a little to pick up someone without losing picks or young talent.

Of course we could use Griffin boys, but all these injuries is hurting the Grand Rapids team also. Man this year is fluky.

Lilja's not necessarily out for the year. He's made a lot of progress lately and is going to start pushing harder and taking some hits. The headaches have subsided. I'm not an expert at all, but if he's over the worst of it and can handle full practices in the next couple of weeks, I like to think that he might be back sometime in December. I sure as hell hope so. The sooner, the better.

[Drake_Marcus 890]

We can't really spend anything unless we:

A) Plan on dumping them when the injured person(s) come back

B) Know Lilja isn't coming back this year and the person in question makes as much as him

or

C) Plan on trading some other players to make room.

Why? The cap relief gained due to players on LTIR disappears when they return and is not a cumulative bonus you can spend later.

[Drake_Marcus 890]

Double post-o-rama

Edited November 8, 2009 by Drake_Marcus

[Icesurfer 75]

These cap issues can be circumvented by not bringing Franzen back until the start of the playoffs. Then you have all of his cap relief to play with. The first half of the season for the most part will determine whether the Wings make the playoffs.... not the last half... because of the 3 point games. The first 8 teams to 38 points made the playoffs the last 2 years..... interesting to say the least.

Edited November 8, 2009 by Icesurfer

[Zion 93]

Double post-o-rama

Unacceptable.

[russianswede919293 95]

We can't really spend anything unless we:

A) Plan on dumping them when the injured person(s) come back

B) Know Lilja isn't coming back this year and the person in question makes as much as him

or

C) Plan on trading some other players to make room.

Why? The cap relief gained due to players on LTIR disappears when they return and is not a cumulative bonus you can spend later.

^ this point is one that people either do not know or do not understand. The common consensus here seems to be that people think we can go sign a prorated contract for the amount of money on the LTIR right now and keep everyone when the players come back. LTIR is meant to allow you to call up replacements if you are too close to cap to fit them, or sign somebody when you know for a fact that your player is out for the whole season. It is not meant to be or designed in a way to cheat the salary cap...

You need to be salary cap compliant before and after the player is hurt, you are only allowed leniency up to that player's contract value while that player is presently out.

[russianswede919293 95]

Holland has said that there will be no injury call-up

http://blog.mlive.com/snapshots/2009/11/ke...s_will_not.html

My guess is that means Meech to be 13th forward/7th defenseman and that any talks of money is a moot point...

[skyphoenix 153]

These cap issues can be circumvented by not bringing Franzen back until the start of the playoffs. Then you have all of his cap relief to play with. The first half of the season for the most part will determine whether the Wings make the playoffs.... not the last half... because of the 3 point games. The first 8 teams to 38 points made the playoffs the last 2 years..... interesting to say the least.

I like this idea, mainly because it will give Franzen a little more time to get to 100% and not have to worry about making a big impact in the regular season and we can still get a decent replacement for the regular season to replace the scoring. I doubt this will happen though.

[russianswede919293 95]

These cap issues can be circumvented by not bringing Franzen back until the start of the playoffs. Then you have all of his cap relief to play with. The first half of the season for the most part will determine whether the Wings make the playoffs.... not the last half... because of the 3 point games. The first 8 teams to 38 points made the playoffs the last 2 years..... interesting to say the least.

I disagree...#1 once medically cleared to play you cannot leave a person on the LTIR. #2 I would rather Franzen get back into playing shape and shake the rust off in march so he can be an impact player in the playoffs in april...

[Viking_Erection 1]

I disagree...#1 once medically cleared to play you cannot leave a person on the LTIR. #2 I would rather Franzen get back into playing shape and shake the rust off in march so he can be an impact player in the playoffs in april...

Providing the Wings make the playoffs. With all the injuries stacking up, there's no promises they'll crack the 8th seed in such a tight western conference. I'm not throwing in the towel or panicking... but all these injuries sure do spoil things.

Edited November 8, 2009 by Viking_Erection

[Icesurfer 75]

I disagree...#1 once medically cleared to play you cannot leave a person on the LTIR. #2 I would rather Franzen get back into playing shape and shake the rust off in march so he can be an impact player in the playoffs in april...

The whole point of this is MAKING the playoffs in the first place. As the team is NOW that is not looking very good. And anyway I doubt anyone thinks the Wing will go far into the playoffs this year. IMHO Franzen won't be the same playoff player as the last few years. His minimum recovery time was 4 months..... and I am sure that the docs can see that it JUST MIGHT take 5 months instead......

[Drake_Marcus 890]

Holland has said that there will be no injury call-up

http://blog.mlive.com/snapshots/2009/11/ke...s_will_not.html

My guess is that means Meech to be 13th forward/7th defenseman and that any talks of money is a moot point...

I guess they're determined to use this year to evaluate the current crop of rookies to the largest extent possible.

I love that Abdelkader got some PP time last night. He wasn't able to produce, but if he can the confidence could make him take off. He's definitely got some untapped scoring upside.

[FunkedUp 29]

Holland doesn't make hasty moves, and I don't think anything will happen until the deadline. I could see him picking up someone off waivers and finding some one in the least expected place. This will be a roller coaster of a season though.

[Echolalia 2,961]

I am 100% against making any moves this year, unless that person is guaranteed to be here beyond the summer (which is always a big if). Everyone, management included, has already deemed this year an "in-between year" where we are stuck with a lot of players taking up a lot of cap space. Therefore right off the bat the Wings are at a greater disadvantage to win the Cup compared to usual. So why invest our future into a player or two that will be coming to a less than stellar Wings team, when you could invest the same amount of future next year when out team will already be better?

I would think it would be logical to maximize our chances next year rather than blow our trump card on a bad hand this year.

[egroen 384]

The Wings have been seriously bit by the injury bug... but the thing is, so has every stinking team in the NHL this year (just a crazy year for injuries). They should be fine without making any big changes -- with the plethora of depth they have in the AHL right now: Janik, Delmore, Kolosov, Kindl and Williams, Newbury, Abdelkader, Tardiff, Ritola -- most of these guys can step in without completely stinking up the ice.

[WpgMikos 17]

Can anyone in the NHL manuver a roster like Holland? He is a legend. Rich had some thoughts today in his Morning Take.

Although perhaps the Canes will be selling cheap....