You're misunderstanding. He's talking about the handshake agreement that Holland made to Cleary when he signed a shorter deal for Detroit instead of Philadelphia. Holland couldn't fit Cleary under the cap that Philly was going to offer, so he got a 1 year, smaller deal. Then another. And another. These "handshake" deals kept being given to Cleary even though the staff had no intention of playing him in the NHL. It's been referenced by the Wings brass every single time they sign Dan Cleary. It's insane they keep talking about it.
That's cap circumvention. If it was an actually good player with actual cap savings, the NHL would have stepped in. But it's Dan Cleary on the Red Wings, who are only hurting themselves, so nobody spent any time worrying about it. The fact that the Wings don't even hide the fact they circumvented the salary cap is amusing. These kinds of wink wink nudge nudge deals may happen all the time, but they aren't so publicly on display and difficult to justify.
Yes, that's what I meant. Thanks for clearing that up, Benchman.
Not sure if this is where you guys do this kind of talk, but I was curious about what you guys think about Kyle Quincey. A couple guys on the Wild board want to sign him for 3.5-4.5/yr if we end up trading two defensemen this summer.
What do you guys think he should be paid? What kind of player is he? What are his strengths and his deficiencies?
He's nowhere near as bad as some on this board make out - he was bad in 2013 when he was paired with Brendan Smith, they were truly awful together. But since then he's been a solid 2nd pair defensive D-man. He plays with a bit of snarl, can eat minutes, just don't expect him to be making crisp tape to tape passes to exit the zone.
You need to bear in mind when reading the criticism of how much he sucks that some on this board have never forgiven Ken Holland for using a 1st to acquire a player he had previously given away on waivers (when he was an unpromising 8th defenceman).
I would say Quincey is an okay defender but he cant move the puck very well. I would much rather him over Ericsson but to me he's still a bottom pair defender and not worth the amount of money he will receive.
Solid #4 defender and should be paid accordingly.
Just reinforcing this opinion, I guess. Quince is a solid #4. When he was brought to the Wings, had all things remained the same, he actually would have been a great replacement for Brad Stuart, based on what he is now.
I would say he is definitely worth $4M and you'll like him at that price if you play him as your bona fide #4. He's fine in a pinch as a #2/3 for injuries, and he's a luxury at #4/5.
I actually think a lot of us would be bummed to see Quincey go somewhere else for $4M a year if we had a better top 3, but we don't. Detroit has so many guys playing above their paygrade it makes them all look worse, including Quincey. In a vacuum, though, I'm very interested in how Q's career goes from here. Wouldn't be surprised to see his next team very happy with what should be a modest signing.