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Futures of Red Wing vets Lidstrom and Holmstrom on hold for now

May 22nd, 2012 10:35 AM
  • Futures-of-Red-Wing-vets-Lidstrom-and-Holmstrom-on-hold-for-now
  • Credit: US PRESSWIRE

    • For those Detroit Red Wings fans who are dying to know what will become of veterans Nicklas Lidstrom and Tomas Holmstrom, a little patience will be prudent. The pair have put in a combined 35 seasons in their Red Wings uniforms, but with each facing unrestricted free agency and uncertain NHL futures, the team has decided to wait until its organizational pro scouting meetings in the first week of June to decide on how to proceed with their two veteran stars.

    Lidstrom’s status is entirely in his own hands. At 42 years old, he’s still one of the best defensemen in the game (he’s a finalist for the Norris Trophy again after winning it for the seventh time last year) and will be welcomed back with open arms if he decides to lace up his skates for another season. So in that regard, if he tells the team that he wants to come back before the meetings on June 2-4 it’s not like they’re going to tell him to hold off a bit longer, but those dates should give everyone involved a good timeframe for a decision to be made. Lidstrom has been playing on one-year contracts worth $6.2 million for the last two seasons, so there should be no trouble coming to a similar agreement if and when he decides to return.

    Holmstrom’s situation, however, is quite different. Unlike Lidstrom, the 39-year-old forward is no longer the player he once was, and has seen his ice time and production decrease in each of the past two seasons. Once a great all-around power forward who was at his best stationed in front of the net on the power play, that’s now his only real purpose, as 10 of his 11 goals last season came on the man advantage, by far the highest percentage of his career.

    If Holmstrom does return, it will probably be for just a one-year contract in the vicinity of $1 million, down from his cap hit of $1.875M over the past two years. But given the team’s need to get younger after they were ousted in the first round by the younger, livelier Predators, it’s more likely that they’ll move on from Holmstrom.

    Decisions will be made on the two veterans after Detroit’s pro scouting meetings.

    Read the original post from prohockey.com

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