Marian Hossa to Chicago. Ty Conklin to St. Louis. Tomas Kopecky to Chicago. And now Mikael Samuelsson to Vancouver


Is Jiri Hudler the next one to leave???



Ken Holland & Co. have had a quiet couple of days as the salary cap appears to have finally placed a stranglehold on the Red Wings from being any type of player during this summer’s free agency period.

It goes without saying that when he signed with Detroit a year ago, most observers expected it would be unlikely for Marian Hossa to remain a Red Wing with Henrik Zetterberg and Johan Franzen in line for significant pay raises. Ultimately, I believe Detroit has made an error in not creating some additional cap space by moving others in order to maintain the team’s top goal scorer during the regular season. I realize Hossa did not have the postseason everyone was expecting, however, his absence will be felt in 2009-2010 and perhaps beyond.

Detroit really did not have a difficult decision in letting Ty Conklin look elsewhere for employment. Conklin was a brilliant Ken Holland addition last summer for a bargain price of $750,000. Given the number of young goaltenders within the Detroit system, the time has come for Detroit to give the likes of Jimmy Howard and perhaps even Daniel Larssen an opportunity to claim the backup job. Furthermore, with top prospect Thomas McCollum expected to play in the AHL with Grand Rapids and newly signed collegiate goaltender Jordan Pierce within the system, the Red Wings future in goal will be addressed through their system, not via free agency.

The Red Wings would have liked to see Tomas Kopecky continue to expand his role in Detroit, however they were not interested in giving him a 140% raise from his $500 K earned last season. Justin Abdelkader seems like the natural fit to replace Kopecky. However, I'm pretty certain the Wings will continue to examine the list of free agents over the course of the next couple weeks to see if there is a forward they feel can be an inexpensive asset to add to the club. This would allow Abdelkader to continue his development in Grand Rapids, logging significant minutes.

This morning, Mikael Samuelsson reached terms with the Vancouver Canucks. Sammy certainly was not well-liked by many of the Red Wing fans who felt he did not deserve the playing time he received, in particular on the point of the power-play. That being said, Samuelsson was in many ways underappreciated by the Detroit faithful. I agree he didn't belong on the point of the second power-play unit. However, he contributed 67 goals over the past four seasons and considering he only earned $1.25 million per season, the Red Wings received a pretty good “bang for their buck” over the course of that timeframe from Samuelsson. Nevertheless, the expected signing of Ville Leino to a two-year deal should help offset the offensive production provided by Samuelsson on the 2nd or 3rd line.

Lastly, Jiri Hudler plans on filing for arbitration this weekend. Once filed, the Wings can choose whether the arbitrator should decide on a one-year or two-year deal. Hudler, 25, who made $1.15 million last season, will see his salary increase anywhere from the $2.5 million the Wings are offering to possibly an award in the $3.5-million to $4-million range. If the Wings don't like the arbitrator's final number, they can trade Hudler.

"The math is simple," Holland said. "At the end of the day, when the season began we had five guys who were in line to become unrestricteds. We were proactive with two -- we got Henrik Zetterberg done, and then we got Johan Franzen done. I'd like to have Sammy back. I'd like to have Hudler back. But it's a cap world. We can only do so much."

If Hudler ends up with a cap hit around $ 3 million, I think the Red Wings keep him. If it is north of $3.5 million, Holland may feel the need to actively dangle Hudler as trade bait to open up more salary cap space for the future.

If Johan Franzen is making just under $4 million, I think the Wings could live with Hudler making $3 million or less. However, an award greater than $3 million could put their roster’s pay scale out of whack. The question also needs to be asked whether Jiri Hudler wants to remain in Detroit. At first glance, the obvious answer is, "Why would he want to leave?"

However, Hudler may feel that moving elsewhere might allow him to step out of the shadows created by Detroit's other top offensive players. Hudler has always put up numbers offensively, but has been limited in what he can do offensively in Detroit playing primarily on the 3rd or 4th lines. Earlier this past season, he did receive an opportunity on the top scoring lines, but failed to impress and Coach Mike Babcock resorted to using Hudler on the 3rd line and giving him power-play time on the 2nd unit. Only time will tell if Hudler is willing to sign for less in Detroit or leave it in the hands of a neutral arbitrator.

Ken Holland said it best prior to July 1st.

"You can't have July 1 every day."

“Our July 1 was in January when we signed Henrik Zetterberg ($73 over 12 years) and in April when we signed Johan Franzen ($43.5 million over 11 years). On July 1, 2010, I think we can be a player. We've got some expiring contracts that should free up about $12 million."

With Nicklas Lidstrom, Tomas Holmstrom, Andreas Lilja, Kirk Maltby and Brett Lebda’s contracts expiring at the end of next season, Holland should have some money to play with come next July, unless there is a substantial drop in the salary cap. Lidstrom, if he decides to continue playing, will likely take a healthy drop from his current $7.45 million to assist the Red Wings from a cap perspective.


mark.spizzirri@hockeybuzz.com