Looks like Section 303 will need a new target for their “sissy” cheer…

Published reports out of Detroit have the Red Wings not offering 47 year old blueliner, Chris Chelios a contract.

One the best US born defensemen to ever lace ‘em up, Chelios has had a stellar and lengthy NHL career, however his playing time decreased and his time on the healthy scratch list increased over the past two seasons.

It wouldn't surprise me to see Chris try and get one more year... maybe back in his old stomping grounds in Chicago to help that young blueline along? Then 303 would be able to continue the song...

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This debate is going to get interesting.

My fellow blogger and HockeyBuzz Radio co-cost Brandon Felder came out with a haymaker yesterday regarding free agents. His point regarding Steve Sullivan and/or Joel Ward seems to be any mistake the Predators make in contracts can just be bought out.

That’s true… but it’s not smart business. Let’s face it… this team is not in Toronto, New York or Philly. This team does not have deep pockets like Washington or Colorado or Chicago. The budget is Nashville is tight, the line between profitability and loss is very fine. Buy-outs impact the dollars available for a team like Nashville, or Buffalo, or Edmonton, or Minnesota. A buy-out is not just an idea, but real dollars going out the door. Toronto or New York can buy their way out of their mistakes and it doesn’t impact them one bit… that is not the case for a lot of NHL teams.

Let’s take Sully… I agree that the lack of offer may be somewhat concerning. But, considering the strategy Sullivan’s agent is following, it’s probably smart. Let me put forth a hypothetical.

Hypothetically, let’s say that David Poile puts out an offer for two years at 3.5 million a year before Sullivan hits the open market. That offer now becomes the baseline for the agent to use with other teams. If no other team exceeds the offer… then the agent comes back to Nashville and says, OK we’ll take it. What if the market was only a million a year on the open market? Do you think the agent (or Sullivan for that matter) would accept less from Nashville after having that larger offer? Would David Poile be able to come back and say, well… that offer has expired and now we only offer a million a year? He could, but it would cause real issues. Considering all that… Poile’s being a smart negotiator here.

Joel Ward’s demand, to me, is too high for a player that was unable to break into the NHL with any other team, had one solid year, and now wants 1.5 million. The big question for Joel is, was last year a fluke? I could go for a million, and see if he continues to develop into a consistent NHL player… One season does not a career make…

I’m sure we’ll debate this one on tomorrow night’s show :-)

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