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An NHL player aquired for zero costs in assets? Oh the humanity!

Ah yes, the infamous hype machine. Look at all the hype everybody: “Can he adjust and play the North American game? We’re going to give him every opportunity. He’ll be a top-six forward to start with us and see where he goes with us.'' And then there's this, "I went to the World Championship and watched this guy practice every day, I watched him play,'' Babcock said. “I stood in the hallway and let him walk by me. Now, does that mean he’s any good? We think he is. Have I been wrong before? Many times". Yes the hype is overwhelming, if by hype, you mean measured optimism mixed with a heavy dose of professional caution. Hype is when you compare Sidney Crosby fresh from the CHL, to Wayne Gretzky. This is not hype, you're just being a Negative Nancy. Also, it's not like the Wings have never sent guys straight from the European leagues to the NHL before. You know, guys like Konstantinov, Fedorov, Lidstrom, Zetterberg, and Datsyuk.

Guys! Duh! The Obvious choice is Lidstrom!

Ken Holland has done a fantastic job keeping the Detroit Red Wings in playoff contention. That is HUGE! Especially considering they never get top 10 picks! I'm not optimistic Holland will land both Parise and Suter, and he might not land either, who knows. People need to remember there are 29 other teams that are going to throw the bank at these guys and offer them things Holland just can't/shouldn't offer them like Captaincy. If Shero lands both, then they will be the Blackhawks in a year or two where they will need to have a firesale and we will all point and laugh. It will be fun =) What I am most impressed with is his patience. I read some of the impatient (blow up the team) posts on LGWs and I see how bad things could be if he was impatient. He realizes the young talent is GOLD, so keeping them is imperative. However, I do get a kick out of some of the people who criticize Holland when they think Holland can trade scraps for young star talent, and when he doesn't, they think he's a complete failure as if teams are dying for Holland to grace them with our junk players for their up-and-coming stars. All-in-all, Holland already proved he's a legacy. He's one of the key reasons why Detroit has been a powerhouse team for so long. No only his GM'ing skills, but his behind the scene and drafting skills as well. I'm sure there are 29 other NHL franchises that would LOVE to have Holland on their team. Yes, he's that good. If Holland can't get Parise or Suter, then I'm sure their is a logical reason why whether it be money or can't promise them special things like Captaincy, or maybe they just don't want to play here... That said, I'm sure Holland will, however, find the "right" players and build a playoff team this upcoming season.

Agreed. These premadonnas are a diamond dozen. It's a doggy dog world out there so these kids shouldn't be taking stuff like this for granite.

I have it on good authority that Brandon Prust will be a Red Wing in 2012-13. Take that for what it is, coming from a 26 year-old native of London, Ontario.

Larionov in any coaching role would be magical. One of the smartest people, let alone players, in hockey.

No s***. Makes you wonder what an acceptable FA acquisition would look like if this one is already considered stillborn by some.

Except Brunner can actually skate. Leino is a pretty bad skater and can't stay on his feet if anyone lays a finger on him. Brunner is praised for his speed and his willingness to forecheck and play gritty. Also, Leino had a bit of a one hit wonder season the year before he came to NA, but Brunner has played at a high level for 3 straight years including 2 good world championship performances. I really don't see any glaring weaknesses in Brunner's game. His booming right-handed shot fills a need along with his speed. If you believe in NHL equivalences he's a 40 point NHL player based on his numbers in Switzerland. Seems like he's a safer bet than Leino and might have more upside.

I don't feel bad for anyone from Columbus!

Mark Streit was 28 when he came to the NHL. Like Brunner, he was the best swiss player in the swiss league at that time. Like Brunner, his lack of size and weight were criticized. But like Brunner, he made his reputation in the swiss league for his speed, his skills, his intelligence of play and his powerful wristshot. Looking at what Mark Streit has done in the NHL makes me positive for Brunner to find his way to emerge as a regular NHLer. He's not the next Ovechkin or Stamkos, but I'm sure he can hit the 25 goal mark with a good playmaker centering him.

Awesome new layout! I love it! Thanks, Matt! Also, if Holland bombs out on July 1st, I vote to replace Franzen with Jimmy Howard on the forum image.

Chelios? I would love to see Larionov or Fetisov but I think they are happy with what they are doing...

I'd say its probably a lateral move. They say he's great with the youngsters, so this makes a lot of sense for the Wings organization. Someone with that skill needs to be in GR more than Detroit, and I anticipate that the Wings will benefit greatly from this move. What D-coach candidates do we have? Cheli?

From my understanding and reading of peoples thoughts on message forums is that doesn't count because Zetterberg and Datsyuk magically fell into the laps of the Red Wings organization and they were flukes that cannot and will not ever happen again. But yeah, I pretty much agree with your point. Holland can overcome this. Maybe he won't land Suter, but he'll find the parts to keep this team going. Smith along with defense by committee might be the era Red Wings are heading, which is fine. Teams win cups playing defense by committee. It seems to be the new trend in the cap era.

isnt wasnt garth snow it was the owner charles wang .... and howson should be fired on the spot for refusing such an offer that team could of used every single one of those picks and gotten a good prospect at 4 spot that being said he fired his whole scouting staff after the draft

Holland had to deal with the retirement of the team's most legendary captain (Yzerman) at the very start of the cap era. He managed to put a Cup winner together just two years after Yzerman's retirement. Does that count as adversity?

Isles can easily beat that proposal and Anaheim would rather trade to the East. You are going to need to include some Smith's and Jurco's and probably swap Franzen with Filpulla. Nyquist is going to be a fine player, but it's going to take a lot more than a player on a long contract nearing the end of his prime, a prospect and a late 2nd rounder. If Anaheim are bumping heads with Bobby Ryan, then why would they want "lazy" Franzen (as you put it)? I think Filpulla would be the forward they'd want coming back plus some high-end prospects like Smith and Jurco/Jarnkrok and possibly Wings 2013 1st round pick (which is suppose to be a great draft year). Face it dude, teams (especially in the West) aren't interested in helping Ken Holland and making the Wings better for scraps, parts, and pieces. They will want to make their team better as well... especially when they can get MUCH better offers from Eastern (non-rival) teams. EDIT: So assume Holland does what you want by overpaying for Bobby Ryan with Filpulla, Smith, Jurco/Jarnkrok, and the 2013 1st rounder. Parise re-signs with the Devils, and Suter goes to Minny, how are the Red Wings better? They basically downgraded for Ryan by adding Filpulla and Smith in the trade. Wings defence is weaker than ever. I would expect Holland to get fired if he ruined this team like that. It could work out if Holland can land Suter AND Weber... if not, it's a huge FAIL. Bottom line, that is not worth the risk....

This is rubbish. Parise and Crosby went to the same school but they were there at different times and never played together. We can out spend the Pens.

I still think we land both. All we know is that Parise went to the same school as Crosby, but that doesn't mean they like each other or are friends. Holland just has to realize that it's okay to slightly overpay for great talent.

Due to popular request I've added back the Red Wings news headlines feature that was present in the last message board version. This one comes with a few differences, however. You can see it by scrolling to the top of the page and clicking on the "Show News" tab. The page content pushes down slightly to display three different sets of news feeds: Detroit Media, Red Wings Bloggers, and Wings on the Web. The "Detroit Media" is a feed displaying the most recent articles from the Detroit Free Press, Detroit News, and mLive (Booth Newspapers). The "Red Wings Bloggers" feed displays the latest stories from The Malik Report, Red Wings Central, Abel to Yzerman, The Production Line, DetroitHockey.net and others (as many as I could get working -- some I wanted to add didn't have valid RSS feeds). The final "Wings on the Web" column is a Google News feed that gathers the most recent headlines across the web that are focused on the Red Wings. I hope you guys like the addition, which is expanded greatly from what the past version was!

I would love to do this... 1. Trade Filppula, Cleary, Ferarro and a 1st round pick to Phoenix for Keith Yandle. 2. Sign Ryan Suter ($6,500,000) 3. Sign Zach Parise ($6,500,000) 4. Sign Damien Brunner ($900,000) 5. Re-sign Abdelkader ($1,500,00) 5. Let Hudler walk. 6. Let Quincey walk. Nyquist($875,000) - Datsyuk($6,700,000) - Parise($6,500,000) Franzen($3,954,545) - Zetterberg($6,083,333) - Brunner ($900,000) Bertuzzi($2,075,000) - Helm($2,125,000) - Eaves($1,200,000) Miller($837,500) - Abdelkader($1,500,000) - Mursak ($550,000) Emmerton($533,333) Kronwall($4,750,000) - Suter($6,500,000) Yandle ($5,250,000) - White($2,875,000) Smith($875,000) - Ericsson($3,250,000) Kindl($883,333) Howard($2,250,000) MacDonald($550,000) CAP : $70,000,000 (probably not) CAP HIT : $61,017,044 CAP ROOM : $8,982,956 looks dam good to me. thoughts?

Except he loves to take dumb penalties and his defensive game is still pretty rough.

I like what I see in this here highlight video, yalls... Article: Nicklas Lidstrom Retirement Adds a Wrinkle to Justin Schultz Free Agency Question is, will we have to overpay for this kid, with the little Edmonton/Vancouver/Toronto/NYR/etc bidding war that is about to open?

Wasn't the "Diamond Dozen" a short lived supergroup formed by David Bowie in the late seventies? I bet Snoop would know. It's his world after all.