The Hudler news is a mix of good and bad: he’s apparently filing for arbitration this weekend. As George Malik points out, that means teams can no longer tender him offer sheets, which is  a definite good thing. The downside, of course, is that the arbitrator can award Hudler a salary higher than the Wings might like to pay.

They could trade his rights at that point if they wanted to, but as long as it’s not too high, they’d probably bite the bullet and keep him. It just could be the difference between signing a veteran forward or bringing up a not-quite-ready Abdelkader.

Also, most of us would consider this good news: it looks like Samuelsson’s priced himself out of returning.

All in all, this is comparatively great news after the pretty crappy events of the first day of free agency (even though I wasn’t a fan of keeping him, losing Hossa to Chicago wasn’t exactly a highlight of the off-season). The summer could have gone even further south had Hudler and Leino played the Wings tougher in negotiations, but it looks like things are headed to a good conclusion.

Meg and I will be on the road in Metro Detroit and away from the computer today, so if the Leino signing happens, I won’t be around to post on it.

… I didn’t really want him to re-sign, so I’m not disappointed in that way. I am, however, disappointed in his choice of destination. Chicago is probably the only team in the League that I would have found offensive, and now I’m finding it hard not to be pissed at the guy. It’s hypocritical, I know, but I maintain that a decades-old rivalry trumps the hatred generated by losing to a team once in the Finals.

Again, any other team, I would have been fine, and that includes Anaheim.  Chicago, though? Not so much. This has far too direct an effect on the Wings’ to just let it float.

… Not sure how this works for Chicago going forward. Kane and/or Toews just got infinitely harder to re-sign, unless Tallon has their unofficial assurance that they won’t demand big bucks. If I were a Chicago fan, I’d be a mix of happy and completely incensed. Great to have Hossa, sucks to have the team’s future tossed out the window.

… Hossa’s a fool if he thinks Chicago offers a better shot at winning than the Wings. This was about the money. $20 million is a big difference, but so is the Cup. Unless Chicago pulls off a miracle cap-wise, the Hawks will be hard-pressed to beat smarter teams for the Cup, even in the next 12 years.

… Thanks for a good year, Marian. Good luck in Chicago. Hope you like it. You’ll be there for a while, whether you enjoy it or not.

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.

That means Howard is the guy the Wings are stuck with if Osgood gets injured. Makes me a little nervous.

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.

Congrats to all, but especially The Captain.

“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.

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.

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.