OPINION

By Craig Custance

updated 10:26 p.m. ET Jan. 9, 2009

It was a play that didn't appear in the boxscore, but it showed exactly how valuable Marian Hossa has become for the Detroit Red Wings.

During Thursday's 6-1 win over the surging Dallas Stars, when the game was still close, a pass from Henrik Zetterberg slid toward Hossa. Instead of making a play on the puck, Hossa tied up two Dallas Stars as the puck found its way to a wide-open Niklas Kronwall who ripped a shot toward Dallas goalie Marty Turco. Turco made one save, but couldn't stop Daniel Cleary on the rebound. It ended up being the game-winning goal in another game where the Red Wings crushed an opponent desperate to make a statement against the reigning champs.

Hossa also scored his team-leading 19th goal of the season, but it's plays like Cleary's goal that has endured Hossa to teammates and the Red Wings organization. Naturally, they want him to stick around awhile.

After signing a one-year contract ($7.45 million) with the Red Wings this summer, Hossa's agent Ritch Winter has started talks with the Red Wings to make it a long-term relationship.

"He's really enjoyed Detroit, he's enjoying the experience," Winter told SportingNews.com on Friday morning. "It's pretty clear he made the right decision in terms of his short-term future."

But in today's salary-cap world, it's never as easy as a team wanting a player back and the player wanting to return.

Rough economic times have put the future of the salary cap in question with some people in hockey speculating the salary cap could fall as low as $50 million in two seasons.

In Detroit, things are even more complicated. GM Ken Holland and the Red Wings have three elite players scheduled to become free agents on July 1 — Hossa, Zetterberg and Johan Franzen. Holland will also have to make a decision on Jiri Hudler, a potential restricted free agent who will expect a raise following what's been a breakout season as well as players like Mikael Samuelsson and Tomas Kopecky.

Realistically, there isn't enough money for each of these players to get market value in Detroit, but Holland has a way of getting players to accept less to stay. So far, players have respected the Nicklas Lidstrom ceiling which has kept anyone from making more than Lidstrom's $7.45 million per season.

Hossa and Zetterberg could easily command $8 million per season but if both want to stay with the perennial contender they might have to settle for something considerably less, perhaps as low as the $6.7 per season Pavel Datsyuk averages each year.

That's why discussions so far between the Hossa camp and the Red Wings haven't strictly been about money.

The Hossa talks have also included establishing a clear understanding of how Holland and Red Wings management sees the situation playing out with Zetterberg, Franzen and the other players whose contracts are up after this season.

Holland told the Windsor Star that he's currently focused on negotiations with Zetterberg, saying "it has to be one at a time."

But it may not be that easy. Each new contract Holland inks has a direct effect on the other potential free agents in the organization and with the turbulent economic future, none of the decisions are easy.

"We're looking into a crystal ball that is murky, cloudy and full of uncertainty about where the cap is going," Winter said. "The next challenge is the decisions that will come in the months ahead."

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