I know that it's probably way too early to speculate or even worry about this but I couldn't help thinking this thought when I saw that Nicklas Lidstrom signed a one-year contract: that this is Lidstrom's one last hurrah and a final season of shutting down top opposing forwards.
Is this the truth for Lidstrom's future in Detroit? Not by any means but simply a speculation into a possible future scenario. But if it were the scenario, Lidstrom is miles away from selfish so I'm not looking at this in a "come see me play for one more year!" thing but rather as him offering the Detroit fanbase advanced notice that it could be his last year.
Now, let's make this clear. In no way has Lidstrom said whether or not next year will be his last so don't take this to be the case just yet. But when you think about it, it almost makes sense for it to be so. He's 40 years old, won six Norris Trophies, four Stanley Cups, and shut down just about any and every player that has crossed his path. What's left to play for? The love of the game--and he probably still has a ton of that left.
To me, Lidstrom seems like the type of player that honest to Pete knows when it's time to hang it up and when he is done playing (unlike Brett Favre). From some of the quotes I've seen, he also sounds like he's not finished accomplishing everything that he wants to. So whether or not this is or is not a "farewell tour", we probably won't know for a while. Either way, it will be a season that fans will watch to absorb every memory he makes on the ice.
Weigh in with your thoughts on this as I'm sure there are plenty on both sides of the fence for this one.