Patrick Marleau.......Possible?

[TheDetroitRedWings 286]

Call me crazy, but I'd rather keep Lidstrom on for another 2 years and keep the team as it is.

Yeah, but Lidstrom would have to take a pay cut. There's no way we can continue to pay him 7.5 mill.

[Yellowknife Redwing 57]

I guess I'm the only guy that thinks Lidstrom at $6M/yr for the next 2 years is still a bargain.

[Datsyuk2Zetterberg 1]

If you're signing either of these players, you're signing them to score goals, period.

Marleau is 30 and in 931GP has 311 goals. He's also been on a line with the best passer in the league for a few years now.

Kovalchuk is 26 and in 589GP has 327 goals. He's also been on a team that is consistently one of the worst teams in the league.

We haven't even see the extent of what Kovalchuk can do yet. He's still got a possibility of maturing physically and improving his game. The arguments you've made for Marleau are appreciable, but let's be realistic here. There is currently one other player in the league who can do what Kovalchuk does and he's pretty much universally regarded as the best player in the world.

there's no doubt kovy is the better offensive player. (Oh and Marleau has been centering his own line, if memory serves this is the first year where Joe and him have been on 1 line consistently.)

But Marleau is the better defensive player, better penalty killer and more disciplined player. Plus he would cost 6-7M, instead of 10M.

Edited January 22, 2010 by Datsyuk2Zetterberg

[blues_demitra38 11]

there's no doubt kovy is the better offensive player. (Oh and Marleau has been centering his own line, if memory serves this is the first year where Joe and him have been on 1 line consistently.)

But Marleau is the better defensive player, better penalty killer and more disciplined player. Plus he would cost 6-7M, instead of 10M.

Good points. If those were the options I would take Marleau at 6-7 million/year.

[AARedWingFan 13]

He would be awesome if the money were right, but I doubt that would be the case. Also, I don't see him leaving SJ. Every time rumors about him being moved come up they end up being false.

[Z and D for the C 712]

Marleau is $6M/yr minimum. We weren't willing to pay 5 for Hossa, I'm thinking the chances of spending 6 on Marleau are fairly small.

The wings only offered Hossa what they could pay. I guarantee Holland would sign Hossa at even 6 million if he could this off season.

[cmonster 11]

1st issue: Marleau is a center. We are stacked at the center position

2nd issue: not a big time player. tendency to disappear in big games

3rd issue: Money. Realistically, he will probably ask for 5.5-6 mil/yr. Doesn't really fit in Det. Unless Lids retires and even then we go shopping for a defenseman, not a forward.

4th issue: Would he want to come to the Red Wings after all the playoff battles with us while in San Jose?

5th issue: not consistent, only seems to be really good in a contract year

Now, with all that said, for the right amount of money he could be a good fit. One of the reasons why I think he sometimes struggles in San Jose is that he probably feels that he has to be the man. In Detroit, he wouldn't have to be the man.

At say 4.5 mil I would most definitely be interested. But I would rather have depth by signing Eaves, Miller, and Bertuzzi.

[Drake_Marcus 890]

Marleau is only leaving the Sharks for a hefty contract-- well above what he's worth.

He's also having the best season of his career. He'll never be worth more than he will be this summer. That's the worst time to sign a player.

Marleau's stock will only go down over the course of his upcoming contract. And there's nothing the Wings can offer him that the Sharks can't-- they're just as favoured for cups and have an equally strong, dependable record.

[Yzerman191 37]

A lot of people seem to be missing one of the biggest draws to signing Kovalchuk - his age. He's only 26 years old; that's several years younger than Zetterberg, Datsyuk, or Franzen. Even if he signed a 7 or 8 year contract, he'd only start declining at the very end of a contract like that. It's rare that a 26 year old superstar becomes an unrestricted free agent.

Kovalchuk's stats speak for themselves - 327 goals in 589 games. That's a .55 goals per game average, putting him in between Maurice Richard and Cam Neely for 11th all-time in goals per game. Yes he will command more, but that's because he's worth the money. I'd take Kovalchuk at 7.5M (if we could afford it, which I don't know that we can) before Marleau at 6M.

[Drake_Marcus 890]

A lot of people seem to be missing one of the biggest draws to signing Kovalchuk - his age. He's only 26 years old; that's several years younger than Zetterberg, Datsyuk, or Franzen. Even if he signed a 7 or 8 year contract, he'd only start declining at the very end of a contract like that. It's rare that a 26 year old superstar becomes an unrestricted free agent.

Kovalchuk's stats speak for themselves - 327 goals in 589 games. That's a .55 goals per game average, putting him in between Maurice Richard and Cam Neely for 11th all-time in goals per game. Yes he will command more, but that's because he's worth the money. I'd take Kovalchuk at 7.5M (if we could afford it, which I don't know that we can) before Marleau at 6M.

Yeah, but the problem is that money would have to come from money previously allocated to defense. The Wings need scoring, yeah, but not at the expense of defense. Traditionally the Wings have spent around half their budget on defense (in the cap era). Without Lidstrom their defense will cost around 15 million--- wayyyyy too low.

Edited January 23, 2010 by Drake_Marcus