Has “The Villain” seen his last action in a Wings sweater?
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Take one last good look, because after tomorrow’s matchup against the Los Angeles Kings, the Red Wings roster is going to start looking quite a bit different. With Johan Franzen primed for a return to the lineup on Tuesday in St. Louis, the Wings are going to have to part ways with at least one member of the current roster in order to free up about $700,000 in cap space to accommodate the Mule’s return. Speculation has been rampant throughout the Wings blogosphere over the past week about who’s on their way out of Motown, and it may not just be one or two players. With Andreas Lilja working on regaining his form over in Grand Rapids, it’s all but certain he will find his way back onto the roster before the season is out. Add his salary back into the equation, and you’re looking at somewhere in the neighborhood of $1.8 – $1.9 million in cap space that needs to be cleared.
By now, we are all intimately familiar with who is on the chopping block, but for those who may have been living under a rock for the last month, let me run through the names one more time:
The Usual Suspects
- Ville Leino
- Brad May
- Brett Lebda
- Derek Meech
Outside Chance
- Kirk Maltby
- Jason Williams
If They Go, I Go Too
- Patrick Eaves
- Drew Miller
Let’s start from the bottom up. Eaves and Miller have all but locked up extensions with the organization, and if either one moves, I’ll commit karakiri. Which brings us to Maltby and Williams. Maltby has been with the organization for far too long for them to ship him off, plus his contract is up at the end of the year, so he’s safe. Williams, on the other hand, is an interesting choice. I’ve mad no attempt to hide the fact that I think he should be offered up as trade bait since he provides the most opportunity to secure something in return, but for a team that is struggling to score points, I don’t think Babcock or Holland will be willing to part ways with one of their power play unit anchors. Despite the attractiveness of shedding his $1.5 million salary, Holland has already said he doesn’t want to carry eight defensemen for the rest of the season, which effectively rules this one out since they could dump Williams and May and have enough room to fit Franzen and Lilja back, but would still be left with a snowman of defenders.
Which leaves us with Leino, May, Lebda and Meech. Three of the four are on their way out and here’s how I think it will go down:
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Tags: Andreas Lilja, Brad May, Brett Lebda, Derek Meech, Drew Miller, Jason Williams, Johan Franzen, Kirk Maltby, Niklas Kronwall, Patrick Eaves, Ville Leino
