On the Wings

Early this morning, numerous sources reported that Steve Yzerman would meet with Detroit Red Wings officials sometime today to discuss the offer. Unfortunately, Ken Holland was too busy sorting out the free agency mess that the two sides were unable to meet Sunday or Monday. “Ken and Steve never connected today,” Wings PR executive John Hahn said Monday afternoon. “With the opening of free agency, Ken spent most of his time on the phone. He hopes to speak with Steve by Wednesday.”

The Detroit Free Press reports that:

A source close to the Detroit Red Wings said Monday it’s 95 percent certain captain Steve Yzerman will return for another season, but an official announcement may not come until Wednesday…Now the middle of this week may reveal the answer, which, according to the source, is that Yzerman will be back for a 22nd year. The source said Yzerman accepted how he fit into the fiscal picture under the new $39-million salary cap.

If Yzerman was to get $2 million for one year, that would leave the Wings with $12 million left under the cap with only 11 players. For Pavel Datsyuk to stay here in Detroit, the Wings will likely have to pay him around $2.5 million. Datsyuk’s agent, Gary Greenstin, said today that Datsyuk “would like to play in Detroit, but he also has to make decision that is right for Pavel. But right now, all signs point to Detroit Red Wings.”

The Wings are looking for a new starting goaltender to fill Curtis Joseph’s vacancy. Manny Legace is not seen as starting material here in Detroit so the search is under way. Rumors have it that Tampa Bay’s Nikolai Khabibulin has been interested in Detroit. However, he has two objectives. First of all, he wants a lot of money. Like the maximum of $7.8 million. Secondly, Khabibulin is going after a long term contract. Both of which don’t fit into Detroit’s scenario. Lets Go Wings’ rumor mill reports the following regarding the goaltending situation:

Rumors continue to run rampant that the Red Wings are going to make a hard push for free agent netminder Nikolai Khabibulin, with a Chicago paper going as far as to state the Wings may be willing to not only offer Khabibulin a long-term contract but also offer near the league maximum salary of $7.8M per season.

That, however, remains unlikely. The Tampa Bay Lightning, Khabibulin’s former team, reportedly offered the netminder a five-year contract worth $5-6M per season that was turned down.

Red Wings GM Ken Holland has regularly stated that a No. 1 netminder is the team’s top priority in this abbreviated off-season, and Khabibulin is head-and-shoulders above the rest of the goaltenders available. Forming Wing Chris Osgood is very likely Detroit’s secondary option.

Since Darren McCarty was bought out last week, rumors have been circling as to where McCarty is heading. The Detroit Free Press reports that a source close to McCarty believes he is close to a two year deal with the Calgary Flames. Both McCarty and his agent were unavailable for comments.