Detroit could be in a bit of a pickle come October. Their forward corps hasn't changed overly much, but their blueline will be a gigantic question mark without a stand-in for Lidstrom, and their PP will be drastically changed.chrosched wrote:Steve Yzerman is undoubtedly one of the most popular players in the history of the Detroit Red Wings. He's fast becoming their most unpopular rival general managers.
After outmaneuvering the Wings for free-agent defenseman Sami Salo earlier in the week, the Tampa Bay Lightning GM signed free-agent Matt Carle of the Philadelphia Flyers to a 6-year, $33-million deal, according to TSN's Darren Dreger and Steve Whyno of the Washington Times. The average cap hit is $5.5 million; Carle previous had a 4-year deal with an average hit of $3,437,500.
The Red Wings were expected to be in the hunt for Carle after losing out on Ryan Suter earlier in on July 1. Yzerman was concerned that there might be a bidding war for Carle, as teams that missed out on Ryan Suter (who signed with Minnesota) turned their attention to the 27-year puck-moving D-man.
Instead, it was the Lightning that won he services for a cap hit slightly higher than that of Dennis Wideman, for a player that isn't nearly the defensive concern. (Carle, by the way, should send Wideman a Christmas card. Or maybe $20.)
Edit: They did lose Hudler and his 25 goals/50 points up front.