Buh bye.
Ville Leino has been traded to the Philadelphia Flyers. In return, the Red Wings acquire Philly’s 2011 5th Round Draft Pick and — in a clear attempt to gain favor with our good friend Andy from Norway — Ole-Kristian Tollefson.
Word on the street is that Tollefson has been waived by the Red Wings, with the intention of sending him to Grand Rapids. If no other team claims him, he will remain a Griffin until the salary mambo is done. If he is claimed, the Wings will have received just the fifth round pick for the once-touted Ville Leino.
For argument’s sake, Tollefson’s salary is $600,000, which is $200,000 less than Leino. If Tollefson is in Grand Rapids, however, his number does not count against the cap. The Wings are currently in salary shedding mode as they prepare for Johan Franzen’s return on Tuesday. By my count, moving Leino and sending Tollefson to Grand Rapids creates enough space for Franzen’s return. An additional $1.1M or so will need to be moved before Andreas Lilja can return — whenever that may be.
Interestingly, Tollefson will be a restricted free agent this summer – like Derek Meech. Should Tollefson not be claimed on waivers and remain property of the Red Wings, they would have the right to match any offer he received — or be entitled to draft pick compensation should they pass (this is all assuming he is qualified, which we learned is Holland’s prerogative).
Best case scenario: Tollefson is an additional trade piece in a future move, leveraging an additional pick or something.
Worst case scenario: Tollefson is claimed by another team in the next 23 hours, and the Wings traded Ville Leino for a fifth round pick.
Probable scenario: Tollefson toils in Grand Rapids and is a warm body in addition to the fifth round pick. He’ll likely be qualified and fetch an additional third round pick as compensation this summer. A third and a fifth for Leino is a pretty good return.
Discuss.
How funny would it be if he not only figures things out and is successful next year, but acquires the nickname of "the Penguin Assassin" as well? 🙂
At least he'd be good for something. Here's hoping he DOES succeed somewhere. It's clear that he just wasn't jiving here, but this is a guy that was a very successful hockey player in Europe. Hopefully in the right system, he'll return on some of the promise he came overseas with.
No one should be upset when/if he does, because it was never going to happen in Detroit. Some puzzle pieces just don't fit – and he was one of them.
Oh, I'm sure some people will be upset – but I put them in the same category as those who figure that any hockey player should be thrilled to play for the league minimum no matter what his talent level, he should be humble and courteous and a pillar of the community, never make an off-ice fuss or be involved in a scandal of any sort, and always play hurt no matter what the risks.
I think that hockey players are just as imperfect as anyone else, they have a widely varying dedication to their profession as any other job, it's tough to travel so much and be away from family no matter what the compensation, and no matter how many millions anyone offered me I'd never take on a job with the injury risks and surgery at young ages that any professional athlete has to deal with as routine, no matter how easy it is to say "they get paid millions to play a game."
They get paid millions to train relentlessly in the offseason, to rehab from multiple injuries, large and small, and to ply their chosen job where they are criticized endlessly if they have an off day and can never just call in sick when they don't feel all that great, as anyone else can. The games they probably do play for peanuts, it's the other stuff that they don't do for free – and neither would I. 🙂
Good trade, but they waived the wrong guy…
Thanks. I was skeptical on the value of acquiring Tollefsen, but if he's an RFA we can flip for a pick, I'm a huge fan of this trade.
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