Hudler signs with Dynamo Moscow
by Christy on Jul 9, 2009 8:11 PM CDT
4 comments
Detroit Red Wings forward Jiri Hudler signed with Dynamo Moscow in the KHL yesterday, but we didn't really find out that it was for sure official until this morning.
Hudler's agent, Petr Svoboda, confirmed to Red Wings general manager Ken Holland on Wednesday night that the 25-year-old forward has signed a two-year deal with Moscow Dynamo and plans to play in the Kontinental Hockey League. He will earn $5 million a season, tax-free.
"I'm going forward, planning that he's not going to be in a Red Wings uniform," Holland said.
So what does this mean for the Wings?
- The Red Wings and Hudler's agent will still head to arbitration, which could start as early as July 20.
- As a result, Detroit will hold the rights to Hudler should he decide to return to the NHL after his two-year stint in the KHL.
- Hudler has to abide by the contract determined at arbitration. So if the arbitrator awards a two-year, $2.5 million salary, Hudler would have to stick to that when he comes back even if he would be valued more.
- What's good about this? Signing Hudler was going to put us over the cap. By taking a year or two in Russia, we'll have time to clear up some cap space and be able to truly afford Hudler should he return. Next summer, we have quite a few players who will become unrestricted free agents (Lidstrom, Lilja, Lebda, Holmstrom, and Maltby) plus restricted free agents (Helm, Meech, and Abdelkader). Our lineup and salary cap situation could look very different in a year or two and perhaps Hudler will return next season or the year after when that's all figured out.
- What's bad? While Hudler will certainly take on more responsibility and minutes with his new team, I don't know how much his game is going to truly improve. Please correct me in the comments if you disagree.
- In addition, I have no idea how the Wings are going to overcome the loss of 88 goals scored last season with $1.5-2 million left under the cap (that number has been disputed).
- My only consolation about this whole crappy summer thanks to the salary cap is the fact that as bad as this has been, Chicago is going to have it so much worse next year. Thanks to their qualifying offer mishap, I believe they paid guys more than they would have otherwise and it's going to make things real interesting next summer.
FYI- ESPN.com reports that GM Ken Holland made Hudler an offer on Monday. Apparently, he gave his agent a number and then said that Detroit could do it in a three-year term or anywhere up to a five-year deal. But if Hudler ever decides to come back, he's going to have to play under the contract decided on in arbitration.
"And he's going to have a contract that he's going to have to honor when he comes back," Holland said. "If he ever does come back."
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I go camping for a day...
and come back to Hudler being gone. Bah!
Yeah, I honestly have no idea how the Wings can make up that gap in goals scored. There has to be some big production out of some guys or just some great defensive play all around. Hossa gone? Yeah that hurts. Hudler gone too? Hurts even more because of how he was developed from the farm system to a great forward in the system. Hopefully, he’ll come back to the Wings in two years but I’m not putting my eggs in that basket until he signs on the dotted line.
In the end, I think Hudler being gone is just as bad of a loss as Hossa. Yeah, Hossa scored more goals but Hudler was a better “glue guy” for the team and could play great team hockey. We’ll see as time plays out how the changes work but this one is a tough one to overlook for me
Not too worried...
Sure, I like Hudler and he gave us some offensive depth. But I can’t count on my fingers how many games I watched where I was worried about his defensive liabilities. To me, Hudler was a liability for most of the postseason this year, as he put up virtually nothing offensively after that hit from Brown. And since his defense has always been worrisome, I was always comforted to see him leave the ice.
I like the guy, and he’s been a good development, but I simply don’t see his leaving as being some sort of critical blow. We have some room now to at least sign guys that really have some comparative value to Hudler and Sammy.
I think it is great. Time for some other teams to dominate the league. Also I am not too worried about the 88 goals…With Hossa and Hudler gone, expect better production from Z-berg and Filpulla. Also VL and Abdelkader should be able to produce close to 30 goals. So i think thats a 45-50 goals gained back. So somewhere 4th-5th seed in the west is what Detroit should be!!!
Hudler leaves a real gap on the second line wing and the PP, which will become an issue if Leino doesn’t step up early in the season and fill that. He might be a year or so behind Hudler in development because he hasn’t been playing at the NHL level, but I think Leino can do all Hudler did and more. Of course, if Holmstrom returns to his form from two seasons ago, Cleary takes that spot, and it’s all a non-issue while they’re healthy. I’m not holding my breath, though.
As for the 88 goal gap—don’t worry too much about it. That kind of number is always going to overstate things. You really think Cleary will repeat his 14 goal performance if he spends the season on the first line with Datsyuk and Zetterberg and gets a regular PP spot? They won’t lead the league in GF, but the Wings won’t be short offence.
To my eyes, the Wings just need a winger who can keep up with the third line and a spare-part type fourth-liner. They won’t have nearly the depth they had, but we knew this was coming.
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