Cap Is 50.3M: Hello Ryan Smyth

Well, the cap has been set, and to the delight of Wings fans, it is 50.3M. I would expect some moves in the very near future by the Wings, since they have been planning on a 48M cap. I think this potentially paves the way for the Wings to sign Schneider. From what Holland has been saying it seems like their cap for him was 5M, but when you look at the Timonnen and Markov deals, his value looks like 6M. Now that they've got an extra couple million, they can think about going back and giving him market value instead of hoping for a hometown discount (which I don't think will happen).

Or, the Wings could think a little more seriously about Ryan Smyth. In any case, the opportunities are many, so here are four scenarios that could play out for the Wings. I assume Ansar Khan's numbers of 3M for Todd Bertuzzi, and 2.5M for Dominik Hasek, and I will assume 6M for both Schneider and Smyth, and 3M for Markov. (click the images for full size)

The Current Situation



















Here's what the Wings would look like if they went to camp today. As you can see, 13.12M to work with (also figure Jimmy Howard and Kyle Quincey won't be on the roster).

Wings Sign: Schneider, Markov, Bertuzzi; (Trade Lilja)

This is pretty exciting since it keeps essentially the entire team together. Lilja has to be traded to maintain the salary cushion, and even so it is only 1.3M in this scenario, whereas KH likes to have it at 2M. That being said, he said he might dip into it if it means getting everyone he wants. So, not a shabby roster. However...

Wings Sign Smyth, Markov; Keep Lilja; Lose Schneider, Bertuzzi



















Here you upgrade team defense by replacing Schneids with Lils. Then you hope Ryan Smyth and Igor Grigorenko can offset Schneider's loss. Looks pretty damn good. And there's a hefty 3.3M cushion for grabbing a puck-moving D-Man at the deadline. Hell, you could grab Chris Pronger at the deadline with that piggy bank. Not that I would. I would rather die in a fire. However, let's dream even bigger...

Sign Smyth, Bertuzzi, AND Markov, Lose Lilja, Schneider, and Hudler



















Damn! And still a decent 1.38M in pocket-money. Just humor me for a second. Take a look at these lines.

Bertuzzi-Datsyuk-Samuelsson
Smyth-Zetterberg-Holmstrom
Cleary-Draper-Maltby
Franzen-Filppula-Grigorenko

Holy shit. I think the thing that excites me the most is how good of a 4th line that is. I am literally salivating.