Suter not signing before Feb 27 deadline

[VM1138 1,921]

So why not give Suter what he's worth come July 1st? If Kenny can keep his cap hit under 7m then why not go for it? The Wings will have the cap space to sign both him and probably a top 6 forward. They also will know before July what the future for Nick is. They will never get Suter from the Preds it has to be a FA signing.

Holland will. You can't just sit around waiting for players to take a discount. We have the money to blow on Suter or some other major defenseman and still resign everyone and add a top 6 scorer. Quite frankly, this off-season is probably the best crop of free agents in a long time. Probably for many years, too. With Lidstrom about to retire in a few years, with Zetterberg and Datsyuk getting older, and with a dearth of mid-20 year old players with lots of upside, the Wings simply cannot afford to sit this one out just to save a few millions.

If they do, then the decline everyone talks about every year may actually begin, because other teams equally good (Boston, San Jose, Chicago, Vancouver) will make those additions. And if you could have Suter and Parise and everyone else on the Wings...why wouldn't you? Even if you're paying 7 or 8 million. Holland probably won't make them really long contracts, though. I think we'll see a return to 4-5 year contracts instead of this 10-12 year stuff.

[Nightfall 871]

Holland will. You can't just sit around waiting for players to take a discount. We have the money to blow on Suter or some other major defenseman and still resign everyone and add a top 6 scorer. Quite frankly, this off-season is probably the best crop of free agents in a long time. Probably for many years, too. With Lidstrom about to retire in a few years, with Zetterberg and Datsyuk getting older, and with a dearth of mid-20 year old players with lots of upside, the Wings simply cannot afford to sit this one out just to save a few millions.

If they do, then the decline everyone talks about every year may actually begin, because other teams equally good (Boston, San Jose, Chicago, Vancouver) will make those additions. And if you could have Suter and Parise and everyone else on the Wings...why wouldn't you? Even if you're paying 7 or 8 million. Holland probably won't make them really long contracts, though. I think we'll see a return to 4-5 year contracts instead of this 10-12 year stuff.

They can afford to sit this one out because there are other options coming as well. You have to keep in mind its a two way street. The Wings want players like this but some players want to play for the Wings and will wait. I don't think that trading for Suter is a good idea because we will blow prospects on a possible rental that we may not be able to sign. Hell, I don't think that signing Suter before the new CBA is in place is a good idea.

[NeverForgetMac25 483]

Holland will. You can't just sit around waiting for players to take a discount. We have the money to blow on Suter or some other major defenseman and still resign everyone and add a top 6 scorer. Quite frankly, this off-season is probably the best crop of free agents in a long time. Probably for many years, too. With Lidstrom about to retire in a few years, with Zetterberg and Datsyuk getting older, and with a dearth of mid-20 year old players with lots of upside, the Wings simply cannot afford to sit this one out just to save a few millions.

If they do, then the decline everyone talks about every year may actually begin, because other teams equally good (Boston, San Jose, Chicago, Vancouver) will make those additions. And if you could have Suter and Parise and everyone else on the Wings...why wouldn't you? Even if you're paying 7 or 8 million. Holland probably won't make them really long contracts, though. I think we'll see a return to 4-5 year contracts instead of this 10-12 year stuff.

Savings a few million isn't an issue at all, its a matter of keeping the cap number in a reasonable spot. While I agree the Wings need to be aggressive this summer and do what they can to nab guys like Suter, Parise, etc., they also need to keep in mind what another point you hit on in your post....the fact that they have a dearth of mid-20 year old players with lots of upside. Those guys are gonna need new salaries as well and as a result Detroit will be right back against the cap with Z's large cap hit, Franzen's decent hit and Datsyuk's new deal likely still being high. This goes without mentioning Howard's new deal, which will be atleast $2 million more per.

What I'm saying is that, while they do need to be more aggressive this off-season, they need to proceed with caution as well, because hard decision (although good-ones) will be coming in 3-4 years as well and moreso with the addition of Suter and/or Parise.

No matter how you slice it, if Kenny and Co. are going to be aggressive, it really needs to be toward Suter or another high-end defenseman. I just don't see Stuart re-signing here given how much he wants to be near his family and if the unmentionable happens this Summer, replacing a top-end Dman along with arguably the greatest Dman in history almost becomes just too much.