Gorilla Crouch

Being wrong never felt so very, very right. I’ve written a couple times in a couple different contexts that it was nothing more than a pipe dream to suggest the Red Wings could sign Marian Hossa. The first was at the trade deadline this past winter.

If I’m close in my calculations that would put Detroit right around $44.2 million in salary and would give them 12 forwards, 7 defensemen and 2 goalies. If the cap stays at $50.2 million the Red Wings clearly don’t have enough money to pay Hossa the $7mm per season he currently makes. Even if the cap rises by a couple million dollars, the Red Wings will need to pay Henrik Zetterberg north of $6mm per season starting in 2009-10. So signing Hossa [to a long-term deal] just doesn’t seem feasible.

And here’s what I said recently about the prospect of acquiring him as a free agent:

Finally Ansar suggests that Marian Hossa could be a target for Detroit. I’d love to hear how this conversation goes. In particular I’d like to know how shortly after the Red Wings mention the dollar amount and the term the converstation comes to an abrupt end. So I guess Khan is just throwing out names at this point. Hossa will get a Daniel Briere like contract. Add in the fact Hossa actually has more than a rudimentary grasp of defensive skills like backchecking and he’s obviously worth more than Briere.

I was correct in gauging the market for Hossa’s services as it was reported the Edmonton Oilers were prepared to try and move some salary off the books in order to offer the former Senator, Thrasher and Penguin a nine-year contract in excess of $80 million. It turns out that Hossa was willing to sacrifice close to $75 million in salary today for a shot to get his name etched onto the Stanley Cup. Never let it be said the guy doesn’t have a pretty big set of cojones. That type of sacrifice will serve as motivation for the team as they prepare to defend their title.

Here’s how I see the salary cap situation:

So that leaves the Red Wings with roughly $3.35 million to sign Valtteri Filppula and either Chris Chelios or another player. That should be enough money to get Filppula inked to a new deal. Ken Holland has also suggested the Red Wings would be interested in a grinder who could fill Dallas Drake’s spot in the lineup.

Bill over at A2Y made a great point that Hossa had a chance to audition for the Red Wings back on January 15, just in front of the trade deadline. All he did was score a hat trick against a very solid Detroit defense. That had to have gotten Detroit’s attention. Here are the hightlights.

As far as the lineups go the possibilities are endless. Let’s take a look at some key stats with the help of behind the net and go from there.

There’s a good shot Hossa could replace Tomas Holmstrom on the top line at even strength. Homer’s goals per 60 minutes at even strength really dropped off this past season. With Zetterberg, Datsyuk and Hossa each player’s goals per 60 minutes should be well north of 1.20. That would potentially make the best line in the NHL even better. Homer’s net-front presence is much more valuable on the power play but you can see where last year Johan Franzen had much better production with the man advantage. So with that being said, here is how I think the lineup works for next season on each of the scoring lines.

Even-strength

Zetterberg-Datsyuk-Hossa
Franzen-Filppula-Holmstrom

Power Play
Zetterberg-Datsyuk-Franzen
Hossa-Hudler-Holmstrom

I also suspect Jiri Hudler will get plenty of opportunity to play on one of the scoring lines during the course of the season. He’d probably fit in really well on the second line playing alongside Johan Franzen and Valtteri Filppula.

There’s little reason to doubt the Red Wings can maintain their spot of allowing the fewest goals against in the NHL. But they’ve put themselves in great shape to outscore every other team in the NHL during the 2008-09 season.

Ken Holland Marian Hossa Red Wings

July 2nd, 2008
Categories: Red Wings . Author: Dave

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