No way Kronwall is worth $3 million. Let him ride off into the sunset. Let's get younger.

Kronwall is 47 games from 1000. If he wants to go for it Detroit is happy to let him.

Really like the Tampa trade. Prospect looks to be a potential Johnny Hockey type.

I do like this team. Especially if you can get a 3rd for Daley.

Because of cap space, both Z and Mule can't both go on LTIR. If I remember correctly, as DET will be within 6mm of the cap, Z can go on LTIR, and Mule on regular IR.
1) If this is the case they would trade the contract to Tampa or Toronto, as the LTIR exemption still has value (and has become even more valuable since his actual salary is only 1M and his cap hit is worth 3.95M.

2) Doubt Zadina makes the team out of camp. He had a good 2nd half, but looked like he need more time when the Wings called him up.

3) 9 d-men make the team (1 can be a forward too), but still even 8 d-men? too many.

4) If you are trading Daley, Tampa can use depth d-men and retaining 50% of his salary would net a better return on the Callahan trade. Or I should say the return you said would come when packaged without it. Barré-Boulet is a top-6 forward (RW'er) and I don't see Tampa giving him up unless the trade included Daley.

My thought on Kronwall is multi-fold:

1. He's 47 from 1000, a big milestone. Culture is a big thing in DET, money isn't as big a worry (especially with this team's available cap). Doing a 1000 game celebration, letting a Stanley Cup winner and longtime assistant captain ride off properly is way more important than the $3mm cap hit.

2. He played pretty good last year. He had almost a 49% Corsi and Fenwick, while not great, was only eclipsed by Hronek (on the Corsi side), and Green (on the Fenwick side). If he maintains that (which wouldn't be hard to do), he would be a valuable 5/6/7 dman. Is that worth $3mm? Not really, but his value is in more than numbers.

3. He's the transition to Cholowski, Hronek (who I'm calling Hornet from now on) for defensive leadership, and Larkin as a captain. Last year, he was the face of the Wings during most losses. He played the Z role, who played the Lidstrom role, who played the Stevie role (Captain always speaks after a losss, the team speaks after a win). He's the guy they can turn to in tough situations.

4. Once he hits 47 games, I expect him to start taking nights off, rotating in with players (Bowey, Kaski, Lindstrom if he's playing well in GR). I'm willing to bet he only plays like 55 games next year.

5. He's still the toughest player in the D corp. He's a feared hitter still, and rubs teams the wrong way. I'd rather have him doing that then Hornet, Cholowski, Bowey, etc.

6. Finally, he's not preventing anyone from making the Wings squad. Cholowski and Hornet will be here, and no one else in GR or the minors is ready for the big show. It would be different is Hornet wasn't going to make the team because they signed Kronwall, but that's not the case.

1. You could definitely trade either Z or Mule's hit for the swap. I just chose not to go that way. Insurance is picking up significant parts of the annual salary anyway. You could include Ottawa in that mix, as they are going to scramble to get to the floor.

2. You might be right. I have him in DET for several reasons: 1) He's one of the best 12 forwards on the team. 2) While the Cs in GR will be better next year, with Veleno, Pearson, Ehn in GR, I think it was something holding him back in GR last year (and GR as a whole, their C play was pretty weak). 3) A full offseason after a full season of learning is going to do wonders. He's already training under the team's supervision (which wasn't the case last year).

3. You could move Witkowski or even Ericsson down to GR. I think health would dictate who's on the bench, but if a team is carrying 23 guys, it's not uncommon to carry 8 dmen and only 1 extra forward. It also allows a team to give dmen (Kronwall) practice time off and still get a full squad of practice.

4. I've advocated moving Daley to TBL in the past as well. That could be part of it. I didn't do it in this case. Something tells me Coburn or Girardi will be back (I'm betting Coburn on a 1 year deal). If that's the case, that would eliminate the need for Daley in TBL. I also think TBL would rather pay a little bit in prospects than draft picks (keeping their 1st round pick).

Girardi had a 3M cap hit last year and that was because his original deal got bought out so the Rangers were still paying him $1.11M in salary (and will be for another 4 years). Can you get Girardi on likely his last multi-year contract to give up salary? Plus given Tampa's cap crunch and playoff exit I am not sure getting the same team back helps them. They lost because the defense couldn't handle the forecheck and be able to breakout of the defensive and neutral zone which meant Columbus was controlling the flow of the games. And did I mention of the 3 remaining UFA's he'd be the most expensive.

Coburn is the magic age of 34 so he doesn't have the 35+ contract issues and he had issues in the playoffs (running into his own goalie and costing them a crucial goal in game 2 or 3--I can't remember). He's a 3rd pairing guy and was a healthy scratch for the team down the stretch and into the playoffs--as he doesn't play on the PK too often. But perhaps they could bring him back...but he didn't really help them at all this playoff run and he was healthy and is only getting older.

Daley is known for being able to get the puck out of the defensive zone and has played enough playoff games to be able to avoid being a healthy scratch. So I personally like the fit--especially if you combine it with taking Callahan's contract and a high draft pick/top prospect back.