Good signing by Ken Holland & Co. The versatile Finn, at age 24, will continue to play a pivotal role for the Red Wings for years to come. He is a solid, all-around player who can play the wing or centre. In addition, he is likely the Wings fastest skater (although newly acquired Marian Hossa or veteran Kris Draper could give him a good race), on a team not known for possessing great wheels. Similar to what he did with Niklas Kronwall, Holland has signed a quality young player for a long-term at a reasonable price.
The Wings are right up against a cap and will likely be forced to make a trade come October 8th, the day before the start of the regular season in order to get under the cap. Although there are a number of factors at play which will determine who is dealt, my inkling here is defenseman
Andreas Lilja or forward
Mikael Samuelsson may be the prime candidates.
Although he re-signed for $1.25 million per season for the next two years, it appears the stocked cupboard full of young defensemen within the Wings organization need to begin getting a chance to play with the big club.
Lilja, despite numerous objections from many Red Wing fans, has been a solid contributor for this hockey club. Aside from being a great teammate and well liked in the locker room, he provides size, toughness and shot-blocking ability to the Red Wings blueline. Furthermore, following the acquisition of Brad Stuart, he settled in nicely as a top-notch depth defensemen for the Wings (#6 or 7 on the depth chart). In addition, he returned during the Stanley Cup Finals and did a fantastic job replacing Chris Chelios, killing penalties and blocking shots. Still relatively young at the age of 30, any team could utilize his services.
Mikael Samuelsson is scheduled to make $1.2 million this season before becoming a UFA next summer. Similar to Lilja, he often is a whipping boy for disgruntled Red Wing fans. Nevertheless, he is a solid contributor on the wing who can provide some scoring punch, as he did in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Finals with a pair of goals. However, with the emergence of players like
Darren Helm, the signing of Finnish League star
Ville Leino, not to mention the acquisition of
Marian Hossa, Samuelsson may become expendable in order to fit in under the salary cap prior to the season opener, October 9th vs. the Toronto Maple Leafs.
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