How to Solve the Lidstrom Problem?

If I had an actual answer to that headline, I wouldn't be sitting here right now writing this article; I'd be stalking down Ken Holland and telling him how to relieve all of our worries.

The fact that the Red Wings have lost two of their top defensemen already this off-season is weighing heavily on the minds of fans. We are all relying on the fact that for the first time in three off-seasons, this team has more money to play around with than ever.

But there are some shoes to fill.

Holland has to work his magic. There's the insane possibility that someone he'll be able to snag both Suter and Weber, but it's not very plausible. This team needs at least one of those two defensemen, and I do not believe Weber is going anywhere. When push comes to shove with that team, they would probably rather keep their captain over Suter.

And Red Wings fans haven't forgotten what Weber pulled in Game One.

A backup solution is needed for the worst-case scenario of getting neither Suter nor Weber.

My insane fear is that the backup idea is Mike Green, a player whom I am not very fond of. Yes, he actually played solid defense these playoffs, but he's more of a forward than a defenseman, and the Red Wings need a defensive-minded person on the blue line. Green is a RFA anyway, although I could see the prospect we received from San Jose for Brad Stuart being some kind of leverage if/when it comes down to it.

If that is the case, why not push for John Carlson? While he's like Green in the fact that he's a little more offensive than the average defenseman, he has been the Capitals' shut-down man this past season. And he's young. Best case scenario for the Red Wings is finding an up-and-coming young player who has already proved himself and wants to stick around for a good amount of time. There are our own prospects, yes, but until they are completely ready for NHL-level games, the Red Wings need someone else.

The Capitals also have Dennis Wideman. He's a UFA, 29 years old, and his cap hit is just under $4 million. This past season, Wideman had 46 points in 82 games. He's not as young as Carlson, but he doesn't come at as much of a risk as the RFA. Plus, Carlson has proved with his output and play that he can demand a higher salary than the $850,000 or so he has made the past few seasons.

My backup solutions really only seem to be coming from the Washington Capitals.

Regardless, this is going to be a rather expensive off-season, especially with the limited market. Of course, unless Holland works his "Take a discount to come be on a Cup-contending team" magic. But will that still work with no Lidstrom (and even no Stuart) on the roster list? Even with our big guns like Datsyuk and Zetterberg, and defensemen like White and Kronwall, does our team still look the same in opponents' eyes?

The wait for July 1 is always a tough one. And with so many question marks on Red Wings fans' minds, seventeen days seems like an eternity.

Pre-Free Agency Post

It's eleven hours before all hell breaks loose in the hockey world. Free agency. The glorious time in this godforsaken summer season when we can focus on the excitement of off-ice hockey for an entire day, sometimes even longer depending on how much we get into it.

And just like last year, I'm stuck working a midshift. I'm stuck constantly updating TSN on my iPhone, waiting for any updates. But this year, I'm not as concerned for the Wings as I was last year. Last year, I was freaking out about Hossa. Last year, I wanted to keep him and I believed that Ken Holland could do it. So when I read where he signed and for how long/much, I literally ran into all of the stores of the strip mall I work in and told all of the hockey fans. It was a sad day for me. Sometimes I do still miss Hossa.

But this year, I'm not as concerned.

Ken Holland has stated that we won't be making any major moves - we need some cheap, solid players for the third and fourth lines and a defenseman for the last pair. The defenseman isn't super important, either, because he's said that he could see Kindl and some of the other Griffins battling it out for that last spot.

We have to sign pretty much all of our RFAs, but I honestly can't see them leaving. Maybe Eaves or Miller, but Miller's back in his home state and Eaves...I can't see him having a better role anyplace else. Or maybe that's just my sleepiness talking at this point.

The only play I think will leave is Lilja. Why? Because everything I've read in the past few days has said that Lils wants a bigger role as a D-man and he knows he can't get that here. I would love to keep him for another year, which I definitely wasn't saying two years ago. I will miss Lilja if he leaves; our relationship with him has been tumultuous at best - shoddy defense leading to weak goals yet he played solid PK, a terrible career-threatening injury because of a stupid fight he didn't need to get into, yet he came back from that and definitely helped our PK and he played good hockey. I realized that I did, in fact, miss him. I'm not sure if I want to see another Swede leave our Swedish ranks.

But despite Lils and the RFAs, I don't know what else there is to say at this point. I hope we can keep Abdelkader and Helm for sure; Eaves and Miller are good bonuses.

Oh hey, weren't we supposed to hear something about The Joe's lease today [technically yesterday]? Did they extend talks because the people running the city of Detroit are idiots? As long as they don't rope Ilitch into a five-year extension. Three I can handle - anything more is pushing it.