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Smith is better offensively than both Ericsson and Kindl, but he is most definitely NOT better defensively than either player, or anyone else on that side of the bench. The kid has a lot of talent and he sees the ice phenomenally, but he's also underestimated the speed of oncoming forwards and has been beaten plenty of times in his short stint up. He has a lot to learn and a lot to get accustom to before he is equal defensively to either Kindl or Ericsson. I'm not saying he doesn't have that potential, but if we need to preserve a one goal lead late in the third, I'm sending any defenseman out there before Smith. In two years that will likely change. But not today.

Nyquist is here to stay. This team is relatively short on speed and skill and he has both. He is creating chances, producing points, backchecking.. there's literally no reason he shouldn't be a Red Wing instead of a Griffin.

I'd be extremely disappointed if Smith spent next season in the minors. Even if they picked up someone like Suter, they should get rid of Kindl and bring Smith up. Kindl's not awful, but he certainly hasn't distinguished himself. And Q and Smith provide better versions of what Kindl is supposed to bring.

I can see either side of this argument. In one sense, we've seen the Wings lose in the first round to many teams we thought they'd walk over. At the same time, I really don't want to see us play Chicago in the first round. That would be too stressful and too crazy for so early in the playoffs. And their annoying fans will come here to talk crap.

Well this sucks but I knew it was coming. To bad Kenny is deciding to make our defense weaker since Smith is far better than Ericsson and Kindl at both end of the rink. They are just both so terrible and painful to watch.

The sixth versus fourth place debate essentially revolves around whether or not you think the team is better served facing an easier opponent or playing at home in the first round. It's pretty hard to calculate either way. But the lower seed could be problematic after the first round don't you think?

I blame the market for that contract. Dude you got a negative stalker!

I can understand pessimism as long as the discussion is rational and level-headed. I can personally understand a lot of the questions about this team and its ability to capture a twelfth title this year. Calling the team a bunch of ******* is just ridiculous. Be negative if you want, but don't be an ass about your own negative opinions of the team.

F*** this. We're only 6 points behind St. Louis and still play them once. Crazier things have happened.

Give me a break man... Do you have any confidence in this team? I have never seen a wings team back away from a challenge... Besides I DO NOT want to start the 1st round on the road... You are discrediting the Pacific champ IMO... I believe we will win the 1st round it doesn't matter who it is

Let's just play whoever we play. There is no use trying to wish for a spot. It doesn't matter. I would rather beat all the good teams to win the cup then take the "easy" road there. Our job right now is to win games and get some kind of rhythm going. Who we play is who we play, bring on all takers. Every year we get into these discussions of who we would rather play, but honestly it doesn't matter in the least. Look at '06... any team is capable of beating any other team. When the playoffs start, every series is 0-0.

I love Nyquist...he hasn't scored yet but he's been in on several goals and he creates chances frequently! I'll be pissed if they send him back to GR. There is definitely some learning for him to do, but he deserves to be with the big club! With everyone healthy my lines would look like this: Nyquist-Datsyuk-Franzen Filpulla-Zetterberg-Hudler Bertuzzi-Helm-Cleary Miller-Abby-Eaves (Homer/Mursak/Emmerton) Lids-White Kronwall-Stuart Quincey-Smith (Ericsson/Kindl)

I kind of hope to see Homer in the press box once Franzen gets back. It would be a shame to see him in the line up over Nyquist. Homer is a warrior and he has served the team well over the years, but he has no place on the fourth line, or on any line really.

Smith being sent down???

"Wahhh! I got negged! I know more about hockey/Red Wings than ANYONE! You're all stupid!" Seriously, what a bitchfest. Are we really caring about the little red/green numbers on our posts enough to actually include them in discussion? Do you think there is some appeal process? The Wings have played pretty awful as of late, there is no denying that. Some believe it was all injuries, others thought it was the sorry play on the part of the healthy bodies, others still thought it was all bad bounces/awful luck/vindictive refs. Last night was nothing like the previous weeks' play. NOTHING. The Wings carried play the almost the entire game. Some of the goals against were bad bounces, others were a bit harder to swallow. However, the fact remains that the Wings showed up for 60 minutes and dominated play 5-on-5. I have bagged on the Wings play for weeks, mostly because they looked lazy and disinterested. Last night, the only doubt I really had was when they gave up that fourth goal, and that doubt was basically "we're carrying play, but no guarantee we get 3 more goals on Ward". The Wings DESERVED to win last night, which is something they haven't in a couple weeks, and better yet, did so despite bad bounces and a substantial deficit. Full value for the win.

The BEST case for us would be to play Chicago in the first round AND have home ice. Chicago sucks defensively and their goaltenders are not good. Nashville is way better defensively AND has a great goaltender. Chicago is 22nd in the league in GAA. Here's a list of teams in the Western conference with a worse GAA - Edmonton, Columbus. That's it. Defense wins Cups and Chicago has no defense. I'm worried about Renne stealing a game but Crawford or Emery, not so much. The Wings need to finish 4th, Chicago 5th and Nashville 6th. Plus, Chicago is a short flight and nothing would be more satisfying than to bounce them from the playoffs in the first round. Based on this, Nashville needs to lose tonight.

I heard on the HNIC hot stove the other week that for whatever reason, the Hurricanes are poised to make a big push for both Suter and Parise. Apparently they are good friends, and may consider signing with the same team if the prices are right. If Lids retires after this season (I think he will), Holland should really go after these guys. My dream; CAPGEEK.COM CAP CALCULATOR ROSTER My Custom Lineup FORWARDS Zach Parise ($6.700m) / Pavel Datsyuk ($6.700m) / Johan Franzen ($3.955m) Valtteri Filppula ($3.000m) / Henrik Zetterberg ($6.083m) / Todd Bertuzzi ($2.075m) Darren Helm ($2.000m) / Drew Miller ($0.838m) / Justin Abdelkader ($1.200m) Gustav Nyquist ($0.875m) / Cory Emmerton ($0.533m) / Daniel Cleary ($2.800m) Jan Mursak ($0.550m) / DEFENSEMEN Ian White ($2.875m) / Ryan Suter ($6.500m) Niklas Kronwall ($4.750m) / Brendan Smith ($0.875m) Jonathan Ericsson ($3.250m) / Kyle Quincey ($3.500m) Jakub Kindl ($0.883m) / GOALTENDERS Jimmy Howard ($2.250m) Joey MacDonald ($0.550m) Jordan Pearce ($0.525m) ------ CAPGEEK.COM TOTALS (follow @capgeek on Twitter) (these totals are compiled without the bonus cushion) SALARY CAP: $64,300,000; CAP PAYROLL: $63,267,045; BONUSES: $37,500 CAP SPACE (23-man roster): $1,032,955

Settling for 6th place would be disgraceful. I'm sure that isn't the mindset that the team has, and I won't think that way either.

I want the Red Wings to keep winning and develop/reacquire good habits going into the playoffs. You can't pick your poison. What happens when the Sharks finish 3rd instead and the Red Wings end up drawing the team that gives them the most fits in the first round? Nashville or Chicago would be much nicer for travel purposes as well. The Red Wings are as strong as any team in the West when healthy and when they turn up their intensity. If they can continue to build off last night's win, they could very easily secure 4th in the conference and get that potential extra game on home ice where they have flourished all season. If it means playing Nashville instead of maybe the Sharks, I will take that trade off. No disrespect to the Predators, but if the Red Wings can't beat them they sure as hell aren't getting through Vancouver, St. Louis, Pittsburgh or the Rangers to win it all. Wanting to lose games is playing with fire. The Red Wings have struggled enough for the past month. Play hard for seven more games and go into the playoffs with some momentum.

Thank goodness the national anthem is sung only pre playoff games here in finland, no anthem during the regular season which should be the way in NHL too.

Yeah, he could have #48's spot. The young fella can play.

For God's sake, just ******* win. The losing is starting to get on my ****. BTW, I thought I'd throw that line in there just to give you all something to goof about, since the happy feelings around here are lower than the barometer on the Titanic. So from me to you, enjoy. NOW WIN THE DAMN GAME, DETROIT.

Selleck is one of the toughest enforcers in the AHL people, Callahan is a rookie and small and he challenged one of the toughest in the league for a dirty hit. Good on him

Vancouver. I hate the Canucks more than any other team in the NHL. They make Wings' rivals look like heroes to me. I even cheer for the Hawks when they play each other. Besides, is there anything greater for Wings fans than seeing those two teams destroy each other? Seriously though, I used to live in Edmonton, close enough to Vancouver to have some of those knuckle-dragging idiots at Rexall for games. They are the worst fans in hockey. Imagine Leafs fans, but dumber. They have never won a god damned thing in their 40 years of existence, yet they parade around like their s*** doesn't stink. The riot this past summer exemplifies what their fan base is like. Pathetic.

Hi there, my name is Michael Petrella -- the author of the article in question. No one is saying he'll be playing for the Red Wings this season -- especially in the playoffs, where he'll be ineligible. And I'm sure that sending Mike Commodore to Tampa WAS doing a veteran a solid, giving him a chance to show he can still play in this league. But it's not like it would be the first time that Ken Holland made a brilliant foresight move. Getting a kid like this under contract would be a great coup, particularly with the imminent departures of Brad Stuart and (eventually) Lidstrom. Dan DeKeyser won't off-set the losses of those fine gentlemen, but it'd certainly help having a guy like that in the pantry when it comes his time to make the jump to full-time NHLer. If your "check the rules" was directed at me, you should ride your high horse elsewhere. I'm very familiar with the rules of the game and how these contracts work. Garnet Exelby will never play a game for the Red Wings, and I'd wager that you'd see a random kid like DeKeyser before you'd see him. Let's just hope it doesn't come to that in the playoffs, eh? =) If the GRIFFINS wanted to sign him to an Amateur Tryout Contract, he'd be eligible to play for them without having an NHL deal -- but why would DeKeyser do that deal if he's going to get 30 offers? If he's a big time Wings fan and wants to stay close to home, he certainly may... but let's not poo poo the article just because it's 'feel good.'