1st. Re-Sign Nick Lidstrom to a one year deal. I do not think Lidstrom retires, he is still possibly the best defensemen in the entire NHL and hopefully we can work out a deal with him in which he takes a pay cut. Now I don't think that he will come back if he doesn't think the Wings are taking a run at another Cup.
In the end, Lidstrom re-signs a 1 year/$3-4 million deal, to help open up some more cap room.
2nd. Replace Jonathon Ericsson, Ruslan Salei and Brian Rafalski. Even though Ericsson showed big time improvement this year, I still do not think he is worth the money he will receive on the open market. Some team will sign him to a $3 million/year deal just because he played for Detroit. With Salei, even though he played well, I just think the Wings can get younger and better for the money. Then there is Brian Rafalski, who, out of the blue, retired. Raffy was a big piece to the Wings defense, especially on the power play, but this gives Holland the ability to infuse the team with younger and/or grittier players.
My picks, James Wisniewski and Ed Jovanovski. Wiz is a hometown boy, and his gritty and skillful play would make him easily the biggest fan favorite on the team. Also add in that he is only 26 years old, has the ability to move the puck and can play on the power play, this would be a perfect fit and he wouldn't break the bank. With Jovanovski, the Wings have some "in's" with him, including having one of his best friends on the team (Todd Bertuzzi), this may be his best chance at a cup, and the fact that he is from Windsor, he may sign a short, cheap contract to finish his career near home.
Contracts: Wisniewski- 3 years/$4 million, Jovanovski-2 years/$2.5 million
 |
| Wisniewski (left) Jovanovski (right) |
3rd. Get a top 6 forward .With the money we have left, and the fact that we are the Detroit Red Wings, expect Holland to pull off a good move to have a top free agent forward join the cast.
My pick, Simon Gagne. Yes, he does have a head injury problem, but his skill set fits perfectly with the Wings and because of the chance he would get here, we could get him for cheaper than what he received last season in Tampa.
Contract: 3 years/$2.5 million
 |
| 40 pts in 63 games in 10-11, but 74 pts in 79 games in 08-09 |
- Mike Modano and Kris Draper should retire
- Give Chris Osgood a chance to at least come to camp, most likely retire.
- Jonathon Ericsson, Ruslan Salei, and Drew Miller will be free to sign elsewhere
- Patrick Eaves will be re-signed
- Trade Jiri Hudler (to whoever will take him) for prospects and cap space
- Bring up Jan Mursak, Cory Emmerton, Tomas Tatar and Jordan Pearce
Forwards
1. Tomas Holmstrom - Pavel Datsyuk -Simon Gagne
2. Johan Franzen - Henrik Zetterberg - Danny Cleary
3. Todd Bertuzzi - Valtteri Filppula -Jan Mursak
4. Justin Abdelkader - Darren Helm - Patrick Eaves
extra: Cory Emmerton and Tomas Tatar
Defense
1. Nicklas Lidstrom - Brad Stuart
2. Niklas Kronwall - James Wisniewski
3. Jakub Kindl - Ed Jovanovski
extra: Brendan Smith
Goaltending
1. Jimmy Howard
2. Joey MacDonald
3. Jordan Pearce
images via NHL.com
In response to ur last FB post.....I have man love for Brendan Smith but if he isn't ready he isn't ready. Kindl can definitely step in and play as our 6th Dman. I hate Jovanowski, I think he is an overrated twat waffle and if we could bring him in cheap I'm down like a said but someone is going to offer him at least 4.5 mil GUARENTEED and they can have fun with his injuries, negative plus minus and stupid penalties. My list: Wiz(he'll get offered 4.5-5.5 mil somewhere trust me), A. Markov, Hamarlik, Erhoff, Bieska, Eric Brewer, Kaberle and I can't say who or how many we should sign because I don't know whats going on with Weber or Lidstrom so I don't know if we should grab a PP specialist, a PK guy, whatever. & My point with Lidstrom is this: EVERYTHING is speculation. I don't even think Nick Lidstrom knows what he is going to do. If he came back for 3 mil it would help us out alot but in the end, WHO KNOWS. All we do know is the rest of our offseason is contingent upon him. As far as signing offensive free agents, we were like 2nd or 3rd in scoring and 23rd in goals against so I think its definitely on low priority alert.......and I like Eaves better too but Ken Holland doesn't and thats my point......what I'm about to say is cliche and thats not usually me but we do need some grit. If Justin Abdelkader is our "grit" god help us. Abdelkader=Maltby, Helm=Draper.....we need our McCarty. In 08 we had Dallas Drake to drop the gloves. Now we have Sharks snowing Jimmy Howard and everyone standing around playing with themselves, makes me sick.
ReplyDelete