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A day after three dozen or so of his peers went chasing after the most dollars they could possibly grab, Marian Hossa left tens of millions on the table Tuesday to sign a modest one-year, $7.4 million deal with the Detroit Red Wings.
Hossa was being greedy all right — but not in the conventional sense of the term. At the age of 29 and 10 years into his NHL career, Hossa was greedy for a Stanley Cup — and figured his best chance to win one was to go to the defending champions. Hey, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em — and Hossa had a front-row seat for the Red Wings' celebration. That happened on a steamy night in Pittsburgh in early June. Hossa was playing for the opposition, the Penguins, and they pushed the Red Wings to six games, before finally losing. Hossa actually had one last gasp chance to push the game into overtime, but just missed as time ran off the clock.
Hossa was duly impressed with what he saw — and the feeling on the Red Wings' side was mutual. Hossa finished the playoffs third in playoff scoring with 26 points in 20 games, one behind the co-leaders, Sidney Crosby and Henrik Zetterberg, and he was the most productive Penguins forward in the final.
Pittsburgh offered a reasonable chance of winning again — he gave that option some consideration. Other teams, notably the Edmonton Oilers, were prepared to offer significantly higher dollars and term, provided he was willing to sign on the dotted line for the long term.
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But while Edmonton's future looks bright, the Red Wings looked like the best option to win in the present.
Hossa was the second player in as many days to come to terms with Detroit for less money that he could have gotten elsewhere. The Red Wings also re-signed defenceman Brad Stuart to a four-year, $15 million contract. Stuart's deal will average $3.75 million per season, or the same annual compensation as Mike Commodore received from the Columbus Blue Jackets on a five-year deal. Stuart or Commodore? It isn't even close in terms of their respective ability levels. One could make a case that Stuart, at this stage of his career, is a more productive all-around player than Wade Redden, who got $39 million over six years from the New York Rangers.
But that, in a nutshell, is the dilemma facing all the teams that want to unseat Detroit — good players gravitate towards winning organizations, especially when they're far-enough along their career paths that a million or more here or there isn't going to demonstrably affect their already healthy, head quality of life.
The risk for Hossa, who has been a remarkably durable player over the years, is that his good health continues. Hossa had major knee surgery in his final year of junior, but has been a picture of health ever since — missing just 22 games in eight years, 10 of them last year, split between the Penguins and the Atlanta Thrashers.
If Hossa blows out his knee again, then the decision to leave all that guaranteed money on the table may not seem like such a good idea. But for Hossa, the possible reward — a Stanley Cup — was worth it in the end.
It has been a decade since any NHL team won back-to-back championships. The last to do so was Detroit in 1997 and 1998. Accordingly, the Red Wings understand better than most the pitfalls that await a team the year after a Stanley Cup victory — the short summer, the need for motivation, the focus that every opponent has for the defending champions.
It is one reason why Holland, with no discernible holes in his team, wanted to make a couple of changes anyway — to ensure that the hunger is present again, when the team opens training camp in September. Some of that will come from youngsters, who didn't play much last season, but figure to have greater roles next year. Some will come from Hossa, who demonstrated how much he wanted to be part of their mix.
The Hossa camp understood Detroit's payroll complications. There were no salary-cap issues for the coming season. However, two years from now, or the 2009-10 season, both Henrik Zetterberg and Johan Franzen, two mainstays of their Stanley Cup run, will be unrestricted free agents. The Red Wings goal is to get one and maybe both under contract for that year, as soon as possible.
It could mean Hossa's stay in the organization will be just one year. Or alternatively, if Hossa proves to be a good fit, they may juggle salary elsewhere in their payroll to accommodate a possible return.
"Success is about sacrifice — sacrificing ice time, sacrificing personal statistics, sacrificing some money," said Holland. "Success doesn't come easily. Marian, obviously, wants to come here because he thinks we give him the best chance to win the Stanley Cup. He's showing incredible sacrifice — and it goes to his determination and character and how important winning is to him, and playing with other good players.
"When you see everything that happened in our league, with the term and the security and then you've got a premier power forward like Marian making this marriage happen by agreeing to a one-year contract."
Holland said it back in May — that players come to Detroit for the hockey; they don't have a lot else to sell.
For some — often for the good ones - the hockey turns out to be enough.
