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?

Posted by AndrewFromAnnArbor from far away from socially networking on 07/02/08 at 01:14 PM ET

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!

Posted by WingMan19 from Metro Detroit on 07/02/08 at 01:17 PM ET

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.

Posted by Osrt on 07/02/08 at 01:24 PM ET

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

Posted by AndrewFromAnnArbor from St. Louis, home of the porkchop on skates on 07/02/08 at 01:25 PM ET

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!

Posted by Cal on 07/02/08 at 01:25 PM ET

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.

Posted by hankyspanky40 from Michigan on 07/02/08 at 01:27 PM ET

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.

Posted by Pete K from Chicago, IL on 07/02/08 at 01:27 PM ET

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!

Posted by Hippy Dave from San Francisco by way of Detroit on 07/02/08 at 01:31 PM ET

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

Posted by w2j2 on 07/02/08 at 01:31 PM ET

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.

Posted by Nathan from Jonny Ericsson's ice cream truck on 07/02/08 at 01:32 PM ET

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).

Posted by Matt Fry from Winnipeg on 07/02/08 at 01:33 PM ET

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.

Posted by Jeremy on 07/02/08 at 01:34 PM ET

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!

Posted by Jeff from Loveland, CO on 07/02/08 at 01:36 PM ET

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.

Posted by HockeyTownTodd from upset when blogs don�t live up to my expectations on 07/02/08 at 01:36 PM ET

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.

Posted by cephalopod from Chicago, on the poop deck, not over it yet on 07/02/08 at 01:46 PM ET

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!!!!

Posted by TDeters on 07/02/08 at 01:48 PM ET

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

Posted by Larry Aurie #6 from New York, NY on 07/02/08 at 01:54 PM ET

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.

Posted by rwingscup19 from Dallas on 07/02/08 at 01:56 PM ET

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.

Posted by MOWingsFan19 from KC MO on 07/02/08 at 01:57 PM ET

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.

Posted by rwingscup19 from Dallas on 07/02/08 at 02:00 PM ET

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?

Posted by MOWingsFan19 from KC MO on 07/02/08 at 02:03 PM ET

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.)

Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 07/02/08 at 02:07 PM ET

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…

Posted by Larry Aurie #6 from New York, NY on 07/02/08 at 02:11 PM ET

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.

Posted by Cal on 07/02/08 at 02:12 PM ET

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.”

Posted by Gusoline from Out east but wishing I was back in MI on 07/02/08 at 02:13 PM ET

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.

Posted by Nate A from Dark side of the moon on 07/02/08 at 02:15 PM ET

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.

Posted by BobTheZee on 07/02/08 at 02:16 PM ET

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.

Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 07/02/08 at 02:24 PM ET

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.

Posted by disch from bat country on 07/02/08 at 02:26 PM ET

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

Posted by Hippy Dave from San Francisco by way of Detroit on 07/02/08 at 02:30 PM ET

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.

Posted by Larry Aurie #6 from New York, NY on 07/02/08 at 02:32 PM ET

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.

Posted by PaulinMiamiBeach on 07/02/08 at 02:50 PM ET

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.

Posted by Osrt on 07/02/08 at 02:51 PM ET

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.

Posted by Larry Aurie #6 from New York, NY on 07/02/08 at 02:56 PM ET

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.

Posted by BobTheZee on 07/02/08 at 02:59 PM ET

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.

Posted by Nathan from Jonny Ericsson's ice cream truck on 07/02/08 at 03:07 PM ET

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.

Posted by Ryan from Toronto on 07/02/08 at 03:09 PM ET

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.

Posted by rwingscup19 from Dallas on 07/02/08 at 03:11 PM ET

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.

Posted by OlderThanChelios from Grand Rapids on 07/02/08 at 03:12 PM ET

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.

Posted by PaulinMiamiBeach on 07/02/08 at 03:17 PM ET

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.

Posted by BobS. on 07/02/08 at 03:21 PM ET

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’…

Posted by lilja4ever on 07/02/08 at 03:29 PM ET

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?

Posted by lilja4ever on 07/02/08 at 03:31 PM ET

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.”

Posted by Larry Aurie #6 from New York, NY on 07/02/08 at 03:33 PM ET

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

Posted by pensfanwill from pittsburgh on 07/02/08 at 03:35 PM ET

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!!!!!

Posted by Kate from Pa. on 07/02/08 at 03:36 PM ET

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

Posted by Larry Aurie #6 from New York, NY on 07/02/08 at 03:36 PM ET

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.

Posted by HockeyTownTodd from upset when blogs don�t live up to my expectations on 07/02/08 at 03:56 PM ET

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

Posted by Pens fan on 07/02/08 at 03:59 PM ET

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?

Posted by BobS. on 07/02/08 at 04:02 PM ET