ogreslayer

Its just an idea. I hate the thought of having to trade a good defenseman because we have too many. I'd rather find a spot for our good players instead of letting guys like Cleary and Samuelsson play because they have a "RW" next to their name.

Cleary= UFA who won't be resigned

Sammy= Amnesty buy out

Plus Nyquist, Tatar, & Andersson will all be up with the big club next year.  No room & definitely no need to transition the Wings top pairing d-men up to forward.

I'm in for:

$5 per series win

$5 per series sweep

$5 per Kronwalling

$2 per Jimmy shutout or fight

$2 per Tootoo goal or fight

$2 per goal scored by Mule or Brunner

As soon as my editor posts my new blog entry, you should check it out.  It is a pretty heated slamming of Ken Holland for going against his word and stringing Nill along.  This is the WORST THING TO HAPPEN TO DETROIT in the past 20 years.  The only thing that would be worse is losing Hakin. Holland is spent and he said he was going to retire post Lidstrom.  Now he can't because the guy who deserved the job a year ago is leaving to Dallas and I am angry and embarrassed.  I have no faith in this organization if they string along Jim and then lose him in favor of Holland who seems too timid and tired.  I really hope this is wrong, and if it is right I hope Holland gets fired before Nill signs in Dallas.  I felt secured in the future of the team until tonight. 

Switch to decaf & take off the tin foil hat.  

From Craig Custance:

"Red Wings GM Ken Holland likes to joke that Lidstrom's retirement press conference will be followed shortly by his own"

From Bob McKenzie:

 “DET GM Kenny Holland always used to joke, at least I think he was joking, that he would retire five minutes after Nick Lidstrom retired.”

From Kevin Allen @ US Today:

"GM Ken Holland used to joke that he was going to retire when Lidstrom retired"

And strung along?  The same man who was at the top of pretty much every team's wish list that had an opening the past couple of years, was given opportunities to interview for them, & turned them all down due to the fact he wanted to stay in Michigan as his wife was battling cancer?  The same man that was paid as much as GM's throughout the league & was on record saying that he loved the autonomy that Kenny gave him to do his job?  That's being strung along?  In the immortal words of Sgt. Hulka, "Lighten up, Francis".

Good for Nill.  He's ready to move on to the next step of his career & run his own team and good for the Wings to recognize it's time too, just like they did with Stevie.

The Cap rule about multi-year deals and retirement from Wiki:

 

 

 

So as I understand it when Franzen retires so does his cap hit.

 

That is why the Hawks sent Huet overseas, to lose the cap hit.

So you understand incorrectly.  Franzen's contract (as well as Hank's & Kronner's) is covered by the Cap Advantage Recapture clause, also known as the Roberto Luongo Rule, in the new CBA.  If a player signed a 7 year+ deal prior to Jan 2013 & retires before the expiration of the contract, the potion of the contract that was considered a cap advantage (years where actual salary exceeded the cap hit) is recaptured over the remaining years of the actual contract.  So for example, if Franzen were to retire after the 2015-16 season, he would have been paid $36m over the course of 7 seasons but the cap hit was only $27,681,815.  The difference would apply evenly over the course of the final 4 years of Franzen's contract, meaning the Wings would take a $2.08m cap hit for Franzen starting the 2016-17 season & he would finally come off the books after 2019-20.  

You can find a really easy to use cap hit recapture calculator here:  http://www.capgeek.c...ure-calculator/

No changes in the lineup for the Wings:

Mike Babcock says no changes to #RedWings lineup tonight.

I'm going w/ #22 with the winner to put the Wings in the playoffs for 22 years straight 2-nite.

 

Nestrasil is going to have to pull a Tomas Kopecky next season to get any sort of consideration for a spot on the big club.

You mean he has to cozy up to & become best buds with a much more talented player?

I am seriously considering starting a "The Wings should have never traded away Paul Coffey" thread every time I see Hossa's name pop up in conjunction with Franzen's.  It's been almost 4 years now, get over it.  

People treat it like it was an "either sign Franzen or sign Hossa" situation & it wasn't.  Don't forget that Franzen signed for a total of $43.5m while Hossa wanted & got $62.8m in Chicago or respective cap hits of $3.95m & $5.275m.  And don't forget that the Hossa/Chicago deal was almost "Kovalchuked" by the NHL too.  I doubt Kenny would have pushed cap hit circumvention that far so Hossa's cap hit if he stayed in Detroit would have been higher.  For example, Franzen's deal only back dives to $1m per season for the last 2 years where Hossa's does it for the last 4.  So the situation really was either Hossa at a cap hit of $6m+ or use that for Franzen & to give raises to retain other players that season or after i.e. like Helm, Abby, Big E, etc. 

And on the topic of "well Franzen's cap hit may only be ~$4m a year, but his actual salary this season is $5.5m"...  Don't care.  The number that matters to the NHL & to the make-up of the team is cap hit, cap hit, cap hit.  I don't give a s*** what his actually salary is this season.  Not one bit.  He's got the 3rd highest cap hit among forwards on the team right now, 4th highest overall & he happens to be 3rd in scoring on the team this season, 4th last season, and 4th in 10-11.  Seems about right to me.  Say the Wings do buy out his contract this off season like some around here want, signing a UFA that provides similar production is going to cost them much more than a $4m per season cap hit.  So yes, Franzen at a cap hit of ~$4m a season is a bargain to me not only now, but it was at the start of this season as it was last season & the season before.

My policy on the playoffs

Was the entry on your word of the day calendar "decent"?

So the MVP for the team this season is only decent & overpaid on his new contract?  The guy that's being mentioned in some circles as a dark horse for a Vezina nom this season?  I'm going to stop there...

I miss these guys

I do believe the Mule is in playoff mode already

Brown suspended for 2 games.  Hopefully that will help a bit tonight.

https://twitter.com/...140454032371712

Zinglebert Bembledack

Yingybert Dambleban

Zangelbert Bingledack

Winglbert Humptyback

S.L.U.T. Bunwalla

Kringlebert Fishtybuns

Steviebuns Bottrittrundle

Tringlebert Wangledack

Klingybun Fistelvase

Dinglebert Zindledack

Gerry Dorsey

Englebert Humptyback

Engelbert Humperdinck

Vinglebert Wingledanck

Danny reminds me of Larry Murphy. He plays similar style but with much better skating. He is the real deal.

What are Danny's thoughts on dollar hot dogs & Miller Lites?

Franzen has definitely gone into beast mode these past few games.  Have to wonder with how good he's looking at center whether or not that gives Kenny a little more leverage in negotiating Flip down from the $5m+ he's supposedly looking for on an extension given that they have a new option for 2nd line center if they want Z & Dats together.