After all the wild speculation--including rumors that the Boston Bruins were prepared to offer him a 12-year deal worth $100 million--Marian Hossa has decided to join the Stanley Cup champion Detroit Red Wings, signing a one-year deal worth $7.4 million. By accepting that contract offer, Hossa remained under the Wings' unofficial salary cap: GM Ken Holland was insistent that no one earn more money than six-time Norris Trophy winner Nicklas Lidstrom.

Last season, the 29-year-old Hossa scored 29 goals and 66 points in 72 games split between the Atlanta Thrashers and the Pittsburgh Penguins. He was acquired from the Thrashers at the trade deadline (in exchange for three prospects and a first round draft pick) and helped the Penguins march to the Stanley Cup Finals.

With 12 goals and 14 assists in 20 postseason games, Hossa proved unequivocally that he is a clutch performer, setting the stage for what promised to be an incredibly lucrative long-term deal. But instead, he decided to join the league's finest team for what now looks like a very likely Cup defense. The last team to win the Cup in two consecutive seasons was the Red Wings, back in 1997 and 1998.

Players often spew rhetoric about wanting to play for a winning team, then sign the biggest contract they're offered. But Hossa's motivations were clearly pure. By signing only a one-year deal, Hossa has made it possible for the Red Wings to still sign Henrik Zetterberg to a long-term contract extension prior to his becoming an unrestricted free agent next summer. And depending upon how the 2008-09 season goes, Hossa might well make himself an indisputable part of the Red Wings' future.