If anyone is surprised that the Detroit Red Wings parted company with forwards Marian Hossa and Tomas Kopecky and goalie Ty Conklin, they weren't listening to General Manager Ken Holland in the weeks leading up to free agency. The Wings had little to no room under the salary cap.

But Holland is confident that the Red Wings have developed younger players who can take their place.

"We were at the salary cap and the cap didn't grow," Holland said. "Common sense says you are going to lose players. I don't know why anyone is surprised.

"We had our July 1 twice this season. Once in January, when we signed Henrik Zetterberg and again in March when we signed Johan Franzen. Add in all the other players we have under contract and we had $2-3 million to play with."

Hossa signed a 12-year contract with Chicago that pays him an average of $5.2 million per season. Holland said he spent the past few weeks working with his staff to try to find a way to get Hossa the money he wanted, but there was no room.

"Zetterberg was our No. 1 priority and then we were negotiating with Franzen and Hossa simultaneously and we told them that. We were looking for the best cap deal and we got Franzen done. As a result, Hossa today is a Chicago Blackhawk. Players have this opportunity to make the most money that they can and we don't blame them."

Holland said he told Hossa and his agent, Ritch Winter, in March to wait until July was approaching to resume contract negotiations. He had a few ideas of how to make room for a new Hossa contract.

"I sat down with Ritch in Montreal (at last month's Entry Draft) and told him I was prepared to move some players out to clear an opportunity for him to be here," Holland said. "But it didn't work, unless we were willing to trade the elite players and that didn't make sense to me. We couldn't get to the $5 million number unless we wanted to trade another of our star players."

"We knew when we signed Marian last summer that it might be a one-year window of opportunity. I tried to get creative with a long-term deal, but there wasn't enough space. I want to thank Marian for a great year. He had other opportunities last summer, other long-term offers, but he made it happen here. We couldn't make it happen by ourselves, he did."

Holland had similar kind words and thanks for Conklin, who went 25-11-2 with a 2.51 goals-against average in 40 appearances and signed a two-year deal with the St. Louis Blues Wednesday. Holland let it be known that he wouldn't sign Conklin and that he intends to promote Grand Rapids Griffins goalie Jimmy Howard, who has played three seasons with the AHL Grand Rapids Griffins after an All-American career at the University of Maine.

"Go back to the summer of 2008 when we signed Ty Conklin to a one-year deal and Jimmy Howard to a three-year deal," Holland said. "We gave Jimmy a two-way contract the first year and one-way contracts for the second and third year. We thought Conklin would give us one more year in the AHL for Jimmy. Ty was a very good backup for Chris Osgood because we had just lost Dominik Hasek.

"Ty came into a situation where he knew it was a one-year deal and he won 25 games for us. He played great and had a great relationship with (Chris) Osgood. Howard is 25-years-old, Conklin is 33. In a cap world, you have to move some kids in. Based on experience, Ty is probably a little better than Jimmy just because of his experience of playing in the NHL. But after 40 games, I'm hoping Jimmy will be right up to speed. He's young, but we think he'll be an NHL goaltender."

Holland said Kopecky's situation was similar to Hossa, albeit at the other end of the salary cap. Kopecky, playing on the fourth line, suffered a fractured orbital bone in a fight with Francois Beauchemin in Game 4 of their Western Conference Semifinal series with the Anaheim Ducks on May 8.

"I liked Tomas but, unfortunately for us, he had bad luck with injuries," Holland said. "He'd just get it going and he'd break his collarbone, injure his shoulder or get a knee injury. He did a nice job for us, as a third- and fourth-line player. We didn't have the space to pay him what Chicago paid him. He's going to a great city and a great organization."

Holland said Kopecky's place will be taken by one of several players who came up late from the Griffins and performed well for the Red Wings, Ville Leino, Justin Abdelkader or Darren Helm.

"Leino, Abdelkader and Helm are ready. We think Valteri Filppula, at age 25, can take a step forward. Jiri Hudler can take a step forward. We have a power forward we like in Franzen and two elite players in Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk. That's the cap world. The cap world is not designed for you to have these guys and go get a Hossa.

"The salary cap is working: It's a level playing field."

Holland was asked to address the bottom line, can he look owner Mike Ilitch in the eye and say this is a team capable of winning the Stanley Cup?

"I believe this team can compete for the Stanley Cup but first you have to make the playoffs," Holland said. "Look at last year: With 20 games to go, Pittsburgh was not in a playoff position and now they are the Stanley Cup champions. That says it all. Just make the playoffs and play your best hockey at the right time.

"Can we win the Cup? Yes, but 20 teams can win the Cup. I believe we have the potential. The only thing I worry about is do we have the energy to get to the Final three straight years? I'm hoping that the energy of kids like Jonathan Ericsson, Ville Leino, Jimmy Howard, and Justin Abdelkader adds excitement to the core of the team that is in its prime."

Holland said the Red Wings play in the toughest division. Four of the five Central Division teams made the playoffs and the fifth, the Nashville Predators, missed by only three points.

"The difficult thing is every game on our schedule is like a playoff game," Holland said. "We open Oct. 2 in Stockholm against the Blues. For us, the playoffs begin on Oct. 2."