Detroit Red Wings in the Free Agent Market: Who's Coming, Who's Going?

(Photo by: Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

The Stanley Cup loss is still fresh in Red Wings fans minds, but the painful memories must quickly be pushed aside as the free agent extravaganza is fast approaching.

The Red Wings are undoubtedly going to lose several familiar faces to this annual phenomena.

But, the real question is who stays and who will join the ranks left vacant by fellow UFAs?

First things first, the Red Wings have several free agents on their roster, they are: D Chris Chelios, G Ty Conklin, RW Marian Hossa, LW Jiri Hudler, LW Tomas Kopecky, LW Ville Leino, and RW Mikael Samuelsson.

To a Red Wings fan, the large number of high quality players in limbo may be shocking.

Red Wings Nation already knows that it will be without Chris Chelios next season.  Chelios gave the team many great years and contributed to two Stanley Cup Championships.

However, his effectiveness had decreased to the point that he was no longer worth the money.

The money freed up by the departure of Chelios could help the team to sign one of the many other UFAs on the roster.

Perhaps the biggest name on the list is that of Marian Hossa.  One year ago at this time, he signed a one year deal with the Red Wings, turning down multi-year deals from multiple teams in an attempt to win the Stanley Cup.

Negotiations between Red Wings General Manager Ken Holland and Hossa have been progressing.  The last update from the negotiating table was that the two sides were about $2 million apart from each other.

But, according to ESPN, Holland commented that he was not optimistic about the team bringing Hossa back to the club.

Having turned down large offers last season, it seems Hossa will take that route this season. Detroit is not financially liquid enough to offer a large long term deal to Hossa, so look for him to be elsewhere next season.

Detroit may, however, attempt to trade Hossa's rights to another team to try to get something out of his contract before he leaves for good.

Tomas Kopecky may not be well known to those outside of Detroit, but he has been invaluable to the club over the life of his contract. But, it looks as though he too will not be with the team next season.

Kopecky shares the same agent as Hossa, and it appears he wants to take both of his clients to the open market. Agent Rich Winter has told Holland that Kopecky hopes to do much better on the market than what the Wings were offering.

Things look much better in the Samuelsson camp, though.  Holland did not comment extensively on the forward, but said that he will speak to him and his agents on Monday and hopes to get something done before Samuelsson hits the market.

Ville Leino has been called up several times to the parent club, and each time he has excelled.

If the Red Wings are expecting to lose the salaries of Chelios, Hossa, and Kopecky, offering a deal to Leino seems like the smart thing to do.

Jiri Hudler is a restricted free agent, which means he will more than likely remain with the team through at least next season. Hudler has emerged as a good second or third line forward and is a key piece to the puzzle that is the Red Wings.

With all of the chaos that surrounds the free agent period, it is good to know who your players are before you jump into the fray. The Red Wings will look to address their defense and try to replace some of the holes sure to be left in their forwards come Wednesday.

The name that seemed to be on everyone's lips as a target for the Wings was D Jay Bouwmeester, but, after Florida dealt his rights to Calgary, it looks all but impossible for the Red Wings to add him to their defensive corps.

So, the search for a defenseman continues.  Notable UFA defensemen are Mattias Ohlund, Mike Komisarek, Francois Beauchemin, and Marc-Andre Bergeron.

Ohlund is a solid defenseman.  Although he may not be a first line defenseman, he is still a great addition to any team. At 32, he is still young and able to keep up with the youth in the NHL.

He has spent 11 seasons with the Vancouver Canucks, but is very likely to call a new place home next season.

Mike Komisarek was injured throughout the last season.  This may make some teams shy away from him, but his physical presence and heavy shot make him an interesting option for a team willing to overlook his injury filled 08-09 season.

Francois Beauchemin was also injured during the last season.  He seriously injured his knee, but returned midseason.

But, despite that, he continued to play a highly physical game while keeping up his scoring and defensive points. With the departure of Chris Pronger from Anaheim, the Ducks will try very hard to keep him to play with Niedermayer for another season.

Marc-Andre Bergeron is a smaller defenseman.  His size may deter teams who prefer to play a more physical game on defense.

But, for the Red Wings, size really doesn't matter as they are consistently one of the smaller teams. Bergeron also has an incredibly heavy shot, which plays well into the Red Wings' defensive scheme.

With many of the Red Wings forwards about to leave for free agency, it is key for the club to replace them with high caliber players from the market.

The names that stand out are: Marian Gaborik, Mike Cammalleri, and Mike Comrie.

Marian Gaborik is a bit of an enigma.  He is is one of the most talented players in the league, when he's healthy.

But, that's the problem.

He has always had more than his fair share of health problems. Gaborik may also want to stay with Wind under the new administration that may prove to be more forward friendly, but (more than likely) he will hit the free market.

He will undoubtedly make whichever team signs him much better, as long as they give him plenty of sabbatical time to recover from his injuries.

Mike Cammalleri is only 27 and is coming off of a career high 39 goal season. Last season, Camalleri went 39-43-82.

But, with the Calgary Flames being a bit light in the pockets, it seems that Cammalleri will try his luck on the open market. He is sure to command a high salary with whichever team he chooses.

With the Wings facing financial troubles of their own, I don't see this being an option.

Mike Comrie is a very skilled forward who fell on hard times last season, scoring just 10 times. But, he has been a 20 goal scorer five times and is only 28.  Again, he struggled with injuries last season, but, if a team can overlook that, he could turn out to be quite a steal.

And, it seems that every conversation about improving the Red Wings comes back to goaltending. Chris Osgood is one of the best playoff goalies in NHL history—look at his stats.

But, it seems like the Red Wings need another quality backup for him.

Conklin filled the backup role admirably, but he doesn't get the credit he deserves. Through the last two seasons, he is 43-19-7 with a 2.51 GAA. Conklin had some down times last season, but so did Osgood.

With the quality of the free agent goaltenders this year, it looks as if Conklin is the best option.

The only other name on the goaltender free agent list that may draw consideration is Manny Fernandez.  Now that Tim Thomas is dug in as the starter in Boston, Fernandez looks to leave for another gig where he could fight for the starters role.

The Red Wings may want to stick with Osgood and Conklin and just bide their time until Jimmy Howard is ready with a free agent class like this.

Whatever happens Wednesday, the Red Wings have some of the best hockey minds in the world at the helm, and the team will surely look different compared to last year.

But, it may just be for the better.

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