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We finally get a big scoring winger, I'm not moving that kid until I know what I've got in him. I'd rather lose Nyquist or Tatar than Jurco. He'll end up better than both in a few years when he's their age. Nyquist, on the other hand, has the highest value he'll ever have. Riding an unsustainable shooting percentage into "the next big thing" territory. He'd be the guy I'd move, but not for Yandle (who is awesome but too expensive). Anyway long story short, moving Jurco is a bad idea. Big, fast, skilled, physical, scoring forwards don't come along often. Small, skilled, euros with puck skills are a dime a dozen.

Wrong again...Neither guy sucks...Both are above average players, the difference between them is one gets paid twice as much as the other and was very recently the highest paid player in the league. Also Franzen didn't play much with Datsyuk or Zetterberg this past season...his most common linemates were Nyquist and Legwand

It could be worse. The Kings are raising their Stanley Cup banner in a home opener against the Sharks.

The more I think about it I think Thornton is a bad idea. We would be competing with other teams to trade talented youth of the future for a player that may start to decline at any moment - too much of a gamble (we are essentially trading for a player that will never be better than he is now). I would rather trade more for a player that could have a long term future with the franchise. Could be a youngish Dman, could be someone like O'Reilly, could be anyone with a long term future. I think Kesler (age 30) is as old as I would entertain trading assets for at this point. P.S. does O'Reilly have to stay with the Aves for another season after arbitration before being traded again? I remember last time he went through arbitration he couldn't be traded for a while.

Great signing. Mrazek will get 60+ games for the Griffins next year. Its is last year of AHL eligibility so I am glad to see him in Grand Rapids for his final year. I would rather see him play 60 games in the AHL as opposed to 20 in the NHL as a backup. After next year, Mrazek will be with Detroit and competing for Howards job.

Umm franzen played in 28 games less and had 10 points less. That seems to me like franzen was the better ppg player no matter what way you slice it.

Its called picking one specific states to prove a point and ignoring all other stats. Something a few people around here like to do. If we got Richards he would be on more than mule.

While Richards has a slightly better defensive rating by that advanced stat, Franzen has a far better offensive rating by the same stat and is ranked as the better player overall. Here are their ratings last season in those stats. HarD (Defensive rating) - Richards 7.9 Franzen 5.3 HarO (Offensive Rating) - Richards -0.6 Franzen 4.0 HarT (Total Ranking) - Richards 3.7 Franzen 4.7 Overall Quality of Teammates Richards 9.7 Franzen 2.7 Overall Quality of Competition Richards -2.1 Franzen -1.6 Over the past 2 years the gap widens. HarD (Defensive rating) - Richards 14.5 Franzen 27.3 HarO (Offensive Rating) - Richards 5.8 Franzen 8.7 HarT (Total Ranking) - Richards 10.1 Franzen 18.0 Overall Quality of Teammates Richards 13.9 Franzen 6.7 Overall Quality of Competition Richards -2.6 Franzen -0.7 Here is the comparison over the past 3 seasons. HarD (Defensive rating) - Richards 5.8 Franzen 32.9 HarO (Offensive Rating) - Richards 6.6 Franzen 19.7 HarT (Total Ranking) - Richards 6.2 Franzen 26.3 Overall Quality of Teammates Richards 5.3 Franzen 11.9 Overall Quality of Competition Richards -2.2 Franzen 0.3 I don't think advanced stats are going to help you in making a case that Richards is the better player, especially when he was making twice as much money as Johan.

The Wings had Boston's number in the regular season; no reason they can't get back to that.

There's no identity crisis. There's no philosophical quandary. We simply don't have enough top-level talent. Our top four has gone from Lidstrom-Rafalski/Kronwall-Stuart to Kronwall-Ericsson/DeKeyser-Smith. Our top six has gone from Datsyuk in his prime, Zetterberg in his prime, Franzen in his prime, Hossa in his prime, Holmstrom, and Filppula to Datsyuk at 35 (and coming off an injury-ravaged season), Zetterberg at 33 (and coming off an injury-ravaged season), Franzen's corpse at 34 (and coming off an injury-ravaged season), the ghost of Stephen Weiss (RIP), Abdelkader, and...Nyquist? And Jimmy Howard has never made it past the second round.

As long as it isn't mantha, nyquist jurco or Tatar

I just may go to that home opener. Wings did have Boston's number during the regular season and there is no reason that they can't beat them.

Good post, but has the front office realised this too? I would love the Wings to play a more physical style, or at least show that they could stand up for themselves (like Smith has done this year, although he probably should learn not to challenge Chara).

Exactly, and I think it works better this way. It gives Jimmy one more year to prove he's worth the big contract he signed, right before Mrazek gets hot on his tail. And if he falters, then it's game on. Does anyone think that Howie's contract would be moveable if Mrazek proved he was better? Good on Gus for re-signing though, better the devil you know….

Like his shutout in the Wings only win of the series?

Another question I've been asking myself when it comes to what we need/want this offseason is this: What kind of team are we, and what kind of team do we want to be? It's clear that there's a lot of talent available this offseason. A whole lot of teams aren't happy with the outcomes of their seasons and are looking to shake up their rosters. But just because a guy is talented, or has played the right role in the past, doesn't mean he's a fit. For a few years now I've felt we were a team without an identity. Not skilled enough to be a skill team, not gritty enough to be a gritty team, and not big enough to be a power team. Now we've got some young talent coming along which displays some skill, and was drafted as such. Do we keep going in that direction and try to overwhelm teams with pure skill? Do we augment it with power? Do we augment it with grittiness? Personally, I think we can't expect playoff success on pure skill. Teams keep us to the outside and block shots. And we don't have the core go completely over to power like a Boston or Anahiem (whose best players are huge). I think the smartest move is to go gritty. Replace just a little bit of high end skill for fast, tough, rough guys. Be like a better version of Montreal or Columbus. Which would preclude acquiring guys like Thornton or Perron. But that's just me.

Paul Statsny - -the man with the difficult name -- would be available for nothing but cash, he is also younger so I would prefer him. Giving Jurco for Thornton would be a huge mistake. Also keep in mind the guy has a no movement clause and I highly doubt he would waive it for another team entering the twilight and soon rebuildtime.

How many of the good or great coaches past or present are former star players? I don't know why so many fans think that good player=good coach. Chelios has a cushy front office job now. Why would he want to go through the grind and travel demands that come with being a coach? Same with Lidstrom. He left because he wanted to return to Sweden and spend time with his family? Why would he want to come back and coach?

Also, yeah he had a few bad games, when the team was playing terribly, but for one month or so, he was playing as well as any net minder in the league and he made a couple of the best saves I've seen in a long time. He also did well against Boston in my opinion. He's bound to be inconsistant at times, if he wasn't, he wouldn't be signing as a back up and he wouldn't be $1.5 mill per year.

In all honesty, I didn't remember making that post until I checked my notifications.

pretty cheap cap hit: check one year contract: check solid enough history between the pipes to show he can stop the puck when needed: check significant history of injury, so Mrazek gets plenty of time to play in the NHL: check I can dig it, although I gotta say after watching Gus play with us and seeing how often he loses sight of the puck, or how frequently it slips behind him, or how regularly he is caught out of position, I'm still baffled to this day how he puts up the numbers he has.

I think for me, the thing about Mrazek that has me so high on him, is that he's absolutely excelled at every level. He barged his way into the GR and seized the number 1 job there and has been awesome for 2 seasons. He was terrific in the World Juniors (Goalie of the tournament I believe), and every time he's got the call to the Wings, he's played great too. Everytime you hear anyone talk about him, they also mention how determined, competitive he is and how he wants to be the best guy on the ice every night. That kind of attitude combined with the skill he has shown so far, as we all know, separates the good from the great. Obviously he may never put it all together on a consistent basis, or he may win multiple Vezinas. We're going to find out though for sure.

Mrazek needs to play. If Howard is healthy, he's playing 60 games or so, leaving less than 25 for the backup. It's not very often that a kid with waiver exemptions is brought in to backup an established starter. It also gives them a 3rd goalie that they can trust to com in and play if there is a long term injury. Would you really like to see a tandem of Mrazek and McCollum for a month if Howard goes down with a serious injury? This way Mrazek can come up and split time with a guy who has shown he can be at least adequate in Gustavsson.

If Winnipeg is willing to trade anyone, I'd rather have Wheeler. He's a MUCH better player than Kane, though I've got nothing against Kane either. Also, I'd be reluctant to put too many eggs in Pulkkinen's basket. He's got a monster shot but he seems to be a one trick pony. I know you've got to give talent to get talent so I'm not going to shut down people's suggestions, but if it were humanly possible I'd MUCH rather trade Pulks than Tatar.

If the Avs draft Griffin McCarty, I'm checking myself in to asylum.