We are now the Chakka Khan of the NHL.  Stacked on the front and back.

I’m running around the garage nude, an early PBR in hand, stopping only occasionally to refresh thepensblog comments to laugh maniacally.

Too, too sweet.

And dammit, I’m sick of our league-worst GM screwing things up yet again.

(Psssst, hey Thommy… enjoy Raycroft! HAHAHAHA!)

I am laughing and crying at the same time.  He can play on a line with Z and Dats...no, wait!  Don’t break up the Circus!  He can play on the second line with Fil and Franzen…

/walking on the floor in circles going “WOOWOOWOOWOOWOO”

Heh…

Pens Fans React

GTFO. Well played Kenny. Leaves ability & flexability for next years necessary signings.

Great, way to make my afternoon strikingly less productive. 

Now that’s the definition of a “short-term” forward. I guess with Hossa’s one year deal, there’s still room to get RFA’s like Fil and Howard signed to longer deals, and still have a big raise kick in for Zetterberg after this season. But for this one year, I guess the numbers work out. They better. I’m sure they know what they’re doing, and long-term deals for other guys will get done too.

Holy cow!  I am going to crap in my pants!

Nice, (Gabe!)

Similar to the reaction I had when Fedorov left for Ducky land.

I am shocked...just totally shocked.  How does this work money wise?  I hope we can resign Fil.

Did I mention I’m stunned?

Zet+Hoss
Pav+Franz
=
5 million goals.

Not to dampen the spirit, but this must put us at the cap, unless some other deal is pending.  Not that any of them are Mensa members, but would any of the league’s other GM’s take this opportunity to take a run at Fils?  Not sure how that RFA deal works entirely.

We are now the Chakka Khan of the NHL.  Stacked on the front and back.

LOL. Awesomeness!

And a tribute to you Charlie’s friends.

he Boston Bruins and Chicago Blackhawks are two teams likely to make pitches for Hossa on July 1. Hossa, a star right wing who totaled 26 points in 20 playoff games with the Penguins, expects to command a raise on his $7 million salary.

However, Hossa told Pittsburgh reporters two days after the Stanley Cup final that he would ”take less to play on a good team.”

I guess Marian realized he was in the wrong set of bleachers for the freakshow…

Training camp, now please.

Quite sure with RFA status you have to match the offer, maybe not under a certain age though? There’s a ton of what if’s with the tiers, age, years played etc....
I just wanna keep the Finn around. Maybe kenny can lean on him to take what we can offer before then… to avoid being forced into something else?

Is there a church or a website or something where I can go and accept Ken Holland as my personal Lord and Savior?

Oh my figgin’ god how good are we going to be next year?  Jeez, how freaking stacked can one team get?  I’m speechless.  I am utterly speechless.

Dats Hank and Hossa = 300 line all capable of 100 points

franzen Fil and homer

Hudler Draper cleary

Addelkader Helm Sammy

scratches Maltby Mac

IR Kopecky

This leaves the Wings with roughly 5 million in cap space. I’m sure Kenny wants a cushion for the trade deadline. $2 mil is an ideal cusion, $1 mil will work. ........, but look at the freakin’ depth we have..... at every position!!!!!

Suddenly, not one of my Wings hating hockey buddies are answering their phone. I don’t THINK I was being obnoxious at all the first time I called and gave them the good news. Maybe they just have hubris envy.

300 line = chiefs dream score in wii bolwing against the wiffie

This leaves the Wings with roughly 5 million in cap space.

I’d like to be able to keep track of that stuff but it makes my pea brain hurt.... Makes me feel better about Fil if thats the case....

I’m thrilled about Hossa, but equally worried about Filppula. On the other hand, Flip could just accept his qualifying offer from the Wings and end the drama before ir starts. Also, an offer sheet only matters if the player signs it. So, if he doesn’t sign an offer sheet, he can sign with the Wings for any ammount equal to or higher than his qualifying offer. (please)

Tick-tock Holland flabbergasts me once again.  First Stuart and Conklin at a perfect price.  Then the single best UFA on the market for a SWEETHEART one year deal.

The Circus with Franzen, Hossa, and Filpulla make our Top 6, the most potent scoring group in the NHL.  We’ve got 3 top defencemen locked in for 4 years, with the Captain around for at least two more, so we may as well retire the Hasek club car.

We run deep and our nuts hang low.  Pure studs.  Cause that is how we roll bitches… we take on all comers in 2008-2009. 

Unless the injury bug hits I will be at JLA watching another Stanley Cup finals game in 2009, and you are welcome to join me.

Notice served to the NHL… the Wings are ready to play in 2008-2009… are you, bitches?

I HAD two friends from pittsburgh

IR Kopecky

nice spanky.

This [I]is[/I] the post lockout Wings right? We’re not supposed to have HOFers at every position right?

BWWHAHAHAHA

What spark to the PP too with Hossa.
Just keep Sidewinder off the point.

I’m running around the garage nude, an early PBR in hand, stopping only occasionally to refresh thepensblog comments to laugh maniacally.

If I weren’t at work I’d surely be naked and drunk as well.

I get the feeling that this opportunity came up, and as such, Kenny decided he’s sacrifice his deadline cash because this is just too good to pass up. Can’t blame him though. The fact that Hossa is willing to take a one-year deal makes my pants snug since it boosts the team massively for next season, without hamstringing them the year after when they need to re-up Z and Franzen.

Via George:

As MLive.com’s own Ansar Khan notes, the Wings are now approximately $4 million under the cap with UFAs Chris Chelios, Darren McCarty, Aaron Downey, and RFAs Jonathan Ericsson, Jimmy Howard, and Kyle Quincey left to re-sign. Holland must re-sign Filppula nearly immediately so that he’s not poached away via a RFA offer sheet.

That’s a lot of players. Someone is getting shipped for draft picks.

If I weren’t at work I’d surely be naked and drunk as well.

I am (d) all of the above.  This is just too good.

WHAT THE *#$%@&

I MEAN

HOLY SHIT THIS AWESOME

BUT WHAT THE *#$%@&

I just have one question.

Is it October yet?

I am looking for my jaw ...  It has dropped to the floor here somewhere, and I cannot drink my Scotch until I find it.....

The audacity!
The Stanley Cup champions take the 2nd best player from the team they beat.

Jeez...it reminds me of the 2001-2002 season.....

Damn, I spend all morning arguing an idiotic contract case, and come home for lunch, flip on the NHL channel:  “Hossa a Red Wing” Marian frigging Hossa, a Red Wing!!

About had a freaking heart palpatation.  Run to the lap top!!

Its true!  OMFG!!! 

Ken’s Summer of Pure Bitching Genious!!

1 Year, 7.4, No freaking way.  Hossa turns down multi-year deals at 9 a season - to play in DET!!
What a freaking awesome message.  Can anyone come up with a better way to communicate that the Red Wings Rule!!!

“The Highlander” this morning noted the Wings cap space:

The Red Wings’ cap number for next season is a little under $44.5 million. That includes the signings of Lilja and Stuart, but doesn’t include Filppula, Howard and Chelios, who will be signed. The league salary cap is $56.7 million.

The Red Wings’ $44.5 million figure includes eight defensemen, one goalie and 11 forwards for a total of 20 signed players. That leaves $12.2 million of cap room with a few more players to be signed.

My math says 4.8 left.  Fil can fit!!  I thnk the number tossed around is 2.5 or a little more.  Cheli and Downey may be on the outside.

Marian Frigging Hossa!!!

CBJ fan here…

Dont know if this is a good move or a bad move, but it sure does cast a large shadow over Chicago and Columbus.  They were supposed to the buyers this summer.

Good point Osrt

We know we have a log jam on defense.  Makes me wonder about Howard.  Fil may get about 1.4 or 1.5 and chelios 600,000. I think Downey is gone and mac is back maybe at 400,00 that is 2.5mil with 3 more to sign and some possible trade ect.

We should watch MacLeod’s space.  He’s the only Detroit journalist smart and hardworking enough to actually crunch the numbers and show how much money Holland has to offer Fil.

Gee TD, I already noted it at 1:52, see above!

I wouldnt be suprised to see a team put together a crazy offer for Filpula.  Detroit may have put themselves in a little bit of a bind with this one.

Fil will get above $2mil for sure.

My guess is that Lebda is gone to Tampa/ Florida. They need a puck moving, skating defenseman and we could use their high draft picks. He’ll look like a stud in the East.

As MLive.com’s own Ansar Khan notes, the Wings are now approximately $4 million under the cap with UFAs Chris Chelios, Darren McCarty, Aaron Downey, and RFAs Jonathan Ericsson, Jimmy Howard, and Kyle Quincey left to re-sign. Holland must re-sign Filppula nearly immediately so that he’s not poached away via a RFA offer sheet.

A few things to consider before the panic about Filppula sets in:

- Anything over 2.6 million on an offer sheet would result in the Wings getting at least one first-round pick; anything below that they can easily afford.
- As much as I like Filppula, you have to admit, a first-round pick could be very useful, and frankly, I think paying any more to Filppula than 3 million just doesn’t fit into their salary structure anyways—the Wings have been smart about overpaying in the right spots (a little bit to Stuart), and underpaying wherever they can (Homer, Draper, Cleary, etc.).
- Filppula has to sign an offer sheet, it’s not a guarantee that he’ll take whatever comes his way. He’s marrying a girl from Michigan soon and was, by all accounts, pretty important in (and excited about) getting Ville Leino in a Wing uniform.
- Ericcson and Howard are playing in the AHL anyways, so they won’t count against the cap except for their occasional call-ups or injury fill-ins.
- One of McCarty and Downey is probably gone, or playing in GR, so again, won’t count against the cap in one case and will be dirt cheap in the other.
- If you have to let Chelios go, you have to. Offer him a coaching position or something.
- If you have to take the hit and let Quincey go for nothing, let him go. The organization is stacked at defense with NHL talent for at least the next four seasons, and with some of the prospect they have that have steadily developed, should be on track to build the D from within for five or more years ahead, even if Quincey is given away.
- Think of this as the Wings’ deadline signing—while it’s nice to have that cash for the deadline, just in case, this opportunity was too good to pass up not to take it and roll the dice by going with one team beginning to end.

The last point, and perhaps most important point is this—you have to try and win it all when you can. Even though the Wings have been a great organization for a long time now, you never know, because of reasons beyond your control, what might happen. So you’ve got to take your shot to win when it sits in front of you. And frankly, even if they don’t win, and even if they lose Filppula and/or Quincey in the process, they will still be one of the top teams in the league the season after, because they will still have that excellent top four D, they’ll still have Pav, and they’ll have plenty of cap space to get Z and Franzen signed.

That leaves $12.2 million of cap room with a few more players to be signed.

I hope Bruce is right and all is well.  The cap estimate seems to be all over the place.  Khan is saying about $4 mil, and the table at hockeybuzz.com (I’ll use George’s caveat—click at your own risk!) shows about $2.5 mil.  I know it’s hockeybuzz, but they have a spreadsheet with pretty colors and stuff.

That’s a big difference.  If Bruce is correct, we’re fine.

HOLY FRICKING FECKING FRACK YOU’RE FRIGGING KIDDING ME…

I come back from evening KM practice and THIS is what I come back to?  Sweet baby Jebus.  Marian Hossa, the most salivation-worthy free agent on the market this year, takes less cash and less term to sign with OUR TEAM for the CUP!  And Don Cherry says that Europeans don’t care enough about winning it all…

Well.  I guess Mats Sundin just blew his shot at the Cup for one more year.  And this is one year we won’t have to play the anxiety game on trade deadline day…

Somehow, though, I think some skaters already signed will be traded, and those unsigned will remain that way.  And Kenny?  I know you’ve just performed a miracle on the level of turning water into funk, but if I can offer one little bit of unsolicited advice?  Filppula.  Arbitration.  NOW.

Of course, could be that Fil already heard about the Hossa signing and he’ll turn down any offer sheets for the chance to repeat in ‘09.

First Conklin and now Hossa.  It really must suck to be a Pens fan right now.

HOLY FLURKING SCHNIT THE HOSSA JIG OF JOY IS STARTING AGAIN GOTTA GO…

We run deep and our nuts hang low.  Pure studs.  Cause that is how we roll bitches…

ROTFLMAO

I too would like to have Kenny Holland as my personal Lord and Savior.

un-friggin-believable. I’ve been gloating to every Avs fan in the building.

“We got Hossa bitches!”
“Yeah! Well we signed....”
“Raycroft and Tucker. You got rid of one head case goalie and brought in another. Oh yeah, you added a goofball who can’t stay out of the penalty box. I predict another long golf season for the Avs”
“Just die”

BUWHAHAHAHAHA

Kenny, you magnificent bastard!

I say sign Chelios as the assistant coach and alleviate that log jam a bit

Fil at 2mil wow he only made 698,000 last year. Howard made 733,000, Quincey 535,000 and ericsson 495,000. 

I was thinking double the amount for Filppula at around 1.4 to 1.5mil.

Words can’t express how happy I am right now. We started free agency resigning Stewie so right then and there we’re icing the same team in 08-09 minus the CMOI. Now this little ditty gets dropped on us, prepare to shatter the records we set in 95-96.

Don’t call it a comeback, we’ve been here for years.

Sorry about the caps up there, guys. It’s not every day you win two Cups in one summer.

20 bucks says within 24 hours the Penguins or Oilers (or some other bitter team) throws down an offer sheet for Wally Filppula.

ohhh, uncle mike, make sure hossa likes skating with the rest of the top 6. can you imagine any combination of those 6 guys coming off the bench? it doesn’t matter if we’re at the joe or not anymore! we send out our top 3, the home team sends out their top 3...too bad we have ANOTHER top 3. damn. kenny, sometimes you scare me.

even if they lose Filppula and/or Quincey in the process, they will still be one of the top teams in the league

Can I help it if I’m greedy and want them all signed with Detroit?  I’m already hoping Kenny figures out a way to keep Hossa after this season, too.  If there’s anyone who can pull it off, he da man!

Hey, does anybody remember the rumors around deadline day last season, augmented by that fake Facebook page for Filppula, that we were going to trade him and Hudler and picks for Hossa?  Makes that all look a bit stupid now that they’re all on the same team...our team...huh?

Well.  I guess Mats Sundin just blew his shot at the Cup for one more year.  And this is one year we won’t have to play the anxiety game on trade deadline day…

Mats said he hasn’t decided on playing yet...... maybe we get him at the trade deadline at a super pro-rated price. Weirder things have happened....we just signed Hossa for crying out loud!

His RFA worth in the inflated market is $3-4 mil, or at least that is what people with his production are getting. I would guess $2-3 mil for Fil.

Good point...I never though Hossa would sign with us either, but it happened!  Still, it’d make a mockery of his “play with a team from the preseason” philosophy.

From the comments section at Spector’s blog:

St. Louis Blues have countered the signing of Hossa by signing a 5’ 400 lb. goalie to block the entire net. lol

What’s the big deal?  We could have had Avery for $3 million less.  With that money we could have hired a choreographer to help him with his dance routine.

Who am i kidding? WAHAAA! We are loaded!

I only count 7 wings dmen signed with Lids 7.450,000, Raf 6.000.000, Stu 3.750,000, kron, 3.ooo,ooo, lilja 1.2000,000, lebda 650,000, Meech 483,333. with ericsson and Quincy unsigned and howard in goal. Trade a lebda and you have 6 signed and 650,000 less and sign chelios to babysit Quincy or meech on the third pairing.

Okay, I just crunched the numbers… it doesn’t look pretty. If anyone offers Fil more than 3 Mil, it blows us out of the water.

Granted, he would have to accept such an offer sheet, but we are basically at Fil’s mercy here.

Oh my goodness.

What a nice little present to wake up to this morning.

I’m a little worried about the Fil signing and hate to see either Cheli or Mac go, but this is really worth it.  I see two-way contracts for many of our guys on the bubble, that’s probably what the conversation with Cheli and Ken was all about.

Freaking wow.  I can’t wait for October!

Pens Blog:

J.S. said…
from one guy who hates the Wings nearly as much as I do (he’s a Sharks fan):

(keeping it work-friendly with *’s)

F*** the Wings. When that team finally falls, I’m taking a month long vacation just to go to random houses all over southern Michigan, knock on the door, and say “F*** the Red Wings” to whoever answers…

Goddamn I hate those f***ers. Gah. F*** me. F*** f*** f*** f***

7/02/2008 2:18 PM

and this:

PDX Pens said…
Does anyone think Detroit will ever lose a game next year? They lost NOBODY, gained freaking Hossa, while the pens corpse has been picked clean by every team in the league…

Detroit will sweep the entire season. Hoping for career ending injuries to 5 or 6 players on their team.

7/02/2008 2:16 PM

If anyone offers Fil more than 3 Mil, it blows us out of the water.

Again, while I like Fil a lot, I would laugh if someone offered that for him. Giving the Wings a first and third-round pick is like letting your best friend sleep with your wife.

Well, why don’t we just skip next season and automatically hand the Cup to the Wings.  There goes my Sharks chances of winning next year.  I guess there’s still a small chance…

Man, Holland is amazing.  This cast of players he put together is incredible.  I tip my hat to him (even though I have a blind hatred of the Wings...lol).

Fil will sign, and if not then the Wings get compensation. The Wings have leverage on him due to organizational depth. If Fil departs, then they just put Cleary back on the 2nd line. With guys like Mursak, Gator and Helm waiting for a bigger role, the Wings don’t need to panic. The Hossa signing allows Babs to split the Twins for 2 centers, and Drapes and Helm fill out the other 2 centers on the 3rd and 4th lines.

The way I see it, Fil’s in a position to play for a winner or jump ship for money. While the Wings would prefer him to stay, a potential first round pick for him if he leaves is just as good.

Kenny has more $ in the bank!  Wow.
Lets lace em up in July!
Lets face it, the only thing that can stop the Big Red Machine is major injuries next season.  They will be heavy favorites.  Start the holiday weekend early 19!

I think I made this happen by staying away from the computer for 1 1/2 hrs.

I come back and WOW.

Just reading this morning (I think it was puck daddy) about Jagr being considered left overs, and
nothing will happen until after Hossa is gone.  Well he’s gone alright....gone and won himself a Cup.

New York Yankees of hockey. Expect that to come back.  Well, here’s your answer: Scoreboard bitches.

An apt comparison, except for one thing…

We actually win.

Good call on the numbers Nathan and others.  Well, if we have $4.5 million laying around, signing Fil shouldn’t be a big deal.  Remember Ville Leino is coming here on his recommendation.  Fill would be stupid to walk away from the $1-$2 million Holland will offer him this year.  Cheli, Mac, Downey all for $500K two-ways rounds out the best NHL lineup since, well, ahem, the 2002 Stanley Cup Champion Detroit Red Wings!!!!

I bet the hearts of Shanahan, Fedorov, Lapointe, et al. are sinking to think about what they left behind…

Does this indicate that Drake is retiring? Does it make him want to come back? My guess is that Kenny is pretty sure its over for Dallas, so now he can move Cleary to the third line.

Z-Dats-Homer
Fil-Franzen-Hossa
Cleary-Helm-Hudler
McCarty-Draper-Maltby (thats right bitches. Grind Line)

That is the most potent offensive lineup I have ever seen. And guess what, this red wings are old thing goes right down the st. louis (toilet euphemism).

Security word?
Gro18wth

Hell. Yes.

F*** the Wings. When that team finally falls, I’m taking a month long vacation just to go to random houses all over southern Michigan, knock on the door, and say “F*** the Red Wings” to whoever answers…

Might need to wait another few years… or decades. The organ-I-zation is what this is about top to bottom. Might need to expand outside the border of MI too.... we’re EVERYWHERE.
I was having such a rotten day too. Called into work 20 minutes into my first day of VACATION. Spend 3 hours at work, nice start to a day off. The we sign Hossa, so I have a beer & my day is MUCH BETTER NOW.

Newest numbers from Macleod:

Here’s my new best estimate after the Hossa signing ... the Red Wings’ cap number for next season is a little under $52.5 million. The league salary cap is $56.7 million.

That leaves about $4.2 million this season to sign Valtteri Filppula and Chris Chelios, assuming Jimmy Howard will be in Grand Rapids and his salary won’t count against the cap. So that’s more than enough room to sign both Fil and Cheli.

He’s the best Wings journo out there. I’ll take his word for it.

An apt comparison, except for one thing…

Two things, we can’t violate the cap by a bazillion A-Rod dollars and pay a “luxury tax” for going over the cap.
We sign Fil and I’ll be giddy all summer long yet bored stiff as the fireworks for the Wings all wen off on July 2nd this year.
Mats WHO?

Splash of cold water ...

The Tigers looked like they were going to run away with the division (or at least slug it out with Cleveland) when they traded Cameron Maybin and Andrew Miller for Renteria and Dontrelle Willis.

They started 0-7 and took the first half of the season to get back to 0.500.

Anything (bad) can still happen, this summer or any time until the end of the season, so I’m not counting any Cups yet.

(Of course, I despised the Miller-for-Willis part of that trade, and don’t mind getting Hossa at all ... but I don’t want to lose Wally.)

As an endorsement of Baroque, I say, guys, don’t count your cups yet.  Everyone handed Colorado the cup the year they signed Selanne and Kariya to go with Forsberg, Sakic, Hejduk, et al.  They went nowhere.  Then everyone wanted to give the cup to Philly when *they* signed Forsberg et al.  They ended up in last place.  And then there was the time we signed Chelios, Ulf Samuelsson, Wendel Clark, and Bill Ranford and everyone handed us the Cup.  We lost to Colorado…

Pens’ fans should not despair.  They have Malkin locked up long-term, with enough left over to buy him some No-Doz for next year’s playoffs.  Assuming.....

No, it would not be nice to say that.

A bit off topic, but had to throw this in.  Found it in Allen Muir’s column on SI.com.  He is rating the different signings and has this to say about the Dive’s performance to date:

“Apparently the Avs have found other avenues to spend money than on a competent pro scouting department.”

Baroque, that is exactly what scares me as well. But I think, and hope, the Wings can deal with the expectations better than the Tigs and old man Leyland.

The real bright side is, unlike the Tigs, Wings still have a fair amount of prospects in the system.

I’m not counting any Cups yet.

I agree with you, Baroque.  Winning a Cup is the hardest thing in sports.  A whole sh**load of things have to go right for it to happen… have any one thing go wrong and that dream can be gone in a heartbeat.

Still, I liked our chances before, and I like ‘em a whole lot better now.

All I want to do I keep hitting refresh and smiling. Oh, and I want Fil re-signed, too.

Still, I liked our chances before, and I like ‘em a whole lot better now.

Oh, I am in no way saying I don’t like this team’s chances - I LOVE their chances.

Fortunately, they have a lot of players experienced with this “winning Cups” thing, including dealing with the hangover, and it isn’t as though this is the first time they will have targets on their back and get everyone’s best game, so they aren’t in uncharted waters.

I am really, really hoping the entire division will be competitive. Chicago doesn’t worry me (from a competitive standpoint) - they played the Wings crazy tough all last year, and will continue to do so.  I think the trick for them will be to take the same effort they always bring against the Wings and do the same thing against all their other opponents.

It’s funny, though - my Mom said the Blackhawks always mirrored the style of their opponents even when she was watching them in high school.  that’s why she liked watching the games against Montreal so much, because there was a lot of skating instead of fighting.

Is anyone else very, very concerned that we’ve overstepped our bounds with this one?  That things have gotten too good and that we’re going to get bit here? 

Personally, I never left the Hasek.  I just curled up in one of the cubby holes beneath the seat.  Passed out there after we closed out the Pens, but I woke up about 2 hours ago when all this Hossa stuff started happening. 

The optimist in me says that winning the cup is an epic feat and that you have to be aggressive every year, taking every opportunity if you’re in contention to pursue it.

The pessimist in me thinks that we’re paying a lot to a guy who I love, but who is a mercenary.  No two ways about it.  Maybe all of the NHL’rs are merc’s, maybe all of our Wings are, but I get the sense from most of our high profile talent that they love it in Detroit and want to be there because...fck I don’t know...they love Star Deli on Telegraph and think Uncle Mike is a genius.  I don’t get that sense of organize comfort from hossa.

The beauty of this is that we MIGHT have enough money to re-sign Hossa next year if the cap jumps high enough.

You can’t fault Hossa’s “organizational comfort” with the Wings.  He is taking a huge risk with his career.  It’s the Wings that aren’t in a position to offer him more than a one-year contract until they know the 2009-2010 salary cap, and also what they have to pay Zetterberg and Franzen.

I don’t agree with the comparisons to other teams who added stacked talent and didn’t go anywhere with it.  all the Wings did was add ONE player to essentially the same roster they already had.  and those teams didn’t have a Lidstrom, or a Babcock, or an Yzerman, etc etc etc

I would be more apt to accept a comparison to adding Hasek, Hull, and Robitaille - and having everyone say “ah, too many stars, it’ll never work.” we all know how that played out.

Question:

Does this hinder negotiations with Z? If we work out a deal by, say, December, it will only kick in for the 09-10 season right?

Just making sure...otherwise I’ll just subtly put myself in front of the Hasek.

It doesn’t hinder negotiations with Z from a salary cap standpoint.  However, Z now knows he can easily garner $10MM in the open market.  Will he accept Datsyuk-like $6.7MM?  Doubt it.  We could be in trouble there.  It all depends on how happy Zetterberg is in Detroit.

Does this hinder negotiations with Z?...it will only kick in for the 09-10 season right?

Right.  Z’s under contract through 08-09 for ~$2.6 mil.  His new contract begins in 09-10.

Will he accept Datsyuk-like $6.7MM?  Doubt it. We could be in trouble there.  It all depends on how happy Zetterberg is in Detroit.

Think you’re wrong, based on the things he’s said in a few interviews (I think with Aftonbladet), but I suppose we’ll see. Also, he won’t be able to go anywhere else and still play with Pav, and the way they talk about each other is near gay…

Besides, Kenny will likely give Z what he wants. If Z leaves, it won’t be because Holland didn’t give him fair market value or asked him to take the “Red Wing Success Discount”. It’ll probably be because he wanted to go regardless, in which case, it’s better he leaves anyways.

Wow, Marian Hossa.  It’s kind of crazy to imagine a scenario where Hossa gets injured early on for 40+ games, giving the Wings 3m+ in cap space at the deadline, which they use to pick up Sundin or Jagr (or hell, why not both!).  Oh, fantasies.

Is there any other team in the league where Marian freaking Hossa is on the second power play unit?  Or how about having three (or two or four, depending on your criteria) penalty killing forwards that are a legitimate scoring threat?  How about the fact that the Wings not only have the best top 5 in the league, but now have a second 5 that’s better than most teams first?  How about the fact that this means two of Filppula, Cleary, and Samuelsson will be on the third line with Draper or Hudler, giving the Wings a faster and more skilled third line than they’ve had in years?

With regards to the cap, keep in mind that the salary of players under 35 (I think) that are sent to the minors don’t count against the cap.  So signing someone like Ericsson for $0.6m isn’t a $0.6m cap hit--in reality, it’s only a $0.1m cap hit because if he comes up, he’ll be sending another Meech’s $0.5m down to the minors.  The catch is Chelios: if he’s sent to the minors, only $0.1m of his salary isn’t counted against the cap.  Same with Howard.  They can easily give him the same contract as Conklin, because the only time both of them will be dressed as Red Wings is when Osgood has an injury serious enough that he can’t dress, and short-term enough that they can’t put him on LTIR.

I think Z is loving life. He couldn’t ask for a better fit for him. He’ll take something like Dats did, maybe a little more. Lidstrom has had an extremely strong effect on him I think.

First of all, when you all find that Church of Kenny, please let me know because this guy is absolutely inspiring. All praise to Mr. Holland!

Second, even though salaries are supposed to be “set” thing, it amazes me how many different variations of the Wings cap number exist out there. Like others, I’m inclined to believe The Highlander...especially when his numbers are almost identical to mine.

He has the Wings at “a little under $52.5 million.” I have them at $52,723,000. All of the “cap hits” listed on the page above come from nhlnumbers.com (which I’ve always found to be pretty darn accurate).

But a few grand aside, it does look like the Wings have around $4 million with which to sign Fil, Cheli, Quincy and D-Mac. Once that’s done, someone has to go (Meech, Quincy, Lebda, ?). Now all we have to do is wait and see how Kenny turns the traded guy into a first and second round draft pick in 2009.

It doesn’t hinder negotiations with Z from a salary cap standpoint.  However, Z now knows he can easily garner $10MM in the open market.  Will he accept Datsyuk-like $6.7MM?  Doubt it.  We could be in trouble there.  It all depends on how happy Zetterberg is in Detroit.

I look at it this way…

it gives us Franzen, Zetterberg, and Hossa to sign next year.  any two out of the three would be a dream come true for most teams...and we’d have the possibility of keeping all three.

I don’t think it is much of a speculation to think that if Hossa fits, he’s going to enjoy winning, enjoy playing with players like Datsyuk, Zetterberg, Lidstrom, Draper, etc etc and will want to stay.  winning winning winning can do a lot for a player’s decision-making.

Several thoughts on this deal:
Does anyone know if a team can exceed the cap to match a RFA offer to one of their players?
I’m thinking that the Wings don’t pull the trigger on a deal that guarantees them a player for just one year without some indication from Filppula that he’s sticking around.
Be funny (not funny ha-ha) to see the Pens extend an offer to Filppula. As it stands now, Shero has nothing to show for the players he shipped to Atlanta for Hossa. If just one of them turns into a halfway decent player, he’ll never hear the end of it.

I just realized the Hossa brothers, Cleary and — yes, you guessed it — Lilja played in the same Swedish team (Mora) during the lockout.  Just sayin’…

As it stands now, Shero has nothing to show for the players he shipped to Atlanta for Hossa. If just one of them turns into a halfway decent player, he’ll never hear the end of it.

Aren’t you forgetting Dupuis?  Or was he part of another deal?

Bruce McLeod has some interesting tidbits from a press conference that Holland has done:

Hossa said that he talked with fellow Slovak Tomas Kopecky—the two are part of a group of Slovak NHLers who work out in Trencin together every summer—and liked what he heard about Detroit’s players and organization.

Both sides said in today’s press conference that they hope this will be more than a one-year relationship. Holland said that he’ll have a better idea in the middle of next season what the 2009-10 salary cap will be and whether he can work deals with the players he has to sign for that season.

“Hopefully this is a long-term relationship,” said Holland of the Hossa/Red Wing marriage. “The hope is we can keep everyone together ... I’ve got some time now to see what I can do.”

yes, Dupuis was the other half of the Hossa deal.

Well, well, well. I did not see this coming.
What I do see coming are an awful lot of Fu#k Detroit posts from everywhere.
I will enjoy every single one of them.

“BRING IT ON!”
“AGAIN,and AGAIN,and AGAIN!”
Lets Go Red Wings!!!!!

Ken Holland press conference is up on redwings.nhl.tv.

It’s our cup…
and
We’re keepin’ it

All the examples given so far of ‘World gone Wrong’,
(Strange things have happened...Like never before...)
have been teams that were not champions returning with the same (perhaps improved) line-up.

OTC;

Now all we have to do is wait and see how Kenny turns the traded guy into a first and second round draft pick in 2009.

And then turn around and trade those 1st and 2nd picks for five 7th rounders.

Excuse me while I go search for my faith in humanity…

Yeah, in my giddiness over this deal, I forgot about Dupuis.
Couple more thoughts about the Hossa signing:
I thought the Penguins had enough cap space to do a deal like this themselves. Could this be interpreted as somewhat of a commentary by Hossa as to his ease with the overall situation in Pittsburgh, or that being on the ice with the two teams made him aware of how much better and therefore likely to win the Wings were? Or was it just a case of Shero bungling the negotiations?
And who would win a series between the 2001-2002 Wings and this years version?

To whoever asked if the Wings could exceed the cap -

I believe a team can exceed the cap by as much as 10%, as long as they are back down under it as soon as the season starts.  Gives the summer to make trades, if necessary.

I’m guessing that Hossa thought the Wings were closer right now than the Penguins are right now.

However, Crosby and Malkin are still young and improving, and will be the better for this playoff experience, especially Malkin - who was also sick for the start of the Finals and didn’t really start to feel himself until the fifth or sixth game, I read somewhere.  Fleury will also improve with time, but Hossa may not have thought that team was as likely to be back in the Finals next year as opposed to a couple years down the road.

I think the simple fact is, Hossa knows the Penguins will not be as good this year as they were last year. Whereas even if the Wings didn’t sign him, they would be returning with the same team that faced the Penguins.

The Penguins on the other hand lost Ryan Malone, Jaarko Ruutu and Gary Robets, and potentially Laraque and Brooks Orpik (is it just me, or is this guy extremely overrated? he has one big shift and all of a sudden he’s the most bruising guy in hockey. anyway, i digress...), and with three MAJOR contracts already between Fleury, Crosby and Malkin, they don’t have much room for him AND more pieces for that puzzle.

Still nothing official on Drake!

Is that because Kenny sent him off to the Cloning farm..?

Pens have re-signed Orpik...6 years, $22.5MM…

Pens have re-signed Orpik...6 years, $22.5MM…

So they have that going for them.  Which is nice.

...it gives us Franzen, Zetterberg, and Hossa to sign next year.  any two out of the three would be a dream come true for most teams…

Hmmm. PMB raises a very interesting twist to all of this. If Mule decides to be, well, obstinate and “mulish” next year, Kenny simply gives his money to Hossa. For a god-like entity, Kenny’s a previous devious son of a bitch, eh?

Excuse me while I go search for my faith in humanity…
Posted by Pens fan on 07/02 at 04:59 PM

Funniest line of the day...and there have been a slew of them. First the Pens get hosed in the playoffs and now they get Hossa-ed. Makes you almost want to send them a sympathy card. Almost.

Could this be interpreted as somewhat of a commentary by Hossa as to his ease with the overall situation in Pittsburgh, or that being on the ice with the two teams made him aware of how much better and therefore likely to win the Wings were?

I’d say both! Or maybe he saw the world of difference between the classiest coach in the league and the league’s biggest whiner.

So they have that going for them.  Which is nice.

instant respect for anyone that can work a caddyshack quote into any situation.

Yeah, Orpik’s shift has attained legendary status among Penguin fans. It was indeed a very good shift, overshadowed as it was by The Shift.

And who would win a series between the 2001-2002 Wings and this years version?

Detroit.

Other cool thing about this deal is that Nick is still the highest paid Red Wing.

Not by much in this case, but still.

It’s true you can’t mail in a cup season but the Wings are in a great great position to win again.  injuries and themselves are the only thing that can hurt them.  I seriously doubt the themselves part of it. Not in that room.

Anyway the info talked about earlier on the tiger’s off season trade is a little confusing.  It was maybin, who is in the minors right now, and Miller, who is like 5-7 allowing about 5 earned run a game, for Willis and Cabrera.

The trade that really ticked me off and the pitcher I hated losing was jair Jurrjens, who is 8-3 and has allowed less then three runs a game, for Renteria.  That trade with atlanta killed us. Imagine Jurrijens and galarraga fighting it out for rook of the year.

As delighted as I am by the addition of Hossa,I am of the belief that The Wings were going to hang on to our Cup prior to his signing.

This unexpected turn of events has me on Cloud 9. 
Cloud 12,13....

Lets Go Red Wings!!!!!

Oh.  My.  High.  Holy.  Freaking.  Mother.  Of.  God.

This is just an awesome quote:

“I have never been involved in a deal and seen a player get so excited to take $85 million less than he was offered elsewhere,” Hossa’s agent Ritch Winter told The Canadian Press, hinting at the Oilers offer.

BREAKING NEWS:  NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman suffered a fatal stroke after learning that ‘parity’ in the new NHL has been relegated to the scrap heap of history.  Details to follow…

BREAKING NEWS: NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman suffered a fatal stroke after learning that ‘parity’ in the new NHL has been relegated to the scrap heap of history.

BREAKING NEWS (part 2): The news of Commissioner Bettman’s demise was met with shock throughout the league. Said Red Wings GM, Ken Holland, “I’m shocked he lasted this long.” Other GMs also expressed dismay...dismay that their league had been held hostage by such a midget of a man (and, apparently, they weren’t talking about his height).

In other news, a hockey holiday was declared throughout North America. League GMs said the timing was “simply a coincidence.”

everyone in the nhl hates the red wings, so its okay

The audacity!

Posted by w2j2 on 07/02 at 01:52 PM

Of all the words expressed today, “stunned” being the most prominent, this is probably the best.  Well played w2j2.

In the words of the Pensblog, I’m

STUNNED

, but in a good way. God, damn Kenny! While we were sitting around debating Tucker, Rolston, and (hah!) Bertuzzi, you go and land one of the big fish. Hah! I didn’t even think he was on the radar.

From the Wings standpoint, this is a perfect fit. They had (for the Wings, anyway) oodles of cap room to work with this season, and have a couple of big name guys to sign next year. I just can’t believe that one of the big fish in the UFA pool was willing to sign a one year contract.

I bet Uncle Mike’s just rubbing his hands with glee thinking of all the potential line combinations. I’m betting he’s going to at least flirt with splitting up the Circus during the preseason.

I love Fils, and I do hope we can resign him, but if I had to choose Fillpula or Hossa? I’d probably pick the Hossa. Now all Kenny has to do is resign Mac (who I’m hoping will be so happy to be a Wing again that he’ll take a two-way contract), Cheli, and ship Lilja somewhere else. (I’m hoping that singing him was just insurance in case Stuart decided to go elsewhere.)

The rest of the quote from Hossa’s agent regarding leaving $85 Million on the table,

.."It’s almost incomprehensible, even to an agent. But Marian is a special player.”

Are these the “can’t miss Tigers” who were sub .500 for half a season?  No, the Wings locker room is not like that, plus this is just one player on top of a stable of SC winners, so it’s not a big change in chemistry.

I think the simple fact is, Hossa knows the Penguins will not be as good this year as they were last year. Whereas even if the Wings didn’t sign him, they would be returning with the same team that faced the Penguins.

I think he actually made up his mind when the time-out
was called during their 5 on 3.

Now that Dom is retired and Hossa is here, will we turn the religious icon of CMOI over to Hossa? They both are Czechs and he just turned down at least 85 mil in guarenteed money to play for a winning organ-i-zation. That is a miracle in itself handed to us by the church of Holland.

I think he actually made up his mind when the time-out was called during their 5 on 3.

That might be the most astute observation of the day.

At that point, Marian must have said to himself, “The coach is a jackass and those guys are freaking relentless. Damn. I sure wish I was a Red Wing.”

And now you are, our friend. Now you are. You’re a very wise man.

Anyone get the feeling that Hasek is going to jump out & say - just kidding about the retirement!

Okay, we really signed Hossa, right? I mean I’ve been reading the updates all day. But it still seems a little surreal! I am SO giddy over this signing its not even funny!

You all act like your real fans, but the penguins are the ones whose arena was sold out and every seat was filled for the stanley cup final. you guys couldn’t even find enough fans to fill those nasty red seats on opening night of game one. your goalie is mediocre and a diver and your players are all over thirty. enjoy your reign now, because u have a year or two of winning left then it’s the pens turn to takeover.

You can have hossa. The only reason he was any good was because he played on Sidney’s side.

Sweet Baby Jesus… what a great day to be a wings fan. No superlatives can express the joy at how these past four weeks have unfolded.

This post from freecandy101(!?!) irked me enough to decide to make my first posting here and give my best to the 19.

but the penguins are the ones whose arena was sold out and every seat was filled for the stanley cup final. you guys couldn’t even find enough fans to fill those nasty red seats on opening night of game one.

Did you even check the attendance figures for Game 1? Unless NHL.com would lie about such a thing 20066 sounds sold out to me.

your goalie is mediocre and a diver

I don’t even want to reopen this can of worms.

your players are all over thirty

Oh no! Our guys are so old that we will never survive a long and deep playoff run. Oh wait....

u have a year or