| 01 September 2010
So one of your off-season suggestions was to look at the Red Wings roster three or four years down the road. Well, with the way the contracts work, it was a lot easier (though still a challenge to try and predict what it was going to be like even after three years. So here's my assessment:
2012-2013 Roster
Signed:
Pavel Datsyuk 34 years old - $6.7 (UFA after 2013-2014 season)
Henrik Zetterberg 32 years old - $6.08 (basically signed for eternity)
Johan Franzen 33 years old - $3.96 (see Zetterberg contract length)
Valtteri Filppula 29 years old - $3.0 (UFA end of the season)
Dan Cleary 33 years old - $2.8 (UFA end of the season)
Matias Ritola 26 years old - $0.517 (RFA end of the season)
Jakub Kindl 26 years old - $0.883 (RFA end of the season)
Prospects Under Contract:
Joakim Andersson 24 years old - $0.875 (RFA end of season)
Brendan Smith 24 years old - $0.875 (RFA end of season)
Mitchell Callahan 22 years old - $0.558 (RFA end of season)
Likely Returning:
Brian Rafalski 39 years old - $6.0 UFA after 2011-2012 season
Brad Stuart 33 years old - $3.75 UFA after 2011-2012 season
Niklas Kronwall 32 years old - $3.0 UFA after 2011-2012 season
Jiri Hudler 29 years old - $2.855 UFA after 2010-2011 season
Darren Helm 26 years old - $0.913 UFA after 2011-2012 season
Jonathan Ericsson 29 years old - $0.900 UFA 2011-2012 season
Patrick Eaves 29 years old - $0.750 UFA after 2010-2011 season
Jimmy Howard 29 years old - $0.717 UFA after 2011-2012 season
Justin Abdelkader 26 years old - $0.788 UFA after 2011-2012 season
Drew Miller 29 years old - $0.650 UFA after 2010-2011 season
Prospects Likely Returning:
Thomas McCollum 23 years old - $0.875 RFA after 2011-2012 season
Cory Emmerton 25 years old - $0.822 RFA after 2010-2011 season
Tomas Tatar 22 years old - $0.690 RFA after 2011-2012 season
Jan Mursak 25 years old - $0.646 RFA after 2010-2011 season
Travis Erhardt 24 years old - $0.533 RFA after 2011-2012 season
Willie Coetzee 22 years old - $0.527 RFA after 2011-2012 season
Brian Lashoff 23 years old - $0.513 RFA after 2010-2011 season
Retirees:
Nicklas Lidstrom 43 years old - $6.2 UFA after 2010-2011 season
Todd Bertuzzi 38 years old - $1.938 UFA after 2011-2012 season
Tomas Holmstrom 40 years old - $1.875 UFA after 2011-2012 season
Mike Modano 43 years old - $1.750 UFA after 2010-2011 season
Kris Draper 42 years old - $1.583 UFA after 2010-2011 season
Chris Osgood 40 years old - $1.417 UFA after 2011-2012 season
Ruslan Salei 41 years old - $1.1 UFA after 2010-2011 season
Obviously, this doesn't include trades, free agents, etc. So just using these projections (which are my own, remember). Here is what I came up with:
2013 Roster Could Be:
Forwards:
Zetterberg($6.08)-Datsyuk($6.7)-Franzen($3.96)
Cleary($2.8)-Filppula($3.0)-Hudler(???)
Eaves(???)-Abdelkader(???)-Helm(???)
Ritola($0.517 )-Tatar(???)-Miller(???)
Defense:
Rafalski(???)-Smith($0.875)
Stuart(???)-Kronwall(???)
Ericsson(???)-Kindl($0.883)
Goalies:
Howard(???)
McCollum(???)
Reserves/Minors:
Andersson($0.875)
Callahan($0.558)
Emmerton(???)
Mursak(???)
Coetzee(???)
Lashoff(???)
That's only $26.248 million (including Andersson and Callahan) committed to the 2012-2013 roster. Depending on where the Salary Cap is, we'll have say- roughly $40 million to sign:
- Hudler
- Eaves
- Abdelkader
- Helm
- Tatar
- Miller
- Rafalski
- Stuart
- Kronwall
- Ericsson
- Howard
- McCollum
So depending on what all of those guys are looking for in contracts (Rafalski would be probably seeking less, while all others will be seeking more)...it's not out of the realm of possibility that we could get them all - so long as anyone doesn't get too greedy.
But of course, some players probably will. And they'll be other draft picks like Riley Sheahan, Landon Ferrraro, and ones we haven't even selected yet that may be coming into the equation.
This was tough. But it's the best that I could with the tools that I have.
What do you think?
