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Wow was at the game and am so impressed with Europe. They deserved that game more than Canada did Tatar looks like a new man was very impressed and Nielsen looks very good too, pumped for wings hockey

To be fair, I definitely said I'd rather he be on the team than either of them. Even if he's only AS good as them, he's still a better option because he's cheaper. I don't see how as team as absymal as ours was (at times) last year signs either of those two goofballs to a contract. Actually, I'd throw Glendening into that mix as well. I'm not going to be heartbroken if Mitch isn't on the team, in fact I think we've got MUCH better options for our fourth line, but Miller and Ott aren't it. I'm tired of our team's weird fetish for gritty, experienced, plugs on the fourth line. If we absolutely HAVE to have a gritty, shot blocking, pk guy on the fourth line I'd rather it be Mitch. Here's a novel idea, do away with this notion of a "matchup" fourth line. Let your best players play against other teams' best players, and put together a fourth line that could roast other teams' fourth lines. Then you might actually see "depth scoring", which would be helpful. In some ways (and I know I'll catch a ton of s*** for this) I blame the glorification of the Grind Line for this. People seem to think that the Grind Line was a matchup line, and that is some tried and true strategy for line deployment. It wasn't. Firstly, they hardly ever matched up against top lines on good teams. They were dangerous because they were WAY better than other depth lines. Hypothetically, if you did something like this, our fourth line would absolutely bury other depth lines on other teams. Tatar-Neilsen-Abby Z-Larkin-Vanek Nyquist-AA-Mantha Jurco-Helm-Sheahan

Don't get ahead of yourself. I think Callahan DOES deserve a shot at making the roster, and I think he'd be a cheaper alternative to Ott or Miller, but given the Wings offseason signings and preference for veterans he'll most likely be waived and sent to GR. Which I'm fine with. Sucks for him, sucks for the team (maybe) but he's also a 4th liner so I'm not going to get worked up about it. Callahan, for one, will not be contributing to our logjam at forward.

Because his genius GM keeps re-signing the grey haired boat anchor every year. There's no question Callahan brings more to the table than Miller, but we're the Red Wings, so loyalty trumps all.

Believe me, the joke is on you. I will leave it at that, I'm sure you can fill in the blanks.

Just a cheaper, younger, and likely a better option on the 4th line for us. Nothing more, nothing less. Other better options are probably Bertuzzi and Nosek.

I look at Callahan the same way I look at Andrej Nestrasil from a couple years ago. Is losing him some big loss? No. Is he anything more than a fourth liner at the NHL level? No. Did he produce more in 55 games last season than Drew Miller or Steve Ott have in their last 100 games? Absolutely. And if you can field guys like that for your 4th line more cheaply than you can sign either of those guys, why wouldn't you do it?

In my example above, Jurco's the most unproven of the proposed 4th liners. Otherwise Helm and Sheahan have shown decent ability to produce against tougher competition than a fourth line would provide. Not many 4th lines around the league actually play hockey. Most, like ours, are checking line guys who play the majority of the time in their own zone. I have plenty of faith (I acknowledge that it's just speculation) the 30+ points that Sheahan and Helm have proven capable of producing against tougher matchups would carry over against lesser lines...even despite the reduced ice time. 60 odd points out of your fourth line would be pretty nice.

I agree with all of this. There is no reason for shutdown lines anymore. Especially when you have this much depth up front. I'd rather see 4 lines that can play and keep the puck in the offense zone for extended periods of time than watch 1 or 2 lines constantly play in the defensive zone with no offensive skill other than dump and change.

The Janmark injury/surgery/missing time seems a little coincidental to really offer Holland "an out" for the trade. It was a bummer that Cole wasn't able to really play for the team and make a worthwhile contribution in the playoffs, but let's be honest some folks will never forgive or give Holland the benefit of the doubt no matter what the situation or what happens with hindsight. ...and like I said before, had we kept Janmark... he'd just be another log in the jam that's stuck somewhere between a second/third-line tweener.

I don't know that his time is past, but I agree that he's not a priority. And to be honest, it's not the end of the world if that's the case. As much as I'm annoyed by our organization's "grit" and "desire" and "veteran leadership" fetish, if you're going to prioritize those things I'd rather you do it on the fourth line than on the second or first (looking at you Brad Richards).

I don't agree with this. Tatar looks exactly like he always does...good. Tatar scored at almost exactly the same rate last year as he did two years ago. The only difference was his usage. And the narrative surrounding last year's season. Dumb s*** media types like Helene St. James and Ansar Khan kept repeating over and over that he and Nyquist had "down years". And pretty soon everybody starting thinking it. But it wasn't true at all. The only thing down was their ice time. It's the exact same thing that Phil Kessel had going on this season. Look back over his career and his production fluctuates with his ice time, but his RATE OF PRODUCTION remains relatively stable. So no, Tatar isn't a "new" man, Krueger was just smart enough to recognize how good he is and give him the minutes...unlike our coach who preferred to give those minutes to Helm and Richards lol.

Well, Callahan did play 1 NHL game and was pretty good from what I remember. I think injury played a role him not getting more of a shot. I think last year was the first time he wasn't waiver exempt. That would make the previous year his overripe stage when we give most prospects a shot in their last entry-level year. He was on a good pace (38pts in 48games), but he saved a goal with his face and was out the rest of the year with a concussion/broken jaw. Maybe some of you remember the picture of his bloody toothless face that he posted.

We should draft a defense-playing giraffe. He might feel at home.

Probably for the same reason it took Nyquist, Ouellet, and Howard so long to get their shots.

Marchand? He's not French

Babcock last time celebrating something tonight, he looks so happy. He knows it!

yeah that slow mtl defense is gonna get lit up I don't see them being much better than the wings unless Galchenyuk takes the next step Price is good but I don't see them magically being able to score goals this year especially with PK gone and that defense isn't very good. Not convinced Weber changes much on that team they'll be lucky if he matches PKs production and I can easily see Radulov just replacing Ellers production

Huge part of this teams success this year comes down to special teams. We're top 5 PP and PK we move way up in the standings last year. Come playoff time it is almost always the difference in a series

There may be a parade in Toronto for a hockey championship!