Franzen's Jackpot

So Johan Franzen gets his $43.5 million and the Red Wings get the cap number they want, $3.95 million for the next 11 years.

Starts at $5 million per year, ends at $2 million, $1 million and $1 million for the last three years. If The Mule can't play by then, he'll be making his money in Grand Rapids.

But the real question the Franzen deal produces is this: can the Wings now still sign Marian Hossa and keep their core of star forwards together?

The answer is it's up to Hossa.

Basically, the Wings can now give him a contract that produces a cap number between $5 million and $5.5 million.

If he's looking to average the $7.45 million he's making over a long term deal - and his production probably warrants it - it won't be in Detroit.

But if, like Zetterberg, Franzen and other Wings, he's willing to take less to be part of the Detroit organization, it can still happen. And Hossa made the choice last year to take a short-term look at being a Red Wing, spurning big money and long term offers from other clubs.

Right now, the Wings have Zetterberg, Franzen and Pavel Datsyuk all under contract through the end of the 2012-13 season, with Zetterberg (12-year-deal) and Franzen tied up for years after that.

Basically, the Wings' philosophy is to use the unregulated area in the current CBA - the absence of term limits or rules on salary increases or decreases within a single contract - to give these players the money they want and give themselves the cap flexibility they need.

Guesses in the industry are that the next CBA will put in new rules, perhaps one that says you can't pay a player more than 25 per cent less in salary than you did the year before.

Right now, the Wings are betting on the quality of players they know extremely well and the ability of the Detroit organization to keep players productive into their late 30s to keep a talented roster intact.

Comments

[ray b]

Looks like Detroit is losing its sense of reality..Signing all these players to such long term deals is silly..Zetterberg's numbers are already down this season by 13 goals and 19 points..An 11 year contract for a 50-60 point player isn't a good idea either..He will be 40 when this contract ends..Is a year and a half of good play enough to give a guy an 11 yr contract?

They have locked in too many players for too many years..Sooner or later the Red Wings will pay dearly for all these signings..Isn't it a possibility that they will eventually experience a "down year" what then?..They don't even have a decent goalie lined up for next season..

What happens if the cap falls significantly in the next few years..What if some of these guys get injured?..All these guys will get older at some point and lose a step..Dumb move signing all these Swedes to long term deals..Most Swedish players don't have the guts to last 11 years in the NHL..

[Cherry picker]

"Dumb move signing all these Swedes to long term deals..Most Swedish players don't have the guts to last 11 years in the NHL.."

Thanks Ray. We can make a pretty good guess what you are watching on Saturday night.

[gargalen]

This is hockey, not baseball or even basketball. With all the advances in sports medicine I think teams are becoming overly confident in their abilities to keep players healthy. Hockey is a rough, and sometime violent, sport. There is high probability that atleast one of these contracts comes back to haunt the Red Wings.

[Tabber]

Ah, racism rearing it's ugly head again. ray b seems to have been listening to Grapes and his xenophobia for too long, not realizing that his other points are more valid (no-touch icing, stop signs, etc.). Now tell us you've got lots of Swedish friends, blah blah blah. Have you ever heard of Borje Salming? Nik Lidstrom? Congrats, ray, by your own standards you are one of a bunch of rays who are racist or xenophobic, and by your standards I will always think of ray as being a name of racists - after all, "most" of you are, right?

[Robert Carl Parisien Natick MA]

I can see how this strategy could go swing both ways. If some of these players remain consistent and productive they'll be in decent shape, if not then it could easily blow up in the faces. And of course there's always injuries. A lot of unknowns and a bit of a gamble.