Simple off-season post

[Aussie_Wing 354]

I'd like Tomas Fleischmann.

Filppula - Datsyuk - Franzen

Fleischmann - Zetterberg - Cleary

Bertuzzi - Abdelkader - Holmstrom

Eaves - Helm - Mursak

Edited May 15, 2011 by Aussie_Wing

[Nevermind 363]

That's a stupid trade. First of all, Leino is less talented than Hudler, but has been given a better opportunity in a weaker conference. Remember how well Leino performed as a Wing? Beyond that, Leino is a UFA this summer. So you're basically willing to give up a talented offensive player for the chance to sign a different one who had better season totals before anyone else gets that same chance?

Not a deal I'd make. Especially given that Leino will probably get a deal at or above Hudler's current cap hit.

I would never want lazy Leino back.

But, Hudler I'd trade for future considerations even. Future considerations don't concuss other effective players.

And $2.9M can help go towards a player that can actually skate and be counted on defensively. How the hell can you be so small and skate so slow at the same time?

[mjlegend 155]

Of all the tings I don't understand, the James Wisniewski love is right up there at the top. There's probably a reason he's been on four teams by the time he's 27. Is he still serving games for the Seabrook hit?

The Wings had the fifth best PP int he league last year, and were better than the Sharks and the Bruins in the playoffs. The PP wasn't something that was holding the Wings back. The middle-of-the-road PK WAS.

What's done on the D will depend entirely on the Lidstrom decision. If he doesn't come back, the first option is to make a deal before July 1 with the Preds to get Weber, who is everything the Wings need on the blueline. Abdelkader, Dick Assman, whoever isn't in the top six or top four.

Then, go after a guy like Brooks Laich in UFA, but don't give him more than $3.5 million or longer than four years.

Because I don't see any significant improvements being made by other teams in the division, the Wings have to be still considered front-runners in the division - and should treat the off-season as such.

[eva unit zero 271]

I would never want lazy Leino back.

But, Hudler I'd trade for future considerations even. Future considerations don't concuss other effective players.

And $2.9M can help go towards a player that can actually skate and be counted on defensively. How the hell can you be so small and skate so slow at the same time?

You do realize there's no speed vs. size slider right? This isn't a video game. That said, Hudler was often one of the fastest players on the ice during his shift. Maybe he was just the only one skating.

[eva unit zero 271]

I would never want lazy Leino back.

But, Hudler I'd trade for future considerations even. Future considerations don't concuss other effective players.

And $2.9M can help go towards a player that can actually skate and be counted on defensively. How the hell can you be so small and skate so slow at the same time?

Trading Hudler for Leino's rights at the draft isn't even future considerations. It's ONE WEEK of time to negotiate with Leino before other teams can. One week.

Who do you want in charge of the Wings, Ken Holland or Brian Burke?

[Nevermind 363]

You do realize there's no speed vs. size slider right? This isn't a video game. That said, Hudler was often one of the fastest players on the ice during his shift. Maybe he was just the only one skating.

Brian Gionta

Martin St. Louis

Nathan Gerbe

Ray Whitney

Danny Briere

Steve Sullivan

Et Cetera

Those are players around Hudler's size. All much faster though, even if not in their prime. Name me one player in the NHL in that size range who skates as poorly as Hudler.

The fact is, being smaller doesn't make you faster. But smaller players are almost always faster because that's their way of compensating for their lack of size.

Hudler compensates not with speed, but with his hands. But, when he's not scoring or consistently creating chances, what are his offensive skills good for?

[WorkingOvertime 536]

If the cap goes up $5m+ I'd look to shore up the defense in preparation for Nick's eventual retirement.

Ehrhoff, Pitkanen, Wisniewski, White, Bieksa, Babchuk...some nice options this year, then the year after you got Burns, Wideman, Boychuk, Suter.

UFA forwards suck this year, aside from Richards. The few mid-tier guys will probably be way overpaid, especially if the cap does go up a lot. I'd take a flier on Zherdev or Frolov if they were willing to play for dirt cheap, but beyond that might as well stand pat. Maybe save a little and make a deadline move, or if we can get a good deal package Flip + something for a good sniper, preferably a center (though goal-scoring centers are hard to come by).

With the cap going up a lot this year (relatively), I don't think there will be many deals available on the UFA defensemen. I hope I'm wrong, but agents will likely be pushing for their players to get as much of that new cap space as possible. IMO the best thing to do is trade, but the Wings don't have many tradeable players. IMO Franzen would have to be traded for the Wings to acquire any top-4 dman talent, and while I'm a huge Mule fan, I'm afraid of his contract in a few years.

[Detroit # 1 Fan 2,204]

You do realize there's no speed vs. size slider right? This isn't a video game. That said, Hudler was often one of the fastest players on the ice during his shift. Maybe he was just the only one skating.

Sorry eva, but no.. just no. Hudler was by far the slowest Wing that played this year, as the year went on he begin to keep pace with NHLers such as Shawn Thornton, Andreas Lilja, Jason Allison.. oh whoops. But in seriousness here, the guy is too small and too slow to be effective for Detroit. We need speed, we need size. We're not talking about Gionta or St Louis here, we're talking about Hudler. And against San Jose regardless of "he generated chances" or "looked good on the PP", he didn't score goals. He didn't open up the ice, in the 08 and 09 playoffs, I can admit. He was a good complimentary player on the 3rd and 4th lines. But for his money and effectiveness, he just isn't worth it anymore. All the hookers and blow in Russia really took the wind out of his sails.

[Guest Grayne Wetzky]

No offense, but that looks awful unless you are talking years down the road and Nick is still playing. Don't know how you get rid of Rafalski since he has an NTC and no way Detroit plays all of those young forwards unless Datsyuk and Z carry the team with about 100 points each. The Wings wouldn't even make the playoffs with that team. Sorry just being honest.

I hear ya. I was just checking out what the team would look like if they got rid of their dead weight and brought in guys already in the organization.

What happens if the Wings release Rafalski, Bertuzzi, and Holmstrom? Do they have to pay their full salaries and count them against the cap hit?

[St. Michael (the Red Wing) 422]

As I have said a MILLION TIMES now, next season is the 'suck it up' season, as we have final seasons of Bertuzzi, Rafalski and Holmstrom.

The following season we see Tatar, maybe Jarnkrok, maybe Pulkkinen, Lidstrom likely retires and we spend big in free agency.

As far as I can see, this season there's not a lot of changes we can make. Minor changes such as bringing in Mursak and maybe Emmerton will help, but on top of that, what more can we do/would you like to see?

Yeah just re-read some stuff. We are stuck agreed for next season. Umm so yeah Emmerton and Mursak will still be nice.

This is maybe what we need: Helm, Fip and Abby to start scoring some points. They have huge potential to score more than what they show/done already.

Also maybe a roster change isn't in order maybe since our defense was GODAWFUL all season get a new defensive coach. However, Stuart is getting older and I think you can start to see it a bit especially during the regular season where I think sometimes he takes a game or 2 off. I don't know. Get rid of Salei for sure, no Modano back, have Drapes and Ozzie retire and I'm happy. Looking forward more now than ever to the future of this team and some younger guys stepping in. New blood mixed with old blood has always been a postive thing with this organization imo....

Edited May 15, 2011 by St. Michael (the Red Wing)

[VM1138 1,921]

This off-season won't be about UFA's. There simply aren't enough good ones anymore. Holland will have to dip into trading. The first rule to trading is you find a team that needs something you have (perhaps someone needs a competent winger to play with their superstar (Hudler) or a playmaker (Flip), or both, and happens to have a solid Top 3 offensive D-man to spare. That's how deals are done.

Hudler and Flip will probably have to be packaged, but they've proven they are not essential to this team.

Which means you're probably looking at a weak team in the East as a trading partner.

Edited May 15, 2011 by VM1138

[Nevermind 363]

Trading Hudler for Leino's rights at the draft isn't even future considerations. It's ONE WEEK of time to negotiate with Leino before other teams can. One week.

Who do you want in charge of the Wings, Ken Holland or Brian Burke?

Why do you think I want Leino back? I don't. Not one bit. I'd rather keep Hudler.

What I meant by 'future considerations' was we can trade him to another team for nothing in return as a $2.9M salary dump. Isn't 'future considerations' just a saying when a team trades a player for nothing. I should have said 'bag of pucks' to make my point more clear.

In all honesty though, I'd trade him for draft picks/prospects or part of a package deal for something better. Hudler's not consistently good enough to be in the top six and he's not a grinder either.

I'm curious, is Hudler your favorite player on the Wings right now?

[Guest blueadams]

Put Hudler next to Pav for an entire regular season and he'll put up more points than Mule ever has, imo. He's been terrific for us in a top six role time and time again. Isn't it time to give him a chance there for a whole season?

[eva unit zero 271]

Put Hudler next to Pav for an entire regular season and he'll put up more points than Mule ever has, imo. He's been terrific for us in a top six role time and time again. Isn't it time to give him a chance there for a whole season?

He's clearly too small or too slow, which is why the Hudler/Datsyuk/Cleary line had such trouble scoring.

[hockeychik25 10]

isn't larsson gone? or a I thinking someone else

[InKennyWeTrust 126]

What happens if the Wings release Rafalski, Bertuzzi, and Holmstrom? Do they have to pay their full salaries and count them against the cap hit?

I'm pretty sure that in a buyout, the cap hit is half the player's remaining salary over twice the length remaining on the contract, but I could be completely off base.

EDIT: And I was wrong...

For players under the age of 26, a buyout costs the team one-third of remaining contract value.

For players 26 or older, a buyout costs two-thirds of remaining contract value.

On a buyout, the team takes a cap hit for a percentage of the buyout value (according to a very complex formula) spread over twice the length of the remaining contract years.

Edited May 16, 2011 by InKennyWeTrust

[MGreenberg 105]

Here is another one I threw together.

FORWARDS

Valtteri Filppula ($3.000m) / Pavel Datsyuk ($6.700m) / Johan Franzen ($3.954m)

Daniel Cleary ($2.800m) / Henrik Zetterberg ($6.083m) / Todd Bertuzzi ($1.937m)

Justin Abdelkader ($0.787m) / Darren Helm ($0.912m) / Radim Vrbata ($3.500m)

Tomas Holmstrom ($1.875m) / Brooks Laich ($2.200m) / Jussi Jokinen ($1.700m)

Jan Mursak ($0.550m)

DEFENSEMEN

Niklas Kronwall ($3.000m) / Kevin Bieksa ($4.500m)

Brian Rafalski ($6.000m) / Nicklas Lidstrom ($5.000m)

Brad Stuart ($3.750m) / Jakub Kindl ($0.883m)

GOALTENDERS

Jimmy Howard ($2.250m) / Joey MacDonald ($0.550m)

CAPGEEK.COM TOTALS (follow @capgeek on Twitter)

(these totals are compiled without the bonus cushion)

SALARY CAP: $62,500,000; CAP PAYROLL: $61,933,711; BONUSES: $0

CAP SPACE (21-man roster): $566,289

[xtrememachine1 795]

Here is another one I threw together.

FORWARDS

Valtteri Filppula ($3.000m) / Pavel Datsyuk ($6.700m) / Johan Franzen ($3.954m)

Daniel Cleary ($2.800m) / Henrik Zetterberg ($6.083m) / Todd Bertuzzi ($1.937m)

Justin Abdelkader ($0.787m) / Darren Helm ($0.912m) / Radim Vrbata ($3.500m)

Tomas Holmstrom ($1.875m) / Brooks Laich ($2.200m) / Jussi Jokinen ($1.700m)

Jan Mursak ($0.550m)

DEFENSEMEN

Niklas Kronwall ($3.000m) / Kevin Bieksa ($4.500m)

Brian Rafalski ($6.000m) / Nicklas Lidstrom ($5.000m)

Brad Stuart ($3.750m) / Jakub Kindl ($0.883m)

GOALTENDERS

Jimmy Howard ($2.250m) / Joey MacDonald ($0.550m)

CAPGEEK.COM TOTALS (follow @capgeek on Twitter)

(these totals are compiled without the bonus cushion)

SALARY CAP: $62,500,000; CAP PAYROLL: $61,933,711; BONUSES: $0

CAP SPACE (21-man roster): $566,289

No Radim Vrbata, but I like Laich and Jokinen (it would be nice to win a shootout once in awhile). Bieska or Ehrhoff. I could live with those lines.

[Guest blueadams]

OFF-SEASON:

#1) Modano(1.8m, *FA*)...+1.8m...+1.8m total salary cap space.

#2) Draper(1.6m, *FA*)...+1.6m...+3.4m total salary cap space.

#3) Eaves(0.8m, *FA*)...+0.8m...+4.2m total salary cap space.

#4) Miller(0.7m, *FA*)...+0.7m...+4.9m total salary cap space.

#5) Lidstrom(6.2m, *FA*)...+6.2m...+11.1m total salary cap space.

#6) Salei(1.1m, *FA*)...+1.1m...+12.2m total salary cap space.

#7) Ericsson(0.9m, *FA*)...+0.9m...+13.1m total salary cap space.

#8) Osgood(1.4m, *FA*)...+1.4m...+14.5m total salary cap space.

#9) MacDonald(0.6m, *FA*)...+0.6m...+15.1m total salary cap space.

#1) Howard(2.3m, 2yrs)...His raise kicks in...-1.6m...13.5m total salary cap space.

#2) Mursak(0.6m, 2yrs)...He's going to be added to the roster...-0.6m...12.9m total salary cap space.

#3) Janik(0.5m, 1yr)...He's going to be added to the roster...-0.5m...12.4m total salary cap space.

#4) Lidstrom(6.2m-ish, ?)...He's probably going to be brought back, at around the same price...-6.2m...6.2m total salary cap space.

#5) Backup goalie?(0.5m-ish, ?)...I don't know who the backup goalie's going to be (Osgood/MacDonald/Larsson), but he should be making around league minimum...-0.5m-ish...5.7m total salary cap space.

...This is where things get interesting, and where the speculation begins: There's going to be about 5.7m available in salary cap space (maybe 5-6m more if the salary cap increase rumors are true), and three players left to sign (two forwards and a defenseman).

It all starts with Ericsson. It sounds like we want him back at about 2m/season. If he takes that, great. That'd leave us with about 3.7m to spend on our last two forwards. If he doesn't - and this is what I'd prefer - I think we should stretch out and sign someone like Bieksa to about a 4m/season contract. That'd still leave us with about 1.7m to spend on our last two forwards (..should be enough to keep Eaves and Miller).

*If the cap goes up, then we can start talking about adding a top-six forward..

2011/2012 Detroit Red Wings:

FORWARDS:

#1) Datsyuk(6.7m, 3yrs)

#2) Zetterberg(6.1m, 10yrs)

#3) Franzen(4.0m, 9yrs)

#4) Filppula(3.0m, 2yrs)

#5) Hudler(2.9m, 1yr)

#6) Cleary(2.8m, 2yrs)

#7) Bertuzzi(1.9m, 1yr)

#8) Holmstrom(1.9m, 1yr)

#9) Helm(0.9m, 1yr-RFA)

#10) Abdelkader(0.8m, 1yr-RFA)

#11) *Eaves/*?*(0.8m-ish, ?)

#12) *Miller/*?*(0.7m-ish, ?)

#13) Mursak(0.6m, 2yrs)

Filppula-Datsyuk-Franzen

Hudler-Zetterberg-Cleary

Miller/*?*-Helm-Eaves/*?*

Mursak-Abdelkader-Holmstrom

Bertuzzi

DEFENSEMEN:

#1) *Lidstrom(6.2m-ish, ?)

#2) Rafalski(6.0m, 1yr)

#3) *Bieksa(4.0m, ?)/Ericsson(2.0m, ?)

#4) Stuart(3.8m, 1yr)

#5) Kronwall(3.0m, 1yr)

#6) Kindl(0.9m, 2yrs)

#7) Janik(0.5m, 1yr)

Kronwall-*Bieksa/*?*

Lidstrom-Rafalski

Kindl-Stuart

Janik

GOALIES:

#1) Howard(2.3m, 2yrs)

#2) *Osgood/MacDonald/Larsson/*?*(0.5m, ?)

Howard

Larsson/*?*

i edited the original post...forgot to include howard's significant raise before.

and for the record, i still think that this is - by far - the most informative off-season thread on the board.

[Guest blueadams]

OFF-SEASON:

#1) Modano(1.8m, *FA*)...+1.8m...+1.8m total salary cap space.

#2) Draper(1.6m, *FA*)...+1.6m...+3.4m total salary cap space.

#3) Eaves(0.8m, *FA*)...+0.8m...+4.2m total salary cap space.

#4) Miller(0.7m, *FA*)...+0.7m...+4.9m total salary cap space.

#5) Lidstrom(6.2m, *FA*)...+6.2m...+11.1m total salary cap space.

#6) Salei(1.1m, *FA*)...+1.1m...+12.2m total salary cap space.

#7) Ericsson(0.9m, *FA*)...+0.9m...+13.1m total salary cap space.

#8) Osgood(1.4m, *FA*)...+1.4m...+14.5m total salary cap space.

#9) MacDonald(0.6m, *FA*)...+0.6m...+15.1m total salary cap space.

#1) Howard(2.3m, 2yrs)...His raise kicks in...-1.6m...13.5m total salary cap space.

#2) Mursak(0.6m, 2yrs)...He's going to be added to the roster...-0.6m...12.9m total salary cap space.

#3) Janik(0.5m, 1yr)...He's going to be added to the roster...-0.5m...12.4m total salary cap space.

#4) Lidstrom(6.2m-ish, ?)...He's probably going to be brought back, at around the same price...-6.2m...6.2m total salary cap space.

#5) Backup goalie?(0.5m-ish, ?)...I don't know who the backup goalie's going to be (Osgood/MacDonald/Larsson), but he should be making around league minimum...-0.5m-ish...5.7m total salary cap space.

*It sounds like the salary cap is going to increase 1.1 to 4.1m (I'll air on the side of caution, for now)...+1.1m...6.8m total salary.

...This is where things get interesting, and where the speculation begins: There's going to be about 6.8m available in salary cap space, and three players left to sign (two forwards and a defenseman).

It all starts with Ericsson. It sounds like we want him back at about 2m/season. If he takes that, great (it'd leave us with about 4.8m to spend on our last two forwards). If he doesn't - and this is what I'd prefer - I think we should stretch out and replace him with someone like Kevin Bieksa to about a 4m/season contract. Even then, we'd still have about 2.8m to spend on our last two forwards (more than enough to keep Eaves and Miller).

*If the cap goes up 4.1m, then we can start talking about adding a top-six forward..

2011/2012 Detroit Red Wings:

FORWARDS:

#1) Datsyuk(6.7m, 3yrs)

#2) Zetterberg(6.1m, 10yrs)

#3) Franzen(4.0m, 9yrs)

#4) Filppula(3.0m, 2yrs)

#5) Hudler(2.9m, 1yr)

#6) Cleary(2.8m, 2yrs)

#7) Bertuzzi(1.9m, 1yr)

#8) Holmstrom(1.9m, 1yr)

#9) Helm(0.9m, 1yr-RFA)

#10) Abdelkader(0.8m, 1yr-RFA)

#11) *Eaves/*?*(0.8m-ish, ?)

#12) *Miller/*?*(0.7m-ish, ?)

#13) Mursak(0.6m, 2yrs)

Filppula-Datsyuk-Franzen

Hudler-Zetterberg-Cleary

Miller/*?*-Helm-Eaves/*?*

Mursak-Abdelkader-Holmstrom

Bertuzzi

DEFENSEMEN:

#1) *Lidstrom(6.2m-ish, ?)

#2) Rafalski(6.0m, 1yr)

#3) *Bieksa(4.0m, ?)/Ericsson(2.0m, ?)

#4) Stuart(3.8m, 1yr)

#5) Kronwall(3.0m, 1yr)

#6) Kindl(0.9m, 2yrs)

#7) Janik(0.5m, 1yr)

Kronwall-*Bieksa/*?*

Lidstrom-Rafalski

Kindl-Stuart

Janik

GOALIES:

#1) Howard(2.3m, 2yrs)

#2) *Osgood/MacDonald/Larsson/*?*(0.5m, ?)

Howard

Larsson/*?*

...i edited the OP once again, in response to the new salary cap news.

[Guest blueadams]

OFF-SEASON:

#1) Modano(1.8m, *FA*)...+1.8m...+1.8m total salary cap space.

#2) Draper(1.6m, *FA*)...+1.6m...+3.4m total salary cap space.

#3) Eaves(0.8m, *FA*)...+0.8m...+4.2m total salary cap space.

#4) Miller(0.7m, *FA*)...+0.7m...+4.9m total salary cap space.

#5) Lidstrom(6.2m, *FA*)...+6.2m...+11.1m total salary cap space.

#6) Salei(1.1m, *FA*)...+1.1m...+12.2m total salary cap space.

#7) Ericsson(0.9m, *FA*)...+0.9m...+13.1m total salary cap space.

#8) Osgood(1.4m, *FA*)...+1.4m...+14.5m total salary cap space.

#9) MacDonald(0.6m, *FA*)...+0.6m...+15.1m total salary cap space.

#1) Howard(2.3m, 2yrs)...His raise kicks in...-1.6m...13.5m total salary cap space.

#2) Mursak(0.6m, 2yrs)...He's going to be added to the roster...-0.6m...12.9m total salary cap space.

#3) Janik(0.5m, 1yr)...He's going to be added to the roster...-0.5m...12.4m total salary cap space.

#4) Lidstrom(6.2m-ish, ?)...He's probably going to be brought back, at around the same price...-6.2m...6.2m total salary cap space.

#5) Backup goalie?(0.5m-ish, ?)...I don't know who the backup goalie's going to be (Osgood/MacDonald/Larsson), but he should be making around league minimum...-0.5m-ish...5.7m total salary cap space.

*It sounds like the salary cap is going to increase 1.1 to 4.1m (I'll air on the side of caution, for now)...+1.1m...6.8m total salary.

This is where things get interesting, and where the speculation begins: There's going to be about 6.8m available in salary cap space (maybe as much as 9.8m), and three players left to sign - two forwards and a defenseman.

It all starts with Ericsson. It sounds like we want him back at about 2m/season, but he thinks he might be able to get more elsewhere. If he accepts something in the 2mil/season range here, great; it'll leave us with about 4.8m (or more) to spend on our last two forwards. If he doesn't, we can replace him with Brendan Smith or a new FA acquisition. If we go with Smith, he makes 0.9m/season, and it'll leave us with about 5.9m (or more) to sign our last two forwards.

Here's my prediction: 1) I think that Ericsson gets something in the 3-4mil/season range (from a stupid team), and leaves; 2) I think that he'll be replaced by Smith; 3) I think that we'll spend the remaining 5.9m (or more) on upgrades for Eaves and Miller's spots.

2011/2012 Detroit Red Wings:

FORWARDS:

#1) Datsyuk(6.7m, 3yrs)

#2) Zetterberg(6.1m, 10yrs)

#3) Franzen(4.0m, 9yrs)

#4) Filppula(3.0m, 2yrs)

#5) Hudler(2.9m, 1yr)

#6) Cleary(2.8m, 2yrs)

#7) Bertuzzi(1.9m, 1yr)

#8) Holmstrom(1.9m, 1yr)

#9) Helm(0.9m, 1yr-RFA)

#10) Abdelkader(0.8m, 1yr-RFA)

#11) Mursak(0.6m, 2yrs)

#12) *Eaves/*?*(0.8m-ish, ?)

#13) *Miller/*?*(0.7m-ish, ?)

Filppula-Datsyuk-Franzen

Hudler-Zetterberg-Cleary

Miller/*?*-Helm-Eaves/*?*

Mursak-Abdelkader-Holmstrom

Bertuzzi

DEFENSEMEN:

#1) Rafalski(6.0m, 1yr)

#2) Stuart(3.8m, 1yr)

#3) Kronwall(3.0m, 1yr)

#4) Kindl(0.9m, 2yrs)

#5) Janik(0.5m, 1yr)

#6) *Lidstrom(6.2m-ish, ?)

#7) *Smith(0.9m, 2yrs)/Ericsson(2.0m, ?)/*?*

Kronwall-Stuart

Lidstrom-Rafalski

Smith/*?*-Kindl

Janik

GOALIES:

#1) Howard(2.3m, 2yrs)

#2) *Osgood/MacDonald/Larsson/*?*(0.5m, ?)

Howard

Larsson/*?*

McCollum

i updated the OP again. after listening to holland's interview, i think we're going to replace Ericsson with Smith (giving us 7 defensemen under contract), and i think we're going to spend the surplus cap space on upgrades for eaves and miller.

[Guest blueadams]

OFF-SEASON:

*It sounds like the salary cap is going to increase 1.1 to 4.1m (I'll air on the side of caution, for now)...+1.1m...+1.1m total salary cap space.

#1) Modano(1.8m, *FA*)...+1.8m...+2.9m total salary cap space.

#2) Draper(1.6m, *FA*)...+1.6m...+4.5m total salary cap space.

#3) Eaves(0.8m, *FA*)...+0.8m...+5.3m total salary cap space.

#4) Miller(0.7m, *FA*)...+0.7m...+6.0m total salary cap space.

#5) Lidstrom(6.2m, *FA*)...+6.2m...+12.2m total salary cap space.

#6) Rafalski(6.0m, 1yr)...+6.0m...+18.2m total salary cap space.

#7) Salei(1.1m, *FA*)...+1.1m...+19.3m total salary cap space.

#8) Ericsson(0.9m, *FA*)...+0.9m...+20.2m total salary cap space.

#9) Osgood(1.4m, *FA*)...+1.4m...+21.6m total salary cap space.

#10) MacDonald(0.6m, *FA*)...+0.6m...+22.2m total salary cap space.

#1) Howard(2.3m, 2yrs)...His raise kicks in...-1.6m...20.6m total salary cap space.

#2) Mursak(0.6m, 2yrs)...He's going to be added to the roster...-0.6m...20.0m total salary cap space.

#3) Janik(0.5m, 1yr)...He's going to be added to the roster...-0.5m...19.5m total salary cap space.

#4) Lidstrom(6.2m-ish, ?)...He's probably going to be brought back at around the same price (maybe less now that Rafalski's gone?)...-6.2m...13.3m total salary cap space.

#5) Backup goalie?(0.5m-ish, ?)...I don't know who the backup goalie's going to be (Osgood/MacDonald/Larsson), but he should be making around league minimum...-0.5m-ish...12.8m total salary cap space.

...So, there's going to be about 12.8m available in salary cap space (maybe as much as 15.8m if the cap goes up 4.1m), and four players left to sign - two forwards and two defensemen. This is where things get interesting, and where the speculation begins:

FWIW, here's my prediction: #1) I think that Ericsson gets 3-4m/season from a stupid team, leaves, and is replaced by a high-profile free agent (like Bieksa?). #2) I think that Brendan Smith makes the team. #3/#4) I think that the remaining cap space - about 8m - is spent on upgrades for Eaves and Miller.

edited the OP in response to rafalski's retirement.