OT: Wings sign Mike Commodore
brickhouse!!!
This is stunning to me as Commodore spoke openly about his dislike for Babcock. I certainly can't get excited about this signing.
jersey number 64
I can live with this relatively cheap and short contract. Don't see him sticking around longer.
Hopefully this positions us to go after Shea Weber or similar next year.
We overpaid a bit for E, but have gotten by relatively cheaply with the rest. Gotta hope there's a good chunk of money left for a productive forward. However, looks like the backup goalie market is getting expensive.
...this just in! Owen Nolan wants back in the NHL. Dear God, Kenny, not him!
I might be late to the party in commenting on this, but the combination of Nyan Cat and Boba Fett is nothing short of amazing.
There has to be more coming. The cap went up but the Wings have shaved payroll.
bringing him into camp as insurance or hoping they can straighten him out.
He's a cup winner though so maybe playing for a team that has a chance might help motivate him.
The Wings also resigned Patrick Eaves, Drew Miller and Jonathon Ericcson so I'm assuming that some of that free cap space has been sent. Commodore isn't a great defenseman, but getting him that cheap is a real steal. Especially if we can use some more of that cap to bring in a top four defenseman.
1 year, 1 million - solid, no-risk pickup IMO. If it doesn't work out, nothing really lost. If it does, it's always nice to have someone on the team that the rest of the league hates playing against.
This signing has one overlooked benefit: Come playoff time, Mike Commodore can grow one spectacular beard.
well, according to NHL Numbers, the wings still have $11 mil in space.
where do people think that cash should go?
I'd love to see a splashy move, but I feel like it will ending being $1-2 (hopefully closer to 1) for a backup goalie; $3-4 for another d-man, and the rest free for trade flexibility.
Honestly, the way things are shaping up this offseason, I could really see about $6-7 million of that cap space left untouched for either trades or next summer. I wouldn't mind that one bit, it's awfully thin out there on the free agent market.
If they can pick up someone like Jovonovski on the cheap (2 years @ 2.5 - 3 a year) then I could see them sitting on the rest of the cash. That way they can be players at the trade deadline this year. The inability to bring in someone at the deadline has really hurt this team the last few years. They probably need to bring in a backup goaltender as well.
NM - Jovonovski signed with the Panthers at just over 4 mil a year.
Which just goes to show how bad the market is for defensemen. Jovo is not a guy who typically plays 80 games a year and they're paying $4 million a year for his worst years. Ehrhoff for 10 years is absurd and Wisniewski got about $5.5 million a year to play defense every other game.
because all the overspending in a poor free agent crop this year will leave teams out of the bidding for a better class next year.
The couple of Wing's boards I'm reading are blowing up about what a fool move this is. I'm happy to see that people are being more down to earth here.
Personally, I think it's a good move. I won't recount the reasons I believe this as all of them are already listed in posts above but will say that #1 on my list is " the hair".
If people are having a fit about a 1 year, 1 mil contract, they've got other issues unrelated to the internet.
I fail to see any sizeable downside here.
What Wings board do you read?
who will allow Kindl to spend one more year in Gr Rap's? Sold.
So we now have:
Lidstrom-Kronwall
Commodore - Stuart
Erickson - ?? (insert random NHL journeyman)
Brendan Smith, D-man out of Wisconsin.
The front office is hoping he can stick in the bigs this year.
1) He'd have to clear waivers and he wouldn't.
2) He showed marked improvement as the season progressed.
No offense but Commodore is not top 4. Ericsson is definitely top4 at this point. You don't pay Big E 3.25 per year on the third pairing and then sign Commodore for the top 4. The Wings must be planning something as they have reduced payroll at this point.
Raffi and Big E were 7.2, now Commodore and Big E are 4.25. Even with Miller and Eaves getting slightly more, that's about 2mil less in cap hit.
The Wings must be planning something as they have reduced payroll at this point.
i get the same feeling. kenny holland is up to something, and im tingling all over to find out what it is.
also, can you please post an enlarged version of your avatar?
Given what's still available, I don't think the Red Wings are going to be major players with the money they have left. If you look at CapGeek, they have 1-3 spots still open, depending on what they decide to do with Emmerton and Smith. They still need a backup goaile.
I saw on twitter that they've been shopping Hudler around for a couple of weeks, but haven't found a taker.
I could see a scenario in which they use their cap space and a prospect to acquire a top-4 defenseman. The Kings have a ton of cap space, but if they land Richards and re-sign Doughty, it could get tight. They have a ton of depth on the blueline, so maybe there is a trade possibility there? It doesn't seem like Mitchell or Scuderi or Greene fit Detroit's puck moving style, so perhaps not.
Another possibility is that they go into camp with the 4th defense position open and hope that one of Ericsson, Kindl or Smith play their way into it. Not ideal, but I like scenario better than throwing a bunch of money at Tomas Kaberle.
imo we're done signing defensemen at this point. between the nicks, stuart, shitbox, kindl, commodore, smith, and janik, we have a solid top 3, and guys we can slot in at each spot.
its time to go for a forward with the rest of that cap space.
Agree with this. I think the Commodore signing means the Wings are done on D (barring a major trade) but that's a lot of cap space to not improve the top6 forwards.
I'm on the same page here. Kindl is an NHL defenseman at this point. They will keep him down on the 3rd line and have him learn from Commodore for a year.
I see it being:
Lidstrom - Stuart
Ericcson - Kronwall
Kindl - Commodore
I think that's a solid d-corps. They should probably spend a little bit of money on a winger, and they might resign Draper, but I think they are essentially done.
This free agent class sucks. Liike Doug Karsch said we need hold to our money and make a splash at the deadline.
i trust kenny holland.
also, where'd you hear about the kovy offer? ive seen nothing on twitter about it.
well, at least it'd solve new jersey's cap problems....
KH could be the best GM in sports.
No one deserves the "Trust ____" more than KH.
I would be interested in your take on the Ericsson signing, Jim.
Personally, I think Holland did overpay. But, maybe you see things that I don't.
I wouldn't get too excited- not now, at least. I think/hope Kenny has learned this team can get him into the playoffs, with a top-3 seed, but needs a new component to push for the Cup. We haven't had much spending cash for the trade deadline over the past few years, but this year we have the chance at landing a big fish. I expect a back up-goalie to be signed, and Griffins to fill the remaining spots, and I expect signing a proven top forward come the trade deadline.
We could use another bruiser that crashes the net. It seemed like that was a big piece missing in the playoffs. When Mule was hurting we really didn't seem to have that physical presence.
Maybe a successor to Holmstrom who probably can't take the beating much longer.
I've got to give a little nod here to Danny Cleary who crashes the net like he's 3 inches and 30 punds bigger than he is. Huge respect for the effort he brings every game.
I don't see what all the negative hubbub is on other sites over the Commodore signing. I think this was a solid move. One year, one million. It seems all D free agents are being overpaid this year and KH just avoided that. Also, it allows KH the flexibility he needs next year when some big names are available and Lidstrom is likely needing to be replaced. I agree with some posters here that it was a bit of a surprise to see Commodore and Babcock together again, but in reality that was years ago. I hope Kindl is as solid as I think he can be. I don't really know much about Smith, is he ready?
Red Wings just signed defenseman Ian White to a 2yr $5.7 million deal. Nice grab.