Here is how I foresee the off-season playing out (just for giggles):
Sammy is as good as gone.
1.2m contract this year cap hit wise, 40 point player, 32 years old.
IF they resign Hossa, Kopecky and Hudler are both gone. IF Hossa doesn't resign, Hudler will stay but Kopecky is still gone
I give a Hossa re-signing at 50/50 chance right now. Locking up Franzen was a key IMO.
hossa, what do you think it will take to resign the guy? hes 29, 4 time 80+ player with two 90+ one of which was 100 pts. currently due 7.45m this year. theyve already got 51m against the cap with next years new contracts kicking in.
hudler 1.015m, 25, 42 and 57 pts the last two years. rfa, theyll likely tender him something and likely hopefully he is offere sheeted/traded. should have good value in that.
kopecky 27 500k ufa back to back 40+ point seasons.
agreed franzen at 3.9+ cap hit was a good signing.
Lilja may never come back. He has a bleeding vein on his brain and they may never clear him to play ever again. There's a chance Chelios will not come back and if he doesn he'll be the league minimum.
chelios will be a vet incentive contract, no biggie. granted hell be collecting social security next year right?
my shocker of the off-season is Holmstrom retiring. He just isn't the same impact anymore and can't play more than about 50 games per season without spending significant time on the IR. And I think he realizes it too.
guy plays a hard banging physical game. if he does that 2.25 in cap space. not that i think you can get a guy of his caliber for 2.25m but youll need that space (see hossa, so that makes the 51m 49+.) the guy is 36...
As for the "youth" of the Wings, their minors have had nearly 2 decades to build and they really haven't had to trade any big pieces away lately to acquire anyone. Darren Helm is 24 (I think he's probably younger) and he will likely be the next Kris Draper type player for the team. Justin Abdelkader is all of 21 years old and he'll see significant time next year.
young daren helm is a nice young player. the griffins are good but the wings dont at this point have the super studs theyve yanked granted they tend to develop and create players and role players. my point in general is what youve seen the last 11 years is amongst the better runs of any franchise of any sport in a long time...
Jonathan Ericcson is already up with the team and making a huge impact in Lilja's absence. He's also in his early 20s.
big kids, hes 25. lets be frank, lidstrom is debateably the best defensemen of all time, ever. hard to replace that. the two of top three for sure are 38 and 35. im in no way saying the wings will suck in 3 years but in a new era of caps and what not replicating what theyve done will be tough. granted they are banking on the new cba including ammedments in the buyouts (as are the habs, leafs, etc). those things will make things tougher. you just cant replace a lidstrom, you cant. imo best player in the league...
The wings will be fine if they can find any goalie to replace Osgood down the road here. they have more than a few capable players in their system and let's face it, they are thought of as a model franchise to play for. While I doubt the recent run of dominance will fade slightly, they aren't going anywhere anytime soon either.
no doubt, im not saying thelly suck. but the dominance will come to an end. zetterberg, datsyuk, etc. granted you have to wonder how many of those guys will be able to go to the lidstrom fountain of youth and play 35+ years of age.
