Congrats to Paul on five years of blogging today. Thanks for everything you’ve brought to the ‘sphere, Paul. Here’s to another 5, eh?
Archive for July, 2010
KK Turns 5
Latest on Modano
Kukla has the tweets. I guess we can all relax until August 1st, when Mike might get around to informing everyone of his decision. And two years? If it’s taking him this much time to spool himself up to play again, will he really make it another two years?
CapGeek: Meech Signs 1 Year, $500,000
Update (12:06 PM): McCosky has more, including comments from Ken Holland. - Matt
Update (11:20 AM): Khan confirms. - Matt
I haven’t seen it confirmed elsewhere, but assuming it’s true, that leaves $3,257,955 or so in real cap space* for signings. Meech is probable trade fodder, but could survive as a Wing if the Wings end up needing someone with moderately more experience than Smith, Ericsson and Kindl on the bottom pairing. Here’s hoping that doesn’t happen.
*The ceiling they can be at when the pre-season ends. They can go as much as $5.9 million over that until then.
On Maltby, Lilja, & Modano Offer Specifics
How weird is it that Maltby’s looking for deals on the open market? I don’t blame him: if he wants to play in the NHL again, that’s pretty much his only option. But it’s strange to read after all these years that he has a chance, however slight, of wearing another NHL team’s sweater next year. Though that may be better than seeing him in the AHL. But in all I’d rather he retire, even though being forced out like that would be a crap way to go.
We can thank Brian Burke for that ludicrous (coming from a partial Lebda apologist) contract he gave the Wings’ former #6 defenseman. Because their former #5 is looking for $1.5+ million. If his concussion history keeps him from getting that kind of money, maybe (just maybe—numbers are tight) we’ll see him back, but I tend to think someone will pull him in before his asking price falls to $1 million or lower.
Khan’s got a very specific number for the Modano offer: $1.25 million. Chart:
| Player | Cap Hit |
|---|---|
| Total salary commitments | $58,442,045 |
| Partial cap space for signing veteran defenseman | $957,955 |
| Roster Spots Used (of 23) | 23 |
| (Calculations via CapGeek) (cap hit values in millions) | |
| Darren Helm | $.800 |
| Patrick Eaves | $.750 |
| Justin Abdelkader | $.750 |
| Mike Modano | $1.25 |
| Drew Miller | $.650 |
| Mattias Ritola | $.517 |
That’s pretty tight and it assumes possibly-low numbers for Helm and Abdelkader (though George thinks they could be even lower). Even when the Wings cast off Miller or Ritola, that’s not much margin at all for injury callups if they get that defenseman. So if The Final Piece finally decides to fall into place, maybe we’ll be seeing an all-youth third pairing rather than a veteran-led one.
I figured I’d help you all sleep at night with that picture.
Dallas Columnist on Modano
Three things struck me as I read that piece:
- Is that guy actually blaming Modano for Dallas’ decision to not re-sign him? Not the team’s money issues, inability to honor its history, etc.?
- Not all aging stars can’t take diminished roles with their teams. Steve Yzerman did it.
- What relevance is the Wings’ having six 35+ players to this guy’s point? Enough with the stupid age storyline, hockey media.
But But… He’s Mike Modano!
Mike Modano will magically be awesome again if he just signs with Detroit!
McCosky Theorizes on Modano
And says he thinks there’s a possibility the Wings are offering him less than $1 million, citing what he sees as a difficulty in making the numbers work with Helm and Abdelkader*.
I can’t say I get the same vibe because the Wings’ $3.7 million in cap space should be plenty to sign those three players and leave room over for a defenseman. The Wings have plenty of leverage over Helm and Abdelkader, who are not going to arbitration and more or less have to take what the Wings offer them.
If Modano’s hoping for more than $1 million, then it gets problematic, but otherwise, the Wings should be able to do this from a pure cap perspective. Whether they should or not is a topic on which I’ve made my views clear, but whatever. It’s going to happen, unless Modano decides he doesn’t want to play any more or won’t settle for a million.
*He also mentions Meech, who is irrelevant because even if he gets re-signed, it’s only to trade him before they actually need to be under the cap.