And another potential Wings signing goes off the market…
Archive for July, 2006
Montreal Signs Sergei Samsonov
The Wings’ 2006-2007 schedule
The NHL announced the schedule for next season today and that means we now know who and when the Wings will be playing.
They’ll open the season on October 5th, at home against the Canucks, making them the first team to face Roberto Luongo as a Canuck in regular season play.
They’ll get two of ten games against Eastern opponents out of the way early: on the 7th, they’ll head to Pittsburgh to face Sidney Crosby and Co., and after playing host to the Coyotes on the 11th, the Sabres will come to town on the 13th.
The Wings will face their first Central Division opponent on the 28th, St. Louis on the road.
November includes a three-game Western Canada road-trip beginning on the 14th in Vancouver and ending on the 18th in Edmonton, with a stop in Calgary in between, on the 17th.
They’ll face Toronto, Ottawa, and New Jersey on December 9th, 12th, 16th, and will have a home-away-home series with Minnesota on the 22nd, 23rd and 27th. That ought to be exciting… The annual New Year’s Eve game is against LA this season.
Montreal comes to town on January 15th and the Wings travel to Long Island to face the Islanders on the 30th. They’ll be back to that area on February 5th as they face Brendan Shanahan’s new team, the New York Rangers. They’ll close out their games against the East after playing Philadelphia on the road on February 12th and Dave Lewis’ new team, the Bruins, at home on March 11th.
The season ends with a pair of home-away series with Columbus and Chicago. The final game is at home against the Hawks on April 7th.
Click here for the complete Red Wings schedule.
Wings Sign Brett Lebda to Four Year Deal
The Wings have come to terms with Brett Lebda, 24, on a four year deal. Terms were not disclosed, and Lebda is not listed on the NHLPA site which usually lists salaries (being a two-way player between here and Grand Rapids last season).
He had 12 points and was +9 through 46 games last season with the Wings, and was partnered with Chris Chelios for much of the year. He was especially strong during the Wings’ short playoff run, blocking shots and getting in on offensive rushes. He averaged 13:08 of ice time and was +3 in the series. And if he hadn’t hit the post so much in the playoffs, he might’ve been a first round hero.
Says Holland:
“Brett was impressive in the time he spent with us last season. He possesses the skills I think will help contribute to the success of this organization in the long-term.”
It says a lot about Lebda that Holland was willing to offer him a longterm deal, as Holland has said he is trying to avoid that during this free agency. Holland is still looking for an inexpensive, physical defenseman to fill Jiri Fischer’s role.
Update (Matt, 5:26 PM): Ansar Khan reports that the contract is for $2.6 million over the four years, broken down this way:
He’ll earn $650,000 in each of the next two seasons, $750,000 in 2008-09 and $850,000 the final season.
Although the Wings are still looking for an affordable defenseman, they now have the same six defensemen signed that they used in the playoffs, as Khan points out, and could already start the season with a pretty good look on the blue line.
The un-signed RFA pool is down to Jason Williams, Johan Franzen, Jiri Hudler, Tomas Kopecky and Darryl Bootland.
Wings Sign Cleary For $650,000 Next Season
The Wings have locked up penalty-killing specialist Daniel Cleary for at least next season, at $650,000. Cleary is listed on the NHLPA website as having that salary next season. More sources to come later, I’m sure.
And how will Holland replace Shanahan’s offensive production?
“We’ve got a competitive team. We’ll try to find another player if we can. If not, we’ll start the season with what we’ve got. Maybe we’ll use the Edmonton model and save for the trade deadline.”
Ugh.
Update 2:44 pm
It’s official: Shanahan now a Ranger
(via New York Rangers official site)
The New York Rangers have issued a press release announcing the signing and are holding a conference call at 2:00 PM today as well.
So ends another era in Detroit, less than a week after the Yzerman Era ended. Shanahan came to Detroit in at the start of the ’96-’97 season and scored 46 goals for the Wings through 79 games. He is generally seen as the final piece of the Stanley Cup puzzle for the team and has become one of the most popular players in the city over time.
Ansar Khan reminds us of the scene in the lockerroom after the Wings were eliminated by Calgary in 2004 where Shanahan was in tears because he was afraid that he would be taking off the Winged Wheel for the last time. And now he’s gone, despite the Wings desperately trying to bring him back by offering more than they could afford in a two-year deal at $4 million in the first year.
Since Shanahan went on the market last week, there had been many conflicting reports on where he was headed. Some thought he was just testing the market as a staunch union man or for kicks, to see what he would get, but that he always intended to sign with the Wings. Others said he was looking to leave the Wings because of Mike Babcock or because he wanted more money than the Wings were willing or able to offer him.
It was easy to believe Babcock and Shanahan had clashed due to the coach’s apparent distaste for the older players on the team but I remembered Shanny’s resurgence this past season and thought perhaps that Babcock made an exception with him. Therefore, I allowed myself to believe reports such as a blog post by Ansar Khan, which came late last night, that assured Wings fans that Shanahan wasn’t going anywhere (Khan has since taken the post down – a big no-no in the blogging community, Ansar). We even had it straight from The Captain.
Well, the Wings have lost two of their greatest leaders in just a few days. I have no idea what Holland can, or will, do to fill in the holes. The leadership shoes will have to be filled by players such as Henrik Zetterberg, Niklas Kronwall and Pavel Datsyuk with the help of Nick Lidstrom, Kris Draper and the rest of the remaining veterans. The hole left in the offense by Shanahan’s departure will be harder to fill (remember, he scored 41 goals last year). Anson Carter, Michael Peca and Scott Gomez are names already being thrown around. None of them will really replace Shanahan, even if they produce 20-30 goals a year.
Ken Holland is not to blame for this. The Wings really couldn’t afford to give Shanahan such a raise and the real shame here is that he wouldn’t take a pay cut to help the team stay competitive. I will not be angry at Brendan for leaving. He’s done too much for the team to deserve that. But I am very disappointed in him.
We wanted change this off-season and we’re getting it, folks. It hurts, doesn’t it?
The Wings’ 2002 Playoff CD had a variation of Shanny’s Irish Jig that incluced Ken Daniels and Ken Kal calling a number of Shanahan goals from that season. I don’t know about you guys but I can picture a number of the goals and it’s hard to believe that we’ll never again hear the Jig played for a Shanahan goal at JLA. Click here to listen to it and remember (.wma, 1.2 MB).
Goodbye, Brendan. Thanks for the memories. I hope you find what you’re looking for in New York.
Report: Shanahan signs with Rangers
A one-year, $4 million deal, which apparently was less than what the Wings offered him. More later.
Update – Brian (7/9 12:17)
Before learning of the news from my brother this morning, I read Helene St. James’ article in the Free Press about how the Rangers were wooing Shanahan. I quote:
“Now Shanahan is being courted by Montreal, and, according to a report in the New York Daily News, the Rangers. The paper said Shanahan was in Manhattan last week being wooed by team officials, who apparently got a little carried away.
According to the paper, Shanahan’s name and likeness appeared on Madison Square Garden’s Seventh Avenue marquee with the words: ‘The Rangers welcome Brendan Shanahan.’
Perhaps it will turn out to be a test run for the real thing; perhaps it will turn out to be no more than wishful thinking…”
Well, I guess that was a lasting impression enough for Shanny to reject similar offers from the Wings. It will be shocking to see Shanahan in a Rangers uniform, as he has been a Red Wing since October 9, 1996. I had read his shopping on the free agent market as nothing but a veteran taking his last chance to do so, and merely to see what kind of offers he could get. I guess I was in denial to what I’ve also been saying lately about the Wings: that I see no reason for anyone to want to sign with us other than for a lucrative contract. I don’t see the Wings getting past the second round of the playoffs next season, and that Shanahan and Yzerman are both gone in a matter of days makes this only more likely. I don’t blame Shanahan at all for leaving, as this is the first off-season as a fan where I actually have said I wouldn’t even sign with the Wings, outside the fan perspective.
In other news, Yzerman reportedly favors Nicklas Lidstrom as the next Captain, according to a Drew Sharp article this morning.
Legace Left Waiting: “No calls, nothing at this point”
Unrestricted free agent Manny Legace, 33, who finished fifth in Vezina voting with 37 wins, a 2.19 GAA, and a .915 save percentage, has not gotten any interest on the free agent market. Says Manny:
“It’s just mind-boggling. I thought for sure there’d be interest from somebody after the year I had. But nothing. I don’t know what to think. And I don’t know what teams are thinking…I thought I had a great year to be honest with you. I thought I’d get some interest but nothing, no one has called…To be honest, I don’t know what’s going to happen…I’m willing to do anything on any team. Ideally I’d like to go to a team where at least I’d have a chance to compete for the No. 1 job. That’s all I’m probably looking for now, a chance to compete.”
Legace’s agent, Ed Ratushny, had to start making phone calls to get the process started:
“We have started preliminary discussions with two teams. But what I find surprising was the bidding for Martin Gerber as compared to Manny.”
Florida and St. Louis are reported to be teams that could pick up Legace. Manny also took time to describe the phone call he got in early June from Ken Holland, in which he learned that the team was looking for another starter:
“It was a shocking phone call. I thought we could work something out. It was just disappointing. That was tough because I loved playing in Detroit, it was awesome. That was the best owner I’ve ever played for, a great organization…But they were very classy about it, they didn’t throw me out like an old newspaper. We talked and they made me understand they wanted to go in another direction…I think they were really going after Gerber. Mike Babcock wanted one of his old goalies there and that’s understandable, coaches want their own guys. It’s unfortunate they didn’t get him…I think now they’re looking at probably (Ed) Belfour or bring back Dom (Hasek). That’s what I foresee for them.”
It really makes no sense that Legace has gotten no offers yet. To think he has fallen this far from grace since early April, when he likely could’ve been traded for a top-line player, is just shocking. Sure, his 4-6 record in playoff games is not all that great. But 14 teams missed the playoffs last season, and Legace could, at the very least, help those teams in getting into the playoffs.
He’s a lot better of an option than most of the remaining goaltenders out there now, and it’s unfortunate that Ken Holland burned bridges with Legace and then missed out on much of the free agent goaltenders available. I would not be totally against Legace re-signing with the Wings, as the Wings offense bears much of the blame for recent playoff losses.