DETROIT -- A former Detroit Red Wing who has carried some baggage soon will be a Stanley Cup champion for the first time.

It might be the Chicago Blackhawks' Marian Hossa, a good guy and tremendous player who flopped in the Stanley Cup finals last year with Detroit.

It might be the Philadelphia Flyers' Ville Leino, a good guy and promising player who flopped during this past regular season with Detroit.

Both were salary-cap casualties in Detroit, more or less. Now, they are competing in the Cup finals, which start Saturday.

The Red Wings made a pitch to keep Hossa last summer, but they didn't have the cap room to match Chicago's 12-year, $62.8 million offer. And Hossa probably preferred a change of scenery, anyway, following a rough postseason.

The Red Wings wanted to keep Leino, and under different circumstances could have been more patient through his struggles. But they didn't have a roster spot or the cap space to hide him once their injured players began filtering back into the lineup. So they traded him Feb. 6 for minor-league defenseman Ole-Kristian Tollefsen and a fifth-round draft pick.

It seemed like no big loss at the time, but nearly four months later, Leino is resembling the late-blooming, highly skilled player the Red Wings thought they were getting when they signed him as an undrafted free agent out of Finland in May 2008.

He has been strong on the puck, crashing the net, competing in the hard areas of the ice. He has 12 points (four goals, eight assists) in 13 playoff games, gelling with linemates Daniel Briere and Scott Hartnell to help the Flyers reach the Cup finals for the first time since 1997, when they were swept by the Red Wings.

"I like to play offensive and make plays, so I like going hard and being aggressive on the puck,'' Leino, 26, told NHL.com. "You don't have to sit back and wait for something to happen (in the Flyers' system). It's aggressive hockey and gets you right on top of things.''

That is what the Red Wings expected from him in Detroit. But he was too soft, unable to control the puck and frequently getting snuffed out of the play with only the slightest contact. He was lost on the ice and didn't look like an NHL player.

He has undergone quite a transformation.

"He's played real well for them, taken full advantage of his opportunity,'' Red Wings general manager Ken Holland said. "He really had an opportunity in November and December, 25 games prior to us trading him. Unfortunately, he just didn't play nearly as well as we thought and hoped he would.

"When we made the decision, we had severe cap issues. Other players (Drew Miller, Patrick Eaves) worked their way ahead of him on the depth chart. You try to wait as long as you can. Ultimately, you can only wait so long.''

After the trade, Leino looked destined to be a bust in Philadelphia as well. He was a healthy scratch in 12 of his first 17 games and would have sat out many more if not for Jeff Carter's injury.

He was scratched for the first four games of the opening-round playoff series against New Jersey. He made his postseason debut in Game 5 vs. the Devils, once again, only because Carter was hurt.

Now, he is a fixture in the lineup for the Flyers.

Hossa, 31, is the first player in NHL history to reach the Cup finals three consecutive seasons with three teams.

He appeared to shed his label as a playoff underachiever in 2008, picking up 12 goals and 26 points for the Pittsburgh Penguins, who lost to the Red Wings in the finals. But after switching teams, he struggled in last year's playoffs with Detroit (six goals, 15 points in 23 games; no goals, three assists in the finals).

Hossa has not been spectacular this postseason, with two goals and nine assists in 16 games, including one point (an assist) in his past six games. But it doesn't matter if you're winning.

This is the Blackhawks' best chance to end their 49-year Cup drought because they won't be as deep next season.

They have 14 players signed for 2010-11 at $57.6 million. The cap is expected to be in the $58 million range, and Chicago has several players -- including goaltender Antti Niemi and forwards Andrew Ladd, Adam Burish, John Madden and Ben Eager -- in the final year of their contracts.

Chicago's time has arrived. Hossa likely will shed his label as a "Cup curse.''

The Blackhawks are too deep and too strong for the Flyers.