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I hope that those of you condemning Kesler for his trash talk never sit close enough to the ice to hear how players talk to each other. Ryan Kesler's the man.

Dude, go back and watch some old Yzerman clips. He had a mouth for miles -- there is a reason he never won the Byng, and I doubt he defies your definition of "classy."

I wasn't offended by the information he shared but that he decided to be a smug ******* about it. A public service announcement? Since when did it become your job to school all of us on the CBA? Apparently he and Konnan are the ones easily offended by our ignorance and naiveté since they devote so much of their free time to making sure we understand how futile it is to hope for such things.

Kesler sounds like a complete ****** bag. For someone who is considered a star player, he certainly doesn't act like it. His antics remind me more of Matt Cooke or Sean Avery. I just can't imagine any of the Wings stars chirping someone about an injury, let alone flopping all over the ice. Anyway, I just hate Kesler, but I guess the real lesson here is that Clowe should've kept his mouth shut...

I like Draper, but he's like the relative that doesn't know when to leave the party. I'd rather have a younger, bigger forward taking up 4th line minutes. We need to get younger as a team. And that was not easy for me to type.

Veteran Detroit-born center Doug Weight has announced his retirement from the great game we all love. He hoisted the Stanley Cup with the Carolina Hurricanes in the 2005-2006 season. Weight recorded 278 goals, 755 assists, for a total of 1,033 points over 1,238 games. Amazing seeing all of these guys we've grown up with dropping like flies

We want fishsticks, we want fishsticks...

this jersey is freakin' awesome. i don't care what anyone says.

I really don't get the hate for Kesler for talking trash on the ice. Have none of you played sports before?

Omg... RETIRE ALREADY! Cripes

hey guys first of all id like to say plz shoot me dead cuz i live in vancouver and cant stand these bandwagon freaks.. now to my topic discussion... how many pple here think its a possibility that Rafalski pulls a scott neidermyer in dec and un-retires and comes back to play for a mil or under a mil ??? this is Detroit you just never know what there tryna pull this way gives raffy almost 8 months off! alot of time to heal that knee and back.. and come play for cheap and allows Detroit to pursue a good Dman right now.. just a thought? if he cud sacrifice 6 mil and put Detroit ahead of himself i could tottaly see him playin the last half of the season for a mil or under and then retiring... thoughts..??

i bet all the americans on here were cheering hard when Kesler was a beast during the Olympics.

I kind of like those old yellow Kings jerseys. That mustard colored "Snaggletooth" Preds 3rd jersey is just hideous. Seriously who approves these? And thanks for sharing, that was pretty funny.

A 5'5" power forward? Awesome.

He was a cross between Sandy McCarthy and Darren Pang.

Because they're all eligible for salary arbitration (which protects a player from offer sheets), and if these players are not signed by July 1st, it's likely that will be taken to arbitration (the arbitration award is not likely to be as high as what exposing such a player to offer sheets could drive their salary to). A team has the option to take a player to arbitration once per each player's career (a tool to protect a valuable player from offer sheets during their most valuable RFA period). A player can still choose to go to arbitration any time he comes up as RFA. This has been a public service announcement. Edit: more information from post below I was on my way out the door when I wrote that, so I'll offer a little more insight to the process here now that my brain isn't quite as numb as it was earlier. RFA: A drafted player may opt to become an unrestricted free agent either when they're 27 or when they've acquired 7 years of NHL experience (10 games or more played counts as a year of experience when determining free agency). Their rights can free up earlier if the NHL team in possession relinquishes them. Offer sheet: Any RFA may be given an offer sheet unless they're protected (either by the team or player) via arbitration. If (and only if) a player accepts the offer sheet, the team in possession of his rights has a chance to match. The match is binding, and so the player cannot be given another offer sheet. If the team in possession declines to match, then the offering team relinquishes draft picks based upon salary. If the team is not in possession of their own draft picks needed for the next draft, they cannot make the offer. They must have the picks for that draft and it must be their own picks, not ones in the same round acquired via trade. Additionally, a player may not be traded in the year in which they signed an offer sheet (whether they're on the new team or on the old team that matched). Here's the chart for offer sheet compensation for this year (based upon league average salary): $1,034,249 and below -- Nothing $1,034,250 to $1,567,043 -- 3rd round pick $1,567,044 to $3,134,088 -- 2nd round pick $3,134,089 to $4,701,131 -- 1st and 3rd $4,701,132 to $6,268,175 -- 1st, 2nd, 3rd $6,268,176 to $7,835,219 -- Two 1sts (sequential years), 2nd, 3rd $7,835,220 and above -- Four 1sts (sequential years) Arbitration: If a player signs a contract after age 20 (meaning they turned 20 before free agency IIRC) then they are eligible for arbitration any year afterwards in which they are an RFA. If they sign before 20, then they are eligible for arbitration for 4 years after they signed. However, an accrued NHL season (>=10 games) takes a year off of this period. If the player is eligible for arbitration, he may elect to go to arbitration any time he's RFA. Deadline for submission of arbitration is July 5th. If a team files for arbitration with a player, the rules are a bit different. The team may only do this once during that player's career. They cannot ask for a salary reduction greater than 15%, and any contract awarded during this period is binding. If it was the player that brought them to arbitration, and not the team, the team can opt to step away from the contract (and automatically do if they don't accept the contract within 48 hours of the verdict). So what effect does this have on Doughty, Weber, and Parise? All are eligible for salary arbitration. In the case of all three, the team is eligible to file. In the case of all three of these players, if they are not signed by July 1st it likely means that they want significant money and they were not able to work out a deal with the team. If this is the case, the teams in question will most likely take them to arbitration. Remember, any salary offered under a $7,835,220 cap hit is worth two 1sts, a 2nd, and a 3rd at max. Even if those are likely valuable 1sts, it could be argued that is worth it to acquire any of these players. Seeing as their teams would not want to be forced into signing a contract that high (or lose the players for two 1sts, a 2nd, and a 3rd), and that arbitration will likely not award any of them a salary that high, this greatly increases the chances of all three of these players going to arbitration via the team if they do not have a deal worked out by July 1st. I hope this provides additional insight into the process for some people.

I didn't read through this whole thread, so forgive me if it's posted elsewhere, but if you don't want to have to keep searching for news on the move from Atlanta to Winnipeg, just go to this website to see if the move has been made yet: http://www.didthethrashersmovetowinnipegyet.com/

He was very valuable in these playoffs , i felt that when we changed him for miller in game 3 are 4th line had so much more jump. Like you said he's good at faceoffs, i really disagree that his speed is declining the guy can still fly, muck it up in the corners, plays hard every shift, can Pk (even though he doesn't much). And he plays great with both helm and eaves. i absolutely love that line. He deserves to be here, and on the plus side he will be cheap. TBH i would rather have him then miller as i believe he brings more energy to the table.

Sign him as a face-off man at the very least. We need someone who can take those damn things. I say he still has some value to the team at this point. One more year isn't going to make or break the season for us and I don't think he's taking a spot away from anyone else who's really ready right now.

Predators' Trotz: We'll match any offer for Shea Weber one could argue that what else should we expect Trotz to say. another way to look at it is, teams can still get Weber to sign an offer sheet so that Nashville has to pay more for him than they planned to, perhaps losing the money to pay Suter or Rinne.

FORWARDS Valtteri Filppula ($3.000m) / Pavel Datsyuk ($6.700m) / Tomas Holmstrom ($1.875m) Johan Franzen ($3.954m) / Henrik Zetterberg ($6.083m) / Daniel Cleary ($2.800m) Patrick Eaves ($0.750m) / Brooks Laich ($2.400m) / Jussi Jokinen ($2.300m) Justin Abdelkader ($0.787m) / Darren Helm ($0.912m) / Todd Bertuzzi ($1.937m) Jan Mursak ($0.550m) / Drew Miller ($0.750m) DEFENSEMEN Niklas Kronwall ($3.000m) / Nicklas Lidstrom ($5.000m) Joni Pitkanen ($4.500m) / James Wisniewski ($4.550m) Jakub Kindl ($0.883m) / Brad Stuart ($3.750m) GOALTENDERS Jimmy Howard ($2.250m) / Joey MacDonald ($0.550m) CAPGEEK.COM TOTALS (follow @capgeek on Twitter) (these totals are compiled without the bonus cushion) SALARY CAP: $63,500,000; CAP PAYROLL: $59,283,711; BONUSES: $0 CAP SPACE (22-man roster): $4,216,289

Niedermayer retired because he wanted to spend more time with his family. Rafalski retired because his body was broken. Not a chance.

ya, and only 1, ONE of those Cups were won with small skilled forwards. So take your head out of your other ear so you can hear. Oh, and on that Cup team, the two recently drafted forwards to actually contribute? Abdelkader and Helm, far from your small, skilled, soft player. Example of a player who was that way? Ritola, and he contributed himself right off the team. The list of small, soft players Holland has drafted goes on, and for the most part the have yet too, and may never make this team. I get the shakes when I think of this team when the grittiest player is Datsyuk. Image this line, Mursak - Hudler - Tatar. EEEEEEGAD! Listen, I don't claim to know as much as Holland, but as a fan of this team since 1979, I have seen the makeup change a few times, and right now, this team is FAR from winning another Cup, especially if they don't get bigger and tougher. I am not saying a team full of enforcers, but a team full of Hudler's and Mursak's isn't gonna win you a Cup. I just hope that Holland trends the way of Sheahan rather that the way of Hudler... edit: You Avatar says it all...unfortunately...Of course I can deal with Filppula as long as he plays on Datsyuk's wing. Holmstrom and Rafalski are here til the retire, Hudler...... Oh Father, Thou Art In Heaven, Please Tell Holland To Trade Hudler, Please....

Hudler homerism is starting to border on ridiculous now, did you guys grow up together?...Hudler's signing was just as unsuccessful as Modano's stint, he was useless for the majority of the season and failed to contribute anything during the most crucial series of the playoffs. If he manages to stay on this team another season, you'll be the only one celebrating .

1. Let Ericsson walk 2. Let Ericsson walk 3. Let Ericsson walk 4. Trade Hudler