I Still Can’t Believe The Wings Signed Mikael Samuelsson…And Other Free Agency Ramblings
By Kevin N
(One of these is better than the other)
I try to be 100% objective when I write about the Wings and/or hockey in general. I know I am somewhat of a homer, but I still call players out who aren’t playing well and am willing to admit when I’m wrong about something…or I might be, it hasn’t happened yet. Kidding…or am I?
Going forward, this may not always be true. As you know by now, the Wings signed Mikael Samuelsson to a two year, six million dollar contract (I gave this a 9 on The Leino Scale). Apparently, you can make the NHL by always shooting the puck 40 feet wide on the rare occasion you didn’t go 20 feet offsides. I really should try doing these things in my D-league games. Hey Ken Holland, I’m not married to my job!
As you can tell, I might not be the biggest Sammy fan on the planet. As much as I dislike him, there’s a bigger issue at play here.
Between July 1st at 12:00pm and at the time of this writing (July 5th at 12:39pm), the Wings biggest move has been signing Mikael Samuelsson. Of the three signings, he has the largest cap hit and the highest total salary. I’m not making this up. Putting my natural born dislike of the Sammy aside, he’s still not a game changer for the Wings. When he plays well (hah!), he’s a second line winger who can put accidentally not shoot the puck wide and in to the net once in a while. His numbers the last three years have been mostly….meh. If this ends up being the “big acquisition” this summer, I do not like how this year is going to unfold.
So, what is going to happen from here? Well, if I actually did know, I would make lots of money on some kind of future telling circuit. But since I don’t have a clue, let’s play around with some scenarios and I’ll give my opinion.
Trading for Rick Nash – I think that Rick Nash and Mike Babcock have a serious bromance going on. Nash was one of the go-to forwards in the Olympics in 2010. However, look at what the Jackets wanted in return at the trade deadline. Based off that, here’s what they would want from the Wings:
- Top overall prospect – Smith or Nyquist (NOOOO!!!!!)
- Young skilled froward – Filppula
- Young top 4 defenseman – No current roster player, so let’s go with Nyquist (NOOOOO!!!!!) above and Smith here
- Second/Third line forward – Cleary 4 years ago/Abdelkader maybe
- First round draft pick
Nash for Smith, Nyquist (NOOOO!!!), Filppula, a first round pick, and Abdelkader. Also, because it’s within the same division, you might see Columbus ask for more established players, like Franzen, or some prospects, like Jurco, Mrazek, etc. I understand Nash is a really good player, but it’s not worth it. You’d have to give up too much on the current roster to get him, and then would have to make more trades of younger players/prospects to completely wipe out your prospect pool. In conclusion, please don’t trade for Rick Nash.
Trading for Keith Yandle – On the surface, this would be a good move since the Wings D is not at a very high level right now. However, I haven’t heard who the Coyotes would want in return. It wouldn’t be nearly as much as CBJ wants for Nash, but it’s not going to be just the mythical second round pick. I’m guessing it’d be something like Nyquist (NOOOOOO!!!!!) and Abdelkader and a high draft pick. We can give them Kindl too, what the hell. It could be higher than this, and probably is, but I just don’t want to believe it. Yandle is basically Kronwall in my opinion. Good offensively and solid on his own zone, but not quite a number one. His cap hit is $5.25M for four more seasons, which is currently not too bad. Probably a 2.5 on the Leino Scale. In conclusion, I would like this move, but can’t give too much.
Giving Alex Semin lots of money – We all know the positives and negatives about Semin. He’s really good but is also lazy. Basically, he’s Franzen but more skilled and way slothier (I’m making that a word). The ideal term for Semin is to get him on a short term deal. I believe he’s looking for a long-term deal, which is scary to give to anyone, let alone Semin. The good thing is that Pav could mentor him and make him realize the wonders of two-way play and actually trying all the time. However, Franzen hasn’t learned that from Hank, so it’s obviously a risk. I would the Wings are trying for a one or two year deal at $5 or $6 million a year. He still wouldn’t be on food stamps and could play with the best two way player in the league.
Those are the major moves being talked about right now. I don’t think Shane Doan will leave the Coyotes, so I won’t discuss that….yet. You know the drill – if you think I’m an idiot or have something else to add, yell at me on the twitter device – @KevinN37. Until next time….
SAVE US KENNY HOLLAND!!