So is Brad Stuart coming back?
I could get used to seeing Stuart
do this in games against Chicago
Brook commented that there’s a good chance Ken Holland is working dilligently behind the scenes to get Brad Stuart inked to a new deal prior to July 1. The most recent comments from the Red Wings general manager indicate the two sides are in the neighborhood as far as salary goes, so there’s reason to think a deal could get done.
Here’s the latest from MLIVE’s Ansar Khan:
The Red Wings are trying to convince Stuart to take less than what he could get on the open market. He was offered a multiyear deal at slightly less than the $3.5 million he earned last season.
“I’ve sold everybody on a certain philosophy and the way we do business and I have to continue to do that,” Holland said. “In my conversations with (agent) Pat Brisson, they want to buy into the program. It’s all about finding a number. They got some numbers in mind, I got some numbers. We’ll see if something comes of it.”
It sounds like Detroit is offering a multi-year deal that is in the neighborhood of what he made last year on a one-year contract but that doesn’t seem to be enough to get Stuart to sign on the dotted line. I think it’s worth taking a look back at the contract negoatiations last year for Todd Bertuzzi and Mathieu Schneider and see where those were at prior to both players being snapped up by Anaheim.
Here’s an excerpt from an article from June 23, 2007:
Wings general manager Ken Holland said he’s not close to signing any of the team’s free agents because their salary demands are too high. He’s talked to the agents for goaltender Dominik Hasek, defensemen Mathieu Schneider and Danny Markov and forward Todd Bertuzzi in the last couple of days and said he’ll have to make some “hard decisions.”
“It appears one or two are not going to be in Detroit,” Holland said. “I got to figure out which direction we’re going to go.”
One or two? Try three. Hasek was obviously the lone guy to return for this season and even he didn’t make it official until well into the summer.
So the suggestion that Stuart is inclined to “buy into the program” is a good sign. Dom had the Red Wings in a tough position as they obviously didn’t know that Chris Osgood would be able to perform as well as he did this season. So Dom was likely the one guy Ken Holland was willing to go outside his budget for last summer and pay up to bring Hasek back for one more season. It remains to be seen how much outside of Holland’s budget Stuart’s salary demands are.
Not meeting those salary demands for the other players last summer was obviously the right decision as Brian Rafalski proved to be an excellent replacement for Schneider, Markov headed off to Russia since he couldn’t find any takers in the NHL, and Todd Bertuzzi is in the process of being bought out by the Anaheim Ducks. Heck, the Ducks might have to trade Schneider so they can fit the last year of Scott Niedermayer’s contract into their cap and attempt to sign RFA Corey Perry.
Speaking of Anaheim, it’s great that they have some serious cap issues for the simple fact they’d be likely to offer Stuart like $6 million per season. It’s not farfetched as they signed Todd Bertuzzi for $4 million per season. Sure, the Schneider and Bertuzzi signings were made in case Teemu Selanne and Scott Niedermayer retired, but that’s still freaking retarded money to pay for Bert.
If Stuart doesn’t sign that increases the
chance Ericsson gets IT in Detroit
With that being said, I think there’s a chance Detroit signs Stuart, but I’d peg it at probably being close to a 1 in 3 chance. It wouldn’t surprise me if he hits the free agent market on July 1 to see where teams value his worth. If there isn’t a situation that is clearly better than Detroit he could wind up being a Red Wing. But the team won the Presidents trophy with Andreas Lilja as their #4 defenseman and it would be kind of nice to see Jonathan Ericsson have a shot at claiming that #4 spot in training camp if Stuart doesn’t come back to Detroit.
I think it’s best to keep in mind that the only thing Ken Holland has said regading his defense is that if Stuart comes back he has 10 NHL defensemen. If they can’t reach an agreement with Stuart then having that extra cap space is valuable until Ken Holland can officially add Valtteri Filppula’s cap hit to the ledger. I agree with Pete that the biggest concern right now is getting Valtteri Filppula - otherwise known as Wally - signed to a new contract. Brad Stuart Red Wings Valtteri Filppula
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I’ve read that his wife will lose custody of her kids from her other marriage if she leaves California, so I doubt he re-signs with us. Too bad, he was a real good #4. About as good a #4 in the league.
We will probably then sign a veteran forward to a one-year deal, and trade for a #4 at the deadline. Schneider could be on the trading block again, and so could Mattias Ohlund or Derrick Morris (depending how good PHX does this year). Those guys, along with Rob Blake (who would be absolutely perfect for the #4 role for us if he would just waive that no-trade clause) are guys to keep an eye on this year at the deadline.
Brian,
I totally agree. It would be awesome to have Stuart back but I think the odds are pretty long. The one positive if he doesn’t come back is that Ericsson will have a good shot at playing quite a bit in Detroit.
Then if they need to bring in a d-man at the deadline they can do that. My guess is they’d only need one more season for a stopgap trade for a #4 and then after that hopefully Ericsson and Kindl will be making a mad rush for ice time in the top 4-5.
Brian,
You should get your facts straight before commenting on people’s personal lives. Right off the hop, Stuey has one step daughter and two sons. Tthe custody issue with his step-daughter is sorted out.
Bruker.
PS. You’d be better off with Samuelsson as a 6th defensemen than Derek Morris.
PS. Did you watch any Kings games this year? Blake was freaking brutal!!!