OT: Vinny Lecavalier agrees to terms with Flyers
Many, including myself, believed we had a serious shot at landing him. He agreed to a 5 year 22.5M contract with the Philadelphia Flyers.
http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=676228&navid=nhl:topheads
Little bit less than the 5x5 deal he was reportedly asking for. I dunno, at the price the Flyers got him, I thought the Wings could have afforded him
I miss the days where Detroit could just go out and spend money on players like Letang and LeCavilier, instead of having to actually build a team.
RIP to the LeWings that never were.
#RedWings will buy out D Carlo Colaiacovo. F Todd Bertuzzi will not be bought out.
— Helene St. James (@HeleneStJames) July 2, 2013
he's expensive, and we have better young talent at the blue line. Tuze has two years left and is not too expensive. I expect Holland to save his second buy out until next year and see what Franzen looks like then. He's really the only other candiate that would free up long-term $$$. Samuelson is not cheap, but he's only under contract for another year.
Ryder has a nasty wrist shot, definitely take that.
He has a great shot and a way of being in the right place at the right time offensively, but defensively he is a major liability. Not only that but he was one of the Canadiens bigger forwards (their previous GM liked RR slot bug types for playing forward) and was absolutely terrible in terms of physical play.
I have never seen a guy his size shy away from contact as much as Michael Ryder does, and he's a Newfy. They typically play a hard nosed type of hockey up there, but not him. Trust me when I say Detroit doesn't want Ryder.
Horton wants 6 mil a year and rumor is that he wants to play in a warm climate. I honestly think Weiss is the best move for the Wings right now. If they can get him in at under 4mil per year. They have a ton of offensive talent that will be ready to come up after this next season so there's no point in blowing a bunch of money right now. I think the Wings will try and sit tight this year and hope for the young guys to carry them in 2014-15.
Filps will be gone as soon as he talks to other teams tomorrow, which isn't that bad. Hopefully we can re-sign Brunner and pick up a 2nd line center.
Supposedly they are close with both Cleary (3mil) and Brunner (2.5mil). It's too bad that Filps is gone, but he never really seemed to harness his full potential in Detroit. I hope they pick up Weiss.
How in the world is Cleary worth $3 million? Same old Holland; the last impact move he made in the off season was when he signed Hossa 4-5 years ago. All he does is resign every aged vet that ever wore a winged wheel or other teams crappy players (Sammy, Tootoo, Carlo, White, Bert, etc.)
Holland has brought how many cups to Detroit? Bert and White have been solid signings. White was the 2nd best defenseman on this team before he got hurt, and they missed him dearly in the playoffs. Holland has been gearing this team towards a youth movement for a few years now. They have tons of young offensive talent down in the minors and abroad that will be hitting their stride in the next two years. The team he built last year made the playoffs despite giant gaps from injuries. And if you want to say that that was Babcock's doing, guess who hired Babcock? Trust me, I love the fact that we are so spoiled as a fanbase that when we don't win the cup in 5 years we are enraged with the best GM in hockey. While I agree that Cleary isn't worth $3 mil, that's just the rumored money. I wouldn't be surprised to see those two figures reversed with Brunner getting 3 and Cleary 2.5.
White was a healthy scratch basically the last month of the season and the playoffs.
He doesn't warrant this type of money anymore. Philly also gave him a full no movement clause. He has been declining for a few years. I'm a Leaf fan and there was talk of Toronto being interested, I am glad that they didn't get him. 5 years and a full no move clause is just plain stupid.
As a Leaf fan I am hoping they buy him out, he's a good player but Burke overpaid him at 5 mil a year, but would be a very good asset at 3.5 or so. As of now, there is no talk of them letting him go.
I'm glad Vinny signed with the Flyers. I would've hated that contract for my Habs. If he would have accepted two years with an option year I would have been ok with that. He'll be 39 making $5 million in his last year. He won't be worth anywhere near that then.
The part that I hate is that it seems that they were able to use the buy-out for Bryzgalov to free up enough space to be a competitor for free agents. The fact that the latest CBA gave irresponsible teams like the Flyers a do-over is so maddening when your a fan of one of the most cap responsible teamsin the league. They pursued Bryz and outbid him and should have to pay the price for making that decision, good or bad.
Instead, they get to do the buy-out and become competitors int he free agent market once more.
So frustrating!
Price per season is right, but that is too long to keep him around. Mule will still be a Wing then, and that would give us two big, pretty slow-footed scorers. I think that Mr. I's money could be put to better use. Too bad -- with his buyout money, he certainly has the freedom to play for a team he sees as a contender. I think we are closer to that than Flyers, but that is through Red Wing-colored glasses.
With the influex of young talent coming in, I think it's a good thing that we don't have an additional declining player taking up a roster spot and $5 million in cap space for the next five seasons.
We REALLY need to get rid of Howard right WingsNWolverines?
It was someone else that was being ridiculous during the playoffs more than once.
Ference is 34 years old, and is used to playing in a very passive forechecking system. Briere is always hurt. Sounds like a waste of money to me.
Why spend on Danny Briere when you can save your money and go after Andrew Cogliano next year? Another step forward in Boudreau's system and he will be a star just in time to hit the market.
I'm not a wings fan, but I can tell you if my Habs went after either of those two guys I'd be pissed. Briere will be lucky to ever play a full season again and Ference is both old, and simply not that good. Set your sights higher wings fans!
The Habs probably will go after Briere