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Then I'll take your bet Joffrey...

A Lannister always pays his debts.

Yes Kronner as much as we love him. He IS a #2 d-man playing on our team as a #1 d-man. Nothing wrong with that tbh. Would love him to step it up this year big time but us being in a new "conference" and all. I don't know. New changes against new opponents aren't always instant. It goes both ways yes. Our team along with Kronner will be challenged big time again this year no doubt.

He may not be a franchise defenseman but he's our #1

By the definition that some have here of what constitutes a #1 defenseman, there are substantially less #1 defensemen than there are teams in the NHL.

Hey guys. I was wondering if Howard will be wearing different pads for the Winter Classic or just his regular ones. Also, it would be cool to see some early sketches for his helmet design (if anyone has seen anything). Not sure if anyone knows anything about this, but I am pretty excited to see what he will be wearing. Any thoughts? Thanks!

1. No one knows what Holland offered but it's believed to be in the 2.5 range 2. Sammy has a NTC 3. Of course Brunner said he loved playing here. You know who loves playing here? Datsyuk. He could have gotten extra money out of Jersey or 28 other teams next year too. Except he re-upped with the Wings for less than he would have got as a UFA in 2014. I don't buy all the "OMG I looooove Detroit" talk from Brunner.

Holland didn't want to go that high. Lets say he did sign him right now for 3 million, the Wings would be over the cap by 1 million. Plus three must sign RFA's need to get raises. And we would have 17 forwards signed counting Gustav and Andersson. He should trade Sammy for a 7th round pick. It's Hollands fault Brunner isn't a Wing, the guy loved playing here.

Maybe the money had little to do with it and he just wanted a team that would give him top line minutes.

Helm is also an addition we didn't have last year. Assuming he doesn't have yet another setback and can play this season, he's a huge part of this team.

Some of you think Brunner is going to put up more points than Alfredsson? Lmmfao What a joke.

If I asked you last offseason if the Wings should add a 6-2, 213 lb. winger who scored 53, 50, then 31 points in 51 games the previous 3 seasons on a 2 year deal for $3 mil per, wouldn't you have said that was a decent deal? The only reason so many people complained is because he was a "retread."

Eaves has a history of concussions? He had only one concussion that i remember. He got it when he broke his jaw and then had post concussion syndrome

If the choice is to have $5 mil in the pressbox or $5 mil cap space going to guys you waived and 2/3 of that being paid out in real cash, what do you think is the more financially sound option? If they're on the roster they can still be rotated in and out and get some value. If they're just cut loose, you get no value from them.

I like Meech! Good luck in the KHL!

Getting this dude back at 100% would be ENORMOUS.

If Pavel and Henrik keep going at this pace their numbers will be retired. Feds 91 will never be retired.

I think Kronner is a #2, but I thought he played ok last year as a #1. Perhaps he will be better adjusted to the big guns of the opponents this year and will keep more pucks out of the net.

We should have expected this season to be kind of a clusterf***. Lidstrom retired, they lost Stuart, then a third of the guys they expected to play on the top 3 lines all went down early. That's a lot of shuffling and guys playing new roles, with no camp and only a short season to get used to the changes. Kronwall had to adjust to being Nik instead of just Nik Jr., Ericsson needed to adjust to being #2, and they were working Smith in. There wasn't a single defenseman who had a partner they'd spent any significant time with before this year. It usually takes time to build chemistry and get your communication down. If you add Zetterberg having to adjust to being the captain and working 3 rookie forwards in too, that's about 3 normal offseasons worth of changes they had to make with no camp. Throwing Kronwall under the bus for "playing worse" as a #1 than he did as the #2 guy is kind of harsh. I expect him, and everyone else, to be much better next season after a full training camp and half a season of the changes.

When I think of a true #1 defensemen I think of a franchise defensemen. I'm talking Pronger, Lidstrom, Chelios, Niedermayer caliber. Kronner is good but he is not on that level.

Kronwall + Girardi = Cup

To me, there's more elite centers or goalies in the league than there are defensemen. Technically, every team has a number one defenseman in terms of his standing on the team, but very few of them are elite. So Kronwall is our number one, but he's not an elite defenseman.

Tough to say. In the playoffs, his offensive game disappeared completely. In the regular season, he was very good offensively, but a train wreck in his own zone too many times. He will play as a number one because we won't get anyone better. But realistically, he's a guy that should be your second best defenseman.

This is LGW, so anything short of going 82-0-0 and then a 16-0 run to the cup, coupled with a league record in fighting majors and trading Cleary for the 1st overall pick in 2014 will be an unmitigated disaster which can only be resolved by the instant dismissal of Holland and Babcock