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Well, if Hudler is done with Dynamo, that's good news for us. He still has a year left on his contract with them, aside from the opt-out clause that allows him to return to the NHL. This means either he is leaving the KHL entirely and going to a DIFFERENT European league, or he's back next season (most likely) and Wings fans will generally be pleased. So with Hudler back, the current SIGNED Wings roster for next season: Forwards: Datsyuk $6.7m Zetterberg $6,083,333 Franzen $3,954,545 Filppula $3m Hudler $2.875m Cleary $2.8m Draper $1,583,333 Defense: Rafalski $6m Stuart $3.75m Kronwall $3m Ericsson $900k Kindl $883,333 Goalie: Osgood $1,416,666 Howard $716,666 Total cap hit: $43,662,876 Cap space (assuming no change): $13,137,124 Forwards on the active roster who will be RFAs this summer: Helm, Eaves, Miller Other notable RFA forwards: Abdelkader Forwards on the active roster who will be UFAs this summer: Holmstrom, Williams, Bertuzzi, Maltby Defensemen on the active roster who will be RFAs this summer: Meech Other notable RFA defensemen: Kolosov Defensemen on the active roster who will be UFAs this summer: Lidstrom, Lilja, Lebda Other notable UFA defensemen: Janik All of the signed players I listed above will likely play on the regular roster, with Kindl possibly rotating in with Ericsson and whoever the #7 is. The Wings need to sign five forwards and one defenseman to their everyday roster, plus anywhere from one to three spare players. If Lilja continues his pro career, he will almost certainly be re-signed. If not, he will probably be replaced with someone who would most likely be RFA Meech, who has solid potential as a two-way defenseman, is quick and versatile, and is very cost-effective. Assuming Lilja returns, he likely rotates in with Kindl and Ericsson to get them as much playing time as possible. No we're looking at Lidstrom. Interviews have suggested he'll return. He probably takes a pay cut, likely down to tha $4-5m range. If he doesn't return, that's probably about what's spent on his "replacement". So having determined that the Wings probably spend about $7m on their defense at the top end, figure the Wings will then see about $6m left to spend on six forwards. Hudler returning throws a wrench in keeping scoring forwards, and Bertuzzi is out unless he is willing to accept a similar deal to what he has. So let's focus on the cheaper guys, while leaving open a spot for what Bertuzzi would have to accept. Abdelkader is a darn good player, but he likely won't see much of a raise. Figure him in at $900k. Eaves and Miller can be seen at $750k each, and Helm at $1m. That's $3.4m, leaving $2.6m. Still left as UFA from this season's roster are Holmstrom, Maltby, Williams, and Bertuzzi. Williams is probably gone with Hudler returning. The Wings would still need to sign two forwards, so that they have 12 regulars and a spare. With his season-ending injury, Maltby may choose to retire after the season. If the team wins the Cup or comes close, it's highly IMO likely both Maltby and Homer are gone. This would leave about $2m for Bert and another $500k to sign that last guy, perhaps even a guy like Evan McGrath or Ryan Oulahen who has been waiting for a chance. Keeping Kris Newbury as the spare forward is another potential move the Wings might make. But if the Wings were able to keep Bert while losing Homer, the forwards would be: Zetterberg Datsyuk Franzen Hudler Filppula Bertuzzi Cleary Eaves Miller Helm Abdelkader Draper Newbury (?) Lidstrom (?) Kronwall Rafalski Stuart Lilja Ericsson Kindl Which projects lines out to, keeping lines that have shown chemistry recently: Hudler/Datsyuk/Franzen Filppula/Zetterberg/Bertuzzi Miller/Abdelkader/Cleary Draper/Helm/Eaves Newbury (?) Lidstrom/Rafalski Kronwall/Stuart Lilja-Ericsson-Kindl Howard/Osgood PP1: Hudler/Datsyuk/Franzen/Lidstrom/Rafalski PP2: Filppula/Zetterberg/Bertuzzi/Kronwall/Ericsson-Kindl PK1: Helm/Miller/Lidstrom/Lilja PK2: Datsyuk/Zetterberg/Kronwall/Stuart PK3: Filppula/Cleary That's kinda scary good, actually. And if Homer doesn't retire, it probably shifts the lines around somewhat as Bertuzzi is likely not to take the $2m that keeps him on the roster.

People really don't understand how the video is supposed to work. You show the aftermath, then it goes backwards into the play. It's ruining these videos for me.

Now they'll lose

I blame it on all this winning s***.

Wow what a save by Howard. I don't care if he has bad rebound control, he makes the key saves.

I wish Bert could stop giving the puck away all the time. Other than that I thought the Wings looked pretty good in the 2nd half of the 2nd period. Btw, Datsyuk is a really good hockey player. I don't know if anyone's noticed but his hockey skills are really good.

Who needs a girlfriend when you can date a Pavel Datsyuk goal... It complains a lot less.

April Fools

I will chop your balls off with a basketball if this is not true.

At first I was like But then I was like

Tradition. That's what makes a great team. I suppose Toronto, Montreal and N.Y. Rangers should add black to their sweaters as well. But they don't, nor do I hope they ever do. The Lions let Matt Millen add black, because he played for the Raiders. Which was a dumb thing to do. You don't see Green Bay, Chicago or Minnesota changing their jerseys. The Red Wing sweater is steeped in history and tradition, and that's the way it should be.

absolutely not. red wings pride themselves on tradition and shouldn't rely on cheap tactics to boost sweater sales.

Lol.

Not NO but HELL NO.

I hope this is what I think...

You mean when the Wings were losing they were playing with more balls, or when they were giving the puck away too many times they were playing with more balls? The Wings are 12-2-1 since the Olympic break, all without any balls, apparently. If you haven't noticed, I don't give a s*** about balls. I give a s*** about a winning hockey team. And this team is currently winning. You want balls, watch a porno.

LGW hasn't had a good, long, pointless debate about this in awhile

Like Sid the Kid!

Interesting post, OP. I can't stand the Caps, but I come from a completely different perspective than most on here, as they were once a divisional rival of the Pens, and a lot of that still lingers. There's a lot of other things I could say about the subject but it would take up a lot of time. Hate also takes up energy and I've been on vacation....so I won't go there. I will say this: I ******* hate it when people yell things like "RED" during the national anthem. They also yell "RED" in Carolina, and when they say "you see", they yell "JUSSI." I don't care what team it is, I can't stand it when people do that. For a brief moment you're paying respect to your country, you have the rest of the evening to root for your team. Not to get all Uncle Sam and Apple Pie on your ass, but that is a pet peeve of mine.

It's nice to see a little bit of emotion once in a while. He doesn't go over the top like Ovechkin does, and I like that. When he scored the goal against Nashville, he was as happy as the crowd was and it was nice to see. I hope he keeps it up. And the 6 goals to 200, and 13 assists to 400 - boy, would I love to see him get those two goals accomplished...600 career points. Pretty awesome for #171 in the draft, but #1 in our hearts.

Call me a liar, flame me for not having a source. But from a reliable source, the deal is done and announcement is TBD. The Red Wings have signed a three year deal to head north to Auburn Hills to play at the Palace. Just wanted to pass this information along. I also consider it a rumor till announced, but wanted to give everyone a heads up.

Yet you post in the thread? Why not just ignore it. I am hoping May will be back up here for some games during the playoffs; I think it will be based on who we play. Bert and Big E need to become a little more physical. And as other members have mentioned since Lilja returned, the Wings have played a lot better.

Little thing I've noticed: Both sides of this argument have made and continue to make valid points regarding the pros and cons of having an enforcer in the lineup, but the pro-enforcer folks seem to concede the valid points that are brought up during the debate, whereas the anti-enforcer folks rarely concede anything. Brad May was a valuable piece of this team while he was needed, and when we got our regular players back from injury, he was no longer needed. Not because of his style of play, but because we had too many players under contract and we needed space. IIRC, May was brought in towards the end of training camp without much realistic expectation of making the regular lineup, and only got a contract after Franzen went down with what appeared to be a season-ending injury. I'm grateful for his contributions when he was in the lineup, I'm glad he wasn't claimed when he was sent down, and I firmly believe he will get some playing time in the playoffs, especially if we have another deep run, but he is a role player and nothing more. How many fighting majors have the Red Wings had this season aside from May? I can name a few, Ericsson had one against the Ducks and I think against the Sharks, Janik had a couple during his brief stint (which he lost if memory serves), Eaves vs. Versteeg which was a great fight, Abdelkader fought Corey Fairy, and I think Cleary had a fight too. Does fighting have its place in hockey? Absolutely. Does having an enforcer directly correlate with fewer injuries and/or star players being roughed up? Debatable. Are having a tough team and having a skilled team mutually exclusive? No, and that is where I think most of the partisan debaters are mistaken. You can be tough and not fight, and and you can be European and not be a wuss. /rant Absolutely