On the Detroit Red Wings …
Larry Lage AP in CBS Detroit: If Pavel Datsyuk retires from the NHL, the Wings may have to look at trading his $7.5 million cap hit. GM Ken Holland said that it would put them in a tough spot:
“But I’ll deal with it,” Holland said. “That’s my job.”
Holland doesn’t expect to talk to Datsyuk on Monday about his future when the Red Wings have their team picture planned. Holland also doesn’t expect to talk to ownership about it soon either.
“I don’t need to know what he’s going to do for a month,” Holland said. “With big decisions in life, sometimes people change their minds. Sometimes time changes your mind, and sometime it doesn’t.”
Frank Seravalli of TSN: The Red Wings will do their best to try and convince Pavel Datsyuk to not retire. If he does decide to retire, trading his cap hit may not be as bad as some think it will be.
Since it’s a 35 plus contract, the $7.5 million would still count against the salary cap. He’s owed $5.5 million next year, but if he doesn’t report to training camp, whichever team he’s with can suspended without pay. So basically it would only cost the acquiring team the salary cap space.
Datsyuk has said he’ll help out the Wings if he can, ie. waiving his no-movement.
The salary cap floor should come in around $55 million next season. The Hurricanes currently have $38.2 million committed for 13 players. The Devils have $39.5 for 12 players.
The Red Wings would need to include a high draft pick or prospect to sweeten the pot to get a team to take the extra cap hit.
Kevin Allen of USA Today: If the Red Wings are able to free up some salary cap space, they could be involved in the Steven Stamkos sweepstakes.
The Red Wings need to add some scoring, size and toughness upfront. Free agent targets could be Milan Lucic or Troy Brouwer.
The Red Wings also need to add a top-pairing defenseman, but the free agent market won’t bring that. The trade market might not give them one either. They need to add one or two veteran defenseman either by trade or free agency.
It won’t be easy to trade Jimmy Howard and his $5 million cap hit for three more seasons. The Flames are one team looking for help in net.
Pending UFAs Kyle Quincey and Darren Helm likely won’t be back next year. The Wings may like to have Helm back, but he’ll likely be able to get more on the open market.
If the Red Wings make some trades this offseason, Tomas Jurco and Teemu Pulkkinen could be included.