From Khan(!)...

Andreas Lilja joined some of his former Detroit Red Wings teammates at their informal practice Friday at Joe Louis Arena.

The 35-year-old defenseman admitted he was frustrated that he hasn’t been able to land a contract and expressed regret about not accepting the Red Wings’ offer earlier in the summer.

It's been a rough stretch for the big D-man.  He had his head busted in by Shea Weber at the tail end of the 2008-2009 regular season, had to sit out the entire 2009 Stanley Cup Playoffs, most of the 2009-2010 season (including the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver) and now finds himself without a team to call his own at the beginning of September.  But he really only has himself to blame.

“The market right now is no good.  There’s a lot of players in my situation. Just have to try to stay positive and wait for the right thing to come up."--Andreas Lilja

The Red Wings offered Lilja $1 million to remain within the Detroit organ-i-zation.  Lilja would have resumed his role as "Johnny Ericsson's babysitter" on the third D paring.  But it would appear that Andreas left too much power in the hands of his agent, who didn't play nice with Ken - resulting in Holland to look somewhere else for that physical, stay at home defenseman.

“We talked for a bit (with Detroit), I don’t think anything really came out of it.  I was waiting too long myself, or I don’t really know what happened. And then they signed Salei and that window closed. That’s decisions you got to live with."

Yes, it would be easy to blame Lilja's agent for playing hardball - but really, if Lilja wanted to stay with Detroit badly enough, he would have signed as soon as Kenny offered him the deal.  He let his agent convince him to test the market and now he's paying the price.

Don't get me wrong, I don't wish the guy any specific harm - but it's kind of like that guy who constantly backs out of plans because the wife keeps putting the kaibash on him going out.  You can blame his wife all you want, but he could stop it from happening if he had the guts.

“Of course, I regret it (not signing with Detroit.  Now that we got here yesterday, got into my house -- we’ve been here five years, it feels like home. The kids like it here. I think I was looking for something else, I guess."

It's a sad ending in Detroit for Andreas Lilja.

From Dmitry Chesnokov's Twitter:

Slava Kozlov has not yet made a decision as to which KHL club he will sign with. But it appears he'll def play in the KHL.

Vyacheslav "Slava" Kozlov spent a decade in Detroit as a part of the famous "Russian Five" combo with Fedorov, Larionov, Fetisov, and Konstantinov before being shipped off to Buffalo in the blockbuster trade that brought insane Czech goalie Dominik Hasek to Detroit.

I remember really like Kozlov, but it was hard to be upset about trading him for Hasek, who was playing absolutely magnificent hockey for Buffalo.  Hasek would win two Cups with Detroit, one in 2002 as our starter. 

Kozlov only played in 38 games with the Sabres before signing with the Atlanta Thrashers before the 2002-2003 season.  He played in Atlanta for 7 complete seasons.  His NHL career ends at 38 years old and he will return to Mother Russia.

So long, Kozzy.  It was always fun to hear Bud Lynch butcher your first name.

Per my friends facebook page (yes we are breaking ground using Facebook, just even more proof that bloggers are hacks):

Joe B....k: So the Jay Z / Eminem concert was ridiculously amazing. Even more amazing were the VIP wrist bands that got us about 30 ft from the stage...even better than that was the fact that I was bumping shoulders and shaking hands with...Chelios, Holmstrom, Lidstrom, Abdelkader, Cleary and Ericsson who I now know also enjoy the occasional rap concert.

I feel like I would have expected everyone to be there other than the Perfect Human, who I figured had to be out lifting Olympic weights while swimming to save the manatees all while thinking of ways to eliminate world hunger.

From Khan(!) talking to Ken Holland about the down seasons from both Datsyuk and Zetterberg...

"We had lots of injuries, we had to tax them.  Other teams could really focus in on those guys. For long stretches, we didn't have any secondary scoring. When you have more weapons, it takes the pressure off. The other teams can't just focus on Pav and Z.  I think the extra month of training, the extra month off, is going to have our team's batteries recharged, but I also hope we have better luck with health.  And the addition of Modano and Hudler, and some of our young kids up front having another year of experience, it's all going to add up to the potential for more offense, and from different sources.''

It makes perfect sense that your best players would have an off-season production-wise when the depth of the team suffers a rash of injuries.  In a perfect world, you would want your starts to shine even brighter to compensate for the loss of the depth guys, but that's next to impossible when the opposition can spend more time concentrating on the few healthy producers that you have left.

Now that we're healthy again, and that we've added depth scoring, teams aren't going to be able to do that with Detroit again.  And if Barry Trotz or Todd McClellan wants to throw their #1 defensive unit out there against Hank-Pav-Homer (aka the Flying Circus), then Filppula, Bertuzzi, and Franzen will go out there against a weaker unit and should have success.

We're not going to be a one-trick pony this year - far from it.  Seeing as we have 20 goal scoring potential from EACH of our third liners this year, expect the scoring to be more spread around.  And with a more eclectic scoring threat, that should open things up for #13 and #40 as well.  So if the Euro Twins start clicking, look for them to put up big numbers this year.

"I think we'll be right there again, as we have been the last four to five years."--Henrik Zetterberg

I'd like to take this time to apologize for my little disappearing act yesterday.  I decided that since I was going to have my bowling league from 6-9:30 PM and hockey from 10-11:30 PM - that it would be a good idea to take a half day and try and knock out as many errands as I could since I'm leaving for up north straight from work today.

Anyway, I missed the Detroit Red Wings Roundtable being hosted by Snipe Snipe, Dangle Dangle.  Kris, as you may know, has her hands in a lot of different cookie jars these days (The Fourth Period, Chicks Who Give a Puck).  Here's the questions that she came up with:

1. Several of the Wings had less-than-stellar seasons last year. Whether they suffered from injuries, failed to meet expectations for offensive production, or took a step back during their first whole season at the NHL level, there are a number of guys who stand to have a rebound season this time around. Who do the Wings need to rebound the most? Who do you think is most likely to step back up to the level of play expected of him? Will that be enough of an impact to fuel the "in house improvement" that the Wings are looking for this season?
2. Who do you envision ending up on the Wings' third defensive pairing coming out of training camp? The top two pairings are pretty well established, but Jonathan Ericsson, Derek Meech, Jakub Kindl, Ruslan Salei, and Doug Janik are all slated to battle it out for the last couple of roster spots. Who do you think will end up getting regular playing time? What about Meech's fate? Is he destined to be cheap trade bait before the season starts? Will Ericsson turn things around and show the promise that he did during the '09 playoffs? Are we going to spend the whole season cringing whenever the third pairing hits the ice again?
3. What's your overall assessment of the Wings' summer so far? Would you consider them to be off-season winners or losers? Do you think they improved, held steady, or got worse (in general and/or in comparison to their competition) with the moves Ken Holland has made this summer?

Yes, I'm quite aware that she over-reached her 3 questions within the very first question...and I made sure to call her out on that.

Those who participated yesterday:

• Myself
• Hollis from The Production Line
• Malik from Snapshots
• Tyler from The Triple Deke
• Casey from Winging it in Motown
• Petrellas (also from The Production Line)
• Saler from On the Wings
• And of course, Kris from Snipe Snipe, Dangle Dangle

 Make sure you check out our answers.  Malik is working to get the novel he submitted in his first answer published through Ahadada Books.

From the Free Press:

"I think Kirk would be great depth.  You come to camp, we have some injuries, and maybe he can make the team. I don't know. He's coming off a shoulder surgery. He's healthy; he's ready to go. But we're deep. We're deep up front."--Ken Holland

Holland met with Kirk Maltby on Wednesday to discuss the two-way contract offer that Detroit had made #18.  No decision was made and Holland said that they are now going to simply wait until they here back from Kirk.

It has to be a tough decision for Maltby, and not one that he is going to take very lightly.  He's been with Detroit for 13+ seasons and -at 37 years of age - probably has more hockey left in him.  His point total last season (4G-2A-6Pts) was the lowest in his entire career - part of that due to his shoulder surgery at the tail end of the year.

Maltby opted to have his shoulder operated on, when he still could have played through it - just to help Detroit get some Cap relief last season.  He has been a blue collar, hard nosed player for Detroit for as long as he has been in town.  It's painful to have to go through this process - but it's a necessary one.  I'm sure it wasn't easy for Brad May to start accepting two-way deals during his twilight years (as an NHL player). 

Aside from Maltby earning the right to choose his own fate from here on out - he has also earned the right to take his time.  And since he's weighing his options on Detroit's two-way deal and will most likely start the seaosn in Grand Rapids, it is a choice that we can allow him to take his time with.

From the Free Press:

"Been many years since we had this long of a break.  I stayed here in Detroit for three weeks after the season and basically did nothing.  You had the whole summer to do your workouts and really get ready for the season. I think that's important to have, and we haven't had that chance the last few years."--Henrik Zetterberg

It was a summer to remember for #40.  Amidst the three weeks of relaxing in Detroit, and the time spent training and prepping for the upcoming season, Hank found the time to marry one of the hottest women on the planet.  By now, I'm sure everyone has seen the famous old school swimwear pics from the day before the wedding.

"The wedding turned out great. Had a blast for three days; perfect weather, and fun group was there."

But now, Hank is home - and by home, I mean Hockeytown:

"You spend nine or 10 months (here) the last eight years, so this is more home than Sweden. It's fun to go back and see friends and family. But when you've been there for a few months, you want to be here."

And hopefully now that he's back, he'll improve on that 23 goal season that he had last year.  Last season was Hank's lowest goal total since the 2003-2004 season and lowest point total since 2006-2007.  He has to be better, and he knows it.

"I want to play better," Zetterberg said. "I want to produce more and help the team more. I feel a big hunger and (am) eager to play hockey."

Way back in 2007-2008, Hank had 92 points and was building a reputation as one of the game's premiere forwards.  Two 70+ point seasons later, I feel like he is quickly falling out of that class with the main stream media - not that they're the end-all of who's "elite" - but I'm guessing that Hank is a little frustrated with his production as of late.

I am fully expecting (hoping) Hank has a rebound year.  Being re-united with Datsyuk and Holmstrom will hopefully lead to early success this season for both Detroit and Zetterberg.  After the 2007-2008 season, Zetterberg stated that he wanted to hit 50 goals in a season...no better time to do it than now.

From the Free Press:

General manager Ken Holland told the story of the time he walked into the dressing room and saw a carpenter. Chelios, then 40, was masterminding a unique construction project. He wanted to sit in the sauna on a stationary bike, so he had a window cut to allow him to watch television at the same time.

"Most 40-year-olds would have had a heart attack, and that would have been the end of them."--Ken Holland

Kris Draper tried to participate in Chelli's now famous regimen - it didn't take right away:

"He was in there for 20 minutes.  I think the first time I got in there, it was, like, 5 minutes, and I was just dying. My lungs were burning, and here he is going in 20 minutes."

Now guys like Dan Cleary and Jiri Hudler are using the same trainer that Chelli used to get ready for this season - like I said yesterday, that is absolutely awesome news.  Using the kind of preparation that allowed a man well into his 40's to compete at the NHL level will do absolutely wonders for younger guys' longevity.

From the Detroit News:

"I feel good.  I feel good about coming back for another year, and I feel refreshed for another long season."-- Nick Lidstrom

My insider buddy told me that Lidas was the very first person back around to start prepping for the upcoming season.  The 40 year Norris Trophy "dark horse" candidate for this year is feeling rested and re-freshed.  I'm sure the 30+ days of rest after last season's 2nd round play-off exit is a major factor.

Lidstrom, who was obviously feeling chatty, talked about the additions of Modano and Salei:

"I like the additions we have on our team.  A couple of veteran players, and I think it will add both on the defensive side, in Salei and in Modano up front. And I think they will both get a kick out of coming to the Red Wings, too."

What about your minutes, Nick?  Aren't you getting a little old to be playing so much each night?

"I think I set myself up to play a long season. My workout routines are set up for me to play a lot of minutes. But I think it helps if you play a little less and you can look forward to a little more of a spark late in the season. But last year, we had a lot of injuries. We knew that we were in a tough spot, and we needed points to make it into the playoffs. And it's one of the reasons I played more.  But if everything goes the way we hope it will, I'm probably going to play a little bit less, this season."

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: 

1. Hudler
2. Eaves
3. Abdelkader
4. Helm
5. Tatar
6. Miller
7. Rafalski
8. Stuart
9. Kronwall
10. Ericsson
11. Howard
12. 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?