Archive for August, 2009

Williams Returns

Posted by Matt Saler on August 6, 2009. 10 comments

Update (4:30 PM): George’s got his take on the deal up.

As he suggests, another deal’s more likely than a non-Abdelkader call-up or Abdelkader remaining in Detroit, but it will probably be a while. The Wings can afford to give Lilja time to see if he can recover before being placed on the LTIR next month. - Matt

Update (2:10 PM): Bruce MacLeod has a good post up on the cap situation with the Williams signing here. Looks like another forward isn’t out of the question, but if Lilja’s healthy, Abdelkader’s down.

Since a healthy Lilja’s not looking likely and since signing someone else for cheap enough may be tough, let’s hope Kenny’s flexible on the whole 13 forwards thing. - Matt

Update (1:29 PM): Scratch that Abdelkader bit below. I mistakenly counted McCarty as the 13th forward on NHLNumbers, but really it’s Abdelkader. Assuming Holland’s 22-man, 7-D ideal as related to MacLeod is what we’re dealing with.

So, as Garth says in the comments,

The question to me is, do you keep Abdelkader up and have him, Williams and Eaves rotating in and out of the lineup or do you look for another player with a contract in between Eaves’ and Williams’ numbers and have Abdelkader play 15-20 minutes a game, every day in GR?

Another player, please. Abdelkader shouldn’t be sitting in the luxury box at all this season. - Matt

Update (1:10 PM): George Sipple has Williams’ salary at $1.5 million, which is overpaying a bit, in my opinion.

Good news, though, is the team isn’t over the cap, if NHLNumbers is right. But Meech will still have to go (or Lilja will have to go on LTIR) if the Wings want 13 forwards, 7 defensemen and 2 goalies. - Matt

Update (12:52 PM): Bruce MacLeod tweets:

Williams signing likely has Wings over cap limit with 23-man roster. Holland said 22 is the ideal number with 7 defensemen.

So, trade coming, unless Lilja’s on the LTIR in Hollnd’s 22-man, 7-D scenario. See ya Meech.

Oh, and this signing obviously means Abdelkader’s in Grand Rapids, barring a Filpullian camp performance on his part and a sucky one on someone else’s. - Matt

Update (11:30 AM): So the team’s release on the signing is dated August 4th. If that’s not some kind of mistake, this news went two days before being picked up. For my part, it must have been some kind of self-defense blackout. - Matt

Jason Williams is back, reports Michael Zuidema. Thankfully, it’s just for one year. No word yet on how much the Wings will be paying him to turn the puck over at the blueline when he inevitably gets placed there on the power play by Babcock.

On paper, this is a nice acquisition because Williams can produce when he wants to. But it’s that last phrase, “when he wants to,” that makes me unhappy with it. Williams’ history in Detroit is not exactly sterling as he was the prime underachiever on the team for years.

The circumstances of his departure weren’t so hot either. It’s not exactly a highpoint in the career of a guy when he’s the player leaving a team like the Wings in a deal for Kyle Calder.

Williams is an underachieving gripe and I’m disappointed no Siberian KHL team took him off our hands. I’m wishing Holland hadn’t made him that offer. “In Kenny We Trust” doesn’t work for me on this one.

On the bright side, we have an early favorite for Team Goat, Wings fans! With Samuelsson gone, and Lilja on reprieve with a brain injury, Williams can now be our anger outlet on a team that doesn’t provide many other opportunities.

More on Eaves

Posted by Matt Saler on August 4, 2009. 3 comments

I’m liking this deal more and more as the day goes on. Eaves comes at a price you can’t beat with all the reason in the world to prove himself to the greatest organization in sports. Time will tell if he can find a spot with the team in the same way his obvious parallel Dan Cleary did, but there’s certainly little reason to be down about this one.

As we’ve seen before, players sometimes get down on their luck and just need another shot from a team with the kind of supporting cast that can provide that shot, and if that’s what Eaves needs, he’s come to the right place. I won’t go into the season expecting big things out of him, but I do expect him not to be a bust. If my years as a Wings fan have taught me anything, it’s to generally trust Holland’s judgment.

Of course, part of my positive attitude on can be attributed to a basic feeling of relief that the Wings were finally able to make a move. At the peak of his potential (setting the bar at his rookie year), Eaves won’t solve the Wings’ potential problems this season on his own. But his willingness to take the league minimum opens the door for another signing that could further allay those concerns.

Space another signing out later in the month, and August won’t seem so interminable.

A couple more links: George (who called it last month, too) has more on Eaves here, and the guys at The Triple Deke chime in here.

Wings sign Eaves

Posted by Matt Saler on August 4, 2009. No comments

Update (4:45 PM): Bruce MacLeod has scooped George Sipple (who got stonewalled by Nill*): $500,000 for the year. It’ll be quite the steal if Eaves can come close to Cleary’s performance his first year here.

Last Word On Hudler (For Now)

Posted by Matt Saler on August 3, 2009. No comments

We now know how much Hudler will be worth should he decide to return to to the NHL after one or two years in Russia: $2.75 million in his first year back, and $3 million in his second. Assuming the KHL doesn’t take a toll on his production potential, those are pretty reasonable numbers for the Wings to face down the road. If he proceeds to light it up in the KHL, they’ll look even better.

The Wings and Hudler’s agent reportedly reached the deal just before the arbitration hearing last week, but went through with the process anyway. Apparently, Hudler was concerned the KHL might not look favorably on him negotiating a deal with the Wings when their stance has been he was available for poaching as an unsigned RFA. So, having received a deal from the arbitrator, his on-hold contract in the NHL should be kosher to a league that’ll do what it wants regardless.

That should mark the end of the high-concentration coverage of the Hudler saga for at least the next 10-11 months. I do, though, hope to see some updates on his KHL stint from the media so we can get a better understanding of how he’s doing over there than is possible to glean from checking his stats.

I’m very interested in keeping track of him over the coming seasaon, because my working theory on Hudler is that he won’t be able to replicate his production in a system other than Detroit’s.

He was able to rack up points on small ice time with the Wings because everyone on the team is able to play some variation on the puck possession style, even his usually bottom-end linemates. On a less skilled team, he’ll be forced to dig the puck out of the boards more, and that’s where his size will put him at a real disadvantage. He has enough slick puck ability to make up some of the difference, but that’s where you hit the other side of Jiri Hudler: his apparent trouble handling greater responsibility.

Without doing the research and running the numbers, to my memory, Hudler seemed to have trouble when he got rewarded for low-TOI production with extra ice time. He thrives in limited doses, but has yet to rise to a true top six-minutes guy with the Wings.

There’s also the fact that he won’t be facing other teams’ third or fourth liners with the same regularity as he did in Detroit. The KHL’s top end skill my not match the NHLs’ but that will be a new challenge to Hudler to meet, assuming he gets top line slotting over there.

It’s possible that in the KHL (on the bigger surface, where he can more easily put his skill to use) he’ll answer the bell, but I have a hard time seeing him succeed in an environment other than that provided by the Wings. He’s a strong fit here, with a team of players that can create space and get him the puck off the wall. Elsewhere? I’m not convinced. All of this would apply, in my mind, if he were going to another NHL team, by the way.

All that said, I wish him the best of luck, and hope he can find thee leadership role he’s seeking. I hope I’m wrong.