Jiri Hudler Signs with Dynamo Moscow of the KHL

Without question the off-season has been a complete nightmare for the Detroit Red Wings who have lost a lot of scoring. Detroit who lost in heartbreaking fashion to the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Stanley Cup finals this past spring lost a key scorer in Marian Hossa who in his only season with the Red Wings produced 40 goals and 71 points. When Hossa bolted for the Chicago Blackhawks as a free agent on July 1 the Wings also lost a strong defensive forward who posted a +27 rating. Another former Red Wing who will be sorely missed this year will be veteran forward Mikael Samuelsson who also excels defensively as shown by his +27 rating in 2006 and a +21 rating in 2008. This 40- point scorer ended his four- year tenure with the Wings when on July 3 he signed on with the Vancouver Canucks. On Wednesday the Red Wings received another crushing blow to their offence when the much- improved Jiri Hudler signed with the Dynamo Moscow of the Kontinental Hockey League. This 25 year-old who was originally taken second round in the 2002 draft has seen his production improve year to year with the big club. In his rookie campaign Hudler scored 25 points followed by 42 the following year and a respectable 57 last-year. There have been conflicting reports based on the contract he signed with Dynamo on Wednesday. According to news out of the Czech Republic where Hudler is from, this 2008 Stanley Cup winner signed a two- year pact while news from Canada have announced that it is for one year worth 2 million dollars. Prior to this signing Hudler who made 1.15 million this past season filed for salary arbitration last Sunday and was in the mist of talking to the Red Wings about a new contract.