Wings stun fans with Hossa signing
If you haven’t realized it by now, GM Ken Holland is a pretty smart guy. But Wings fans really need to thank Marian Hossa himself for this crazy exciting signing. Holland had offered Hossa a four-year deal but at a lower salary than some of the other offers Hossa had received. In fact, it was Hossa’s agent who called Holland this morning about a one-year contract.
“I asked what they were looking for,” Holland told Landsberg. “It was north of 7.5 (million). I told them I was uncomfortable (having Hossa make more than Lidstrom).
“In the end, Marian Hossa told me to not bother calling Nik, one year at 7.45 - it was a done deal.”
Even his agent was surprised.
“I have never been involved in a deal and seen a player get so excited to take $85 million less than he was offered elsewhere,” Winter told The Canadian Press. “It’s almost incomprehensible, even to an agent. But Marian is a special player.”
Hossa turned down a rumored nine-year, nine million dollar contract with the Edmonton Oilers and a Pittsburgh long-term contract because he wanted to sign with the team that would give him the best shot at the Cup (in his opinion). Even Holland was surprised by Hossa’s interest in a one-year deal.
“I was caught way off guard,” Holland said. “Shocked was my initial reaction. Marian made a decision he’d like to find a way to join our team. He wants to raise the Cup over his head. Without him wanting to be a Red Wing, this day would never have happened. I’m thrilled.”
Think of this next season as a trial run for the Wings and Hossa. If it goes well, the Wings may be able to convince Hossa to sign a long-term deal for less and hopefully Henrik Zetterberg and Johan Franzen will buy into that system as well.
Hence Detroit general manager Ken Holland’s reluctance to tie his hands financially and lock up Hossa for more than one year.
“The hope is this is one year of many years (with Hossa),” said Holland. “It gives me an opportunity to sit here for the next six-to-12 months with the key players on our team that are going to become free agents in 2009. The hope is that we’re able to find a way to keep everybody together, and certainly with Marian coming in on a one-year deal, we know he’s here, and I’ve got some time now to see what I can do to put it all together. As the winter wears on you start to get a little bit of sense when you get into the second half of the year where the cap might be going and growing.”
The Red Wings are recognized as one of the more in-tune, astute organizations in the NHL - as evidenced by Holland recognizing how difficult (and rare) it is for Stanley Cup champs to repeat. Holland figures bringing in Hossa - zero rings in 11 seasons - will add to the team’s hunger and negate the Stanley Cup hangover.
“That’s one of the things we’ve been talking about, internally, here over the last two weeks. I really think that Dallas Drake was a major factor in us winning the Stanley Cup. … I think as we got close, a lot of our players were playing for Dallas (who’d never won a Cup),” said Holland.
I hope every Wings fan just takes a deep breath and treasures this day. Yes, we’ve had our ups and downs and for those of us living in Michigan, the Wings may be the only good thing going for us. BUT, this signing is amaaazing. It’s been over 10 hours since I heard about the signing and I’m still giddy about it. I mean, look at what this improvement can do for our team.
ow, the Red Wings’ power play – which was already the third-best in the league this season – will be even more dangerous.
Now, Detroit’s 5-on-5 goals for/against ratio – which was already miles better (1.41) than the NHL’s second-best team (Anaheim’s was 1.17) – will be that much more outstanding.
Best of all, the single-year term of the deal puts the Wings in the driver’s seat this time next summer. If Hossa fits well with the team, he’ll get an extension from GM Ken Holland; if he doesn’t work out as planned, Holland has his money to sink into either an extension for Zetterberg or a different, top-line UFA.
In any case, the Hossa signing makes the Wings the prohibitive favorite to not only win another championship, but also the first repeat champion since – you guessed it –Detroit did so from 1997-98.
Hossa has bought into our system and I can only imagine how excited head coach Mike Babcock must be with next season’s lines.
“I’m really happy to become Detroit Red Wing,” Hossa said. “It’s a big decision for me I have to make. When I look at it, I wanted to have the best chance to win the Stanley Cup. I feel Detroit is the team. They’ve got a great team. I know I could get more money somewhere else, but I was looking for best chance to win Stanley Cup, and I think Detroit is that destination.”
Hossa adds more firepower to an already impressive forward corps. Last season, Hossa scored 29 goals and had 66 points in 72 games split between Atlanta and Pittsburgh. At 6-foot-1, 210 pounds, the winger also adds good size to the lineup.
“It’s fantastic,” Wings coach Mike Babcock said. “He fits into our philosophy in that he wants to win. He’s a two-way player like Pav and Z, and what I mean by that is, he’s as good with the puck as without. To me, he’s one of the top 15 forwards in the game.”
Sundin didn’t want to sign with Detroit
According to Holland when he went on the Fan590 earlier today, Mats Sundin was not interested in Detroit’s offer.
Ken Holland has had quite an impressive 48 hours and it has certainly shown the skeptics that he is the best GM out there as he has kept the Wings competitive in spite of a salary cap designed to prevent dynasties.
Related Posts
Leave a Reply