Kirk Maltby

So...the Red Wings are not just going to let Kirk Maltby go, are they? I mean, the guy has some hockey left in him, right? OK, so he's not the player he used to be. So what? He won 4 Stanley Cups with the Wings, and that has to count for something, right?

Kenny Holland says that "they are talking". The simple truth is, good ol' Malts may be looking at a two way contract, with much of his time spent with the Griffins. Maybe he will hang up the skates for good. Maybe he will go on a forward killing spree and end up with a spot anyway. You don't have to pay dead guys, after all.

Where will he go? Certainly the Wings won't trade him. Sadly, at this point he isn't really worth that much on the market. That isn't to say he is a bad player or he has lost his edge. Sure, he's not the annoying, get under your sweater and piss you off player he was a few years back, but he is as much an integral part of the Wings as anyone else. OK, so he hasn't posted more than 37 points with the Wings ever, but this is not where he gets you. He gets you when you are trying to make a play and he freight trains your ass into the boards, or he bothers you so much that you just can't take any more and you, in full view of the officials, slash/punch/interfere with him and take a stupid penalty, thus putting the Wings on the power play. Look at the line he played on for so long, the Grind Line, with Draper and McCarty/Kocur. What opposing team wanted to step on the ice when those irritating bastards were out there? It was almost a guarantee that somebody on the opposing line was going to get hurt, take a penalty, or make a dumb mistake.

Kirk Maltby isn't yet 40, and last year seemed to be a pretty good year until he got hurt. He may have even posted more than 40 points. We will never know now. If he takes the two way contract, he won't have a chance to play 82 games. His only hope at this point is to get to camp, and beat out one of the other forwards for a spot. If he gets waived, he will be in a big pot with other more promising forwards, all 60-something of them who are looking for work. That's not to say that all 60-something are better than him, but his chances are better with the Wings.

Kirk, take the deal. Go play one last year like you used to, and put up some numbers in addition to pissing off the other team. Throw everything to the wind and skate your ass off like it's your last season, because it most likely is your last season. Then hang em up and go into player development. You need to stay with the Wings, just not neccessarily as a player.

Whn Kirk Maltby finally does hang up the #18 Winged Wheel sweater for the last time, it will not be raised to the rafters, but it will be the end of a major chapter in Red Wings history nonetheless...