Wings free agency update
So where do the Wings stand a little over 10 hours into the UFA period?
Well, they lost veteran defenseman Mathieu Schneider to the Ducks, but were able to sign defenseman Brian Rafalski to a five year deal worth $30 million. They have not signed anyone else today and it looks like goaltender Dominik Hasek could be the only one returning out of the Wings’ four UFAs.
“We’re disappointed we lost Mathieu,” said Holland. “But we’re very, very excited to have Brian.”
Holland said that Red Wings’ other three unrestricted free agents — Dominik Hasek, Danny Markov and Todd Bertuzzi — are still possible signees.
The Red Wings and Hasek talked several times Saturday. That the netminder hasn’t come to terms yet is somewhat perplexing to Holland. “I’m cautiously optimistic … I think he wants to see what we’ll do and how much cap space we’ll have,” said Holland. “At least that’s the way it appears.”
Hasek will be re-signed, but apparently he and his agent want to wait a few days first.
Wings general manager Ken Holland said Dominik Hasek’s agent, Ritch Winter, told him he wanted to wait a day or two after July 1 before signing, but there’s no cause for alarm.
“We’re close in a lot of areas … I’m hoping to finish this off in a day or two,” Holland said. “We’ve made progress. We have the nuts and bolts of something in place. They told me there’s no reason to be concerned. They just want to sit for a day or two.”
It’s unclear why Hasek is making them wait. He’s certainly not looking to go anywhere. Maybe he’s waiting to see how much money they have left after the dust clears from the first couple of days of free agency.
The same article reports that Holland did NOT offer a contract to any of the big offensive free agents (Drury, Briere, Gomez, or Smyth). I think the only player that Wings’ fans were thinking about was left winger Ryan Smyth, but he wasn’t a possibility after signing Rafalski.
Holland said the Wings have about $8 million to spend on Hasek, a forward and a depth defenseman, whom he might not sign for another month. Holland said Danny Markov and his agent turned down an offer last week at the draft in Columbus.
I am surprised that the team only has $8 million left. I thought that the team had at least $2 million more than that. I think that forward will be either Todd Bertuzzi (who is looking for a longer offer than the Wings are willing to give) or Slava Kozlov.
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3 Responses to “Wings free agency update”
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July 2nd, 2007 at 3:23 pm
Kozlov’s return to the Wings would be great, but Brian Smolinski is listed as available. A great chance for the Wings to add a lot of ATTITUDE, at a very reasonable price. Another local boy, I have admired his game for some time. He has reached journeyman status, a great 2 way player that would fit on the checking line, or could center the 2nd line when injuries require a shuffle. He is one you want out there in the last minutes of a tight game.
July 3rd, 2007 at 12:12 am
I forget where I read it, but I think that $8 million figure includes the $2 million buffer they want to have for injury replacements & trade deadline deals. One of the articles stated it that way, but I can’t remember where I saw it. That would make sense, because you’re right–we should have $10 million or so in space right now.
July 4th, 2007 at 1:22 pm
Gramps- Thanks for your comment. Unfortunately, Smolinski is now heading to Montreal and Kozlov is returning to Atlanta. The options are quickly dwindling…
Packer487- Yeah, you’re right. Plus we did chew up a lot of cap space by singing Raflaski. I think I was having a brain fart.