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Operation Kronwall - Havlat Shot:

I think Draper is going to be the Lions starting quarterback when Stafford gets injured.

I feel for the guy. Freak injury plus being benched in the playoffs when he should have been playing, I understand his emotional pitfall.

Title says it all. I believe this is one of the many reason the Wings are so good. Our players workout all the time even at other teams workouts even if the team is in another leagues. Also its pretty sad that Draper showed up to a Lions work out and Suh didnt. http://www.freep.com...ns-talks-future

Has anyone else become really annoyed by Mike Modano? Aside from the off-season drama last year, and his lackluster play this year, combined with his "I don't think I have the fire to play in the playoffs" statement BEFORE they started, this latest development just makes me chuckle at his complete lack of heart. He is apparently considering playing another season, but the Wings won't resign him. But his attitude is "Well, if someone offers I guess I'll play, otherwise I'll quit." Gee, who wouldn't be lining up to sign a guy who really doesn't appear to care if he plays again or not? Why doesn't he just retire if he's so ambivalent about the whole thing? http://www.freep.com/article/20110609/SPORTS05/106090528/1053/sports05 EDIT: I'm not saying he's always lacked heart, just that last season and this new development really makes him look lazy.

When Kris Norris Draper does pushups, he doesn't push himself up. He pushes the world down.

Meh, I never really thought of him as a fast skater. Good shooter, good offensive instincts, but not fast. Defense can be taught, but it doesn't necessarily sink in. See Robert Lang and Jiri Hudler. I'd rather have a player that fits in our system naturally rather than have a project player.

Look what he's had to deal with and the crap teams he's been on... as I said in my original post, all the kid needs is some consistency and leadership around him and I think the Red Wings organization is exactly that... I think the kid would explode here... Also, I question how much you've watched him play if you think he's lazy... if anything, his scoring consistency is the only thing in question, never his effort...

I would take Wolski on the Wings in a HEARTBEAT. As long as it was around the 2 mil range.

Dear God, yes please?

Reclamation, in the vain of Eaves, Bert, and Cleary. Sign him relatively cheap for a year, if he works out, great, if not cut him. No harm no foul.

The problem is, as I've stated before, Carter is Philly's go-to faceoff guy. They won't be dealing him without getting a faceoff guy back. Your deal would either have to see Abdelkader added, or Hudler swapped out for Filppula. Ultimately I don't see it going down without Filppula going the other way; Franzen is good on draws and a good player, but he's older than Carter, worse defensively, and a worse passer. Similar in that both are snipers first, but there's not enough cap relief there. Especially with what is lost. Flip has everything Carter does except the shot. And that's a $2.25m difference, which if Philly is lucky might be enough to buy Leino's shot. Post about Meszaros

Mursak, Abby, and a 2nd for Carter is a steal. There's a good chance only one of Mursak or Abby will be a regular forward on the Wings this coming season. So we're looking at trading a young 4th liner and a young spare forward plus a pick for an elite goal scorer. And age isn't really that big of a factor; Carter is 26, Abdelkader is 24, Mursak is 23. So the only thing here is, do you think that keeping Mursak and Abdelkader, knowing that you'll get maybe 100-120 man-games between them next season and possibly the season after, do you think that beats out Carter's 70-80 games on immediate impact? And do you think having Carter long-term as a top-line caliber player while Mursak and Abdelkader develop into 3rd liners or potentially 2nd liners, and the Wings get a player with the pick who has to go through the development process... which helps the team out more in the next ten years? I would say that trading for Carter, by a wide margin. If they take a Mursak/Abby deal instead of the Flip/Abby deal I posted, the Wings CAN'T refuse. It would be stupid. The Wings would be able to dress lines like this: Zetterberg/Datsyuk/Holmstrom Hudler/Carter/Cleary Franzen/Filppula/Bertuzzi Draper/Helm/Eaves Franzen/Zetterberg/Bertuzzi Filppula/Datsyuk/Holmstrom Hudler/Carter/Cleary Draper/Helm/Eaves Zetterberg/Carter/Cleary Filppula/Datsyuk/Holmstrom Franzen/Hudler/Bertuzzi Draper/Helm/Eaves Most NHL teams would be happy with any of those first three lines as their top line. One to test out of course would be Franzen/Carter/Bertuzzi... but I don't see that one working out very well.

wish this team had half the heart Draper has, he battled like hell these last playoffs..

Jeff Carter would be GREAT, $5 mil cap hit per year, 25 years old, signed through 2018-2019, he has 40-50 goal abilities. He would be a monster addition at a relatively low price. However, Philly will explore all options before dealing him.

just kidding

I think he's really depressed about how things turned out. He was excited to join his hometown team and then scores a goal on his first shift with the Wings. He had to be absolutely thrilled, but he struggled to get chemistry with his linemates (Hudler's really slow start didn't help), he gets injured, misses most of the year, fights to get a spot in the lineup, basically doesn't play during the playoffs despite all the injuries. He was expecting to make one good solid run at a championship with the Wings, a proven winner and wanted to go down swinging. If he wins, great, if not, he gave it his all. That didn't happen. He barely played, didn't get an opportunity to give it his all and went out while sitting in the press box. He's proud guy and I think he's just really depressed about how the past year went for him and how he'll never get another shot like that one again.

I completely agree. I thought we was pretty good in those playoff games as well, which is why I couldn't understand why he didn't play in more once Franzen was pretty obviously rendered ineffective. The only thing that I can think of (considering nothing ever came out) was that Babcock thought he just couldn't do it, or just couldn't keep doing it. And certainly the comments couldn't have helped reassure him. Again, I don't know if that's what really happened, but for some reason they didn't feel confident playing him in those games, and for the life of me, I can't figure out why.

We now have two.

ok, ok, ok, I will take Draper in place of Hudler....

I know this sounds stupid but I don't want James on the Red Wings. My oldest brother went to high school with him and apparently he was a total ****** bag, your classic school bully. I know people can change their ways but that isn't the type of guy that I think about when I look at the Detroit Red Wings.

On the trade from Chicago to Anaheim: In a move made right at the NHL's trade deadline on Wednesday, the Blackhawks acquired center Samuel Pahlsson from the Anaheim Ducks in exhange for defenseman James Wisniewski and center Petri Kontiola. The Hawks also received defenseman Logan Stephenson and a conditional draft pick. Wisniewski had two goals and 11 assists in 31 games for the Hawks this season and was popular with his teammates. In his third season with the Hawks, Wisniewski missed most of the first half of the season recovering from off-season knee surgery. Coach Joel Quenneville made Wisniewski a healthy scratch for two games in mid-February but the blue liner had been seeing significant playing time the last nine games. "It's a little heart-breaking but there are very few guys in this league who play for one team their whole career," Wisniewski said. "It's going to happen sooner or later. It's sad to go but it might be better off for me. "I thank the Chicago organization for sticking with me and all the help they've done to get me back to 100 percent. Coming off the injury they threw me right in there with the wolves and they had a lot of confidence in me and now they needed a checking centerman and they got it for me and it's probably best both ways. For me, I have to turn the page now. I have a job to go to Anaheim and help them win." http://blogs.chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/icing/2009/03/nhl-trade-deadline-update.html On the trade from Ducks to Isles: Ducks defenseman James Wisniewski was worried he was going to be dealt by Anaheim on trade deadline day, reports the Orange County Register. Wisniewski, who is in the final year of his current contract, was the subject of numerous trade rumors heading into Mar. 3's deadline. He is set to become a restricted free agent July 1 and could command a hefty raise. "I think you just kind of look at it as a business," Wisniewski told the Register. "If it happened, it happened and I'd go somewhere else and play. But, you know, I'm happy to be here. I like playing for this organization. It's just a great bunch of guys. "Hopefully we can do what we did last year and crawl into the playoffs. You never know what can happen." (The 4th Period) When I read that the Ducks avoided arbitration by signing James Wisniewski to a one-year, $3.25 million deal, I wondered how the cash-strapped Anaheim Ducks would really act. It didn’t take long for the team to show its penny pinching ways, as Ducks GM Bryan Murray decided to trade the defenseman to the New York Islanders for a conditional third round pick in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft, according to Katie Strang of New York Newsday. (James O'Brien - NBC Sports) On the trade from the Isles to Montreal: The Islanders pulled off a nifty buy-low, sell-less-low maneuver by picking up James Wisniewski for a 3rd and then flipping him for a 2nd and change after 34 games (minus two for the Avery suspension). They become the third team to trade Wisniewski while a contract extension was looming. As discussed round and round in comments yesterday, I suspect that has to do with a difference between his expected asking price and his performance: Wisniewski collects points -- playing 5 minutes per game on the powerplay will do that for you -- but the rest of his game leaves questions. http://www.lighthousehockey.com/2010/12/29/1902392/islanders-gameday-life-without-wisniewski

Zetterberg and Filppula are both listed at 6 feet, not undersized. Datsyuk is the most skilled player in the league and Crosby has generational talent. You can name a couple small players who are a few of the best in the league, but for everyone of those small ones there is 5 who aren't small. So now that youve listed Datsyuk and Crosby as proof that drafting smaller forwards are great.. tell me about how great Hudler and Jason Williams are? You know, the 2 most worthless Red Wings the last few years who have done nothing for the team