– Here is the final list of Wings picks from the draft this weekend (click name for player info):
#64 G James Howard
#132 D Kyle Quincey
#164 C Ryan Oulahen
#170 L Andreas Sundin
#194 D Stefan Blom
#226 L Tomas Kollar
#258 L Vladimir Kutny
#289 C Mikael Johansson
Click here for a quicker overview of each draftee. The Wings didn’t get the steal they were looking for but they don’t sound too disapointed, even though most of these guys are 4 years away from the league.

– Some good news: Pavel Datsyuk, though he has a huge offer from that Ak Bars Kazan team that he used to play for and Bykov has signed with, wants to stay with the Wings. He did not take the Russian offer and use it as leverage in the contract talks because he respects the Wings very much. That’s more than can be said about Bykov, I guess. I still can’t believe Bykov probably won’t be back. I took it for granted that he would be and now all of a sudden he’s turned greedy and the Wings won’t pay him. Sad. The Wings are close to a deal with Pavel and we should see him in a Wings jersey next year again. Hopefully it will be a long deal so we don’t have to worry about losing him for a while.

– There is an update on Yzerman in the Freep today. His agent said “We’ve talked about a number of issues and things. I think quite frankly if Steve Yzerman says to them that he expects to get paid what he got paid last year, based on the contribution that he’s made to the Detroit Red Wings for the last 20 years, there will be no issue. We are talking. It’s not acrimonious at all, it’s very pleasant discussions and I’m not expecting to have any problem getting something done.” Personally, I can’t see them paying Stevie $8 million again, not with his knee the way it is. I guess it wouldn’t be too unreasonable, as long as it’s just for one year. He has done a lot for the Wings and will do a lot in the future. His agent also said that he doesn’t think “July 1 is relevant anyway to Steve. He’s not looking to go anyplace else.” So we’re probably all worrying a little too much about The Captain.

– The Detroit News’ Terry Fosters asks what life will be like without Sergei. He says we Wings fans must face up to next season, the first without to be completely without Sergei. He believes Fedorov is gone and I don’t disagree with him. All indications are that #91 will be gone next year. Foster sees Sergei coming back only if he doesn’t get an offer from another team. I doubt that’ll happen. The Rangers will be the first ones on the phone when July 1 comes around. Then the Leafs.

— Some more on Jim Howard (left): Ken Holland said that since he is “a college player, we can bank him away and let him develop. There’s not a rush to get him out.” Also, the Wings have pretty good depth in net throughout their system and that’s another reason they don’t need to rush him.

– The Detroit News has a small article with more on the contract situation. Holland thinks that he can replace Sergei and Mac, judging by the free agent list and calls he’s been getting from other GMs. I’m glad someone thinks Sergei can be replaced because I sure don’t think so.

– Vartan Kupelian and Mike O’Hara think the best offer Sergei Fedorov will get is the offer he got from the Wings. I agree. I really think the Wings gave Sergei a fair offer and he would be wise to accept it. He might get more money somewhere else but he won’t necessarily get what the Wings offer him in terms of skilled teammates and Cups. There aren’t very many teams that can afford Fedorov and I doubt any of them have the same kind of attitude the Wings have.

– While a lot of people are calling for changes in the league (like me, for instance, if not as drastically as some), Scotty Bowman is calling for caution in making changes. This is the same guy who wants to limit goalie movement and puck-freezing ability. Scotty obviously knows what he’s talking about when he urges caution. I agree with him 100% on the goal size issue — keep it the same size! Bettman’s really dumb to even suggest making it bigger. They’d have to throw out the old record book if they were to do that. Scotty sees another solution to goalie equipment sizes: “… with new technologies in padding, maybe they could custom-fit the equipment and make goalies smaller while still protecting them.” That’s probably true. The thing is, that would be more expensive and would cost the team and players more, driving up the already high price to play hockey even higher.

Who knows what the best solution is? All I know is something needs to be done about goalie equipment size and the constant trap. It used to be goalies wore equipment to protect themselves; now they wear it to stop the puck. See the difference? There has to be some middle ground between what is needed for protection and what isn’t. Goalies are very touchy about the subject and the league is going to have to really crack down and find a fair compromise.

The constant trap. What I mean by that is when a team plays the trap virtually the whole game, every game. I don’t have much against the trap in the late stages of a game when it’s used to protect a lead. However, when it’s used the whole game, I have a problem with it. It’s hardly hockey and it’s boring. Hockey is an exciting game, when it’s played with a balance of defense and offense, not when it’s all defense or even all offense. I don’t see an end to the trap any time soon, not with the league as big as it is and the talent as diluted as it has become. I don’t think a salary cap is the solution, all that will do is make it so even more trap teams can be played on national TV in the Finals when every team will be capable of winning the Cup. A lockout caused by the CBA talks will drain the league of its top talent because many players will return to Europe. If the league even survives a lockout, I can only see it as even less exciting all around because the top teams will be diminished. All we can hope for is a soft salary cap with a tax on payrolls over a certain amount so the top teams can continue to be top teams. Personally, I think the league needs to be contracted if the trap is going to go away and stop being a constant force.

Here’s some info on Pick #64 – Jim Howard. Wow, he’s hardly a year older than me and he’s been drafted by the Detroit Red Wings. Not bad.

50. (over all ranking) Jim Howard
Born: March 26, 1984, Ogdensburg, N.Y.
2002-03: University of Maine
Pos: G | Ht: 6-0 | Wt: 218 | Catches: L
Central Scouting: No. 2 North American goalie

Jim Howard caused a few eyebrows to rise in praise of his work for most of the season. But his play tailed off at the end of the year and in the playoffs.

Don't read into the disappointing finish too much. It's hard for a rookie netminder to carry his team as far as Howard carried Maine.

"I look at so many college goalies who are 20 or 21, and he was every bit as good as them," said one scout.

"He was a rookie and he had a great year despite what happened at the end."

Howard's fundamentals are sound. He plays the shooter square and has great focus on the puck.

He has fast feet and scouts didn't detect any problem with his glove hand. Howard had an 8-1-0 record at Maine prior to the WJC and was the hottest goalie in U.S. college.

He finished the season 14-6-0 with a respectable .916 save percentage.

The feeling among scouts is Howard has the potential to be a top goalie in the NHL.

"He is a guy who rises to the occasion," said one scout. "He is a goalie who can get hot and win games."

YEAR TEAM LEA. W-L-T SV% GAA
'01-02 USA U18 16-8-1 .933 1.89
USA WU18 5-1-0 .958 1.17
'02-03 Maine HE 14-6-0 .916 2.45
USA WJC 0-1-0 .800 6.05

The Hockey News says: No. 1 goaltender

It’s hard for me to get excited about a newly drafted goalie because of the developement they usually have to go through but maybe this guy is different. He’ll probably have to beat out Stefan Liv for the top Wings’ goalie prospect though. He’s called the No. 2 North American goalie which puts him behind Marc-Andre Fleury, the No. 1 pick of the draft today. Fleury was drafted by the Pens, who got that pick from the Panthers in a trade, and is yet another product of the Quebec School of Goaltending (which means he’s probably going to be very good and not another flop).

This isn’t Red Wings related but I’m still going to mention it. Roger Neilson, the long time coach, died earlier today after a long battle with cancer. He was either a scout or coach for the last 25 years but never won a Cup. He was most recently an assistant coach for the Ottawa Senators, his 10th team. He was a great guy and I think he won a lifetime achievement award for his dedication to hockey. A very sad day for the Senators and all of hockey.

This is Red Wings related: pick #64 of the draft was James Howard, a goalie from Maine. I don’t know anything about him yet.

Okay, it wasn’t the Enzo (which is yellow and cost him $650,000) that Sergei crashed. It was his “burgundy Ferrari,” as the Free Press calls it (can’t even get the real name of the car, great reporting guys). From the tiny picture in the paper, it looks like it could be a 456M GT/GTA. I can’t tell for sure. So the accident wasn’t quite as big a deal as it could have been. Sergei was turning on Woodward to go north using the Bloomfield Parkway crossover at about 2:55 AM. The police said there was no indication that alcohol was involved and no charges were filed. He was coming home from the big birthday party he threw for his mother.

The Free Press says Sergei is torn over the contract dispute. Fedorov, you’d feel so much better if you would just take a pen and sign that contract. If you do that, you won’t be betraying the millions of Red Wings fans out there and you won’t be leaving the area you love so much. Plus, you’d have a real good shot at winning the Cup again, which is more than you could say if you sign with New York or LA. Unless you go to Colorado (you better not!) or Toronto, you’ll be taking a huge step down.

Right after the Wings were eliminated Brendan Shanahan and Chris Chelios asked Sergei to stay with the Wings. It’s nice to know that some of the bigger stars still have loyalty to the team, even if others don’t.

The Freep also has sort of a draft preview that tries to encourage us, even though the Wings only have really late picks this year. The only thing that encourages me is the fact that hardly any of the Wings’ core was drafted early. The only pick the Wings have today is #64, at the end of the day, probably a short time before 4:00 ET, when the draft ends for the day.

Sergei Fedorov now considers himself to be “an unemployed hockey player with no contract.” He is disappointed and angry about the contract stalemate and is preparing to play for another team. I don’t know what he’s disappointed about, 4 years, $40 million is plenty of money. He still says he doesn’t want to leave Detroit but he sure isn’t doing much to stay here. He says it’s too bad that he and possibly others on the team will leave this summer because the team “has been like a family.” Way to break it up, Feds. Enjoy the last contract of your career, buddy. Stuck on a non-competitor with all that money but no Cups. His agent says “It’s disappointing that Sergei is being portrayed as a greedy athlete by some, when that’s not true at all.” How can it not be true? This whole episode proves it without a shadow of a doubt, at least in my mind.

The Wings won’t wait for Sergei or McCarty, according to the Free Press, so don’t expect either of them back next year. There will be new Wings on the roster next year, either by trade or by free agent signings. The Detroit News says the Wings will use the money they had been planning on giving to Sergei to pursue Derian Hatcher, unless by some miracle, Sergei returns to Detroit. They also will go after either Vaclav Prospal (Tampa Bay) or Todd Marchant (Edmonton), who are both free agent centers. I would rather see Marchant, personally but I don’t know much about Prospal. Neither one will come close to replacing Sergei but maybe they’ll have better attitudes about playing for the Wings. Hopefully the Wings won’t have to give up too much in a trade, if they have to go that route.

For a pretty good breakdown of the Wings’ overall off-season situation, click here.

The NHL Draft is this weekend and though the Wings don’t have a pick until #64 (the last pick of the second round), chances are good that they’ll get some decent talent. The man who oversees the Wings’ draft, assistant general manager Jim Nill, said “This is one of the best, deepest pools of talent coming into the league I’ve seen. We feel good about our chances of getting a player who can eventually help us.” In addition to the 64th pick, the Wings have the 132nd, 164th, 170th, 194th, 226th, 258th and 289th picks. They gave away their 1st round pick when they acquired Schneider at the trade deadline. Judging by Schneider’s less-than-great performance in the playoffs, that might not have been a good thing, even though no one really had a great playoffs and first round picks aren’t where the Wings have gotten their depth. The No. 1 pick is expected to be Eric Staal, a center for the Peterborough Petes of the OHL, the same team Yzerman played for.

UPDATE – 3:54 PM – The Detroit News says there is likely going to be a lot of trading going on during the draft this weekend. A lot of teams are looking to dump highly paid players and will do so by offering those players for draft picks. The Wings have been getting calls offering deals and are interested but aren’t that likely to do much on the trade market because they aren’t willing to give up the youth they need so badly. There are players that would help the Wings a lot but would still cost them money and that is another reason trades aren’t that likely.

UPDATE – 5:17 PM – Everyone’s favorite hockey player, Sergei Fedorov has gotten into a car accident. He hit a tree on the way home earlier today. He was not hurt, fortunately. I hope he wasn’t driving his $450,000+ Ferrari Enzo that time. That would really, really be awful for Sergei. Maybe this will be enough to humble him into taking the Wings’ offer.

UPDATE – 5:33 PM – Looks like it was his Enzo that Sergei crashed. Unless he has another Ferrari, which isn’t impossible. Either way, he must be in a lot of mental pain right now. Ouch. Who is Vladimire Mirkovich???

Things really are not looking good with regards to Sergei Fedorov. Mlive has a story today that says the talks between Fedorov and the Wings have been postponed and the four year, $40 million deal has been taken off the table. Holland said yesterday “We’re so far apart there’s nothing to talk about. We made an offer that we feel, in this marketplace, is an extraordinary offer. It hasn’t generated 10 seconds of conversation. There’s no use negotiating against ourselves.” This basically means Sergei will not be a Red Wings next year. Once he goes on the open market, some team like New York will offer him the huge amount he’s looking for plus the years he wants and he’ll end up giving up the Cup for the money. I’m very disapointed in Fedorov. It makes me sick to think he’s become that greedy.

The Free Press’ Michael Rosenberg has a column today on the Sergei situation. He basically says the Wings should let him go, citing the upcoming new CBA that will restrict team spending. He says Sergei is worth $10 million a year — today, not in a couple years when he’s 36+. I agree with that, in 5 years, he’ll be 38. Does anyone honestly believe he’ll be as dominate then as he is now? I don’t and I think a 5 year contract is a little much, though it would be nice to not have to go through this again in 2 years or something. Rosenberg thinks signing Fedorov would hurt the Wings’ Stanley Cup run. I don’t exactly follow his logic or agree with him 100% but he does have a small point. If Fedorov does get signed, that would eliminate any money that could be given to a guy like Hatcher. Rosenberg does say the Wings shouldn’t offer a penny more and I agree with him there completely.

12 days from now, Sergei can begin negotiating with other teams. I believe that, unless there is some miracle and Holland does pull it off, he will be gone. I’m starting to think it might (might!) be time for Holland to go too. It’s pretty pre-mature but it doesn’t seem like he’s getting anything done this summer. The Wings are not selling themselves as well as they have. They shouldn’t have to sell themselves. They are the Detroit Red Wings! I don’t know what’s going on in players’ minds these days.

UPDATE – 4:32 PM – The Detroit News has a little more on the Fedorov situation, saying the Wings will not increase their offer at all. Ken Holland: “Things have changed dramatically. We didn’t win a playoff game. We all have to take the blame for that, the front office, the coaching staff, the players…..We’re not going to cut payroll, but we’re not going to increase it.” Sergei’s agent says Detroit is still where Fedorov prefers to play. Doesn’t sound like it to me, Mr. Brisson.

UPDATE – 4:38 PM – The Wings rejected a proposal that McCarty’s agent submitted last week. The Wings orginially offered $2 million a year but are believed to have raised their offer to around $2.3 million. McCarty’s side is believed to be asking for $2.7 to $3 million.