Red Wing For Life

It's official. Henrik Zetterberg has signed a 12 year, 72 Million dollar deal. Henrik has stated that he wanted to be a member of the Detroit Red Wings for his entire career. His wish has been granted.

The fine details are still being worked out in regards to the breakdown per year. Some contracts are Front loaded, meaning a higher salary per season up front, and less as the contract goes on or back loaded, where the bulk of the payment is made later in the 12 year term. These details were not discussed during the press conference, but Ken Holland did say "we've got a good cap number". I guess we'll see what that translates into shortly.

I can't comprehend a number low enough to have money left over to sign BOTH Franzen and Hossa before next season starts. The Red Wings management team has some hard decisions to make in the short term in order to retain the talent we currently have. According to my math, and making a few assumptions, here's where the Wings finances currently sit.

IF the cap remains around $53-$55 Million, and assuming Zetterberg's cap hit is $6 Million next season, Detroit would have between $6-8 Million remaining to sign Hossa, Franzen, and Hudler.

Not bad for a guy drafted 210th overall in the 7th round of the 1999 NHL entry draft. Detroit did well despite not having a selection for the first 4 rounds!

Here's a quick look at the 1999 Draft order... I took the top 5 players, and skimmed the list for some notables...

1 Patrik Stefan - Atlanta Thrashers
2 Daniel Sedin - Vancouver Canucks
3 Henrik Sedin - Vancouver Canucks
4 Pavel Brendl - New York Rangers
5 Tim Connolly - New York Islanders
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26. Martin Havlat - Chicago Blackhawks
40. Alex Auld - Florida Panthers
44. Jordan Leopold - Mighty Ducks of Anaheim
70. Niklas Hagman - Florida Panthers
91. Mike Comrie - Edmonton Oilers
115. Ryan Malone - Pittsburgh Penguins
138. Ryan Miller - Buffalo Sabres
182. Fedor Fedorov - Tampa Bay Lightning
191. Martin Erat - Nashville Predators


Anyone wondering why the Toronto Maple Leafs are fighting for last in the standings this season, can look to their less than stellar drafting as one reason why.
Here are Toronto's fine draft choices that year;

24 Luca Cereda
60. Peter Reynolds
108. Mirko Murovic
110. Jonathan Zion
151. Vaclav Zavoral
161. Jan Sochor
(Zetterberg was taken 210th)
211. Vladimir Kulkov

Has anyone heard of these guys before??