Red Wings: Notebook

Wings trade Ville Leino to Flyers for Tollefsen, draft pick

Chris McCosky / The Detroit News

Los Angeles -- It was inevitable and it finally happened Saturday morning.

The Red Wings pulled the plug on the Ville Leino project, trading him to Philadelphia for defenseman Ole-Kristian Tollefsen and a fifth-round pick in the 2011 entry draft.

Tollefsen, 26, was put on waivers by the Wings. If he clears, the Wings are expected to assign him to Grand Rapids.

"Obviously, the (salary) cap forced us to make a decision," general manager Ken Holland said. "We had signed Ville as a free agent out of Finland before the 2008-09 season. He had a great preseason for us and he got called up and played pretty well for us.

"With all the players we lost last summer, there was an opportunity for Ville to grab an offensive job with us, but he wasn't as productive as we had hoped or expected."

Leino, who hadn't played in the last six games, had four goals, three assists and was a minus-10 in 42 games.

"Other people stepped up and took those jobs," Holland said. "And Ville kind of became the odd man out."

The Wings were going to need to clear nearly $700,000 off their salary cap by Tuesday, when Johan Franzen is expected to return from his knee surgery. Leino's cap hit was $800,000, this season and next.

Tollefsen's contract ($600,000) expires after this season, so the Wings clear cap space for next year, as well. The Norwegian, plagued by concussions and a knee injury, only played in 18 games for the Flyers.

Leino, also 26, was hardly surprised by the trade.

"Sometimes things don't go as you plan it with your team," Leino told PhiladelphiaFlyers.com.

"The trade happened, and I am happy to be going to a good team like Philadelphia. I have heard a lot of good things about Philly and I am looking forward to playing and proving myself to Philadelphia. I am pretty happy about this trade."

Holland might have to make more roster decisions soon, as well. Defenseman Andreas Lilja, at Grand Rapids for a conditioning stint, appears likely to rejoin the team after the Olympic break.

That would force the Wings to clear another $1.2 million.

Wounded Wings

Just when the Wings thought they were getting back to full health, they lost three forwards during the 4-3 loss to the Kings.

Tomas Holmstrom bruised his left knee early in the game. Patrick Eaves and Drew Miller both injured ankles in the second -- Eaves a sprain and Miller a bruise. Trainer Piet Van Zant said all three would be re-evaluated Sunday, but it didn't appear that any would be long-term setbacks.

"As a team, it's the guys in here that need to get it done, regardless of injuries," Nick Lidstrom said. "We have to play a lot better, regardless of who is on the ice."

The Wings were also without defenseman Niklas Kronwall, who is day-to-day with a sore left knee.