The Red Wings options in the wake of Jiri Hudler's defection

Versatile Derek Meech

Jiri Hudler's contract with Moscow Dynamo was registered with the Continental Hockey League (KHL) on Thursday and is worth a reported $5-million per season for two years.

Although there is no formal agreement between the NHL and the KHL in regards to player transfers, there is a gentleman's agreement to not take players already under contract in either league. That agreement was strained last season when Salafat Yulayev Ufa signed Alexander Radulov although he had one year left on his contract with Nashville. The situation with Hudler is different in that he did not have a contract when he signed with Russia.

However, Hudler had filed for salary arbitration with the Red Wings as recently as Sunday, and despite the appearance that Hudler will play in Russia next year Red Wings general manager Ken Holland intends to proceed with arbitration. This will allow the Red Wings to maintain the rights to Hudler, and the decision of the arbitrator will be binding on Hudler when and if he wishes to return to the NHL. 

Hudler's departure creates an opening on left wing on either the second or third line, and the Red Wings are currently nearly $1.7-million below the NHL salary cap figure of $56.8-million.

They have a few option on how to fill the void left by Hudler.

The first option which costs the Red Wings nothing is to move versatile defenseman Derek Meech up to the wing full-time.

Meech played several games at forward last season and could be thrust into that role full-time. This would also eliminate the need to trade a defenseman before heading into the regular season. Currently Detroit has eight NHL defenseman under contract and would prefer to carry just seven. At the very least he could play forward until there are injuries along the blueline when he would be asked to drop back and cover for the injured player, leaving an opening on the forward lines for a call-up from Grand Rapids. This would also allow the Red Wings to save the cap space to use if required at the trade deadline.

The second option would be to sign a free agent still on the market, and depending on the amount they pay him, adjust their roster accordingly by trading a defenseman to accomodate the salary under the cap. Assuming defensemen Nicklas Lidstrom, Brian Rafalski, Niklas Kronwall, Brad Stuart and Jonathan Ericsson are not going to be traded, that leaves Andreas Lilja, Brett Lebda and Meech as the three most likely to be traded depending on how much cap space Detroit needs to clear in order to sign a winger. This is an option Holland has considered.

Keeping in mind the criteria set forth in Helene St. James article of a rugged winger with a scoring touch here are five unrestricted free agents that may interest the Red Wings:

The third option is a trade. The Wings have an extra defenseman, depending on the health of Lilja who did not finish the season due to a bleeding vein in his brain. If he is unable to play, then making a trade is not an option.

The Wings have the flexibility of taking the $1.7-million remaining under the cap and packaging a defenseman based on their salary to accomodate the salary of the player acquired. Under this scenario the Red Wings have three different price points to consider. Packaging their cap space with Meech's salary allows them to acquire a winger with a cap hit of $2.1-million; trading Lebda allows the to acquire a winger at $2.3-million; and trading Lilja would allow them to acquire a winger at $2.9-million.

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