Lidstrom Signs 1-Year Contract Extension

[hak 21]

This thread is disappointing. I can't believe people are questioning Lidstrom's character? Insuating that he is greedy? Doesent make sacrifises?

You are so spoiled wow.

I'm happy that he is back for another year and with another discount. It's Nicklas Lidstrom.

[Motown4013 350]

Honestly People...Last week everyone was having an anxiety attack that Lids wouldn't return and now all I am hearing is: 1) 6.1 Million is too much cash for Lids and you are disappointed 2) Mr. X that plays for ______ is making 7 million, or 4.5 million or took a discount for his team and 3) We wont be competitive because we cant go out and get some UFA that will likely get more money than he is worth in a crappy RFA year. Who cares what Keith makes...or Campbell for that matter- Is Lids worth a 6.1 million hit to this team..and yes, of course he is.

Heres the thing. Nick could have gotten much more money in the past but has always stayed loyal to Detroit. He did take a pay cut to stay because he could have gotten more than 6.1 on any team. Although I am surprised at the number ( I was thinking 5) it doesnt matter. We keep our leader, the Captian and for all of you who dont think we can be competitive this year...Hello? Lidstrom, Pavel, Z, Franzen...all top tier guys that can win a cup.

I am happy that the deal is done..now we can sign the guys who played hard for us all year and will next year.

[TheDetroitRedWings 286]

I'm definitely happy that Lidstrom is coming back for another year. But I really thought he would take a much bigger pay cut. He's still an above average defenseman. But his production last season doesn't seam to warrant a 6.5 mill deal. I was thinking more like 5 mill. Hopefully he will play lights out all year.

[HankthaTank 1,100]

Yeah, he should definitely take a lower salary than Rafalski???

You guys really just need to take a step back and maybe re-hash this whole thing. Its Nick effing Lidstrom. He is a top 5 dman. Saying 'above average' is just startling. I have a feeling this is coming from trolls or people who just don't understand the business. He took a huge pay cut his whole career. It just can't sink in anymore than that I suppose. f***'S SAKE!!!

Edited June 1, 2010 by HankthaTank

[SouthernWingsFan 854]

Not enough to be competitive anymore.

Well aren't you a nice little ray of sunshine today...

[BUHdactyl 23]

I'm definitely happy that Lidstrom is coming back for another year. But I really thought he would take a much bigger pay cut. He's still an above average defenseman. But his production last season doesn't seam to warrant a 6.5 mill deal. I was thinking more like 5 mill. Hopefully he will play lights out all year.

This

[Yzerman191 37]

You guys are funny. You're letting that number (40) skew your opinions. If we had signed another defenseman with the same skill, stats, etc. for the same amount and the same length, but he was 30 years old instead of 40, you'd all be rejoicing. Age is just a number; his abilities are not that of a 40 year old. He is still better than 99% of the league and his salary is going to reflect that.

Also, his signing leaves this team with 11.6 million to spend, assuming the cap goes up to 58M. We'll have five D-men signed, including all of our top four. We'll have eight forwards signed, including all of the top players up for contracts. The only player left to re-sign that will make more than a million or so will be Holmstrom, and possibly Bertuzzi. We also have two very-capable goaltenders signed. IMO, we're in a pretty good spot.

[blgillett 48]

still a discount for one of if not still the best D-man in the world and a good captain too!

[dobbles 252]

there's a couple things in this thread that keep making me think... just thought i would add in my 2 cents...

Lidstrom's character: this got brought into play, and I actually think its at least a valid thing to discuss. The reason people expect a lot from Lidstrom is he has always shown great character throughout his career. So many fans expected this contract signing to be a continuation of that. Because Nick has set our expectations high, many fans thought he would take a nice discount to give the team a better chance at winning. So to me, its not that Nick all of a sudden lacks character, but he just isn't living up to the level of character that we have come to expect. It's not as if he totally betrayed fans and signed a 8 million dollar deal with the Panthers or something crazy, he just didn't live up to the lofty standards that he has built in many fans minds. That's my interpretation of many fans problem with the contract.

'I should take a pay cut too': How does this always get brought up? Lidstrom just agreed to a deal for more money than I will make in my entire life! Lets factor in he has been making a similar amount of money for the last decade and has been making a more than comfortable salary for more than 20 years now. I especially loved it when someone said after hockey he has no skills for other jobs. By reputation alone I am sure he could get pretty much any job in coaching, announcing, or management that he wanted. Players retire all the time and don't instantly become homeless because of it. The comparison between working folks and super rich athletes makes no sense. With leagues having salary caps these days, it is necessary to have players that outperform contracts. Many times this happens with young guys that are on entry level deals or are still RFA's. However, getting veterans to take discounts to help the team is a very common thing these days. So why in order for a fan to want that to happen do they need to emulate the pay decrease?

[Pucks 66]

Just like I suspected. He was never going to take less than Rafalski when he's a much better hockey player. That's why pay scale is so important in the cap world. Everybody want's to be paid accordingly with the locker room structure under the cap. You even heard Homers agent talking about this very thing.

Awesome to have Nick back for another year. Now if we could just get Homer and Bertuzzi to take one year deals, we'd be golden.

[MCleveland89 122]

If you honestly think anyone is going to take less money for the same job, you're full of s***. If anyone here had the chance to do a job for 7 million or 4 million, you'd take the 7 million. Stop whining.

Glad to have you back for another year Nick.

Edited June 1, 2010 by MCleveland89

[Guest mindfly]

Ok 1year @ 6.2M is official now.

[Puckpossession 3]

good enough price cut i expected 7 mil. Those who were going for 3.5m-4 are crazy, and 5m is wishful thinking

[j.hoop 64]

of course the other staples dont need to be mentioned, but i only care that we keep helm and eaves, and though it doesnt look bright, miller. the life they breathed into the PK was tremendous. i definitely am not saying lidstrom doesnt deserve it, but 5mil wouldve looked so much better than 6mil.

[Guest screwdahawks]

Well I was hoping for 5M but really didn't think they would ask him to play for less than Rafalski.

[rick zombo 3,739]

So how much money will the Wings approximately have to spend this offseason?

With Lidstrom signed at 6.2M this is what the roster looks like(note - it's more fun to assume that the cap is going up 2M so I've made the adjustments):

Pavel Datsyuk ($6.700m) / Henrik Zetterberg ($6.083m) / Johan Franzen ($3.955m)

Valtteri Filppula ($3.000m) / Jiri Hudler ($2.875m) / Daniel Cleary ($2.800m)

Kris Draper ($1.583m) / Mattias Ritola ($0.517m)

DEFENSEMEN

Nicklas Lidstrom ($6.200m) / Brian Rafalski ($6.000m)

Brad Stuart ($3.750m) / Niklas Kronwall ($3.000m)

Jonathan Ericsson ($0.900m) / Jakub Kindl ($0.883m)

GOALTENDERS

Chris Osgood ($1.417m) / Jimmy Howard ($0.717m)

CAPGEEK.COM TOTALS

(these totals are compiled using the bonus cushion)

ROSTER: 16; CAP: $56.8m; PAYROLL: $50.380m; CAP ROOM: $8.420m BONUSES: $0.000m

Sooooo, that's 8.42M to sign 5 forwards and 1 D-man. 6 players.

Technically, if Bert walked and Homer signed for 2.5M, that leaves 5.9M for 5 players.

Say they signed someone like Armstrong for 2M, that leaves 3.9 M for 4 players. Helm, Abby, sign for 1M each(high estimate).

This leaves 1.9M for two players. Eaves and a 7th D-Man. Each making 900k.

Like this!!!!!

Pavel Datsyuk ($6.700m) / Henrik Zetterberg ($6.083m) / Thomas Holmstrom (2.500m)

Johan Franzen ($3.955m)/ Valtteri Filppula ($3.000m) / Jiri Hudler ($2.875m)

Colby Armstrong (2.000m)/ Justin Abdlekader ($1.000m) / Daniel Cleary ($2.800m)

Patrick Eaves (0.900m)/ Darren Helm (1.000m)/ Kris Draper ($1.583m)

Mattias Ritola ($0.517m)

DEFENSEMEN

Nicklas Lidstrom ($6.200m) / Brian Rafalski ($6.000m)

Brad Stuart ($3.750m) / Niklas Kronwall ($3.000m)

Jonathan Ericsson ($0.900m) / Andreas Lilja ($0.900m)

Jakub Kindl ($0.883m)

GOALTENDERS

Chris Osgood ($1.417m) / Jimmy Howard ($0.717m)

I think.

Edited June 1, 2010 by rick zombo

[Guest Lidstromboli]

anyone thinking he would take a 2+ mil pay cut are delusional

[Guest mindfly]

With Lidstrom signed at 6.2M this is what the roster looks like(note - it's more fun to assume that the cap is going up 2M so I've made the adjustments):

Pavel Datsyuk ($6.700m) / Henrik Zetterberg ($6.083m) / Johan Franzen ($3.955m)

Valtteri Filppula ($3.000m) / Jiri Hudler ($2.875m) / Daniel Cleary ($2.800m)

Kris Draper ($1.583m) / Mattias Ritola ($0.517m)

DEFENSEMEN

Nicklas Lidstrom ($6.200m) / Brian Rafalski ($6.000m)

Brad Stuart ($3.750m) / Niklas Kronwall ($3.000m)

Jonathan Ericsson ($0.900m) / Jakub Kindl ($0.883m)

GOALTENDERS

Chris Osgood ($1.417m) / Jimmy Howard ($0.717m)

CAPGEEK.COM TOTALS

(these totals are compiled using the bonus cushion)

ROSTER: 16; CAP: $56.8m; PAYROLL: $50.380m; CAP ROOM: $8.420m BONUSES: $0.000m

Sooooo, that's 8+ to sign 5 forwards and 1 D-man. 6 players.

Playing along a little

Bert gets a little raise in a multi year deal but his caphit remains 1.5, holmstrom gets 2million.. that's 4.92million left for a few fourth liners/extra players... should be room for a dallas drake type signing

Edited June 1, 2010 by mindfly

[Pepist 3]

'He' this and 'he' that - I'm pretty sure Lids' got an agent that was angling for market value, which would be waaay over 7-8Mil. Sundin got 10 million for f***s sake. Nick took a discount. He was +22 on a team that was a collective - for most of the year and finished a collective +2 or something. He still had 50 points. He still played the most minutes against the best players and played all power plays and all power kills. Exactly who would you replace him with that would fetch 6.2Mil on the open market? Let's not even mention his legacy. Some people are saying he's 'above average'. You can't be serious.

[Guest DatsyukianDeke13]

I feel like this thread was started at 830 a.m.....by me.....

[rick zombo 3,739]

Playing along a little

Bert gets a little raise in a multi year deal but his caphit remains 1.5, holmstrom gets 2million.. that's 4.92million left for a few fourth liners/extra players... should be room for a dallas drake type signing

I edited my post, and played along a little myself

[NeverForgetMac25 483]

With Lidstrom signed at 6.2M this is what the roster looks like(note - it's more fun to assume that the cap is going up 2M so I've made the adjustments):

Pavel Datsyuk ($6.700m) / Henrik Zetterberg ($6.083m) / Johan Franzen ($3.955m)

Valtteri Filppula ($3.000m) / Jiri Hudler ($2.875m) / Daniel Cleary ($2.800m)

Kris Draper ($1.583m) / Mattias Ritola ($0.517m)

DEFENSEMEN

Nicklas Lidstrom ($6.200m) / Brian Rafalski ($6.000m)

Brad Stuart ($3.750m) / Niklas Kronwall ($3.000m)

Jonathan Ericsson ($0.900m) / Jakub Kindl ($0.883m)

GOALTENDERS

Chris Osgood ($1.417m) / Jimmy Howard ($0.717m)

CAPGEEK.COM TOTALS

(these totals are compiled using the bonus cushion)

ROSTER: 16; CAP: $56.8m; PAYROLL: $50.380m; CAP ROOM: $8.420m BONUSES: $0.000m

Sooooo, that's 8+ to sign 5 forwards and 1 D-man. 6 players.

I can see something similar to this happening:

Holmstrom: $2,250,000 (With a year or two of term to make up the raise difference)

Bertuzzi: $2,000,000 (Same)

Helm: $800,000

Eaves: $750,000

Abdelkader: $900,000 (due to RFA re-sign raise policy)

Lilja: $1,100,000

That leaves Kenny with $620,000 (pro-rated at around $3 million) to play with at the deadline unless he wants to add a Drake-type player now and remove a lower-end piece of the puzzle. This doesn't include how he's gonna handle the Meech situation given the fact that he submitted a qualifying offer. He could let Lilja walk, but personally I'd love to re-sign Lilja for anything up to what he was making these past two seasons. He's well worth it for that bottom pairing and PK'ing.

[HankthaTank 1,100]

'He' this and 'he' that - I'm pretty sure Lids' got an agent that was angling for market value, which would be waaay over 7-8Mil. Sundin got 10 million for f***s sake. Nick took a discount. He was +22 on a team that was a collective - for most of the year and finished a collective +2 or something. He still had 50 points. He still played the most minutes against the best players and played all power plays and all power kills. Exactly who would you replace him with that would fetch 6.2Mil on the open market? Let's not even mention his legacy. Some people are saying he's 'above average'. You can't be serious.

True say! 'Above average'. HAHAHA its absolutely beyond mind-boggling. Nick Lidstrom fellas....Those 2 names combined alone mean something FAR different than above average. Polled by the league who the toughest dman to play against (players mind you) was Nick. Nicknamed by teammates "Perfect Human" and who else does that fit other than he? None more "perfect" of a player to don the "C" after Stevie left. NONE!!!

[NeverForgetMac25 483]

I feel like this thread was started at 830 a.m.....by me.....

It was considered a "Report/Rumor" at that time. Does it really matter who started the thread?

[Guest Lidstromboli]

one of the best defensemen of all time took a 1 million dollar pay cut for what will likely be his last season

and it pisses me off!!!!! he's so selfish!!!