VM1138

Is there a big enough difference between, say, 8 and 16 to be worth trading up?

First pick has to be a defenseman, unless there aren't any good ones available.

I highly doubt it and various sports writers agree. There's no reason for a team to ask for anyone in return for Datsyuk's cap hit. A Pronger contract for Datsyuk contract has been mentioned many times and is an example of how it could work easily.

Well, for one he assaulted his coach during a game.

Let's not forget that word on the street was that Suter was coming here until Parise and their wives convinced him otherwise. So he definitely wanted to come here. And even though he didn't pick us he clearly wasn't avoiding us.

If I know one thing it's that Toronto will never catch a break. This just confirms to me that Matthews will be a bust.

I don't know much about the Isles but if they have more than one scoring line they can handle Tampa, who really didn't impress me much other than the triplets, as usual.

Who cares if he is on the ice for goals against? +\- is misleading. Did Mantha cause those goals against?

Just did some quick research but it appears the only public money used to fund the arena were taxes on property owners in the downtown area via the Downtown Development Authority. Which does fall in line with the stated goals and purpose of the DDA. Can anyone confirm public money's were used for this arena? Illitch owes $200 million to pay back bonds, the DDA funds up to $150 million, and the other $200 million (so far) has to come out of Illitch's pockets.

He's not the answer but if cheap and on a short term contract I say do it. Trades are rare, as are quality UFAs. Signing from overseas is really the last avenue open to teams. The Wings have done this before (Brunner) so it wouldn't surprise me if they manage to get some good character references. He's not a long term solution but more scoring depth is obviously needed. He could brin a scoring touch to the third or always-struggling second lines.

Because Jurco has shown nothing in a decently extensive young career and Pulk has shown he doesn't have NHL abilities.

Ha, he and Varlamov WOULD have some sort of connection. And the crazed Roy is a perfect coach for a violent prima donna player.

SBNation says he's likely going to the Avs.

I don't think Callahan will ever make the squad. He's just never talked about anymore. At best a fourth line grinder, but I don't know if he's big enough for that role. I think that's what you guys are missing. Not that he's too small for the NHL, but that he's too small for the only role his playing style would allow him to have.

Yeah, they could have done something cool with it. Meh. Another meh modern arena, I'm sure.

You guys have better memories than I. I remember being crushed in '06, I even went to a playoff game, but don't remember too many specifics other than it was yet another repeat of the stellar opposition goalie. 2004 I don't even remember at all. I sort of took a year off from watching each and every game. I think the worst were '03 and '09. I was so sure we'd repeat in '03, so damn sure. Same in '09. 2009 made me mad, though, because it seemed like the team was on autopilot until the very last couple games, and by then it was too late. Lidstrom's post shot in the dying seconds will forever haunt me in my nightmares.

Yzerman hasn't built anything. His team made the finals once and hasn't done anything else. A ton of teams have made the finals the past few years. He built a middling team that can be fun to watch. I'm not saying he's bad but Yzerman hasn't done much to really wow, either.

I like the new one. Less cartoony.

Not really. After all it can't account for situations. How many goals was said goalie hung out to dry? Defensive breakdowns? How many times did each goalie make an amazing initial save only to have the defense not clear the front of the net? Those sort of things are why the eyeball test is still important.

If that's the case, good luck, Helm.

I don't really care. Neither should be on the team anyway. Jurco had his chances and Pulk is just too one dinensional.

So Helm didn't give the generic "I want to stay here" comments? He's a goner. I don't see any on ice things for Helm to complain about. He got played way over his station often. Wonder if there really is some behind the scenes drama.

He wants to come here because he smells blood in the water. A weak "player's coach" like Blashill is he perfect coach in the eyes of a guy like Radulov. I'm not against him coming here as long as he's cheap, short term and not relied on to be the guy. I'm only really familiar with his tantrums though.

Let's think logically about this. Yzerman is living in sunny Florida, making big bucks and has zero pressure from fans. It's the perfect gig. Why would he leave, just because he loves the Wings? This is his career we are talking about. Like any of us he will stay where the weather is nice and the pressure is low and the money is big.

Well, there's also no doubt that Babcock had a worse team and yet performed better. So there's that. I agree, though, that a lot of the anti-Blashill stuff is just frustration, which is why I don't want him gone. But he did, beyond a doubt, screw up and botch things especially late in the season. But coaches have growing pains just like players. If he has another terrible year next year with a similar roster, then we should start talking replacements.