Friday will be a sad day for anybody who's a Stars fan.
Mike Modano's signing with the Detroit Red Wings will be made official during a press conference on Friday at 2:30 PM. According to Helene St. James of Free Press Sports, the deal is worth $1.25M for a year, which is about the numbers most people expected Mo to sign for after Nieuwendyk announced that they'd let him become a UFA. He'll likely have a third-line role between Jiri Hudler and Dan Cleary.
Modano had a solid season last year, with 14 goals and 30 points in 59 games. More importantly, he continued his role as a strong leader on the team, even with the captaincy on Brenden Morrow's jersey. Despite his age, Modano's always been revered for his excellent conditioning, and there's no reason to expect that he won't be as youthful as ever.
I'd expect Modano to score around 40-50 points this season, but with Hudler (23 goals in 08-09 with Detroit, point-per-game player in KHL last year) and Cleary (two 20-goal seasons in Detroit) around him, you can probably safely raise that barrier to 50-60 points. If either Hudler or Cleary (or whatever defensemen get assigned to that line) are particularly productive in assists, Modano could probably hit 20 goals again, and if Hudler and Cleary hit 20 goals, then you can definitely expect 30-40 assists for Mikey.
So, even though I hate the Red Wings, I'll hate them less this year, in honor of Modano. Good luck in Detroit Mike, I'm hoping you'll get to the playoffs and maybe even the Cup Finals!!
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2 comments:
If he were to leave the Stars, I was hoping he could go to the Wild, which would make a lot of sense. But he will indeed make the Wings stronger, and this decision could come back to bite the Stars...
Yeah, the Wild were definitely interested in having him, but he was born in Livonia, so it's kind of like going home for him.
Oh, and this move will definitely come back to bite the Stars. Not only will Detroit likely be back to their usual competitive level, therefore making even 8th place for Dallas hard to get, but going from Modano to Wandell or Petersen on the 3rd line is a major downgrade, and our offense (which was already weak) will be lacking even more.
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