2024-25 RFA UFA speculation/armchair GMing

[saska sault]

I can't believe Ullmark is 30. Damn! He should help improve OTT short term. Not a long term solution.

31 next month.

I hope Yzerman is slow playing the extensions for Raymond and Seider because he has some moves planned for the week.

Yzerman has always been a tease.

 

[Snuggs]

Ideally you upgrade elsewhere to balance it out. It’s not exactly Kane vs Berggren, although there’s a ton of overlap there based on play style.

With Berggren it’s about developing a player. Maybe he turns into a nothing journeyman, but if he does turn into a player he’s going to have a lot more value than Kane in 3-4 years, when it will matter more.

Also, even though I suspect Yzerman is not, I’m ok with some regression this coming season, as long as it means we are improving the long-term.

You let this forum get you... sad day.

Rebuild forever!

 

[Henkka]

I hope Yzerman is slow playing the extensions for Raymond and Seider because he has some moves planned for the week.

There's nothing cryptic on Yzerman's acts.

He can sign those RFAs later. Like before training camp.

It's draft and free agency next.

 

[OgeeOgelthorpe]

In fairness, he had good numbers on bad Buffalo teams.

In a lower scoring decade when he was younger.

 

[OgeeOgelthorpe]

bingo. I don't think Ullmark is going to panic in Ottawa considering what he put up with in Buffalo. His career sv% is .912 and two of his three years weren't crazy off that.

If anything, if he sees more shots in Ottawa, his save% might not get dinged at all.

The good years Ullmark had in Buffalo were 28, 20, 37 and 34 games. It’s not like those were starter numbers.

Also what was the average save percentage of goalies with 40 or more games those years? How about team save percentage? I’d bet it was a lot better than the average now.

 

[SantosHalper]

 

[saska sault]

Just curious. Who has Yzerman shipped out so far that we as a fan base regret? Mantha, Bertuzzi, Vrana? Hronek? I'll take ASP at this point and save the cap space. No one of importance fo me. Walman is the least talented of those and has a similar attitude to others who have been sent packing.
That's just my personal opinion, but he has been pretty good at judging when to get rid of guys.. maybe could have maximized value at a different time but no one really knows that for certain.

 

[Holden Caufield]

Seems like we really want cap space for some imminent UFA moves.

Leads me to believe we are going to use the buyout window this year on someone.

 

[jaster]

Just curious. Who has Yzerman shipped out so far that we as a fan base regret? Mantha, Bertuzzi, Vrana? Hronek? I'll take ASP at this point and save the cap space. No one of importance fo me. Walman is the least talented of those and has a similar attitude to others who have been sent packing.
That's just my personal opinion, but he has been pretty good at judging when to get rid of guys.. maybe could have maximized value at a different time but no one really knows that for certain.

This. No one Yzerman has sent packing has turned out to be anyone we miss, given the returns. No reason to think Walman will be any different.

Players Yzerman has traded, waived, bought out, terminated, or lost to expansion:

David Pope
Alec Regula
Jacob de la Rose
Villi Saarijarvi
Oliwer Kaski
Eric Comrie
Mike Green
Andreas Athanasiou
Ryan Kuffner
Justin Abdelkader
Dmytro Timashov
Patrick Nemeth
Brian Lashoff
Jon Merrill
Anthony Mantha
Dennis Cholowski
Jonathan Bernier
Frans Nielsen
Gemel Smith
Troy Stecher
Nick Leddy
Luke Witkowski
Vladislav Namestnikov
Givani Smith
Kyle Criscuolo
Filip Hronek
Tyler Bertuzzi
Jakub Vrana
Oskar Sundqvist
Steven Kampfer
Kailer Yamamoto
Filip Zadina
Dominik Kubalik
Donavan Sebrango
Gustav Lindstrom
Kim Kostin
Andrew Gibson
Jake Walman

The only guys on that list that turned out to be worth anything at the time of the trade also returned good value.

 

[chances14]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1805712475557707955

 

[Perfect Human]

Man, Sam Reinhart would be great but who knows if he would leave Florida.

 

[Henkka]

Just curious. Who has Yzerman shipped out so far that we as a fan base regret? Mantha, Bertuzzi, Vrana? Hronek? I'll take ASP at this point and save the cap space. No one of importance fo me. Walman is the least talented of those and has a similar attitude to others who have been sent packing.

That's just my personal opinion, but he has been pretty good at judging when to get rid of guys.. maybe could have maximized value at a different time but no one really knows that for certain.

Yeah, that's interesting.

Also this crowd yelling about bad contracts... yeah there's some, but it's like everybody has.

How about the good signings he has made? No one cares.

 

[GoBoltz56]

According to TSN, Helene St. James says the 33 million in cap space will NOT be used on UFA's.

WTF? Alot of extra mozarella for little caesar's I guess.

 

[JediOrderPizza]

Are Ghost and Kane considered ufas or just keeping your players Helene St. Jame lol.

I'm dreading a 4 year Ghost extension so much.

 

[better Red than Dead]

One thing being overlooked is how much cap space the Wings have next year as well, with all the contracts rolling off.

Are Ghost and Kane considered ufas or just keeping your players Helene St. Jame lol.

I'm dreading a 4 year Ghost extension so much.

I don’t think Kane signs if they just bring him and Ghost back. I’m sure part of his calculation is what the Wings are going to do to get them into the playoffs, and I’m sure Yzerman needs to sell both he and his agent his plan for getting them there next year.

 

[DoMakc]

According to TSN, Helene St. James says the 33 million in cap space will NOT be used on UFA's.

WTF? Alot of extra mozarella for little caesar's I guess.

Well technically you still have acouple of RFA who will eat up to 18-19 mil

 

[Roomba With a Bauer]

According to TSN, Helene St. James says the 33 million in cap space will NOT be used on UFA's.

WTF? Alot of extra mozarella for little caesar's I guess.

I have no idea what direction Yzerman and Ilitch are taking this team in.

 

[RedHawkDown]

Here's what I came up with. I dumped Holl and Fabbri, and the trade for Theodore was Maatta/Berggren/Wallinder/2025 1st. Raymond contract is a 3-year bridge, and Seider's is an 8 year deal. Don't really need Joshua or Stenlund, I was just signing random guys to fill the roster out. Can replace that with whatever 3rd/4th liner at 1-2M each instead.

I think this would be a pretty good roster. I think Lyon is a good enough starting goalie if the D is improved.

This roster also has 17M in cap space next year with only Theodore + 2 goalies to sign. I'd promote Cossa and re-sign Lyon if he does well this year to a 2.5-3.5M/year contract, or sign somebody next summer for 3-4M/year. Theodore I think gets something like 7-7.5M/year on a 6-7 year deal.

 

[redwings8831]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1806026097848631669

 

[DTR]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1806057169604784250

 

[Shaman464]

Just curious. Who has Yzerman shipped out so far that we as a fan base regret? Mantha, Bertuzzi, Vrana? Hronek? I'll take ASP at this point and save the cap space. No one of importance fo me. Walman is the least talented of those and has a similar attitude to others who have been sent packing.
That's just my personal opinion, but he has been pretty good at judging when to get rid of guys.. maybe could have maximized value at a different time but no one really knows that for certain.

I think Hronek is the only one I think was a bad move. You can take ASP but he’s 5-8 seasons away from being where Hronek is and that’s if he hits his ceiling. That puts Larkin at an ancient age of 33-36 years old. Really want to have your top tier young offensive d man peaking when Larkin is eyeing retirement?

 

[13to40]

There's nothing cryptic on Yzerman's acts.

He can sign those RFAs later. Like before training camp.

It's draft and free agency next.

I think I am more excited for the draft vs free agency.

Have a feeling we make a draft day trade for some odd reason….

 

[Snuggs]

I have no idea what direction Yzerman and Ilitch are taking this team in.

This is me right now. Feeling a little lost for a bit. I'm trying to be patient and wait for the offseason to playout, but I can't get a good read on what's going on here.

Last offseason we knew Wings were going to makes moves. This offseason I'm not sure either way. Clearing cap, for what, to sign our own guys? A bigger trade? A UFA splash that... imo isn't going to really push the team over the hump without some prospects taking major steps.

Idk what's going on, I hope the Draisaitl smoke around recently is truer than not.

 

[Lazlo Hollyfeld]

I think Hronek is the only one I think was a bad move. You can take ASP but he’s 5-8 seasons away from being where Hronek is and that’s if he hits his ceiling. That puts Larkin at an ancient age of 33-36 years old. Really want to have your top tier young offensive d man peaking when Larkin is eyeing retirement?

I think it was mostly due to contract timing on the Wings end and getting a good offer for him.

Hronek got an 8 year, 7.25 million contract from Vancouver. Yzerman will very likely be locking up Seider and Raymond to 8 year deals this season. I don't think he would've wanted to commit to Hronek for that long or hand out three 8 year deals and $23-ish million dollars in AAV all in one offseason.

 

[Shaman464]

I think it was mostly due to contract timing on the Wings end and getting a good offer for him.

Hronek got an 8 year, 7.25 million contract from Vancouver. Yzerman will very likely be locking up Seider and Raymond to 8 year deals this season. I don't think he would've wanted to commit to Hronek for that long or hand out three 8 year deals and $23-ish million dollars in AAV all in one offseason.

He gave Holl 3.5 million to sit in the presser. Add to that the 4.7 a year Chiarot got, you have more money tied up in less viable defensemen.