Brian Rafalski announces retirement after 11 NHL seasons

[Doc Holliday 1,888]

Agreed.

It's one thing to pick up star players later in their careers when they're UFA's and may be willing to change teams for a shot at the Cup, but we're talking about two young defenseman who are RFA's and the cornerstones of their respective franchises.

The only reason Weber is remotely plausible is Nashville's internal cap that may force the GMs to be frugal with his next contract.

That is why I think Suter is a realistic possibility next year. He isn't their franchise, and will not be as easy to sign for Nashville as Weber will be.

[luvmnger 125]

It is highly unlikely that Doughty and Weber are moved. However, one name that isnt mentioned on this site and has been involved in trade rumors is Brent Burns. IMO, he'd be a great fit. Right Handed Shot. Big and Mean, etc.

i second that! burns would rock!

and we need to pilfer the unstable teams like atlanta/winnipeg/phoenix

yandle/bogozian/ekman larsson/enstrom....young and solid skills.

honestly...i feel that holland will balance out the total cap relief from

rafalski/draper/modano/salei/ericsson/miller and spread the wealth around for a balanced team with some 1-2 year contracts and bide time for THE replacements.

but his spending will make a solid team to entice lids into another season or 2.

my 2 cents.

[Datsyerberger 279]

*snif*

Wow, he didn't go bald.. all of his hair just migrated to his forearms.

[Red Wings Addict 787]

The official word is that he hasn't fully decided yet. Or hasn't made it official. The word on the street, however, is that he's done.

How many people in here are holding out on the slim chance that he won't retire?

It may not be the most popular opinion on here but you can count me as one who hopes that his body somehow magically re-strengthens itself for one more solid season.

So that's one. Anyone else?

[luvmnger 125]

its shocking on one hand...but we could all see it coming undone.

rafalski left it all on the ice for the wings and took some punishment to make that perfect outlet pass.

we respect that, and hope that he keeps his grin around the joe in some capacity.

thanks raffi, we loved your efforts and dedication.

now, we are drooling at the opportunity to spend the next month hashing out possible scenarios that holland will produce for us wing fans.

some of us will be furious, some of us will be joyous. but we will all be giddy to see the puck drop on next season and watch the "new" breed make a run at #12.

[Aussie_Wing 354]

FORWARDS

Daniel Cleary ($2.800m) / Pavel Datsyuk ($6.700m) / Johan Franzen ($3.954m)

Todd Bertuzzi ($1.937m) / Henrik Zetterberg ($6.083m) / Jiri Hudler ($2.875m)

Tomas Holmstrom ($1.875m) / Valtteri Filppula ($3.000m) / Tomas Fleischmann ($2.900m)

Justin Abdelkader ($0.787m) / Darren Helm ($0.912m) / Jan Mursak ($0.550m)

Cory Emmerton ($0.533m)

DEFENSEMEN

Nick Lidstrom ($5.900m) / Niklas Kronwall ($3.000m)

Brad Stuart ($3.750m) / Christian Ehrhoff ($4.355m)

Jakub Kindl ($0.883m) / Anton Babchuk ($1.850m)

Brendan Smith ($0.875m)

GOALTENDERS

Jimmy Howard ($2.250m) / Ty Conklin ($1.475m)

CAPGEEK.COM TOTALS (follow @capgeek on Twitter)

(these totals are compiled without the bonus cushion)

SALARY CAP: $59,400,000; CAP PAYROLL: $59,247,044; BONUSES: $0

CAP SPACE (22-man roster): $152,956

to me i think Lids only comes back now after Raffy retiring if 1) he thinks the Wings have a VERY REAL chance at winning another Cup or 2) he takes a bigger pay cut to bring in top end players which he may have to do in order to do the first one.

Don't mind that line-up actually, except Conklin shouldn't earn more than $1mil.

I like Fleischmann and I hope we go after him, he could score 20+ easily on this team.

[Wing Across The Pond 196]

Really did not see this coming....

I think going after Weber is a great idea. Especially now.

I know people will say that the Preds will match anything. However what does it hurt to make them pay more to keep him, if we can't have him?

Agreed!

[Bannedforlife 403]

I would feel bad giving up more than 2 firsts for any player. I dont like moving draft picks one bit.

Would you trade Sheahan, Ferraro, McCollum and Smith for Weber? I would

[Wings4Life19 150]

Would you trade Sheahan, Ferraro, McCollum and Smith for Weber? I would

Smith is about as close to an untouchable as the wings have, and Sheahan has to much of an upside. No deal for me.

[AtomicPunk 296]

Before we go throwing millions at Babchuk and Ehrhoff (who i like) don't scratch Bieksa out of that picture. He's a good young defenseman with offensive skills who was injured a little bit the last few years. Can be physical too. But Markov...no frickin way. He has a lot of upside if he's healthy, but...too risky.

[xtrememachine1 795]

Apparently Holland hasn't heard anything from Rafalski on this.

Red Wings: Brian Rafalski hasn't decided on retirement

[achildr1 255]

Would you trade Sheahan, Ferraro, McCollum and Smith for Weber? I would

Oh my Garth, in a heartbeat. Ferraro and McCullom are looking pretty close to bust material. Smith will most likely never be as good as Weber. Sheahan, well I'm not convinced Sheahan will be more than a third line center in the Bigs.

The thing with the Wings giving up the picks is how low they'll most likely be. It makes it look semi-reasonable. That said, can we please stop the crazy nonsense about getting Weber. There are so many things stacked against this happening that calling it a pipe dream is generous. Plus, I think the system is a little out dated considering how much picks mean now. The price to poach a guy is hyper-astronomically large. Akin or worse to the Shanahan - Stevens debacle.

Edited May 24, 2011 by achildr1

[TheWestWing 71]

Oh happy day!

[achildr1 255]

Apparently Holland hasn't heard anything from Rafalski on this.

Red Wings: Brian Rafalski hasn't decided on retirement

Wow. This is crazyness. TSN usually wont report stuff unless its for real so I'm pretty surprised now this is happening...

[sputman 1,268]

i'm not sure our "babs" would endorse this "babs." here is a blurb from an article in 2009 when he was a member of the hurricanes:

“Babs” has had his ups and downs with Carolina including a demotion to Albany, a failure to report there, a subsequent suspension, a year spent in what is now the KHL.

When Babchuk was sent to Albany for conditioning back in the 2006-07 season, he refused to go there. He griped that he was not a minor league hockey player and simply never reported.

http://www.kuklaskorner.com/index.php/rbh/comments/anton_babchuk_from_pariah_to_hero/

who knows, we've been able to turn high-drafted hot-heads around in the past (cleary).

[HankthaTank 1,100]

Assuming Rafalski really retires, doesn't that leave Eaves as the only right-handed shot on the roster?

Enter: Jan Mursak

But yes, I am not celebrating this announcement today but in fact reflecting on one of the most important pieces to this team's success over the past 3 years. His play in 2008 and much of the 2009 playoffs was simply amazing stuff. Nick and Raf pairing back then was by far one of my favorites to watch all time. Best puck moving I've seen in some time. I realize all of the things Raf went through to come here by taking a discount so he could back to his home state of Michigan and play for his favorite boyhood team. His play in the Olympics was quite breathtaking as well and would have been just icing on the cake for an amazing career to add that Gold Medal too. We will not soon forget the play #28 brought to this team and his tribulations he went through with his knees and subsequently the back as well. I gave him plenty of flack for being a 1 faceted dman but people really need to put in perspective what other intangibles guys like him bring. 6 million is there to spend and that's great but a Brian Rafalski just doesn't replaced right away. Thanks for everything Dearborn's finest Brian Rafalski!!

[Majsheppard 203]

Would you trade Sheahan, Ferraro, McCollum and Smith for Weber? I would

I wouldn't.

Smith however is the sticking point there.

Substitute Emmerton for Smith and I would do it.

Of course they wouldn't.

I think the thing to remember about firsts is if we kept going like we are, we would be giving them picks that are 2nd rounders in many reguards. This isn't like a lottery pick.

[Hank Dats 'N Homer 81]

whoever we decide to go after if the news is true, it better be a right handed shot. We have all of one right hander now? There were so many chances last season where the puck bounced off the goalie for a nice juicy rebound with a half empty net and our players couldnt burry it because they had to catch the puck with their back hand and then transfer it to their forehand. Or when we have a 2 on 1 going and we cant set up a decent one timer because both are lefties and the Dman takes away the only passing lane for two lefties. Plus the past couple of cup winning teams have all had a hard right handed shot from the point in common. Im not saying that we need righties to win, but i do think that having an assorment of righties and lefties would help us out.

[Majsheppard 203]

The only reason Weber is remotely plausible is Nashville's internal cap that may force the GMs to be frugal with his next contract.

I don't get why no one seems to notice that Weber is one year away from UFA. We see superstars all the time become available at this point when teams think they cannot sign them and will lose them. The only thing that needs to happen to make Weber available is someone has to force the Preds hand.

A one year offer sheet would do that. Then it doesn't matter if they match or not, because he will definitely test the free agent waters next season.

That kind of pressure causes teams to often take anything rather than lose the player, because that makes a GM look horrible. Remember Ilya and Hossa? That is what happened to Atlanta.

I agree the odds of Detroit getting Weber are less than 5% this year. Doesn't mean you should not try.

Besides trying dramatically increases the odds of getting him the following year, which might be more important anyways.

What if Detroit added Wiz or Bieksa this year for one right handed shot... and next year was able to add Weber because we let him know with a one year sheet that he is wanted in Detroit? The odds of it happening are low, but it seems pointless to just say, it most likely won't so lets just forget it.

I mean the odds of winning the cup are extremely low as well, but we try every year right?

[Hockeytown0001 7,652]

Here's hoping he's back for one more.

[SwedeLundin77 460]

CAPGEEK.COM CAP CALCULATOR

FORWARDS

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

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

Jiri Hudler ($2.875m) / Jason Arnott ($4.500m) / Tomas Holmstrom ($1.875m)

Darren Helm ($0.912m) / Justin Abdelkader ($0.787m) / Patrick Eaves ($1.000m)

Drew Miller ($0.650m)

DEFENSEMEN

Niklas Kronwall ($3.000m) / James Wisniewski ($4.000m)

Nicklas Lidstrom ($6.200m) / Brad Stuart ($3.750m)

Steve Montador ($1.550m) / Jonathan Ericsson ($2.000m)

Jakub Kindl ($0.883m)

GOALTENDERS

Jimmy Howard ($2.250m) / Chris Osgood ($1.000m)

CAPGEEK.COM TOTALS (follow @capgeek on Twitter)

(these totals are compiled without the bonus cushion)

SALARY CAP: $62,400,000; CAP PAYROLL: $61,708,711; BONUSES: $0

CAP SPACE (22-man roster): $691,289

What would we think of this lineup? I mean, we would be bringing in 3 right handed shots. Wisniewski comes into replace Raffi, and he's only 27, so there is room for growth, too. Montador had a pretty decent season with Buffalo and brings a good sized frame, we re-sign Ericsson because you know Holland won't let him walk if he can help it (especially now), and Bring in Arnott for some more offensive punch and a right hander. I doubt he'd play on the third line, but you never know.

Just bored at work, what do you all think? I also considered Vandermeer and Pitkanen, but they're both left handers.

[blgillett 48]

I want Weber... A beast that can play. Think he'd take Rafalski's 6mil contract for 3-5 yrs?

we have about as much of a chance at Weber as a fat pig farmer has to take home the prom queen. not happening preds will match any think we can offer for him he is there future he's young and restrictdon'tont even get your hope up.

[DrMoebius 1]

The freep now says it's confirmed: http://www.freep.com/article/20110524/SPORTS05/110524018/Rafalski-indeed-retire-who-can-Wings-sign-replacement-

[SwedeLundin77 460]

With the departure of Rafalski, and this has already been a glaring hole in our system (as some of you have pointed out), we need right handed shots. I threw up a roster above that would add 3 right handed shots (Wisniewski, Montador, and Arnott), but wanted to (in my boredom) throw out the potential right handers on Offense and Defense on the UFA market this off-season.

Offense:

- Tim Connolly (30)

- Michael Ryder (31)

- Steve Sullivan (36)

- Radim Vrbata (29)

- Alexander Frolov (28)

- Jamie Langenbrunner (35)

- Chris Clark (35)

- Sergei Samsonov (32)

- Chuck Kobasew (29)

- Antti Miettinen (30)

- Nikolay Zherdev (26) - Replace Hudler

- Joel Ward (30)

Defense:

- Kevin Bieksa (29)

- Sami Salo (36)

- Craig Rivet (36)

- Ian White (26)

- Steve Staios (37)

- Brent Sopel (34)

- Radek Martinek (34)

- Anton Babchuk

So who would you like most of of these players? Ian White is intriguing has he is only 26 years old...

[xtrememachine1 795]

we have about as much of a chance at Weber as a fat pig farmer has to take home the prom queen. not happening preds will match any think we can offer for him he is there future he's young and restrictdon'tont even get your hope up.

I'm not so sure about that. The fact that an extension has not yet been signed already leads me to believe that Weber is asking for more than Nashville is offering. I could be wrong, maybe they didn't want to talk contracts during the season, but I refuse to believe that Nashville hasn't already tried to sign him to an extension. I mean, he is the freaking franchise. Maybe Weber and the Preds can meet halfway and get it worked out. Or maybe a team with a lot of cap space, a need for a defenseman and a legitimate shot at a championship can swoop in and give him what he wants.

Even if the Wings don't get Weber, this is a good chance to break the backs of a division rival. If he signs, Nashville loses their captain and best player. If he doesn't sign, Nashville might be spending more on one player than they want to and would be right up against their self imposed cap. Plus, there's a couple guys named Suter and Rinne that are UFA's after next season.

BTW, love your avatar