Red Wings Odds and Ends

-According to the Free Press, the Red Wings are closing in on a 2 year deal for Vile Leino. No financial numbers were given but I would imagine it is between a $800,000 and $900,000 cap hit. Leino had 9 points in 13 regular season games and got some experience in the Stanley Cup finals. I imagine he will play on the 4th line early on withe the potential that he could play top 6 minutes if the need arises.

In that same article, Holland talks about the Mikael Samuelsson contract negotiations.

But general manager Ken Holland said Thursday he's "not optimistic" that he'll be able to keep unrestricted free agent Mikael Samuelsson, who is seeking a long-term deal averaging upwards of $2 million a year. The Wings want to keep Samuelsson closer to $1.5 million a year.

-Make no mistake about it, that is a low ball offer to Samuelsson. He ranked tied for 152nd in the league in scoring this past season. So, he is a #5/6 forward on most teams in the league (stats-wise) and that tends to correlate to a 2 million dollar salary, or one slightly above that (174 forwards earned 2 million dollars or more this year).

And, considering his decent two-way play, experience and size, that is not an overpayment. Not even close. In fact, $2 million is probably what he should get with a fair deal.

At the very worst, he would play on the 3rd and 4th lines for his 2-3 year deal, and he will probably be one of the best and most versatile 3rd and 4th line forwards in the game. There are worst ways to spend money as a GM.

Essentially, though, it seems as if they are more keen on the idea of keeping Hudler. Once Hossa walked, the Wings could keep one of Sammy or Hudler. Based on this article and this report from Babcock's Death Stare, we can conclude that they valued Hudler more so than Samuelsson.

"As some of you know I live in Novi, the town that nearly all of Detroit’s Swedes call home. I’ve got confirmation that Samuelsson’s house is sold."

-So, how are those contract negotiations going for Hudler? Again, from the same article:

"Restricted free agent Jiri Hudler plans on filing for arbitration before the weekend. At that point, 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 number, they can trade Hudler."

-While I do believe that the Wings management likes Hudler more so than Samuelsson, they are not crazy. Hudler is not worth over $3 million a year, and yet, he could command that. Among forwards, he finished tied for 73rd with 57 points this past regular season. His agent could argue that he is a legit top 6 forward and since he is only 25, he could make an argument that he is only going to get better. Having watched Hudler, though, he is not a high potential player. His poor skating and lack of size is a good bet to always hold him back as nothing more than a bottom-tier second line player who can really light the lamp on the power play. At even strength, though, his defensive deficiencies cannot be hid and that is why he does not get top 6 minutes on our team. It will be interesting to see where these contract negotiations go.