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Receiving a surprise phone call from Marian Hossa and his agent, Ritch Winter, just as he pulled into the gas station, Holland locked up the NHL's highest-profile free agent for a low price, fitting another superstar into a star-studded lineup while keeping the Red Wings under the league's salary cap.

Hossa agreed to a one-year contract with the Red Wings for $7.4 million, walking away from offers as high as $81 million for nine seasons or higher.

"I was caught way off guard," Holland said. "Shocked obviously was my initial reaction. But as we talked it through, Marian made a decision he would like to find a way to join our team."

Holland had made a longterm offer to Hossa on Tuesday „ the opening day of the free-agent signing period. But Detroit's bid for the 29-year-old Slovak was low because the Red Wings' financial hands were tied by contract situations that will have to be addressed in 2009-10. Henrik Zetterberg will get a $5 million raise when his current contract expires next summer. Johan Franzen could get a $1-2 million raise.

Those future contracts, along with Mikael Samuelsson, Jiri Hudler and Tomas Kopecky becoming free agents next summer, left the Red Wings with little room to spend under the 2009-10 salary cap.

"For our team, the two best forwards we could add were Mats Sundin or Marian," Holland said. "But we really thought it was a dream world to be able to dream that either of these two players would come, given our salary-cap situation heading into '09. We were looking for one-year players really or secondary forwards at a much lower salary with term (multiple years). Marian made this happen by agreeing to a one-year deal."

One day after his limited multi-year offer, Holland got the call from Hossa and Winter. With captain Nicklas Lidstrom making $7.45 million per season, Hossa quickly agreed to $7.4 million to fit in to the Wings' salary structure, according to Holland.

"Sometimes we (Winter and Hossa) were talking and we were shaking our heads, ïWhat are we doing?' " Hossa said. "I think we did the right decision. I think I'm playing with a team where we can win the Stanley Cup."

What the Red Wings added Wednesday is a right wing who has 29 or more goals in each of the past eight seasons (topping out at 45) and who has finished third at his position in postseason All-Star voting three times. He has had a positive plusminus in eight of his nine full seasons, leading his team in two of the past three years.

From Hossa's vantage point, the Red Wings give him a strong chance to win a Stanley Cup and play a style that he prefers „ emphasizing two-way forward play and puck-moving defensemen. But the exchange of guaranteed financial windfall for a possible championship was staggering.

"I have never been involved in a deal and seen a player get so excited to take $85 million less than he was offered elsewhere," Hossa's agent Ritch Winter told The Canadian Press. "It's almost incomprehensible, even to an agent. But Marian is a special player."

Hossa said that he talked throughout the season with fellow Slovak Kopecky „ the two are part of a group of Slovak NHLers who work out in Trencin together every summer „ and liked what he heard about Detroit's players and organization.

Neither Hossa nor Holland looks at this one-year deal as simply a one-year relationship. Both sides said at Wednesday's press conference that they want to find a way to keep Hossa as a Red Wing beyond next season.

That, however, will likely take three things to happen: The NHL salary cap will have to go up again (it's tied to annual league revenues); other Red Wings like Zetterberg and Franzen will have to take less money than they could make elsewhere; and Hossa will have to take less money than he could elsewhere.

"The thing that Rich Winter, Marian and I have talked about is the hope that this is one year of many years," Holland said. "It gives me an opportunity to sit down here over the next 6-12 months to sit down with the key players on our team who are going to become free agents in 2009. The hope is we're able to keep everyone together."

The Red Wings, who signed defenseman Brad Stuart and goalie Ty Conklin on Tuesday, have their roster set for next season except for three spots.

Veteran defenseman Chris Chelios is expected to sign in the next few days, according to Holland.

He also believes that restricted free agent Valtteri Filppula will be signed during the summer, although the Hossa signing has pushed Detroit within $3.5 million of this season's salary cap and left the Wings vulnerable to Filppula receiving a big offer sheet from another club. Detroit has the right to match any offer, but the salary has to fit under the cap.

If Filppula signs, that would leave one of 13 forward spots up for grabs. Darren Helm, who started on the fourth line throughout the last three rounds of the playoffs, is under contract. Darren McCarty has been offered a contract. Holland said that he would prefer the 13th spot go to a physical player like McCarty or Aaron Downey, but either player would have to accept a two-way contract (two different rates of pay for playing in Detroit or Grand Rapids).