NHL 2013 offseason

[Enforcer]

Huge day in FA, more moves than I can count. Great for players and fans, nerve-wracking for the teams.

I'll focus on my team's moves: Wings get Alfredsson for one year and Weiss for five years.

Huge day for the Red Wings. Like the old days.

[Harold Baines]

Basically flipping Flippula for Weiss is shrewd. Flip got way too much, I thought.

Hawks moving Bolland and Frolik for picks was savvy, too. Stalberg got overly rewarded by Nashville. He's fast as hell, but his hands don't match the speed. Keeping Handzus, Bolland and Rosival from the run. No need for the big sell off they had to do after the Cup in '10.

[Harold Baines]

Here's what one wag had today:

"It's pretty god damn great to be the Hawks this offseason. Picking who they want to keep off their Championship team and deciding which promising prospect to give a job to while other teams are paying 5 million a year for Valtteri Filppula for 5 years."

What are the Bruins doing? I would guess Iginla means the end of the Jagr endeavor. Seguin must really be a punk for them to give up on that much talent.

Strange to have the Red Wings in the other conference. It's only right, though, considering what those West Coast games did to them and the fans. They're a bitch here, and we're an hour later.

[Enforcer]

Hehe. Filppula had to go, but he seems like one of those guys who might thrive in another environment, with a different coach. I have this nagging feeling he'll start out really strong on his new team. I hope I'm wrong, but just watch.

Hossa and the new cap recapture rule are going to be the most interesting challenge for the Hawks. They have said they won't buy him out, but that doesn't rule out a future trade if they think he's close to retiring (Stan Bowman says he is not). Basically, if he retires, the Hawks still take a big cap hit for his salary.

The move to the east is extremely welcome. The one concern I've had over the years is how much more physical the eastern conference has been, and the Wings not really being built for that. But this roster has changed so much and that's not really a concern anymore. Plus, the game has changed enough that it's not as big a concern anyway. It will be a blow to the attendance in a lot of western conference rival arenas, though.

Will be interested to see what a healthy Danny DeKeyser can bring to the table for a full NHL season. I think the Wings playoff fortunes could have improved if he hadn't been injured during the playoffs. He probably will have some struggles his first 82-game season, but what a fantastic acquisition that kid could turn out to be.

[Enforcer]

[Harold Baines]

Somebody should slew foot that twerp.

[Harold Baines]

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/nhl/ne ... &eref=sihp