Confirmed with Link: Wings Buy Out Final 3 Years of Weiss' Contract

[Run the Jewels]

I imagine a lot of these signings went like this.

Babcock: I need a big right handed winger.

Holland: Here's Samuelsson!

Babcock: I need someone to replace Filppula if we don't sign him

Holland: Here's Weiss!

Don't forget...

Babcock: I need someone to replace Rafalski
Holland: Here's Ian White!

 

[SpookyTsuki]

Don't forget...

Babcock: I need someone to replace Rafalski
Holland: Here's Ian White!

Hey, Ian white is a beast, He called Bettman stupid. 10 high fives

 

[Shaman464]

Don't forget...

Babcock: I need someone to replace Rafalski
Holland: Here's Ian White!

Babcock: I need some grit
Holland: Here's Tootoo!

 

[Henkka]

How much capspace do they have right now with the buy-out, slightly increased salary cap etc?

I estimated it would be ~6.5M if Nyquist signs for ~4.5M and other RFAs slightly under 1M each (Jurco, Pulks, Ferraro).

If we sign a UFA defenceman, one contract will go down and if it's Kindl it opens 925k of more space.

So I think we have ~7M to hunt for UFA and this includes healthy Franzen.

 

[Dotter]

Meh, well this frees up cap to re-sign the RFA i guess.

 

[Ricelund]

Here is the action tree, I guess:

If Holland doesn't sign a UFA he's passive.

If he does sign a UFA and the guy isn't great, he stinks.

If he does sign a UFA that stinks and doesn't get rid of him immediately he's dragging his feet.

If he gets rid of a guy after 2 years of a 5 year deal, he's getting rid of a guy without getting anything for him and should get ripped.

Looks like pretty much any eventuality but a UFA signing working out perfectly means Holland is a dork.

Tough crowd.

And your version of this?

Holland doesn't make any effective trades or signings at the NHL level in six years. In fact, the majority range from terrible to just lateral.

"Huh. Well, it is hard to make good signings or trades. Plus, the Ilitches probably instructed him not to."

 

[BF3]

Liked the signing at the time, didn't work out, now he's gone with low cap hit around $1 mil. Bummer, but fair enough - dude had some terrible injury luck.

 

[TheRatPoisoner]

Well done, sir.

We want to see what Larkin can do. Andreas Athanasiou had a good year, where is he at? We're going with our own younger people who have put a resume together at the AHL level, and are on the verge of trying to establish themselves in the NHL. At some point in time this year, we're hoping a lot of our young kids will be NHL players.

If true, they must be pretty high on Larkin and AA if they think they're capable cracking the roster. If there's no UFA signing and one of them makes the team, then I guess the move makes sense.

That being said, I really don't know what to expect given the unreliability of the Wing's beat writers. Holland just blows smoke up their ass constantly. Wouldn't be surprised if there is a UFA signing tomorrow.

 

[Frk It]

Well done, sir.

If true, they must be pretty high on Larkin and AA if they think they're capable cracking the roster. If there's no UFA signing and one of them makes the team, then I guess the move makes sense.

That being said, I really don't know what to expect given the unreliability of the Wing's beat writers. Holland just blows smoke up their ass constantly. Wouldn't be surprised if there is a UFA signing tomorrow.

I would be high on AA and Larkin too. They are studs. Speedsters with some size.

 

[BF3]

I have zero interest in Abdelkader at anything north of 3. He's not a top sixer long term.

Be prepared for some pain then, I'd say he's getting closer to 4 than 3 for 4.

Numbers.

 

[Run the Jewels]

If true, they must be pretty high on Larkin and AA if they think they're capable cracking the roster. If there's no UFA signing and one of them makes the team, then I guess the move makes sense.

That being said, I really don't know what to expect given the unreliability of the Wing's beat writers. Holland just blows smoke up their ass constantly. Wouldn't be surprised if there is a UFA signing tomorrow.

Here's hoping, but he said the exact same thing last year about our prospects on defense after he completely whiffed on signing a UFA d-man. I do like Larkin and I've been an Athanasiou fan since the day he was drafted so I hope they are given a legit shot. Hell, if Holland is serious about a youth movement and then makes some moves once he identifies a core to build around then I would be more than happy to give him full credit.

The problem is he always says **** like this then does whatever it takes to keep the playoff streak alive. And that almost always means the good young players take a back seat - or worse - so Holland can sign a guy well past his prime because this is a men's league.

 

[bullocks]

Yeah Abby prolly gets what beleskey would get as a FA so north of 4.

 

[sepster]

Do you have anything to support that? Other than this line that Khan has dropped in a few of his recent articles? I can't find anything to corroborate it and I find it rather curious that it's only now coming out. I can't find anything connecting Babcock to Weiss specifically and, while he had some nice things to say about Weiss after the signing was announced, Babcock already seemed to be hedging himself in the press before Weiss even played a game. Holland had been known to be interested in Weiss since the guy was in Plymouth...

All I can say is that I hear things directly from inside the organization. Take that for what you will. as far as Kahn is concerned, I brought up this point long before he did. Like I said, I think I brought up Weiss being Babcock's boy he pushed for right after they signed him.

 

[detredWINgs]

Why buy out Weiss's contract now if the purpose is to save money a year from now? You could just hold off on buying out Weiss, play out the season, and then buy him out a year from now for a lesser cap hit and just 4 years worth of impact instead of 2.

Either Holland is a ****ing moron or, as I've said before, the Wings are poo-pooing the free agency class to the media just to save face in case things don't pan out, but actually have eyes on a guy like Mike Green.

 

[Claypool]

Why buy out Weiss's contract now if the purpose is to save money a year from now?

It's to also play the kids that earned a chance to play for a roster spot. Read the articles.

 

[GoAwayDanCleary]

I'm not sure Holland has a plan.

 

[GoAwayDanCleary]

It's to also play the kids that earned a chance to play for a roster spot. Read the articles.

I'll believe it when I see it. We've seen this same episode before, then KFQ gets a 2-year raise.

 

[Run the Jewels]

And your version of this?

Holland doesn't make any effective trades or signings at the NHL level in six years. In fact, the majority range from terrible to just lateral.

"Huh. Well, it is hard to make good signings or trades. Plus, the Ilitches probably instructed him not to."

I personally loved the "Ilitch is instructing him to do nothing!!" take. Yes, the most hands off owner in professional sports who is furiously throwing his money down the toilet with the Tigers actually has time to micromanage the Wings. And the mise en scene with it taking place in the Olympia offices.

I'm laughing just thinking about it again. Hard.

 

[Run the Jewels]

All I can say is that I hear things directly from inside the organization. Take that for what you will. as far as Kahn is concerned, I brought up this point long before he did. Like I said, I think I brought up Weiss being Babcock's boy he pushed for right after they signed him.

That is not accurate. Babcock was very circumspect and said words to the effect of "if Stephen Weiss doesn't do what we ask from him, he's not going to be very happy". They were pointed comments that suggested Babcock did not think Weiss was going to cut it in Detroit.

 

[SoupNazi]

Why buy out Weiss's contract now if the purpose is to save money a year from now? You could just hold off on buying out Weiss, play out the season, and then buy him out a year from now for a lesser cap hit and just 4 years worth of impact instead of 2.

Either Holland is a ****ing moron or, as I've said before, the Wings are poo-pooing the free agency class to the media just to save face in case things don't pan out, but actually have eyes on a guy like Mike Green.

I agree. I half expect us to get a UFA tomorrow.

Either way, as a Weiss fan, I'm sorry to see him go, but it was time. I'd not be surprised to see him rebound somewhere else. This move came as a surprise to me, though.

 

[abbbaron]

All I can say is that I hear things directly from inside the organization. Take that for what you will. as far as Kahn is concerned, I brought up this point long before he did. Like I said, I think I brought up Weiss being Babcock's boy he pushed for right after they signed him.

And what about when the Wings were rumored to have earlier been interested in trading for Weiss (prior to that summer)? Was he really being targeted by Babcock alone for that long? That would be...remarkable...

 

[detredWINgs]

It's to also play the kids that earned a chance to play for a roster spot. Read the articles.

Great idea. Saddle yourself with a cap hit for 6 years that is more than what Joakim Andersson makes because Larkin might make the Wings roster.

And read the articles? Are you ****ing kidding me? The articles just stated hours ago that the Wings won't be buying out Weiss. **** the articles that come out of the local media. They're useless.

 

[YostisHome]

I'm not sure Holland has a plan.

He does....it's called the 8th seed plan.

 

[abbbaron]

And read the articles? Are you ****ing kidding me? The articles just stated hours ago that the Wings won't be buying out Weiss. **** the articles that come out of the local media. They're useless.

I almost wonder if that's not how management prefers to play their cards when they're trying to organize trades-- openly BS to the press. I remember how on the eve of last year's trade deadline Holland was talking up how he wasn't interested in rentals: "Will you trade a mid-round pick or (middling) prospects for rentals? Yeah, but those rentals, they’re not going to have a big impact on your team. We’ve got players as good as those guys or better.†and “If there’s a hockey trade we’ll look at it, but we’re not looking at top-end rentals for those two reasons: because of our place in the standings and because of the unknown about some of our top players,â€...maybe Legwand wasn't 'top-end'?

 

[Fugu]

if the money was needed you would wait till next summer when its perhaps more needed and the penalty for buying him out his less(years and cap dollars), plus quincey wont be back and that frees up money and kindl will be easier to move which frees up more money

no, hopefully this move is to free up cap space for a UFA or a trade

Also from that article: " Former coach Mike Babcock pushed hard for the move, expecting Weiss to fill the second-line center spot vacated by Valtteri Filppula, who later signed with the Tampa Bay Lighting."

Well, that's an interesting revelation if true. I don't recall seeing too much finger pointing when it came to things failing before. Once you leave the shield, the shield leaves you I guess.

Seeing Hamilton and Saad being traded likely to preempt impending offer sheets I wonder if there's Nyquist chatter and we need to free up the cap space just to keep him.

Also people complaining about signing Weiss? That's crazy. At the time he was a bigger center with #1 experience being paid less than Filppula to replace him. Some may have had doubts about how soon he'd come back, but no one thought he'd be this useless. At the time it was a good signing.

Or we're just freeing up space to sign Cleary.

He was a Babcock hire? And then got doghoused that fast?


Geeeeez.

The article says Babs pushed for Weiss, not "I need a center, find one."


Sooo... he gets him and the guy is in the doghouse almost from day one? Something here doesn't make sense. I don't think he ever got out of Babcock's doghouse, so I still feel like I don't really know Weiss.