2010/11 Roster... Set??

With the recent additions of two veterans, Mike Modano and Ruslan Salei to the team, the roster appears to be almost set -- with Justin Abdelkader's imminent signing the only paperwork yet to be completed by Ken Holland. So this is the current cap picture:

**In order of cap hit**
Forwards:
(14) Datsyuk, Zetterberg, Franzen, Filppula, Hudler, Cleary, Bertuzzi, Holmstrom, Modano, Draper, Helm, Eaves, Miller, Ritola -- $35.387m

Defense:
(8) Lidstrom, Rafalski, Stuart, Kronwall, Salei, Ericsson, Kindl, Meech -- $22.333m

Goaltending:
(2) Osgood, Howard -- $2.133m

When taking off the $850k of bonuses included in these totals, Detroit has just over $345k to sign Justin Abdelkader.

This shouldn't be a concern to Abby because Ken Holland has already stated that the team will enter the 2010/11 season with a roster of 14 forwards, 7 defensemen and 2 goalies. This means two have gotta go, so who will they be?

Out of 15 forwards, the bottom 4 seem to be Miller, Draper, Abdelkader and Ritola. With the coveted talent of young Abdelkader and the no-trade status of Draper, one of Miller or Ritola will probably be the odd man out.

For me, it's just way too difficult to guess who might have the better trade value or who we might suffer least from letting walk. With Miller, we know what we have and that he can play in the NHL. Ritola on the other hand, has great potential but is still yet to prove he can perform at the highest level. Detroit has had to let these types go in recent times and much to the chagrin of the Detroit-faithful, the results weren't in the Wings favor.

A few seasons ago Ken Holland made the tough decision to waive the talented but largely disappointing Kyle Quincey, only to watch him excel in L.A. and Colorado. Then just last season, the even more talented and disappointing Ville Leino needed to be shipped to Philadelphia, for Ole-Kristian Tollefsen -- who may never actually play an NHL game in the Winged Wheel. The Flyers then proceeded to make the Stanley Cup Finals with help from Leino's 21 points in 19 games.

With these two unfortunate transactions fresh in the mind of Kenny Holland, I would say Drew Miller would be slightly more likely to be the one to leave Motown... as tough as it is to say.

To me, defense is a little simpler -- so long, Derek Meech.

So with all that mind, if Meech and Miller are to go, with Abdelkader signing for $900k (his actually cap hit will definitely be in that vicinity) the Wings sit at about $600k under the cap and ready for the 2011.

Holmstrom Signs Two-Year Extension; Becomes Wing for Life

Tomas Holmstrom will remain in Detroit for the rest of his career, much to the joy of Red Wings' fans and the dismay of opposing goalies.

Last season Holmstrom scored 25 goals and 45 points in 68 games, but those numbers don't include all the screen-shots he doesn't tip or get an assist on. "Homer" has had his butt in the faces of NHL goaltenders for 13 seasons, getting cross-checks and stinky gloves in the face as a result. However, doing it all wearing the Winged Wheel means he also got repaid with 4 Stanley Cups along the way.

Holmstrom's cap-hit will drop from $2.25m last season to $1.875m for the next two seasons, a great deal for 25 goals, no doubt.

Per Ansar Khan of mlive: "I'm very excited about it; I know Tomas is, too,'' Howard Gourwitz, Holmstrom's agent, told Booth Newspapers. "It's a real honor to play for one team your entire career. To have won four Stanley Cups is a dream come true. He's really excited and he's proud to stay here.''

This signing gives us a clearer picture of how the Red Wings' roster will shape up. With 17 players signed at approximately $52.25m. The salary cap is expected to be around $58m to $58.8m, leaving Ken Holland with plenty of space to make all the anticipated re-signings. Two UFA's -- Todd Bertuzzi ($1.5m last season) and Andreas Lilja ($1.2m), five RFA's -- Darren Helm ($.6m), Justin Abdelkader ($.8m), Drew Miller ($.5m), Patrick Eaves ($.5m) and Derek Meech ($.5m) are all expected to receive offers to stay in Detroit.