2013 Free Agency Thread

[Red Wings Addict 787]

I didn't see a thread specifically about free agents so I figured I'd start one.

Anyone else keeping an eye on potential 2013 free agents?

http://www.capgeek.com/free-agents/

It doesn't seem to be a particularly flashy free agent class. A lot of older players for sure.

You kind of always have to inquire about talents like Perry and Getzlaf. Even Horton with his injury history. I'd offer a little consideration for old timers like Iginla/Alfredsson if they're interested. Visnovsky/Gonchar, maybe even Zidlicky could be a good one or two year stop gaps on defense. Even though he's kind of an idiot, I'd kick the tires on Ryane Clowe to see where he's at and what he wants. Speaking of San Jose, I wonder how much it would cost to get Doug Murray.

Who would you consider?

[Richdg 267]

There are 3 RW and 3 LW that I would be interested in. Perry, Horton, and Clarkson at RW and Torres, Clowe and Stalberg at LW. Not sure the brain trust would be interested in most of them, if they make it to FA. I would love to see Torres on a line with Datsyuk and Brunner, and Clarkson on a line with Nyquist and Z. Both have enough speed to keep up with the skilled guys and bring what the other on their lines don't. Clarkson is a tough guy that scores a lot and Torres is a major pain in the a$$ to create space for datsyuk and Brunner.

[Red Wings Addict 787]

There are 3 RW and 3 LW that I would be interested in. Perry, Horton, and Clarkson at RW and Torres, Clowe and Stalberg at LW. Not sure the brain trust would be interested in most of them, if they make it to FA. I would love to see Torres on a line with Datsyuk and Brunner, and Clarkson on a line with Nyquist and Z. Both have enough speed to keep up with the skilled guys and bring what the other on their lines don't. Clarkson is a tough guy that scores a lot and Torres is a major pain in the a$$ to create space for datsyuk and Brunner.

I'd kind of like a 3rd line of Abdelkader-Helm-Clarkson.

[Danglesyuk05 3]

The obvious inquries to Getzlaf and Perry. I have always liked Semin but he has those attitude issues. If he would come cheap though I would consider it. I too would kick tires on Clowe and Horty.

As far as defense goes I would like to keep White if price is right. Whitney intrigues me as well if he comes a bit cheaper.

[rick zombo 3,739]

I'd kind of like a 3rd line of Abdelkader-Helm-Clarkson.

With the way Clarkson is scoring, he'd be a top 6 guy.

[Bring Back The Bruise Bros 1,029]

David Clarkson has really become a complete player. I've liked him his whole career and knew he had potential to become an offensive weapon. He is #1, if not, very high on my list.

A few other guys we need to seriously consider:

Ryane Clowe

Nathan Horton

Brenden Morrow (For the 3rd line replacing Cleary)

Douglas Murray

Eric Nystrom

Kyle Chipchura

B.J. Crombeen

Brandon Yip

Bryan Bickell

Nystrom, Chipchura, Yip, Bickell, and Crombeen would be solid upgrades to our 4th line if Miller walks.

Edited February 25, 2013 by Bring Back The Bruise Bros

[hooon 1,089]

On D I wouldn't mind Kenny taking a look at Streit, Scuderi, and Murray, though not any will be available come July 1.

If they can keep the better FA forwards (Fil, Brunner) and call up some of the kids that are ready, I don't mind what the forward group looks like for next season, +/- a bottom sixer or two. Its the D that needs work... Wings have a lot of decent depth D guys but really need the high end talent.

Edited February 25, 2013 by hooon

[Guest DeGraa55]

IMO we need two pfs and a number one defenseman. If one or both the pfs can be in the top 6 I think we can be great once again. Problem is the guys we NEED won't be cheap in fa or trade.

[Dominator2005 558]

Tatar - Dats - Clarkson/Perry

Clowe - Z - Brunner

Morrow - Helm - Tootoo

Bickell - Abdelkader - Nystrom

Kronwall - E

Smith - Murray

FA - FA

Kindl - Lashof

[LeftWinger 4,953]

I know that I beat the drum of UFA's all the time, but right now I am more concerned with the FA's that we aren't going to re-sign! I would love to see Perry here and I still hope that Holland goes after him. BUT I really hope that Holland cuts ties with FA's Dan Cleary and Jakub Kindl. Unfortunately Ian White has had his time here and should move on and although I believe he is good for this team, Drew Miller should move on as well. We alreay have Patrick Eaves signed for another year and there are just too many bottom 6 guys on this team. I hope Holland uses his buyouts to get rid of Sammy and Bertuzzi as well...so it breaks down (for me) like this:

Lose:

Todd Bertuzzi

Mikael Samuelsson

Drew Miller

Jakub Kindl

Dan Cleary

Ian White

Re-sign:

Damien Brunner

Joakim Andersson

Val Filppula

Brenden Smith

Kent Huskins

Brian Lashoff

Jimmy Howard

FA's:

Corey Perry

Douglas Murray

Dan Dekeyser

...of course this is barring any trades that may happen. I would still like to bolster the Blueline with a trade and maintain that both Franzen and Filppula are our best trade assets that are replacable with our kids...I would like to see Sheahan get some time this year and even more next. year, along with Ferraro...

[Guest blueadams]

Interesting comments. Good ideas. The biggest issue, however, it appears will need to be solved via trade. We need a #1, Suter-level D.

[Richdg 267]

I know I am in the minority, but I am just not that worried about our D. We have several good young BIG Dmen that are here or about to be here. All they need is minutes. Ericsson, Kindl, Smith Lashoff, Sproul, Oullett, De Haas, Dekeyser (yes I firmly believe he signs), etc... are all here or will be over the next 1.5 seasons. Plus Kronwall is signed long term. Yes i understand that the youth will bring about some WTF moments. But that is what you have to do to develop young talent.

Keep in mind the money we have to spend. After resigning Howard-a must and Brunner, we will have around 10 million to spend. Do we keep Filppula or let him walk? If we do we have about the full 10, if not we have 5 or 6 to spend. 10 gets us 2 players, 5 or 6 gets us 1 player.

Edited February 25, 2013 by Richdg

[Number19 159]

Sign Iginla, Alfi and Gonchar and party like it's 2002!

More realistically I think Regehr would be a solid signing. What's the deal with Peter Regin? What was his potential? I remember a playoff series where he played pretty well a few years back. I've always liked Yip too.

[DSM 114]

I agree on Regehr. It's going to be very hard for the Wings to replace Lidstrom through free agency or trades. However, one thing they can do is plug the holes with Dmen that are hard to play against for the time being. Regehr fits that very well.

I don't think Holland is going to make a big splash this offseason with free agent signings, unless the wheels completely fall off the bus this season.

If it were me:

I would resign Howard and Brunner. Let Cleary, Miller, White and Huskins go. Make a fair offer to Filppula, but I have a feeling he may want to test the market after seeing what Hudler got from Calgary.

Give Lashoff, Tatar and Andersson spots on the regular roster. Sign a big Physical shutdown type Dman (Regehr, Murray, Fistric etc.) from the UFA pool. If Filppula signs elsewhere, replace him with a UFA second line forward.

Franzen-Zetterberg-Brunner

Filppula/UFA-Datsyuk-Samuelsson

Tatar-Helm-Bertuzzi

Abdelkader-Emmerton/Andersson-Tootoo

Kronwall-Ericsson

Quincey-Smith

UFA-Colaiacovo

w/ Lashoff & Kindl

Howard

Gustavsson

Edited February 25, 2013 by DSM

[LeftWinger 4,953]

I agree on Regehr. It's going to be very hard for the Wings to replace Lidstrom through free agency or trades. However, one thing they can do is plug the holes with Dmen that are hard to play against for the time being. Regehr fits that very well.

I don't think Holland is going to make a big splash this offseason with free agent signings, unless the wheels completely fall off the bus this season.

If it were me:

I would resign Howard and Brunner. Let Cleary, Miller, White and Huskins go. Make a fair offer to Filppula, but I have a feeling he may want to test the market after seeing what Hudler got from Calgary.

Give Lashoff, Tatar and Andersson spots on the regular roster. Sign a big Physical shutdown type Dman (Regehr, Murray, Fistric etc.) from the UFA pool. If Filppula signs elsewhere, replace him with a UFA second line forward.

Franzen-Zetterberg-Brunner

Filppula/UFA-Datsyuk-Samuelsson

Tatar-Helm-Bertuzzi

Abdelkader-Emmerton/Andersson-Tootoo

Kronwall-Ericsson

Quincey-Smith

UFA-Colaiacovo

w/ Lashoff & Kindl

Howard

Gustavsson

You forgot Eaves...which is another reason Sammy should be bought out. Buying out Sammy and Bert, allowing Cleary and Miller to move on opens spots up for Andersson Tatar, Nyquist and Sheahan if a UFA is not signed, but you can still rotate SHeahan in and out of the lineup even with a UFA star forward.

I still believe you have to let Kindl go and shop Quincey around. Lashoff deserves a spot and you still need a top defenseman. I too believe that Dekeyser will sign here and he wil be on the roster.

Kronwall - Murray

Smith - Ericsson

Lashoff - Dekeyser

Huskins(I guess if you let Huskins go, Kindl can be retained, but Huskins is better)

...or let them both go and start rotating Ouellet and Sproul with Lashoff...

edit: I still frimly believe that Franzen, Filppula, Kindl, Quincey and Nyquist should all be trade bait. I know Franzen would be hard to get rid of, but to the right team (Vancouver) he would be an attractive commodity despite the length of his contract.

Edited February 25, 2013 by LeftWinger

[rick zombo 3,739]

Sproul and Ouellet will spend at least a year in GR. No question.

[DSM 114]

You forgot Eaves...which is another reason Sammy should be bought out. Buying out Sammy and Bert, allowing Cleary and Miller to move on opens spots up for Andersson Tatar, Nyquist and Sheahan if a UFA is not signed, but you can still rotate SHeahan in and out of the lineup even with a UFA star forward.

I still believe you have to let Kindl go and shop Quincey around. Lashoff deserves a spot and you still need a top defenseman. I too believe that Dekeyser will sign here and he wil be on the roster.

Kronwall - Murray

Smith - Ericsson

Lashoff - Dekeyser

Huskins(I guess if you let Huskins go, Kindl can be retained, but Huskins is better)

...or let them both go and start rotating Ouellet and Sproul with Lashoff...

edit: I still frimly believe that Franzen, Filppula, Kindl, Quincey and Nyquist should all be trade bait. I know Franzen would be hard to get rid of, but to the right team (Vancouver) he would be an attractive commodity despite the length of his contract.

I had a feeling I forgot someone. Knowing Hollands MO, I doubt anyone gets bought out or traded. Besides, I doubt Samuelsson or Bertuzzi would even make it through Unconditional waivers.

I do agree that Kindl may get shopped. It seems that he has been jumped on the depth chart by Lashoff, and Lashoff can't go back to GR without hitting waivers after this season.

There's absolutely no way that Sproul and Ouellet or even Sheahan "rotate" in and out of the lineup. The only way the dmen would make the team is if Babcock thinks they can play in the top 2 pairings, and that would be highly unlikely. They will probably spend a full year in GR before they are even considered for call ups. Sheahan won't be on the team full time unless they think he is going to be in the line-up every night, or is out of minor league options (which starts in the 15/16 season).

I don't agree that Franzen should be traded. The Red Wings would have a very hard time finding a suitable replacement for around his cap hit. When healthy the guy pots 25-30 goals a year for less than $4mil a season. That's a bargain.

I don't know how Filppula, Kindl or Quincey can be "trade bait". None of those players are going to bring any real Quality return.

-Filppula has no value unless the Red Wings are deadline sellers (way out of the playoff race). And he'll bring back picks and maybe secondary prospects.

-Kindl can maybe fetch a 4th round pick or an secondary AHL prospect at most.

-Quincey certainly isn't producing up to his cap hit at the moment, and probably wouldn't fetch what Holland paid for him last season. Maybe he'd fetch a 2nd rounder?

The UFA pool is once again going to be thin for quality Dmen. I doubt Holland would look to dump off Quincey when there's no guarantee he'd be able to bring in a quality replacement.

By himself, Nyquist would probably bring in a mediocre playoff rental player. Packaged with some picks, he may be able to bring a slightly better one.

Edited February 25, 2013 by DSM

[Guest The Axe]

We like our team.

[St. Michael (the Red Wing) 422]

David Clarkson has really become a complete player. I've liked him his whole career and knew he had potential to become an offensive weapon. He is #1, if not, very high on my list.

Clarkson has become a complete player yes and should be high on everyone's list. Maybe even #1 for me too.

[Guest The Axe]

Perry is #1 on.my list. He fills a big hole.

[DSM 114]

I wonder if Perry will even hit the market this summer? Anaheim has boatloads of capspace for next season and could probably afford to bring back both Getzlaf and Perry easily. Selanne too, if he doesn't retire.

[St. Michael (the Red Wing) 422]

Perry is #1 on.my list. He fills a big hole.

He's #1 or #2 on my list. Definitely fills big holes. Just have my doubts he comes here. Not saying Clarkson is signing here either. I'm too negative on big name players signing with us nowdays.

[Guest The Axe]

He's #1 or #2 on my list. Definitely fills big holes. Just have my doubts he comes here. Not saying Clarkson is signing here either. I'm too negative on big name players signing with us nowdays.

Yah, they will both be expensive. Not sure if we can get Perry for less than 8 mil. I think 7 years at 8 mil per is fair.

[St. Michael (the Red Wing) 422]

Yah, they will both be expensive. Not sure if we can get Perry for less than 8 mil. I think 7 years at 8 mil per is fair.

7-8 mil sounds fair. I would agree even though 6-7 somehow sounds better probably a pipedream though.

[WorkingOvertime 536]

Clowe (on a shorter contract) and Clarkson are high on my list at forward, especially if the Wings do move to the east in the off-season. I think Flip will be re-signed, but only because the few options better than him will be overpriced and/or too much of a gamble.