Wings reportedly sign Kronwall
Swedish media, DN, is reporting that the Wings have signed Niklas Kronwall to a two year deal for $2 million. Below is the Swedish article followed by a Kuklas Korner’s vistor’s translation.
Kronwall, som skrapade ihop 20 NHL-matcher med Detroit säsongen 2003/04, är den sjätte svensken som kontrakterats av klubben och kontraktet är värt 15 miljoner kronor.
- Niklas dubblar lönen. Han får två miljoner dollar för två säsonger, säger hans agent Claes Elefalk till Aftonbladet.
Övriga svenskar med kontrakt i Detroit är Nicklas Lidström och Tomas Holmström samt de nya Johan Franzén och Andreas Lilja. Henrik Zetterberg ligger i förhandlingar om en fortsättning.Â
English translation thanks to Daniel:
Kronwall, who played 20 NHL games for Detroit during the 2003/04 season, is the sixth Swede to sign a contract with the team, and the deal is worth 15 million Swedish crowns.Â
“Niklas is doubling his salary. He gets $2 million for two seasons,†says his agent Claes Elefalk to Aftonbladet (*Swedish newspaper*)
Other Swedes contracted by Detroit are Nicklas Lidstrom, Tomas Holmstrom, as well as newcomers Johan Franzén and Andreas Lilja. Henrik Zetterberg is currently in negotiations for a new deal.
Gary Greenstin, Pavel Datsyuk’s agent, wrote a letter commenting about the contract negotiations.
In our negotiations we came to the finish line. I announced to the Detroit’s General Manager Ken Holland that he needs to make up his mind relatively to Datsyuk by September 1st. Pavel is willing to play in the NHL. Red Wings’ first priority right now is to sign a contract with Datsyuk. As you can see, we have the same goal.Â
September 5th is a deadline to get players on a roster in Russian Super League. It’s clear that Datsyuk can’t wait the entire month in uncertainty. He would play in Dynamo.
What salary is Datsyuk expecting? I and Mr. Holland decided not to announce any numbers. But it’s well-known that Detroit signed 18 players already for 31 million dollars. So, there is a room, especially that each club may have an over-budget of the cap of 39 million dollars until October 1st.
Next week I’m flying to Moscow to sit down with Datsyuk and discuss all of the possible variants of the career’s continuation. As a reminder, in two years Pavel will become an unrestricted free agent. Detroit proposes us a five-year contract, but we agree only for two-three years. Negotiations with Holland are going pretty hard, but there is no, and won’t be, any animosity between us. I do what is better for Datsyuk, and he does what is better for the club.
Regarding the rules, Detroit has a right to sign a contract with Pavel before December 1st. Up to now, Detroit excluded any possibility to trade him to another team. And we didn’t ask for it. Though, I know that many teams are dreaming to see Pavel in their lineups and proposed some tempting offers to the Red Wings.
Wings sign Lilja and MacLean
The Detroit Red Wings signed defenseman Andreas Lilja and center Don MacLean.
This afternoon on 1270AM, head coach Mike Babcock announced the signing of Lilja to a one year contract. Lilja, 30, has played for the LA Kings and most recently, the Florida Panthers. Lilja rounds out the defensemen group at seven players (Lidstrom, Schneider, Fischer, Chelios, Rivers, and Delmore). “Lilja brings NHL experience along with the size and toughness we needed on our blueline,” said Red Wings general manager Ken Holland. In his 180 NHL games, Lilja had 186 penalty minutes and 27 points (8 goals and 19 assists).
MacLean will most likely be playing for the Griffins this fall with the opportunity to come up to the NHL. He was drafted by the LA Kings, traded to Toronto, signed by Columbus, and is now heading for Detroit. MacLean has played a total of 29 NHL games scoring six goals and got three assits. In 2001-2002 on St. John’s, MacLean led the AHL in assists and points. “MacLean gives us depth on offense and will have a chance to compete in training camp. We’re happy to have both players signed and look forward to seeing them in the Red Wings’ jersey,” Holland said.
Datsyuk, Delmore, and Legace news
The Detroit News reports that the Wings still have a long ways to go to sign Pavel Datsyuk. Moscow Dynamo needs to hear a commitment from Datsyuk by September 1 when all European contracts must be registered. Apparently, he has been working out with the Dynamo team and scored a goal in Finland while at a tournament. Datsyuk’s agent, Gary Greenstin, has told Dynamo that Datsyuk would rather play for the Wings, but if a deal can’t be reached he will return for a second year in Moscow. “A beautiful, highlight goal from what people told me,” Greenstin said.
In a nutshell, a decision should be made within a week regarding Datsyuk’s future. For the future of the Detroit Red Wings, I sure hope Holland can work something out.
“It’s up to Ken Holland (Wings general manager) and myself to work on this and come to some sort of an agreement,” Greenstin said. “It’s a slow process. We’re going to continue to work. As we’ve said, Pavel’s first priority is to remain with the Wings.”Â
Besides Datsyuk, Holland still has to sign Niklas Kronwall, Henrik Zetterberg, and one other player (probably a defenseman). The Wings have $7 million left to sign those players.
Delmore grew up idolizing Yzerman
The Detroit News ran an article regarding Andy Delmore’s excitement to play for the Wings. Last week, the defeseman signed a contract for one year worth $450,000 (the league’s minimum). Even if Delmore doesn’t make the Wings roster, he’s excited for the opportunity to be just a phone call away. He grew up in Windsor cheering for the Red Wings.
“Let’s face it, a lot of players don’t get an opportunity for their hometown team,” Delmore said. “The chance to come back home, and play for the Wings, it really is exciting. Definitely a guy like Steve Yzerman, for everything he’s accomplished in his career, the way he carries himself on and off the ice,” Delmore said. “Then guys like Bob Probert (another Windsor native) and Joe Kocur. There were so many good memories and moments. But I was always a Wings fan, not the (Toronto Maple) Leafs.”Â
Holland believes Delmore could give the Wings depth especially with some of the new rule changes. “He’s got skill, and he gives us depth,” general manager Ken Holland said. “He’s a guy who could help us.”
Over the lockout, Delmore played for Adler Mannheim (a Germany team) alongside the Sabres’ Jochen Hochet and the Flames’ Rene Corbet. In his 50 games, he scored seven goals and had 16 assists.
“No doubt, it was a little different,” he said of having games twice a week, on weekends. It really was like a college (hockey) schedule. We’d play on Friday and Sunday, have Monday off, and practiced the rest of the week. The atmosphere and intensity was real good because you’d only (have) those two games, and the crowds were really into it. It was good hockey, as good as any of the other leagues (in Europe). Our team made it into the finals, and there were quite a few NHL players (in Germany). It was a good experience.”Â
Since the Wings want a minimum of seven defensemen and money is tight, Jason Woolley will probably be playing another year with the Wings. “They’re giving me an opportunity,” Woolley said.
Legace’s golf charity event next Monday
Next Monday at the Meadowbrook Country Club in Northville, Manny Legace will be holding a charity golf event with proceeds going towards breast cancer research. Legace’s mom along with a close family friend have fought breast cancer. “This (the golf outing) is something that I’ve wanted to do for some time,” Legace said, “and everything has worked out.” The Wings that are scheduled to attend include Chris Osgood, Jason Williams, Kirk Maltby, and Darryl Bootland. Legace is encouraging fants to attend for autograph opportunities. Donations will be accepted.
I hope to attend the event since it’s about 5-10 minutes from my house. I’ll call the golf club tomorrow to see when the event starts. If I am able to attend, I plan on getting some autographs and taking pictures to be posted here. If you can attend, come support the fight against breast cancer along with watching our beloved Wings players golf! Hope to see you there!
Behind the Blog: On the Wings
One of the features of Behind the Jersey is my in depth look into the lives of Red Wings hockey players (I’m working on Steve Yzerman’s at the moment). I decided to put a spin on this special and Matt Saler at On the Wings was happy to go along with my request. Behind the Blog is what I hope to be a new feature. I’d like to go around to the hockey bloggers, ask them some questions by email, and post their answers here on BtJ so readers can get to know the blogger behind their blog.
Christy: Please tell me about your previous web projects before On the Wings.
Matt: My first web project was hosted by Alta Vista and was called Puck Corner. It pretty much consisted of re-posted Freep articles and wasn’t too exciting. After that, I started an e-mail list on The Globe called the_wings_club with Brian and it became pretty active. After The Globe shut down, we had to move to Yahoo! Groups and activity fell off a bit. The list has since moved to Google Groups and doesn’t have very many active posters but we’re thankful for those who do still post. For the 2001-2002 season, I made a site on Tripod but it was mostly just pictures and was never finished. After that, I started On the Wings.
Christy: What made you create one in the first place?
Matt: I liked the idea of having a spot on the Internet with which to talk hockey with other people. That e-mail list was a lot of fun at its height and since I didn’t have too many people around me to talk about the Wings with, it helped me grow as a fan.
Christy: What made you create On the Wings and why did you name it that?
Matt: I read some articles about blogs in 2003 and started reading a few of them. So, I decided to start my own. I don’t lead an interesting enough life to have a personal blog so I picked the obvious topic: the Wings. When I wasn’t real serious about it, I called it “zata40fan’s Wings fan blog” but I soon changed that to “On the Wings.” I just meant it to be a description of the blog’s main topic, the Wings, but I guess it has a general hockey meaning too.
Christy: Were you the only writer in the beginning or was Brian there at the start?
Matt: I was the only author at first and stuck mainly to posting quotes from articles and links to the rest, with little or no commentary. It didn’t take a lot of work, really.
Christy: How did you and Brian become weblog partners?
Matt: Eventually, I was able to convince my best friend Brian to join up and start posting. The blog took a big jump in quality after that and we both begain to post more and more commentary. The race to get the game previews up began and so did the competition to get the most detailed and lengthy game summaries. We had a lot of fun documenting the 03-04 season that way.
Christy: How did you get the word out about your new blog?
Matt: I’ve never really spread the word on the site through the internet. I don’t like to be a pest and fill people’s inboxes with link exchange requests. My strategy is to link to people I’d like to have link to me and wait for them to notice the traffic coming from my site. It worked, for example, in getting the attention of Matt Schwartz, webmaster of LetsGoWings.com and we ended up syndicating content over there for a while. We still can but it usually slips our mind these days. As we began to get links from fellow bloggers such as Eric McErlain and Tom Benjamin, we began to get more hits and word got out on its own.
Christy: When did you realize that your website had become popular?
Matt: Mostly during the second half of the 03-04 season. Once Brian and I started writing epic game summaries, we started seeing referrals from people who were complimenting them. That was cool because it helped make writing those things worth it. The biggest indicator is just hits. We don’t get a lot of traffic compared to other sites but I still find it exciting to get 100 or more hits a day.
Christy: What advice would you give to a newcomer in the blogging world?
Matt: I’d say just link to everyone, work on your quality and quantity, and wait to be noticed. Relaly, there’s no need to point yourself out. Just act like you’ve always been there and like you’re part of the established blogging crowd. Just make sure you have the credibility and the quality to back it up and “play with the big kids,” as they say.
Christy: What do you hope to accomplish with On the Wings over the next few years?
Matt: I’d like to just continue providing a service to my fellow Wings fans. I’d like to be able to look back through our archives years from now and get as full a picture of each season as possible. It’s really for me as much as it is for everyone else since I’d like to be able to remember this team when it’s completely different and I’m documenting another set of players. I guess we’re sort of writing a version of the Wings’ current history.
Christy: Why are you a Wings fan?
Matt: Well, the most obvious reason is, I live in suburban Detroit and if you like hockey, you’d better like the Wings. Also, it was a bandwagon thing at first. I thought it was cool the Wings won 62 games in one season. So I started following the team. Pretty soon, though, I got real serious and now I don’t care if the Wings lost 62 games a season, I’m watching them.
Christy: What is your favorite hockey moment? Player? Why?
Matt: I really enjoyed the 2001-2002 season. That year, it was just fun to be a Wings fan. I always felt like we could win a game no matter if we were down or not and a number of times, the Wings came through on that. The playoffs were as exciting as any I’ve ever watched and then too, I felt a real confidence in the team. In the last minutes of Game 3 in the Finals, I knew the Wings weren’t going to lose, even though they were down by a goal. I doubt I’ll ever be able to follow a team built quite like that again. It was a series of moments but I can’t separate them.
My favorite player is Steve Yzerman. It seems like a reflex answer for a Wings fan but I mean it. He’s just the best and I don’t think there will be another one like him for a long time, if ever.
Christy: What do you believe the NHL should do to gain more fans?
Matt: They need to ensure the quality of the product. If hockey is boring or lacking in skill, people will not watch it on TV or pay to attend the games. They have to make it exciting and keep it exciting. Actual enforcement of the rules for more than 10 games would help.
Christy: Where do you see the NHL and/or Detroit Red Wings in 10 years?
Matt: I think the NHL will be pretty well off. Whether I like it or not, the CBA is probably a smart business decision for the League and should hopefully pay off. The NHL will never compete with the NFL but it should be going strong in a decade. The Wings, as long as they are still owned by Mike Illitch, should be up there as well.
Christy: How do you balance your time with college and maintaining a popular blog?
Matt: Well, the lockout came at a fortunate time in that respect. There wasn’t much to post on from September on while I was in school so I was able to focus on my studies much more. In high school, I didn’t have much of a problem posting all the time and I probably had even less time then. It will be interesting to see how things go this school year, for sure. Watching all 82 regular season games might turn out to be impossible. We’ll see.
Christy: Is there a particular blog that you look to for inspiration?
Matt: I can’t say there really is. We don’t do the “blog thing” as much as other blogs do, really. By that I mean, constant referrals to other blogs as well as rebuttals and counterpoints, all that. We kind of formulated our blogging strategy on our own. Obviously the other hockey bloggers provide inspiration but not in a real direct sense.
I’d like to thank Matt Saler at On the Wings for agreeing to be BtJ’s Behind the Blog’s first victim! Go Wings!
Latest Wings Signings
I apologize for the lack of updates over the past 7 days. Over this period of time, the Wings haven’t been actively signing players, but today I have a lot of news to report. I realize that Holland only has $9 million left to fill the roster and we aren’t in the era where we can sign superstars left and right, but it just feels like we’re so inactive compared to previous seasons. Anyways, let me get to what has happened over the past couple of days in relation to the Detroit Red Wings.
Ken Holland announced the signings of Jason Williams, Darryl Bootland, and Andy Delmore on Tuesday. “In the past, we’ve had the luxury of a fourth line of (Igor) Larionov and (Luc) Robitaille,” said assistant general manager Jim Nill. “Now these kids have to step up and play bigger minutes.”
Defenseman Andy Delmore, a 28 year old Windsor native, agreed to a one year deal worth around $450,000 (the league’s minimum salary). Delmore is very excited to play for Detroit after growing up a Wings fan.
“It’s been a dream of mine to play for Detroit. I used to go to every Red Wings game. Having a chance to play there is very exciting for me and my family. Growing up here, it was Detroit, Detroit for me. I thought Detroit was just the best fit for me,” Delmore said.Â
The Wings see Delmore fitting into were Steve Duchesne, Fredrik Olausson, and Jason Woolley left off. He has played for the Sabres, Preds, and Philly during his six NHL seasons. In 276 games, Delmore racked 101 points. The Wings won’t guarantee him a spot on the Wings roster wanting the ability to send him to Grand Rapids. Delmore played professionally in Germany during the lockout.
“He’s got good skill, and I think he gives our team depth, and maybe he’ll surprise us,” Holland said. “In the new world, you’re going to have to have some players that are good bargains. At the worst, he’ll be a good player for us in Grand Rapids and if we get into injury situations, he’ll probably be a good guy to call up with his NHL experience…He’s a skilled defenseman. He had back-to-back seasons with 16 and 18 goals, so he’s had success in the NHL. He’ll be good depth in event of an injury. He’s got to make the club. He understands the possibility he may end up in the minors, but that was a chance he was willing to take.”Â
25 year old Jason Williams, a restricted free agent, accepted the Wings qualifying offer for $450,000. In 2000-2001 for 74 games, Williams had 69 points. While in the AHL, he played two seasons under the Wings new head coach, Mike Babcock. In the Wings 2002 Stanley Cup winning season, Williams had some ice but but it wasn’t until the 2003-2004 season when he notched 49 games.
“I know that Mike has talked with Jason this summer and told him he’s going to give him every opportunity to play a regular role on this hockey team,” Holland said. “The rest is up to Jason. I’ve got to believe his confidence level is high knowing he’s coming in with a clean slate.”Â
Throughout the lockout, Willy played in Finland where he led his team in scoring and 11th overall in the Finnish league. “We’re very happy with him,” Nill said. “He went over to Finland and was one of the leading scorers. It was a big year for him. That shows how he’s maturing as a player.”
To read the interview I did with Jason Williams in November of the 2003-2004 season, click here.
Darryl Bootland, 23, also agreed to the Wings qualifying offer worth $450,000. Since Darren McCarty was bought out, the Wings will probably look to Bootland for that agitator/fighter role. In his 22 games with the Wings in the 2003-2004 season, he amassed 74 penalty minutes. We should see him on the fourth line most likely.
After those three signings, the roster is brought up to 18 players with $9 million left under the salary cap. Holland has been unable to sign Pavel Datsyuk, Henrik Zetterberg, or Niklas Kronwall yet. “There’s lots of work to be done,” Holland said. Holland has said that he would like to sign one more defenseman to give the blue line more size and physical play. Rumor has it that Todd Simpson, who played under Babcock in Anaheim, might be that defenseman.
Holland also said he would like to sign another defenseman to provide size and physical play on the blue line. A possible candidate is Todd Simpson, who played for new Wings coach Mike Babcock in Anaheim and finished last season with Ottawa.
In other news, it sounds like the Wings are about to bring on two more European prospects, Finnish center Valtteri Filppula and German forward Michael Hackert. Both will be expected to play in Grand Rapids for the season. Filppula was our third round pick in 2002 and helped Jokerit Helsinki reach the Finnish Elite League final last season. He will probably be signing a three year contract. Hackert played in the world championships this year for Germany. Look for him to sign a two year contract after an excellent season with the Frankfurt Lions.
Cujo heads to Phoenix
Ex-Wing goaltender, Curtis Joseph, has signed a one year contract with the Phoenix Coyotes. After a tumultuous time here in Detroit with the goaltender circus, I’m sure Cujo is happy to be heading somewhere fans will appreciate his talent. Ironic how the Coyotes seem to be getting some ex-Wing members (Hull, Devereaux, Joseph, Smith).
“We are very pleased to add a goaltender like Curtis with his many years of exceptional play and experience,” said Coyotes General Manager Mike Barnett. “He is as excited to be coming to Phoenix as our fans will be in seeing him in a Coyotes uniform. We like this fit a lot.”Â
Wings ticket prices & Osgood
Wings ticket prices remain the same
While many teams have cut back on ticket prices, the Detroit Red Wings ticket prices will not be changing from the 2003-2004 prices. Tickets will range from $22-$85 and average around $57.
The $39 million figure is misleading,” General Manager Ken Holland said, citing $6 million committed to players no longer with the team, an estimated $5 million contribution to revenue sharing and potentially $5 million in bonuses.Â
David Miller of West Bloomfield Township, who has had tickets for 25 years, said he won’t renew. “I know friends of mine weren’t planning to do so either unless they got a discount,” Miller said. “With the economy the way it is in Detroit, I would suspect many other people won’t be either.”
The Wings have 17,000 season-ticket holders and a waiting list of 14,000.
Season ticket holders will get what the Wings call “Joe Bucks,” 5% of their ticket money that fans can use for concessions and merchandise at Joe Louis Arena.
I’m disappointed that the Wings didn’t reduce ticket prices. The team salary was cut nearly in half, but the prices aren’t. I realize that the Wings can charge what they want and people will still come. And those that cancel their season tickets will be grabbed by one of the 14,000 on the waiting list (including me). Ottawa and Los Angeles reduced their season ticket prices by 5%; Chicago 10%. Toronto, Colorado, Buffalo, and Phoenix also reduced ticket prices.
Osgood excited to be back
Chelios isn’t the only player happy to return for another year in Detroit. Chris Osgood is elated to come back to Hockeytown. Even when Osgood played for the Islanders and Blues, he didn’t sell his house in Northville and remained close friends to many Wings players. He even followed the team closely. After being gone for three years, Osgood was excited to sign a one year contract for $900,000.
“I’m thrilled about this,” said Osgood. “I really missed playing in Detroit. You don’t realize what you had until you don’t have it anymore…I really thought I would be back. It was fun to play on Long Island (with the Islanders) and St. Louis. But I always missed the atmosphere here. It’s just different. You don’t see it in a lot of cities…Detroit fans are passionate. They love their team and they want their team to do well. There’s nothing wrong with that.”Â
The starting goaltender position will be based on Osgood and his close friend, Manny Legace, performances in training camp and then early in the season. “There’s going to be no animosity between us,” he said. “We’ll be pulling for each other.”
Osgood returns to Hockeytown
TSN is reporting that Chris Osgood has signed a one year deal worth $900,000. Manny Legace will be bringing in $1.162 million this season. Osgood was originally drafted by the Wings in 1991 in the 3rd round (54th overall). In the 1995-1996 season, Osgood (along with teammate Mike Vernon) got the William Jennings Trophy for the lowest goals against average.
I’m assuming Osgood will be the starting goaltender (or maybe they’ll alternate games? Who knows.), which will make it interesting with the starter making less than the backup goalie. At least Holland was able to find another goalie without killing our budget. We now have $9.1 million left (leaving $1 million for emergencies) for 8 players. At least with Ozzie taking a lower salary, we have a better chance signing Zetterberg and Datsyuk.
What do you guys think about signing Ozzie for only $900,000?
Barry Smith finds coaching job
Earlier today, Wayne Gretzky announced that he would be coaching the Phoenix Coyotes.
“I’ll be honest with you, when I was 22, 23, 24, I never thought I’d be a coach in the NHL,” Gretzky told the Arizona Republic on Sunday night. “But I’m excited about the challenge . . . . The last couple of weeks I’ve been following my son’s baseball team around and I kind of got the itch to coach, as silly as that sounds.”Â
Gretzky has a multi-year agreement and will continue to keep his 18% ownership in the team as well as continuing to be the team’s managing partner. “By no means am I Scotty Bowman, but I know the game, I love the game, I have a really good staff and we have a really good team,” Gretzky said. “It’s exciting. I haven’t felt this way since I was 17.”
Gretzky will be assisted by three other coaches: former Detroit Red Wings associate coach Barry Smith, former Coyotes player Rick Tocchet, and Coyotes interim head coach Rick Bowness. “I’m ecstatic to have this staff,” said Gretzky. As most of you know, Smith has won five Stanley Cup titles (three with Detroit) in his 17 seasons as an NHL assistant coach. Before the lockout, Tocchet was an assistant coach with Colorado. He has also played 18 NHL seasons (three with the Coyotes). Once the Coyotes fired head coach Bob Francis in 2004, Bowness took over as interim head coach and will remain with the Coyotes organization for a seventh season.
The Coyotes certainly won’t be the same team after the lockout that it was beforehand. The team hasn’t had the opportunity to play in their new $220-million Glendale Arena for a full season. They originally moved in back in December 2003 and thus only played there for a partial season.
Chelios happy to be re-signed
Chelios was very happy to be re-signed for another year in Detroit. His one year contract is worth $850,000. A price cut he was willing to take in order to stay with the Wings. “It was pretty much a no-brainer,” Chelios said. “It was just a matter of seeing if they wanted me, if they could fit me in under the cap. It’s a big relief. Now I don’t have to leave Detroit and my family.” Between his chili restaurant in Dearborn and having even played for the Motory City Mechanics in the lockout, Chelios really wanted to stay in Detroit.
Chelios realizes that his role will be different this year. “I’ll accept whatever my role will be,” Chelios said. “My role has changed since I got here. If I play well enough, maybe I’ll get more minutes, but if they want me to be a fifth or sixth guy, I’ll be that.” Wings GM Ken Holland has already hinted at Chelios’ new role. “I’ve talked with Chris about our exact expectations,” general manager Ken Holland said, “and impressed upon him that we’ll give him less minutes, keep him fresh and not overplay him.”
Holland is still having a hard time with signing Pavel Datsyuk. Datsyuk is apparently looking to make $4 million. “We have had a very productive conversation,” Greenstin said. “We’ve explained our position, he has explained his position. He has a certain amount of money to spend and has to sign another player. Pavel, you know, Pavel Datsyuk’s future is with the Detroit Red Wings.”
After Thursday’s signings, the Wings have about $10 million left to sign Datsyuk, Zetterberg and Kronwall, a goaltender, another defenseman and a few more forwards to fill out the third and fourth lines.Â
Asked if he sees a scenario in which he ends up without Datsyuk or Zetterberg, Holland said, “Anything is possible.”
“It’s going to take a while,” Holland said. “Sometimes you need a marketplace to surface. You need some other restricted free agents in similar rights and age groups to sign first to see where the market is at.”
Mathieu Schneider is also excited to return to Detroit. “I really wanted to come back,” Schneider said. “Once I heard there was a cap, I didn’t think it would be possible. But once the buyouts happened, I thought there might be a chance still. It couldn’t have worked out any better. I’m thrilled to be back.”
Holland believes that Johan Franzen should fit in the third or fourth line. While Franzen is stronger defensively, Holland sees him develiping into a strong two-way forward. “We think he’s ready to play in the NHL,” Holland said. “At this point, he probably won’t score a lot of points.”
Khabibulin signs 4 year deal with Chicago
Well the number of available goalies just got smaller. The Chicago Blackhawks successfully signed Nikolai Khabibulin, the Bulin Wall, to a four year deal valued at $27 million ($6.75 million yearly).
“When we began this process, we targeted Nikolai Khabibulin and Adrian Aucoin as the two main players we wanted to sign,” Blackhawks General Manager Dale Tallon said. “Not only did we accomplish our goal in signing these players, but we were also able to sign Martin LaPointe and Jaroslav Spacek. Along with Jassen Cullimore, Matthew Barnaby, and Curtis Brown whom we signed last year we feel that we have really improved our team. I know our fans have gone through some difficult times, but we said that we would remain flexible and give ourselves a chance to improve our team under the new rules governing the NHL with a new Collective Bargaining Agreement. We planned ahead with this day in mind and we are extremely happy that we were able to achieve some of our goals.”
With Khabibulin out of the way, the Wings need to really focus on getting a goalie! It’s looking like either Chris Osgood will return to Detroit or the Wings might pick up Jocelyn Thibault, the Blackhawks 2003-2004 goalie. Personally, I’m unsure about Osgood. We had a strong team when he was goaltending for Detroit and he was in his prime. I just don’t know. I’m not opposed to his return, he’s just not my first choice. It’ll be interesting to see who Holland picks. At least we have a great backup goalie in Manny.