Saturday Wrapup

In the words of Bill Clement, “Well, where do you wanna start?”

The Red Wings started today with cap issues and extra forwards. In about a seven hour span they lost four forwards and a game. At least the cap isn’t an issue anymore.

Ville Leino was shipped to the Philadelphia Flyers this morning in return for Ole-Kristian Tollefsen and a fifth-round draft pick in 2011. Tollefsen was immediately placed on waivers and will be sent to the Grand Rapids Griffins if he clears.

The move cleared $800,000 in cap space for Detroit and freed up a roster spot, meaning that Johan Franzen can return from injury as scheduled on Tuesday.

I can’t say it’s a move I’m thrilled about. Leino still has a lot of potential. That said, in the salary capped NHL it was the right move to make.

If Tollefsen ever plays a game for Detroit I’ll be surprised. He’s a restricted free agent this summer, though, so the Wings might be able to get something for him.

Patrick Eaves and Drew Miller earned their roster spots this season and Leino played his way out of one. Detroit didn’t have the luxury of keeping all three and Leino was the right one to move. He may blossom with the Flyers but the Red Wings can’t wait for that to happen right now.

Eaves and Miller, unfortunately, finished the day in the Detroit dressing room, alongside Tomas Holmstrom.

All three were injured in Detroit’s 4-3 loss to the Los Angeles Kings, begging me to ask when was the last time you saw an entire forward line’s worth of players go down to injury in an NHL game?

Ansar Khan says