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Ericsson, Dekeyser and Quincey are not Jack Johnson type defencemen. Especially not the calibre he was when he was traded. We also don't have the 8th overall pick to offer. As far as how many 2nd and 3rd round picks have worked out...in the Wings case the answer would be many. Ouellet, Sproul, Jurco, Tatar, Bertuzzi, Nastasiuk, Janmark etc. Just because better people have been passed over doesn't mean we didn't get good players with our selections. Hats off to the Kings for their success, but we don't need to emulate every team that wins the cup...The Wings system has been proven successful too.

I think 90% of people in this thread are arguing the same points to each other, but are actually in agreement with what Franzen is. Franzen is streaky. Franzen could be much better if he were more consistent. It is annoying for us as fans to watch Franzen not perform at the level we expect him to perform at, especially when the Wings need him to play better. Franzen's contract is long. Despite his shortcomings, he's still a solid point/goal scorer over an 82 game season, given his cap hit. It would be difficult to acquire a player with the same cap hit who could produce at a better level than Franzen over an 82 game season, at least right now. It isn't difficult to find someone more consistent than Franzen for a similar cap hit, although they will likely not put up the point total that Franzen does. It isn't difficult to find someone who gives it his all and tries to be a game-changer moreso than Franzen, with the same cap hit. Again, they might not have the points that Franzen has. Did I miss anything?

I don't understand why so many people are eager to get rid of Lashoff. He's 23 years old with one full NHL season under his belt. He won't set the world on fire, but he's big, pretty physical, and has a cap hit of $725,000 for the next two seasons. Lashoff will likely improve and will look better when the whole blueline gets more stability. He's worth keeping around for a couple seasons to see if he at least settles into a big physical bottom pairing guy. Kindl however, needs to go. The bummer is he's signed for three more years at $2.4 millions.

The Wings aren't in a position to need a small piece. Adding Boyle and Penner or another lower level free agent forward won't make them that much better. Moulson or Vanek plus a higher level D wound't get them over the hump either. At this point, regardless of where Zetterberg and Datsyuk are in their careers, the only two good options are either using the youth to trade for 2 top flight players, better than the guys in free agency, or letting the young guys develop. That includes Kindl and Lashoff staying, starting the year witha rookie on the 3rd pair, and giving Smith an extended shot at a top 4 role, and using Nyquist, Tatar, Sheahan, and Jurco a scoring line players along with Datsyuk, Zetterberg, Franzen, Weiss, and one other guy to fill out the top 3 lines. Then roll out a checking line of Miller-Helm-Abdelkader, or use Helm or Abdelkader on the 3rd line and plug Glendening or Andersson into the 4th line.

Franzen is actually quite good defensively

It may be the offseason but the negativity on here is sickening. I will bet any amount of money that that will not be the opening day roster. Say what you will about Mr. Holland but I would take him over just about any GM in the league and so would the rest of the league. I guarantee he makes a few key changes this offseason. 100%

http://mynhltraderumors.com My favorite rumor site. Some is accurate some speculation etc etc

Kings win largely due to the NHL officials STILL not getting the calls right for goalie interference. Lunquivst was clearly interfered with on that 3rd goal, but yet that goal counted, which paved the way for the comeback. The NHL consistently gets that call wrong and what a shame that that goal is what killed the rangers tonight, even though it should not have counted. I cannot count how many times we have been burned with that rule. IMO this is why coaches should have 1 chance a game to challenge a call.

It's kind of unbelievable that O'Halloran of all people didn't wave it off. The guy loves to insert himself into games by waiving off goals. Did they rule the Rangers D-man was forcing King into Henrik? It just goes to show the sad state of NHL officiating when O'Halloran makes the Cup finals. I miss McCreary.

Nash, what a great actor

That's what I was thinking as well. The LA/ANA game peaked my interest the most out of all the Stadium Series games this year, just because I wanted to see how it would go. Now that I've seen I don't care anymore. I think part of the spectacle is the snow and cold and people sitting through it to watch the game. The Winter Classic this year was unreal for that, I just wish I could go back and do it again!

I said Rangers in seven. The way the series has gone thus far, I think it's a real possibility.

Yzerman, Lemieux, etc may be working the front offices now, but they're hardly "businessmen", and they're no where near the calibre of business-savvy that Bettman is, and they never will be. They spent their lives training to play the sport, not studying the finer points of labor relations, business, law, etc from IV league schools. As a fan you're more than welcome to hate Bettman for the changes that have occurred to the game, the lockouts and so on. That is perfectly acceptable and understandable. But from a business perspective, this guy is phenomenal, and the owners of the teams (ie the guys in suits who's pockets are getting stuffed as a result of Bettman's work) resoundly agree, as he's been the recipient of nothing but extensions and raises since he first started. Yzerman and company don't have the background or the unbiased vision to do what Bettman has been doing. They wouldn't bring the type of money in that Bettman has, and consequently, the owners wouldn't hang onto these guys for very long before tossing them to the curb.

That is exactly what I said, word for word. You didn't put words in my mouth at all. All I did was point out that there are worse contracts out there, and that franzens contract gets way more flack than it should. Everyone wishes he would be more consistent, but the fact remains he isn't but he is still a very good two way forward and his defensive *** is extremely underrated around here. Take what you will from my post, I provided facts, you made up what I was thinking. I have you the info, you do with it what you like.

Hey luvmnger, I wish I could "like" that post multiple times. Well said. I don't necessarily agree with every single little detail but definitely agree with the overall idea there.

being a GM is a hard life of decisions. staying competitive is the primary goal. improving each year over the last. the decisions to "go for it" can cause long term consequences that can set a team back for many years if chosen poorly. ask the sharks about signing joe. some would consider him to be the " guy that changes everything" its all about percentages/chemistry/role play. a team of all-stars can win...but can they win it all? larry murphy was considered a wash out in toronto...hated by the fans...fills role in detroit and wins. point is....boyle can be a cog in the machine..."not the one", but a decisive role player. until nyquist/tatar arrived, the redwings have been a team with a few stars...and a pack of mid-level guys. they need to shed a few middling players and upgrade slightly on each position. is almquist/sproul/marchenko/ouellet better than kindl? is boyle/niskanen/markov better than lashoff? once you determine this to be true...you then weigh the variables. cost, trade, chemistry of position in system. would niskanen be a positive ( for the money) in a young team, being the go-to guy to bring outlet passes, run the 2nd powerplay? or would markov suit that position better? of course we can sit back and say yea...niskanen all day....but would that be worth it? younger guys would have to wait, be traded, or leave the wings for euro. i have decided to back away from stressing about moves the GM makes...the GM is doing what he can with what he can. i wanted OEL 5 years ago...i wish eaves wouldnt have been traded....i wanted burmistrov on a wing with pav...i wished we kept brunner.....i think almquist could be a great offensive guy....blah blah blah. it doesnt matter what i do, say, or wish. our gm will do what he thinks can work. we have to trust ken in his decisions just like we trust pavel with the puck. we have a great GM running the wings...he may be controvercial with some decisions ( see: cleary) but we dont know the locker room/office/payroll/personalitys, like he does. all i know is...we have never tanked a season to get the #1 draft pick. there is honor in life and being a wings fan, i hold that one in my pocket. ( im looking at you chicago/pittsburgh) thats my idea of a team buying the cup. (personally i think the first team out of playoffs gets #1 pick.= no more tanked seasons) EVER. finally...my overall opinion is that, dont trade the kids unless its almost a sure thing, boyle might be ok, niskanen might be great, kesler is a cancer, stasny would be epic. monster is good by me, ciao sammy, gonna miss you bert, cleary who?, quincey/kindl...well...you coulda shoulda woulda. and last but not least... prepare for mantha!

They won't have a rookie as the reserve. It would be stupid to have a kid who could be playing major minutes in Grand Rapids sitting in the press box on a regular basis. you see that from a bottom feeder occasionally, but Detroit won't do it. Lashoff will be kept as the #7. Kindl and Lashoff together wouldn't come close to bringing a second rounder anyway. Maybe a 4th.

Wow Pittsburgh that was incredible classless and also LOL at going from Shero to Rutherford a guy who hasn't done anything for the Hurricanes by not having a bad roster on paper. Also they should have fired Bylsma the day Shero was fired so he would have been able to look at other offeers, what a joke that organization has become *lol*

The best argument against signing Boyle for more than one season is that, barring injury, only one of our kids is going to get a legitimate shot over that span of time, assuming Smith isn't traded. I can respect that. At the same time, you have to weigh it against pushing for the Cup. It's not that I don't think we can push for the Cup with a couple of kids on the back end. I just think it's unlikely, versus what we might get from a name talent. Yeah, Boyle isn't the player he once was, but he's still valuable.

credit https://twitter.com/@AK47_Studios

It's the cap era, nobody gives a s*** about his actual salary. It's Mike Illitch's money, not ours. Cap hit is all that matters, not salary and you know that. Again, you're just using that figure to try and win an argument. As for the rest... David Clarkson got a 2.6 million dollar raise. Clowe, 1.2 million dollar raise. Bickell, 3.5 (coming off entry level contract) Perry, 3.3 (elite player and Hart trophy winner) Parise, 1.5 million dollar raise Letang, 3.7 million Phaneuf, .5 million These are the biggest overpayments you can think of off the top of you head and they're still not nearly as big as the 4.7 million dollar raise you're saying Niskanen will get. If you're so sure he's going to get so hugely overpaid, or at least more overpaid than your list here, I just want to know why? What's so much more extreme about this year than all those you mentioned here? Remember, the Parise/Suter UFA class was weak too and they don't get a 300% markup on their contracts.

Chocolate ice cream is terrible.

Someone insulting someone else is not "shocking" nor is it news. It's been going on since the dawn of time. If someone says something stupid, don't rush to blog about it. Deal with it like an adult. Did they call your daughter a fat cow? Call your son a limp-wristed nancy-boy? Deal with it, and if you're the parent, help your kid deal with it. Was what they said true? No? Teach your kid to ignore it (or give a smart-ass comment, if the kid is old and smart enough). Yes? Tell your kid that they'll either have to accept who they are even if others don't or change who they are. The choice is theirs. People will be mean jerks. People will say stupid things. It's not news. And after all these years in the history of the world, it's not "shocking".

Why not have all the games take place outdoors and have one indoor Heritage Classic?

Hey NHL how about this 15 outdoor games a year so all franchises are getting their NOVEL game, this league the board of governors and the PR are the biggest joke either. Instead of locking out the players one should lockout the leagues frontoffice, because they don't care about integrity nor tradition. our beloved game is going downhill fast.