The 6th D

Modanogate is now over.  For the record, I was not Prodano or Nodano, but actually SoSodano (thanks Petrella Modaneutral (Modanotral? Yeah, that was the best attempt I could come up with).  If he signed with the Wings...awesome.  If he took his talents to South Beach Minnesota or California...it's all good.  I was confident Abby could do the job.  But, now the vet is on board and it looks like we'll be seeing #90 on the ice for the first time in Red Wings' history.

We had been told by Kenny before that after Modano took his time to decide, we'd see the dominoes fall in regards to Abby and Helm.  Well, today that did indeed happen.  Darren Drager broke the news on Twitter that Helm had agreed to a 2 year, $1.825M contract.  Works for me.  The deal comes out to a cap hit of $912.5K.  I think many of us assumed he'd come around the 900k and I think this deal is more than fair for both sides.  The next domino to fall will be Abdelkader.  He made $850k last year and I would expect him to fall in around the $900k mark as well.  We don't know the exact numbers with Modano yet.  I've seen that he'll sign for $1.25M and I've seen $1.3M.  Either way, it will leave the Wings' a little bit of room for that 6th and final defenseman to add to the corps.  Let's just assume Modano does make $1.3M.  Here's how the cap situation looks:

Of course, I'm also assuming that Derek Meech will not make the team as the 6th defenseman and will be traded and Mattias Ritola will be sent down to Grand Rapids, traded, or selected by another team if he doesn't clear waivers.  This would give the Wings just under $1.2M to spend on a 6th defenseman.  Of course, keep in mind that Kenny will probably leave a little bit of cap space left over in case of injuries or call-ups.  Just who could that last defensemen be?  Let's take a look at the candidates, shall we?


Brendan Witt

Witt was recently bought out by the New York Islanders.  He was scheduled to make $2.5M from the Islanders, but will receive $1.3M this season and just over $800k next year because of the buyout.  We could see a similar situation to what we saw with Patrick Eaves last year.  Eaves took very little money to play for the Wings and prove himself, all while he was still being paid by Boston.  Witt could sign for a one year deal, say for around $800k and become the Wings 6th defenseman.  Last year he played 42 games for the Islanders and registered 2 goals and 3 assists in 15 minutes of ice time.  He was a -18 as well.  He's 6'2", 223 lbs and could provide a stay-at-home type toughness on the third pairing.  And we all know how tough Witt is.  He was hit by a car the morning before a game...and still played that night.

Aaron Ward

Wings fans could see the return of Ward this upcoming season.  Since being traded by the Wings in 2001, he's won a Cup with the Carolina Hurricanes in 2006 and has also played for the Boston Bruins, New York Rangers, and most recently, the Anaheim Ducks.  Last season Ward played 77 games between the Hurricanes and Ducks and put up 1 goal, 13 assists, and was a -15 in 17 minutes of ice time.  Ward made $2.5M last season. I watched Ward quite a bit here in Boston during his time with the Bruins.  He seemed to be a good locker room guy according to the media here.  A lot of B's fans were surprised when he got traded.  I wouldn't mind seeing him back in Detroit.

Shane Hnidy

Hnidy is a 6'2" 210lb defenseman who played for the Minnesota Wild last season.  In 70 games, he scored 2 goals and 12 assists and was a -6 in 13.5 minutes of ice time.  Hnidy made $750k last season with the Wild.  Little known fact, Hnidy played 77 games with the Grand Rapids Griffins in 97-98 and 2 games with the club in 2001 when they were part of the IHL.

Mike Mottau

Mottau is still waiting to hear from the Devils about the chance to resign with them (they must be busy with that Kovalchuk guy or something).  Last season Mottau played in 79 games posting 2 goals and 16 assists.  He averaged just over 22 minutes of ice time and was a +4.  Not bad for a guy making just over $750k on the season.  Depending on how much of a raise he wants, I think the 6', 193lb defenseman could be a nice addition.  He would have to play much less than 22 minutes though on the third defensive pairing though. 

Christoph Schubert

Only 28-years-old, Schubert is a 6'3", 230lb defenseman last seen roaming the ice with Atlanta.  He played 47 games and scored 2 goals and 5 assists.  He was a -6 in almost 16 minutes of ice time.  Minus-6 doesn't seem too bad to me considering he played with the Thrashers.  Then again, Atlanta did sign Chris Chelios last season, so that might be an indication of Schubert's talent level?  I'd like to see if he was a healthy scratch in favor of Chelios in any games.  No offense to Chelly, I mean, it's just that a 28-year-old shouldn't be beaten out by someone who's almost 50.  Schubert made $883k last season.


Freddy Meyer

Meyer is a 5'10", 192lbs, and 29-years-old.  He played 64 games with the Islanders last season and recorded 4 goals and 11 assists in just under 17 minutes of ice time.  He was a -2 on the season.  Meyer made $600k last year.  He seems like he has decent stats for a potential 6th defenseman.  The -2 is a good sign considering he played for a bad team.  I'd personally like to see someone signed that is bigger than 5' 10" though.

Andreas Lilja

We all know Lilja's story.  He was making $1.25M last season and it sounded like he was looking for a raise and/or more ice time next season.  He helped the PK tremendously when he returned from his concussion last year.  I would not have a problem having Lilja back on the third pair with Jonathon Ericsson.  With the market as slow and quiet has it has been lately, maybe he'll be willing to take less money to come back to the Wings.

Willie Mitchell

Mitchell made $3.5M last season with Vancouver.  He suffered a concussion in January and missed the remainder of the year.  He's probably the least likely to join the Wings based on his potential salary demands, but it's been reported that Detroit his on his short list of possible destinations.  Maybe he will take much less for a true chance a Cup?  We'll see.  Mitchell is 6'3" and 205lbs.  In 48 games last season he posted 2 goals, 8 assists and was a +13 in just over 22.5 minutes of ice time.

In House Solution

Of course, if Kenny wants to save cap space and take a wait-and-see approach into the season,  he could just let Derek Meech, Doug Janik, Jakub Kindl, and the namesake of this blog, Brendan Smith battle it out for the final spot.  Who knows at this point?  One of those guys could have a great camp and blow away the competition (although I wouldn't place any big bets on Meech or Janik).  Personally, I'd love to see Smith get some time with the big club this season, but I'm okay with whatever decision Kenny makes to give this team the best chance to win the Stanley Cup.

Of course, there are other names out there too that could fill the role of 6th defensemen for the Wings.  Once Abby is signed the final domino will most likely fall.  But I want to know, who do you think should be the teams' 6th defenseman? Leave a comment about who you think would fill the role the best.

Lets Go Red Wings