VM1138

I watched women's hockey once. They were really slow and fell down a lot. That was in the Olympics maybe? Or some other tournament. 101 points in 41 games is....sheesh. Does that speak well of her or poorly of her competition?

I bet Pittsburgh gets him.

Yeah, Jagr would not be long term, no matter what he says. That's got to lower Dallas' asking price.

If they needed to sweeten the pot, I'd add a draft pick for Gaborik. Then trade Quinvey for a pick or, if lucky, a forward.

I'm actually pretty excited about this. I know he's not a game-changer, but he's a good player when healthy, and we never got a chance to really see him yet. So...I hate to say it but it's sort of like a trade deadline acquisition, haha. If we sign DeKeyser and promise him playing time, we'll have 9 defensemen. Someone's gotta be traded. I'm not sure if Lashoff is waiver eligible or not, but it doesn't seem fair to send him down after how he's played this year. In my mind, we play Kronwall, Ericsson, Smith, Colaiacovo, Kindl and Lashoff (DeKeyser). Decisions have to be made. We can't just waive two of Kindl, Quincey or White and lose them for nothing. Keeping Colaiacovo (injury prone) is a smart idea, because that guarantees our 7th d-man playing time once and a while, haha. Goodbye White, Kindl or Quincey I guess.

He might not be off the mark, though. The Oilers have been the Other Team mentioned since day one. And his reasons are compelling. They should be good soon, and a young player could be sold on that.

Goalies take a while to mature. He won't ve a backup til 2014-15, then it'll be another two years or so to be a reliable starter. If he goes faster than that, then we will have a great goalie tandem once more.

I wouldn't count on it. There's been no announcement, just a guy saying Dekeyser will probably make a decision by noon. I'm betting he doesn't announce til later tonight if he does at all today.

I think you mean his teammates shins won't stay healthy. The guy has injured like three players in practice, hasn't he?

Well, looks like the Wings need a forward more than ever. I hope Kenny gas something up his sleeve.

He is a puck mover, isn't he? I didn't mean he'd score, but that we are sorely in need of a guy who can play puck possession hockey.

I would love to see J Bo here. Our defense is solid, but it isn't great. We still need a top two guy and he fits the bill. Plus, he would help our offense set up better than anyone else we have on the back end other than Kronwall. We would have to give up a defenseman to clear space. Kindl, Patterson and a 2nd?

Was hesitant about him when he came back to the NHL, but he's proven he still has it. Trade for him, rental or not. We are making playoffs and need more scoring threat.

I imagine Pittsburgh might be a destination for him. They're making big splashes to bolster their offense, and they need more defensive depth, don't they? Playing with Crosby, Malkin, Letang and Iginla for years might be a stronger draw than just Datsyuk and Zetterberg. And on the note about off-season trades, last year we can't really blame Holland. There just wasn't much to pick from. But he has been too hesitant to trade pieces. Our prospects are all solid and will be great solid players, but he should have been more aggressive pursuing options for top-end talent. We talk about how it's so unlikely that big players move these days, but the fact is, they do. Not as much as they used to, but they do get moved. In the old days Holland would find these out of nowhere trades. Here's what happened: In 2010, we had a good team, but the hockey gods destroyed our team health and we couldn't do anything. So Holland figured: We didn't get to see our team in action, let's give them another chance. Fair enough. In 2011, we were decimated by injuries to key players once more, and maybe he still wanted to get healthy and give them a shot. But sometime between early 2012 and 2013, it's like he stopped trying. We can't use the "we like our team when they get healthy" as an excuse anymore, I don't think. He brought in Quincey as a desperation move, but he wouldn't have been forced to do that had be moved earlier for a defenseman. Complacency set in among the players, and Holland settled into a "wait and see" approach which doesn't satisfy anyone. That is the history of the Wings since 2010 and it's frustrating. Losing in '99, '00 and '01 pushed him into high gear to win the Cup. Losing in '09, '10, '11, and '12 doesn't seem to have lit a fire under him. And it's not the cap. He's good enough at maneuvering and finding talent. He doesn't need to go for the obvious choices, but I find it hard to believe no one wanted to trade with us for four years, except for Quincey. We can talk about how people overpay for players, but the reality is if you need that player, you pay whatever you need to. He never seriously tried to repair the defense since Rafalski left, and Smith was still years away and Kindl was underperforming. I'm not a Holland basher, and I have faith in him, but fans frustrations aren't entirely unfounded.

Buffalo has been rumored on and off to be willing to part with some players. Surely someone on that team could help the Wings out. Flip is a goner anyway. Any trade involving Filppula, even for a rental, is better than we'll get this summer when he leaves us with nothing. I don't believe we should trade Franzen. Lazy or not, he still scores and a trade for another forward would just be a wash most likely. Back to Gaborik though, 7.5 or not, I'd take him and he'd be awesome here. Probably not 50 goals in our system, but he could pot 40 easily.

The Wings can only build depth through the draft. We don't draft high enough to get superstars reliably, so we still need to trade for our team to have any bite to it.

The cap is an excuse. We did fine under the cap up until the last two years. 2010 was derailed by injuries, but was still a good team. Everything after that was just complacency.

I remember when the Wings went all out and gunned for the Cup every year...

Sorry, Wings. You had a good couple of wins, but you can't take the night off again. These games coming up are absolutely must-win if you want to establish yourself in 4th or 5th place going into the playoffs. You can't beat the crappy teams, but you've got to beat the other middling teams.

Closing this down.

Someone posted a really legit explanation a ways back. Darren Eliot is cheaper and fresher. American economics 101. Too many cooks in the kitchen? Get rid of the more expensive non essential. It also explains why godawful Keating is still employed. He simply does too many things to be expendable.

I would take Iginla on a 3-4 year contract, starting with 5 or 5.5 mill and going down from there to lower his cap hit for his "inevitable" decline. That's not a terrible contract.

Can we keep the talk about Murphy's alleged alcoholism to a minimum? I know it doesn't really violate any forum rules, and it's just an honest discussion, but we have no indication whatsoever that he has a drinking problem. For all we know he's a teetotaler. I'd hate to see LGW become known as the forum that dragged Larry Murphy's name through the mud for no reason whatsoever. I feel like the speculation started out innocently enough, but it's picked up some steam and it's suddenly become no longer speculation.

Moved this thread. Concussion revelation means no trade, so really its not even a rumor. Gotta close this one down.

Maybe it's just me, but if I were a player and I had confidence in my playing ability, I'd accept less than top 2 minutes. I mean, I'd never played in this league before, and wouldn't want to be thrown to the wolves against top talent to inevitably crash and burn. I wouldn't mind playing as a #4 or #5 for a few weeks until I play myself into the top two. Even considering their struggles, Detroit promises more stability than a place like Edmonton, and higher chances of future success.