It's your move Hossa, Kopecky and Sammuelson

Pierre LeBrun got in touch with Ken Holland at the NHL draft and the info he provided is very interesting.

The Detroit Red Wings got a query or two this weekend from other teams looking to acquire the rights to pending unrestricted free-agent forward Marian Hossa.

"Yeah, I have been approached about acquiring his rights," Wings GM Ken Holland told ESPN.com on Saturday as the NHL draft wrapped up.

But for now, the answer is no as Holland keeps trying to re-sign the star winger.

"But obviously if it appears that we can't get anything done in the next 48 hours, then … you'd rather get something than nothing," Holland said. "So right now, I'm just in a holding pattern."

So, it is basically up to Hossa. In an earlier post, I explained the Wings cap situation. In short, its not pretty. Assuming Howard and Helm are on the roster, we have $3.3 million to spend and we still need to fill at least 3 forward spots. With Lilja's potential long-term injury placing him on LTIR, we might be able to have ad additional $1.2 million to spend. That would leave us at $4.5 million. Hossa has to decide if he wants to accept a lot less than market value to stay here at about $4 million per year. In order to do that, the contract probably has to be 10 years+. It is entirely up to Hossa, really. I doubt Holland is going to budge from his contract offer. We simply cannot b/c of our lack of cap space.

But, it is interesting that we might be able to trade his negotiating rights. If we can get a draft pick or prospect or two for Hossa, then that is all the better for the future of our organization. It certainly adds a unique twist to the contract negotiations.

When reached via e-mail Saturday, Winter declined to discuss the Hossa situation. Meanwhile, Winter also represents Wings forward Tomas Kopecky, also slated for UFA status come Wednesday.

"I talked to Rich Winter on Kopecky and it appears he's going to hit the open market," Holland said. "I made an offer, but he's hoping to do a lot better than what we offered."

-This is surprising. I had just assumed Kopecky would be back at $500,000 to $600,000 a year Not a big loss, and it does open up the possibility of us acquiring a veteran 4th line player.

Another pending UFA is veteran forward Mikael Samuelsson and there's still hope on that front.

"I talked to Samuelsson's agent a couple of days ago and we're going to talk again by Monday," Holland said. "We'd like to keep Sammy. But again, it's all about the cap."

Like Hossa and Kopecky, its up to Sammy. We are probably offering $2 million a year. He could get nearly $3 million a year on the open market. If Sammy does sign with us at that cost, it also opens up the possibility that we might be able to fit Hudler and Leino under the cap, as well.

It's your move Hossa, Kopecky and Sammuelson. Take it or leave it.

UPDATE: Khan updates us on the situation. Holland is "not optimistic." This is basically what we already knew. Except, Holland said he would not offer Conklin a contract and that Jimmy Howard will be the backup to Chris Osgood next season. He also has made qualifying offers to Leino and Hudler, but since they are restricted free agents there is less of a hurry to re-sign them. And, again, I am surprised about Kopecky testing the market. I had thought the odds were very good that he was going to return.