Wings offseason news...

[Tahoe]

Franzen is a FA, right?

I don't know much about the NHL stuff. Is there a FA signing period, time to declare FA, restricted FA, real FA, kind of a FA, etc???

So if anyone hears anything, I'd like to read it.

[DE]

Franzen's tied up for next year too. Next summer he's a FA. This year's most difficult signing will be Stuart I think.

[UxKa]

Yeah the core is locked up for next year, just a couple guys to take care of but nothing major.

[Tahoe]

Dom is gone, right? Cheli?

There has to be a couple guys come off the books that will give Holland some FA money?

[DE]

Here's a good list from the Free Press:

http://freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/artic...15/1048/sports

2009 Wings: Who's returning, who's a free agent

Deal or no deal

The final season of each Wing's contract (UFA is unrestricted free agent; RFA is restricted free agent):

FORWARDS

Daniel Cleary: 2012-13.

Pavel Datsyuk: 2013-14.

Aaron Downey: UFA.

Dallas Drake: UFA.

Kris Draper: 2010-11.

Valtteri Filppula: RFA.

Johan Franzen: 2008-09.

Tomas Holmstrom: 2009-10.

Tomas Kopecky: 2008-09.

Mark Hartigan: UFA.

Darren Helm: 2009-10.

Jiri Hudler: 2008-09.

Kirk Maltby: 2009-10.

Darren McCarty: UFA.

Mikael Samuelsson: 2008-09.

Henrik Zetterberg: 2008-09.


DEFENSE

Chris Chelios: UFA.

Niklas Kronwall: 2011-12.

Brett Lebda: 2009-10.

Nicklas Lidstrom: 2009-10.

Andreas Lilja: UFA.

Derek Meech: 2009-10.

Brian Rafalski: 2011-12.

Brad Stuart: UFA.


GOALIES

Dominik Hasek: UFA.

Chris Osgood: 2010-11.

[Wilfredo Ledezma]

I say resign Stuart for sure, they won't let Filppula get away, and Chelios is probably going to come back...


I don't mind losing anybody else, McCarty could probably come back...I don't care for Lilja personally...

[DE]

Stuart's going to be tough I think. I'm willing to sacrifice Cheli and Lilja for him not mention Hasek who I don't think would be coming back anyway. But with Stuart coming back we have 4 amazing blueliners and a decent 5th. Unless Cheli's willing to sign for peanuts which I hope he is.

The thing is we have so much tied up in our blueline, which is not a bad thing at all, but Stuart could really make us tie up even more. Again building with D is the right way to go. It just should also be taken into consideration that next summer we'll have some big signings to make.

But then again we have Holland, maybe the best GM in all of sports, so in Kenny we trust.

[Wilfredo Ledezma]

...if Stuart does happen to sign elsewhere, which is entirely possible, I would give his job to Ericsson and let him develop, he's a legit prospect, and he did decent when he played this year

take the savings on Stuart and get something else...

I wonder if a guy like Mats Sundin, who has to be just dying for a Stanley Cup, would take a pay cut, one year deal to come here...

another guy you could look at to fill Stuarts void is Mattias Norstrom, whos a Swede...

[Tahoe]

Was Stuart here the entire year? Or did we get him mid-season?

[Wilfredo Ledezma]

trade deadline we got him from the Kings, he only played 9 games in the regular season for us before getting hurt, but he played the entire postseason...

if he's your 4th best defender, than your a damn stacked team...