Update (01. Jul, 2:16 PM): Staggering, mind-blowing deal: 12-years, $62.4 million with Chicago. Wow. More to come after work. - Matt
Sportsnet, via Winging It In Motown:
Sportsnet has learned Marion Hossa has turned down a contract offer from the Red Wings that would have kept the all-star with the Red Wings for the next 10 years.
A source compared the length of the deal to the deals Johan Franzen and Henrik Zetterberg signed. It’s believed the deal-breaker was the average salary which fell between $3.75 million and $4 million.
That report would have a little more credibility with me if it spelled “Marion’s” name right, but the basic facts are probably correct. Holland has effectively confirmed the rejection by telling Ted Kulfan, “It certainly appears [he'll test the market].” There’s just about zero chance he’ll resign after market opens tomorrow.
What I don’t get is the so-called sticking point. If the deal is structured so that he gets $6+ million a year for a few years, with compensation progressively decreasing over the latter years, what exactly is so bad about it? Who cares if the average salary is $3.75 to $5 $4 million? To me, it just proves he’s caring about the money this year, not winning.
Thanks for your time here, Hossa, and good luck wherever you land. Hope the money’s worth it.
One interesting bit of Khan’s piece that I didn’t mention in my last: the Wings won’t offer Conklin a contract, which means Howard’s all but assured the back-up spot next season. Only way he loses it is if he is terrible in camp and Larsson isn’t. Not likely to happen.
That means Howard is the guy the Wings are stuck with if Osgood gets injured. Makes me a little nervous.
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Ansar Khan has the latest on the Hossa “negotiations” here. It doesn’t sound like he’ll be back, as Holland himself is not optimistic and is even talking about possibly shopping his rights as early as Monday.
When I read that the Hossa camp is seeking a deal averaging $6 million a year, I have to think he’s going to move on. That’s not the sound of a guy looking to take a discount to win any more. A $4 million cap hit, front-loaded deal could get him $6 million a year for a span, so I’m not sure what the problem is if it’s not that he wants out, or to be paid big bucks for the rest of his career rather than just a few more years.
At this point, I’m leaning toward hoping the Wings leave the cap space and look to the future, when the cap may fall a few million and make stocking the ’10-’11 roster more difficult, even with the likely reduction in Lidstrom’s pay to a sunset discount.
I’m no good with prospects, so I’m deferring to Kyle on this. He’s got a review of the Wings’ draft choices here. Sounds like the Wings did pretty well, all things considered.
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We’ve known this day would come for long time: Steve Yzerman is part of the Hockey Hall of Fame’s class of 2009. Joining one of the greatest leaders in sports history in entering the Hall this year will be former Red Wings Brett Hull and Luc Robataille, as well as Brian Leetch.
Congrats to all, but especially The Captain.
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Update (23. Jun, 9:40 AM): Interesting Holland quote in the Windsor Star regarding a possible future in Detroit should he have trouble signing elsewhere:
“I told him to spend the summer (looking) and if things don’t work out we can talk down the road.”
I assume that such a discussion would involve a front office position and not a playing one. Good to see the Wings standing by to take care of the guy if needed. - Matt
The end of the Chelios Era in Detroit, that is. The Wings will not offer him a contract this summer, opening the possibility that he may be forced into retirement. Here’s hoping someone picks him up (Chicago, Bill suggests), because I’d hate to see one of America’s great players have no option but to hang them up.* Retirement for a guy like Chelios should come on his terms.
Thanks for the past decade, Cheli, and good luck going forward.
*Can’t find verification on this with a quick Google search, so correct me if I’m wrong, but weren’t Murphy and Fetisov left unsigned before being forced to retire due to disinterest around the League? The landscape has changed in the NHL since those years, and that could mean increased chances of being picked up for Chelios, but I wouldn’t call it a lock.
Congrats to Datsyuk for winning his fourth Lady Byng and second Selke tonight. It’s too bad Lidstrom didn’t get the Norris, but at least that pretender Green didn’t get it.
The show, by the way (if you didn’t watch), was about as painful as usual. Bad music, stumbling Hollywood types and wooden ex- and current player presenters. Guess it could have been worse, but the Show has a long way to go.
Highlight of the evening: Vladimir Konstantinov’s appearance with Igor Larionov. Still gut wrenching to see Vladdy, even though he’s looking good these days.
Bruce MacLeod’s got some good thoughts on the Crosby/Lidstrom thing. Some of his points echo my own views on the matter.
Basically, I feel like for Crosby it’s too much success, too soon, and that winning the Cup now after just four years really messes up any chances the guy has of ever reaching real maturity in this League. It’s not about him winnning a Cup at all, it’s the timing. I could have stood to see him go through a few more years of adversity and hardening before reaching the pinnacle of the sport.
If nothing else, I think it would have made a more compelling storyline than what happened: 1 year of not making the playoffs, 1 year of early elimination and 1 year of Finals disappointment before finally overcoming all that “adversity.” As Kyle wrote the other day, that”s “like a movie ending in its third scene.” Or a SparkNotes version of the standard “young punk to HHoF material” story.
He’s still very immature, and this handshake controversy is just another piece of evidence in the case aganist him having such a high-profile leadership role. What he should have done is to make a point of leading his team through the line shaking all the Wings’ hands (Fixed.), and when he didn’t, he should have had the decency to apologize to one of the League’s few truly great players still suiting up.
It’s not the end of the world, but it does offer a view of the problem behind putting the guy on such a high pedestal so early in his career. So what if he’s made good on the hype if he can’t honor to a “t” one of the few aspects of hockey that are respected across the sports world.
I don’t want to dislike Crosby, but it’s hard not to when he’s becoming bigger than the game.
I’ve been searching the Internet, wondering what I’m gonna read all summer, when I came across something that made me smile.
We will not have to worry about McCreary making dumb calls and no-calls during the finals or even the playoffs next year. Why? Well, that’s the wonderful part. McCreary is retiring after the regular season. The last game of the 2009-2010 season will be the last time we see Bill McCreary.
Ansar Khan has what may be the most controversial comments the usually utterly uncontrovsial Henrik Zetterberg’s ever said, with disappointingly (but expected) down-playing comments from Nick Lidstrom, here.
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