Shaman

It's more like this: Holland: I want to make a trade GM of other team: What do you have in mind? H: A top 6 forward and a top 4 Dman GM: And what would you offer in return? H: Tootoo, Eaves and Samuelson GM: Click *Later that day* Secretary: Dan Cleary on line one Holland: Put him through Cleary: Ken lets talk H: Yes Mr Cleary! How does a new contract sound? (Seriously, does Cleary have the goods on Holland? I'm betting there are polaroids involved)

Sammy will be perfectly healthy all season, purely out of spite. Kinda like that 98 year old neighbor who only hangs onto life because they know it makes everyone else miserable.

The reason I ask is because I believe the CHL/AHL transfer agreement is in bad need of revision because it causes situations like this. Mantha would be, in my mind, better served playing in the AHL where he can play against better talent and adjust to a game against adults with more of an NHL pace.

Question: Is this domination good for his progression as a player? There comes a point where being the big fish in the small pond isn't always good.

I know its been a really long time since the Wings had a high end defensive prospect come up, but, very rarely do D-men start off being worth much... I believe Smith has to be considered a work in progress for at least another season before you can think he's worthless.

I would still disagree, the problem in my opinion is there is absolutely no one on the team that is a goal scorer. Without someone willing to take the pass from the D or the playmaking forwards all the PP QB in the world won't make much difference.

Nah, for a guy like Quincey, proven top 4 d-man a first round pick, or a prospect like MacKinnon would be more realistic

No doubt, their GA is insane, especially for team that is lacking on the back end.

Yeah, the problem with Detroit isn't defensive players, the team is pretty good on the backend and between the pipes. Detroit needs a top 6 forward who can score goals (too many playmakers on this team). Add to it he will get 7.5-8 million on the open market and as I said, his production to dollar ratio will make Franzen look like Ovie.

A guy who makes Franzen look like Ovie? Not for almost 6 million a year.

No, having scoring depth can better address that problem. IE don't have 1/4 of your team be named Cleary, Samuelson and Bertuzzi.

Only argument, as I am sure you would have predicted, is that I think the grade for Abdelkader is a bit generous for a guy who is on pace for 23 points while playing with players on pace for 91 pts each. But I do agree with what you said, if he were on the 3rd line as an energy/depth scoring, he would be having a really good season.

Yes, unless he is called up to the Red Wings he has to stay in the Q. There is a transfer agreement between the CHL and the AHL that stipulates a minimum age before they can transfer.

I've seen prettier things on the side of the highway.

Yeah, status quo, the ship that was sailed into mediocrity.

Have you not heard Micky every game between February and April? About how teams wish they had won these games in October so they weren't in scramble mode down the stretch? Babcock is pretty much acting like a fool. He has enviable talent in Nyquist and Tatar, and yet he plays scrubs like Cleary, Samuelson and Bertuzzi.

Took less than 2 games, but Cleary is now a first liner.

The issue is that Bertuzzi, Samuelson and Cleary are not better than Tatar or Nyquist. So Babcock is not icing the best possible team, he's icing a markedly worse team.

My top picks: #1 Cleary: (did anyone who knows me not see that coming?) He is older, slower, more injury prone. And he's blocking younger players from getting ice time. #2 3rd line wingers: Bert should either be on a line with Dats or be sitting in the presser. Sameulsson... well, I am counting of the fact hes fragile and will end up on the LTIR. #3 Abdelkader: Sure he can crash a bit, but, realistically, hes not a power forward by any stretch, and the more that become obvious the less people will like him on the first line. #4 Alfie or Smith: If either of them don't live up to expectations, I could see them losing popularity fast.

It would be a little less ironic if you spelled you're right.

So the bottom 6 is a trainwreck.

Never had strong feelings one way or the other for Parros, other than his mustache, he was pretty much a generic goon. That being said, when I saw this on tv my heart skipped a beat, because it never ends well when you fall on your head like that. I was glad to hear it was *only* a concussion, because it really looked a lot worse.

If Cleary starts on the third line I would argue then he is in fact occupying a roster spot that Tatar should be in. If Cleary were a fourth liner and shuffled in low scoring affairs to replace Abdelkader on the top line, meh, I could live with it. But if hes on Andersson's wing over Tatar, that's where I start having a huge problem.

Yeah, when he's not injured, or being rubbed out of the play, he's got a little grit and screens the goalie. That'd be great if the team had a guy like Lidstrom/Rafalski/Shanahan/etc who was able to put it on net. This team has a lot of pass first guys, and since its cleary (a screening player) vs Tatar (a guy who likes to shoot more than anyone else on the team) I'd go with Tatar.

No, Cleary has some type of blackmail on Babcock. Or at least how he plays Cleary, it would seem that way.