VM1138

As long as he returns to the NHL there's no reason to think he won't break 1000 points. He could break it in 2 more seasons.

Wait...didn't the jerseys leak last year? Why would they change the designs now? Something doesn't smell right with these.

We are just a move or two away from contending. Look, we know Kronwall is better than this. So if we can wrangle a top pairing d-man, it helps. Our offense is okay, when hot it could be really good. Grab a puckhound or a sniper of lucky, and we're back. Not guaranteed world beaters, but highly competitive. Plus, injuries healing won't magically make is tons better, but it will help the lines settle down and put players back in proper roles.

Maybe Snow isn't necessarily terrible. Maybe Wong just has different goals than other teams. He seems to use the team as a tax or business trick, and the goal every year is just to get to the cap floor. Hence, the retarded contracts. I don't think Wong cares about those contracts, they served a purpose. Question is, why does Snow stay when he is constantly made a fool?

A Tatar-Datsyuk-Tootoo second line would be better than that garbage. Tootoo has shown more offensive affinity than Abdelkader, or even Cleary as of late.

Both. Holland will trade to make the team better long term. A rental is unlikely, but he won't go full rebuild or rely only on the offseason anymore. Look for some 28-29 year old defense acquisitions.

I don't ever remember that! Takes the Avs rivalry to new levels of awesome.

They look really cheap. I live vintage looking jerseys, but these look amateurish, even for those.

People are overreacting. It sucks to lose a player for nothing, but sometimes you just can't broker a deal.

I hope someone claims him just to screw with the Isles.

Franzen leads the team in scoring every year. He's streaky but he produces. Flip has always been one season away from a breakout year which he's never going to have. He's a good player, but good is replaceable, especially if we get someone who brings something new to the table in exchange.

The NTC doesn't really matter if he's injured all the time anyway. No one is going to trade for an injured or one-game-at-a-time player.

No more "depth" bottom 6ers, please. Big or not.

Man I wish I could watch this game, I thought I've already seen Pavel at his best, I can't even begin to imagine what he's doing to impress all of you even more.

Howard with an upper body injury? This is nuts.

Two considerations: you can never be too strong at center, and we certainly aren't. Weiss could also be a replacement for a center lost in a potential trade to bring in a defender.

It's clear from watching that replay that it was a little reckless but accidental. His stick was up too high but it wasn't premeditated or anything. Tootoo probably could have challenged him to a fight but probably wouldn't have gotten anywhere, Setoguchi doesn't fight I don't think. At any rate, not much to see here. He's a diver but not a dirty player.

I think it's fine to create a thread on this. We don't need a practice thread every game obviously but these changes are discussion worthy. I think Tatar will Excel, but the powerplay won't get better until Kronwall starts keeping the puck in and the point starts causing some havoc.

It's probably because Cleary was promoted to the top line, Haha.

Let's look on the bright side. In the off-season, our offense needed an infusion. For all the bashing of Holland, he has addressed that. Brunner has proven to be exactly what we needed on the second line. Would more be nice? Sure, but you can never have too much firepower. But I think we need to keep things in perspective. The offense could be better, but overall what needed to be done last summer was done. Holland did address those needs in a clever way. However, our defense is atrocious (mostly because of lack of options other than Suter last summer). Let's not forget that as frustrating as last summer was, it was mostly because of a crappy UFA market and no tradable players. There are circumstances outside of Holland's control. That being said, I fully expect him to do something about the defense. We need a top pairing addition in order to ice a decent defensive corps. Ideally he would find two defensemen to fill in the top 4, but that's unlikely.

I don't really think shooting is a problem on the power play. I think the main issue is keeping possession of the puck, keeping the other team from clearing it, cycling it and driving to the net. Do that and the shots will follow.

I think the season is old enough to evaluate tgis team calmly. Injuries or no, few players are performing as well as they should. We have bright spots, but I think we are all agreed the roster is a mess and way out of balance. It all needs to be recalibrated, focusing on roles and playing styles. That will take a long time, and we are limited to having little to offer in trades. I differ from most of you, though, in that o want to win now. It's highly unlikely a team will win more than one cup a decade now, so I'm good with giving picks for prime players who can win now. Just not really old, injury prone guys. I know that's unconventional but it makes sense to me.

I thought about leaving the original word in for the fun of it, Haha.

For how terrible Minny is supposed to be, won't they leapfrog us tonightin the standings with a win? Edited due to autocorrect stupidity.

Minnesota has a young player debuting tonight, so he'll get a couple of goals. First career goals always seem to happen against the Wings.