Red Wings, RW Hossa agree to deal

Jul 3, 2008 - 12:37 AM DETROIT (Ticker) -- Less than one month after winning the Stanley Cup, the Detroit Red Wings won the bidding war for Marian Hossa.

Widely considered this summer's top available free-agent forward, Hossa agreed to terms on a one-year contract Wednesday with the already-loaded Red Wings.

"Obviously, we're thrilled. He's a premier power forward," Detroit general manager Ken Holland said. "Heading into the offseason, he was on our wish list, but to think in reality that we would get a shot at him given our commitments heading into the '08-09 season... We really wanted to keep a lot of our team together. But in the end, Marian made it happen by agreeing to come on a one-year deal."

Financial terms were not disclosed, but multiple media outlets reported that Hossa received a $7.4 million contract - a relatively small sum compared to the deals that were expected to be offered to the high-scoring right wing.

"I wanted the best chance to win the Stanley Cup, and I feel like Detroit is the team," Hossa said. "I know I could get more money somewhere else, but the thing that I was looking for, for myself, was to win the Stanley Cup. It wasn't easy to throw that much money away, but I know I made the right decision. I truly believe that I made the right decision."

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette initially reported Detroit's acquisition of Hossa, who was dealt from the Atlanta Thrashers to the Eastern Conference champion Pittsburgh Penguins at this year's trade deadline.

A two-time 40-goal scorer, Hossa joins a Red Wings club that already features All-Stars Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg, who both eclipsed the 90-point mark this past season.

"(Hossa) fits into our philosophy in that he wants to win," Red Wings head coach Mike Babcock told the Detroit Free Press. "He's a two-way player like (Datsyuk) and (Zetterberg), and what I mean by that is, he's as good with the puck as without. To me, he's one of the top 15 forwards in the game."

Hossa, 29, was outstanding during Pittsburgh's postseason run, scoring 12 goals and 26 points in 20 playoff games. The Slovakian netted a pair of game-winning goals, including the series-clinching tally against the New York Rangers in Game Five of the Eastern Conference semifinals.

Hossa also had three goals and four assists in the Stanley Cup Finals against the Red Wings, who needed six games to claim their fourth championship in 11 seasons.

Courtesy of his brilliant postseason, Hossa appeared primed to land a lucrative, long-term contract from a number of scoring-starved teams. One of the biggest players in the Hossa sweepstakes was the Edmonton Oilers, who reportedly offered a multi-year contract worth at least $9 million per season.

But Hossa, a four-time All-Star, evidently settled for a smaller sum to play with the Red Wings, who collected 115 points this past season to capture the Presidents' Trophy.

"I think it will be tremendous motivation for our team heading into the year," Holland said. "Certainly when you bring in a guy like Marian Hossa, who again has tremendous financial opportunities and security elsewhere, and really has picked our team as the team that gives him the best chance to win a Stanley Cup."

The 12th overall selection by Ottawa in the 1997 draft, Hossa has 299 goals and 349 assists in parts of 10 seasons with the Senators, Thrashers and Penguins.