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Lilja likely gone

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I agree Edicius, Lilja is good enough to be in the top 4 on some teams. And from the first story it looks like that's what he wants.

I'm not sure why Lilja was scratched for Lebda, could of been a nagging injury that wasn't reported though.

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You guys actually take the agent's word over Hollands?

Holland already stated that he offered Lilja a deal, but Lilja wanted more and a bigger role on a team.

Lil's agent is just playing the game, just like Eva said.

This.

If Holland says he made an offer months ago, he very likely did. I don't know that Lilja will be on the team or not, but this sounds more like posturing from the agent more than anything else.

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But honestly, Lilja deserves a bigger role on the team given his play. I was still baffled when Babcock scratched him in favor of Lebda at one point in the playoffs.

I agree, Lils deserves a bigger role, the problem is that he can't take that role from Lids, Raffy, Kronner, or Stuart. Therein may lie the real issue. Lilja will always (or at least for the foreseeable future) be at best the #5 defenseman. He may just want more than the Wings are in a position to give. Kenny said he made an offer, the agent said no offer was made, at this point I gotta believe Kenny that he made and offer and it just must not have been to Lils/his agent's liking. I wish they could re-sign him (and still hope they do) and don't think that Kenny is letting him just walk away without an offer when he said he made one.

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But honestly, Lilja deserves a bigger role on the team given his play.

Maybe, but the bottom line is he's not talented enough to crack Detroit's top 4, so if he wants an expanded role it will be with another team. Nothing wrong with that though, I wish him godspeed if he chooses to depart, which seems likely at this point.

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You must be mistaken. Before the concussion, Lilja missed a total of five games with the Wings due to injury/illness: 2 due to a back injury, 1 due to the flu and 2 due to an appendectomy. Any other games not played before the concussion were as a healthy scratch.

I stand corrected.

I still say he is not worth a serious cap hit when they have other options. Add that to the fact that I trust Holland to make responsible decisions with personnel and I say it's time to move on.

Edited by hellsson

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What will Maltby bring to the team. Nothing IMO I dont understand if they resign Matlby and let Lilja go what the thought process.

I agree that Maltby is all but done. But I highly doubt if Maltby gets re-signed, it has any impact on Lilja's status whatsoever since Maltby would probably sign for peanuts (if he did). Add to that that one source from the agents says no deal was offered whatsoever, and another source quoting Holland saying that he did offer Lilja a contract and Lilja rejected, there's multiple sources that conflict. Lilja might have made up his mind right at the end of the season to want a more expanded role, whether it be with Detroit or elsewhere. That's his decision and more power to him to figure that out if that's the case. That's why it's a bit silly or at least pre-mautre to get all up in arms about management on this one.

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What will Maltby bring to the team. Nothing IMO I dont understand if they resign Matlby and let Lilja go what the thought process.

Again, look at the cap hit.

Maltby = $88,333 (Last Contract)

Lilja = $1,250,000 (Last Contract)

Now personally I think it's time for Maltby to retire but he's still a consistent role player that is pretty cheap. It sounds like Lilja is asking for more money and I really don't think he's worth that much of a cap hit.

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You can deduce from the news article on detnews that Kenny basically chose Maltby over Lilja.

Sigh... I don't know...

Actually the article doesn't say that. It says Maltby is more likely to return. In addition to assuming they would demand the same salary and length and cap hit, Maltby's a forward and Lilija's a defenseman which means you have to factor who is their competition. You also have to assume their desire to stay is the same when actually Maltby would do anything to return and Lilja's talking about his role, not money. To say you can deduce we picked Malby over Lilja without considering any of those factors is just a stretch.

One other odd thing in this is just recently I was arguing against those who said Lilja sucks since the concussion that we shouldn't give up on him in his first year back. All of a sudden that issue seems to be gone. While I argued the keep him side, I'm not sure I agree it's actually not a concern at all either. You combine that with our incoming youth at D, his desire to be top 4 and get top four minutes and it makes a case we need to move on if that's what he wants.

Lils is no Norris candidate, but he's been an integral part of our defense. Hell, look at the Wings' record this past season AFTER he returned

Um...didn't we have a bunch of guys return during that period?

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Guest Hatethedrake!

Lets all go apes***! :lol: Maltby is coming back! :ph34r: Lilja is not coming back! :scared: God damn you Holland! :ranting: You're fired! :sly: The Wings are hiring Doug Maclean as your replacement! :o First order of business...Sign Zherdev, trade Datsyuk and Zetterberg for Nash. When are we getting rid of Maltby? What about Ritola? Lilja? Can we get Leino back? Sign Boogaard dammit! NOW! Why did we get rid of Kopecky? He won a Cup! I want to now lock myself in the bathroom and play flashlight wars with teletubbies! As God as my witness, I'll never watch hockey again! :lol:

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As long as he doesn't go to Pittsburgh. If he goes to Pittsburgh, there's going to be a vodka shortage in the state of New Jersey.

Um...didn't we have a bunch of guys return during that period?

IIRC, most of our injured corps were back by then, even Franzen. Mind you, I might be creating a false causal relationship, but that's the way I saw it during the end of the season. We didn't seem to be stringing together consistent wins until Lilja was back. Take that as you will.

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I mean...

They need a solid third pair defenseman. Why not just try to keep Lilja? He's done a solid job.

On top of that, they want to re-sign Maltby?? Forget about the fact that he would be the 15th forward should they re-sign all their RFAs, which is likely, but I mean... Even if they traded away two of their younger forwards, how does Maltby make the team better in their place?

This loyalty thing has paid off at times in the past. Hopefully it won't bite Kenny in the end.

Lilja more than did his job, and that included trying to keep Ericsson from getting out of control. I really appreciate what Malts has done but if this really does mean Lilja's gone, that's just not thinking ahead. Bottom line, like others have intimated here, we don't have anybody of value to replace him with.

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Lilja more than did his job, and that included trying to keep Ericsson from getting out of control. I really appreciate what Malts has done but if this really does mean Lilja's gone, that's just not thinking ahead. Bottom line, like others have intimated here, we don't have anybody of value to replace him with.

Well, I was wrong to jump ahead and say Kenny basically chose Maltby over Lilja. My bad. At the same time I still think Kenny should find a way to keep Lilja. If that means they have to trade away someone like Drew Miller and or Mattias Ritola then ok, fine, do it. Gotta give up something.

Before the Drew Miller and or Ritola slappies come after me I have to say that I have nothing against Drew Miller. It's just that the bottom six is pretty clogged as it is. Even if those two are gone next year the Wings still have plenty of forwards to do a great job on the PK. Plus, Babs said that Abdelkader will be on the PK from day one. Filppula should be killing penalties as well as Pav and Z from time to time. Drew Miller is expendable at this point with everything considered.

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And if that's true...@#$% Holland.

I've defended most of Holland's choices these past few seasons because there's a reason he's a GM and I'm not. But this is just asinine.

Watch for our PK to be one of the, if not the worst in the league this next season. McCrimmon - Lilja = a recipe for disaster. We've already seen this.

Agreed. I'm pissed at Holland.

Lils is no Norris candidate, but he's been an integral part of our defense. Hell, look at the Wings' record this past season AFTER he returned. It was a HUGE difference. Not to mention that he was statistically the best shot blocker on the team in the regular season and postseason by a mile.

Just plain stupid. Do you think maybe that our record after Lilja returned had a little bit to do with the return of Franzen?

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So because Lilja wants to walk and see what opportunity is out there for him to play more minutes, and Holland wants to keep his cap number reasonable, and we have Abdelkader (who is going to be great part of this team going forward), and possibly re-signing Maltby to a 2-WAY deal which sees him as the 15th forward if everyone re-signs.... this all means that Holland has lost it?

If anyone truly believes that then you are pretty much a 'tard.

Lilja isn't the answer, necessarily, he did do a good job on the defensive side, but we could get someone possibly younger that does the same thing. Or who knows, maybe Kindl will really open some eyes given the chance.

Just plain stupid. Do you think maybe that our record after Lilja returned had a little bit to do with the return of Franzen?

And the addition of Miller, and Flip coming off injury, and coaching.

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Maybe he'll go to Vancouver- just to prove that Swedes can be cuter than Sammy and the Twins.

The problem that I'm having isn't the keeping of Maltby over Lilja. They aren't in competition for position. Where I'm not happy is the keeping of Meech over Lilja. Granted Meech can play forward, which is useful, but Ericsson started as a forward too. He could do it in a pinch.

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