Lebda leaving Detroit?

[Din758 371]

While getting my daily dose of espn.com this morning I noticed a headline in the "insider" only section talking about how Lebda may be leaving the wings at the end of the season. I was hoping maybe some people could chime in and give some more info on what his trade value will be, or when his contact will expire, or other info on what the deal is.

If you ask me, id say it would be an alright move to release him. Right now its E and Lebda fighting for that 8th D spot and because they are equally effective on the ice I would say E's young age will be the deciding factor in whether or not we need Lebda. If the wings decide to carry that extra D man and rotate him, Id like to see a tough fighter come in to the mix instead of Lebda also.

What are you thoughts?

[HOCKEY MATTERS 167]

Make it happen, Kenny.

[CenterIce 83]

While getting my daily dose of espn.com this morning I noticed a headline in the "insider" only section talking about how Lebda may be leaving the wings at the end of the season. I was hoping maybe some people could chime in and give some more info on what his trade value will be, or when his contact will expire, or other info on what the deal is.

If you ask me, id say it would be an alright move to release him. Right now its E and Lebda fighting for that 8th D spot and because they are equally effective on the ice I would say E's young age will be the deciding factor in whether or not we need Lebda. If the wings decide to carry that extra D man and rotate him, Id like to see a tough fighter come in to the mix instead of Lebda also.

What are you thoughts?

His contract is up at the end of the year. With Lidstrom, Rafalski, Kronwall, Stuart, and Ericsson as 1-5, you have Lilja, Lebda, Meech, and Kindl for 6-7. Kindl will be out of options, so he will be up. Also, I think they will resign Lilja, since they have more offensive guys under contract, than defensive guys. So, Lebda and Meech are probably the odd ones out.

[GoWings1905 2,694]

Yes, please.

[waitahochiminute 2]

It's the rare time that flat out getting rid of a player will do the team some good I think. He has not been a solid defensemen over the last few years...

[mmamolo 287]

Lebda will be an Unrestricted Free Agent at seasons end. Meech will be a Restricted Free Agent at seasons end. Jakub Kindl is out of minor league options and will be up with the big club next year. With Lidstrom and Lilja most likely set to return and Kronwall, Stuart, Rafalski, and Ericsson coming back there simply isn't room for Lebda. He'll walk as an unrestricted free agent and the Wings will not be compensated in any form. Some team around the league will place some value on his speed and I wouldn't be surprised to see him get overpaid with a salary in the 750k-$1M/yr as insane as that sounds.

[cupforwings 138]

Ericsson has looked terrible this season...defiantly not like a NHL defensemen. Lebda will probably be gone come July, and Kindl will be up here

[KrazyGangsta 79]

Lebda needs to go this off season. Ericsson is still a rookie we could still experiment with him.

[digged 1]

Ericsson has looked terrible this season...defiantly not like a NHL defensemen. Lebda will probably be gone come July, and Kindl will be up here

Don't forget about Brendan Smith who was a 1st round pick a few years back. I've seen him play a couple times for Wisconsin and he looks like a stud. People compare him to Kindl but for me he's a much better skater and can play tough without getting in too much penalty trouble. Two years from now i would like to see him, Kindl and hopefully Jack Johnson on our team.

As far as Lebda goes i so wish we had gotten rid of him and Chelios last year and gave Meech more time to develop.

[MCleveland89 122]

Lebda needs to go this off season. Ericsson is still a rookie we could still experiment with him.

Plus Ericcson isn't a terrible player. He has showed he can work in the past. He's just in a slump right now. I believe he can get back to it.

[Din758 371]

for the last time jack johnson is not coming to the wings

[Wings Rule Crysby Drools 0]

While getting my daily dose of espn.com this morning I noticed a headline in the "insider" only section talking about how Lebda may be leaving the wings at the end of the season. I was hoping maybe some people could chime in and give some more info on what his trade value will be, or when his contact will expire, or other info on what the deal is.

If you ask me, id say it would be an alright move to release him. Right now its E and Lebda fighting for that 8th D spot and because they are equally effective on the ice I would say E's young age will be the deciding factor in whether or not we need Lebda. If the wings decide to carry that extra D man and rotate him, Id like to see a tough fighter come in to the mix instead of Lebda also.

What are you thoughts?

Detroit Free Press has been writing about this for quite a while now. His contract expires this season and it's almost assured he won't be back. ESPN's "insider" isn't always so cutting edge, and I'd say this is a pretty good example of them being a step behind.

[Hockeytown_Ryan 119]

What?!?!? Lebda leaving Detroit?!?!?!? Peace Out Brett.. Dont let the door hit ya!

[KrazyGangsta 79]

Here's the weird part, since Lilja has paired up with Lebda ... Lebda has been looking better then he has all season.

You guys think Ericsson was making Lebda look bad?

[tdinc 45]

Please I hope this happens.. I'll throw a party!!

[Drake_Marcus 890]

Here's the weird part, since Lilja has paired up with Lebda ... Lebda has been looking better then he has all season.

You guys think Ericsson was making Lebda look bad?

Who's the veteran? Isn't it supposed to be the veteran that helps the kid along? Asking Ericsson to constantly cover Lebda's stupid decisions was the problem with that pairing. Only one of them could hide behind the rookie excuse.

[eva unit zero 271]

Lebda will be an Unrestricted Free Agent at seasons end. Meech will be a Restricted Free Agent at seasons end. Jakub Kindl is out of minor league options and will be up with the big club next year. With Lidstrom and Lilja most likely set to return and Kronwall, Stuart, Rafalski, and Ericsson coming back there simply isn't room for Lebda. He'll walk as an unrestricted free agent and the Wings will not be compensated in any form. Some team around the league will place some value on his speed and I wouldn't be surprised to see him get overpaid with a salary in the 750k-$1M/yr as insane as that sounds.

1) Rafalski, Kronwall, Stuart, Ericsson, and Kindl are signed and will be up.

2) Lidstrom will probably be returning.

3) The Wings will not be sticking Kindl or Ericsson in a 7th defenseman slot.

So here's what we have:

The top four defensemen (Nick/Nik/Raffi/Stu) are pretty obvious. Combine that with Ericsson and Kindl and you have your likely top six. Lilja is a solid defensive defenseman, but I think simply the fact that he'd be a defenseman who would, at best, be rotating in on the third pair while making better than $1m leads me to believe that he's probably not coming back.

RFA Meech will be the #7 guy, for a cap hit of less than $600k. He's cheap, versatile, developing well defensively and offensively, and very quick. If Kindl had another year in Grand Rapids, Lilja would be back. But he doesn't. Basically, Kindl's lack of waiver options pushes Lilja out of Detroit.

[Zetts 236]

1) Rafalski, Kronwall, Stuart, Ericsson, and Kindl are signed and will be up.

2) Lidstrom will probably be returning.

3) The Wings will not be sticking Kindl or Ericsson in a 7th defenseman slot.

So here's what we have:

The top four defensemen (Nick/Nik/Raffi/Stu) are pretty obvious. Combine that with Ericsson and Kindl and you have your likely top six. Lilja is a solid defensive defenseman, but I think simply the fact that he'd be a defenseman who would, at best, be rotating in on the third pair while making better than $1m leads me to believe that he's probably not coming back.

RFA Meech will be the #7 guy, for a cap hit of less than $600k. He's cheap, versatile, developing well defensively and offensively, and very quick. If Kindl had another year in Grand Rapids, Lilja would be back. But he doesn't. Basically, Kindl's lack of waiver options pushes Lilja out of Detroit.

Or, alternatively, you could ditch Meech and Lebda, then rotate Lilja, Ericsson and Kindl. Or just rotate Ericsson and Kindl and leave Lilja in. There hasn't been anything to suggest that Kindl deserves a roster spot at all right now. It's all potential. I'd be pretty angry if a player as solid as Lilja got the boot in favour of a guy who could very well not be able to cut it.

Besides, I think Lilja will re-sign for relatively cheap on a short term deal. Being out for so long doesn't put him in great bargaining position. If he plays well for a year or two then he'd be more likely to get the slightly bigger contract that he probably deserves. I doubt he'd complain about another year on the third pair in Detroit.

Edited March 17, 2010 by Zetts

[Pucks 66]

I think Lilja could easily get 2 million bucks on the market. He could have got more last time but he wanted to stay in Detroit. If the Wings decide to let him go I could see him following his buddy Sammy to play in Vancouver.

It's a bit of a dilemma for Holland because we need him to stay, yet covet the roster spot for Kindl. It will be interesting to see what happens with that in the off season.

[SwedeLundin77 460]

1) Rafalski, Kronwall, Stuart, Ericsson, and Kindl are signed and will be up.

2) Lidstrom will probably be returning.

3) The Wings will not be sticking Kindl or Ericsson in a 7th defenseman slot.

So here's what we have:

The top four defensemen (Nick/Nik/Raffi/Stu) are pretty obvious. Combine that with Ericsson and Kindl and you have your likely top six. Lilja is a solid defensive defenseman, but I think simply the fact that he'd be a defenseman who would, at best, be rotating in on the third pair while making better than $1m leads me to believe that he's probably not coming back.

RFA Meech will be the #7 guy, for a cap hit of less than $600k. He's cheap, versatile, developing well defensively and offensively, and very quick. If Kindl had another year in Grand Rapids, Lilja would be back. But he doesn't. Basically, Kindl's lack of waiver options pushes Lilja out of Detroit.

Oh I so disagree here. Lilja will be back and will be a constant on the 3rd pairing. Any wise person who has seen what our PK has done without him and then with him back would agree with me here. He'll take the same salary he did last season. You need to hold onto Lilja because Lidstrom has 1 more year in the tank more than likely, and when he leaves, it'll be Rafalski, Kronwall, Stuart, Lilja, Ericsson, and Kindl... let Lilja walk and we're putting too much pressure on the kids and we don't do that as an organization. We won't have 3 vets and 3 young guys for our D after next season.

Lilja is a mainstay in Detroit until he retires. They guy has proven to be consistent and hard to play against in his own zone.

[Donaldjr2448 43]

Iunderstand what eva unit zero is stating! And it is simply a numbers game at that point, but I simply do not see the Wings letting Lilja go. Once he came back to the lineup out PK has been outstanding. I think since he has been back we have killed something like 45 of 49 PK's. That is crazy awesome, I simply do not see the Wings letting this guy go!

I think Lidstrom is gonna take a huge pay cut, he is making 7.45 million a year, I think he will drop to 2 or 3 million and on a 1 year deal which leaves us the option to throw 2 million at Lilja and possibly bring Kindl up and keep Meech.

I think the thing we need to worry about is keeping Helm and Eaves. They are both RFA's but I could see a team sending them an offer sheet that we may not be able to match! I also see us parting ways with Osgood and Jason Williams. With just Ozzie and Willy gone that frees up nearly 3 million. I personally see Daniel Larsson backing up Howie next year!

I think we will have more options this year than we did last year! I heard that the cap may go up to 57.7 million. Who knows!!

[Bring Back The Bruise Bros 1,029]

1) Rafalski, Kronwall, Stuart, Ericsson, and Kindl are signed and will be up.

2) Lidstrom will probably be returning.

3) The Wings will not be sticking Kindl or Ericsson in a 7th defenseman slot.

So here's what we have:

The top four defensemen (Nick/Nik/Raffi/Stu) are pretty obvious. Combine that with Ericsson and Kindl and you have your likely top six. Lilja is a solid defensive defenseman, but I think simply the fact that he'd be a defenseman who would, at best, be rotating in on the third pair while making better than $1m leads me to believe that he's probably not coming back.

RFA Meech will be the #7 guy, for a cap hit of less than $600k. He's cheap, versatile, developing well defensively and offensively, and very quick. If Kindl had another year in Grand Rapids, Lilja would be back. But he doesn't. Basically, Kindl's lack of waiver options pushes Lilja out of Detroit.

Let Lebda and Meech walk,bring up Kindl and Janik.

[eva unit zero 271]

Let Lebda and Meech walk,bring up Kindl and Janik.

Meech is more likely to return than Janik.

Kindl will be up, this has already been decided. The only questions are who the last two defensemen will be, as we have five signed. If Lidstrom returns, it's a decision between signing Lilja and rotating Ericsson/Lilja/Kindl, or signing Meech and rotating Ericsson/Kindl and occasionally tossing in Meech on D or up front.

And this is all assuming Lilja doesn't retire.

[Motown4013 350]

I dont se Lils going anywhere....as for Lebda, he hasnt played in 6 games and I doubt we will ever see him in the Wings uni again. The Big E has been much better and Lebda is the the odd man out.

See ya Pylon

[tinistien 1]

please make this happen