wingsownnhl43

But Dallas Drake was what we needed at 38-39?

Additionally, we know the Red Wings can make the playoffs as a 1 or 2 seed, blindfolded. Once we get into the playoffs we will be rolling Z-D-Cleary, and Hossa-Flip,Franzen 2/3 of the game. I think we'd be better off having Lappy, Helm, and Abdelkader hitting everything that moves for the other third of the game rather than having Sammy and Huddles floating around the ice getting exposed by Talbot and Kennedy.

Agreed. If you want to clear salary how could you want to trade Flip over Holmstrom who makes. Flip only makes .8 more.

great point UK. Kopecky, Draper, Maltby dont score anyways, so why not add a guy that can bring energy and enthusiasm to the lineup. Also, you could make a case that Helm and Abdelkader could score just as much as Sammy and Hudler on the third line. Couple that with the fact that Lappy would be a huge upgrade over Homer who does nothing now.

Abdelkader and Helm proved they can score in the playoffs. Also, with Hossa, Zetterberg, Datsyuk, Franzen, Filppula, Cleary who all are capable of scoring 20 goals, and Lidstrom, Rafalski, Kronwall who are 40 plus point producers, how much scoring do you need on the third and fourth lines?

He's signed through the 2010-2011 season.

I want both Laperriere and Neil

Kenny, for the love of god, get this guy signed. He is exactly what we need.

replace probably isnt the correct word. However, when Nick retires we will be needing a top 4 defensemen. If Chris Pronger happens to be the best one available, why not?

Who do you got in mind

We dont need anyone that is going to be the heavyweight fighter of the league. That's where alot of people are misunderstanding the point of this thread. I would agree though, that we need someone that is able to send a message. A gritty player or two could help in this regard.. 1. Do you think Corey Perry, Niedermayer, Talbot, Malkin, Kunitz would be taking liberties at our players if they knew that they had someone to answer to? I cant say for sure, but i know that they didnt think twice about doing it this year. 2. I guarantee Zetterberg, Datsyuk, Lidstrom, Hossa, Franzen would be a littlemore comfortable out there knowing that at least one player has their back if an opposing player steps out of line. I would also agree that we NEED to inject high energy, gritty guys into our third and fourth lines. Players like Max Talbot, Chris Kunitz, Jordan Staal are the reason Pittsburgh won this series. They completely outplayed our depth guys on the Stanley Cup stage where for the most part, whistles are swallowed. I also do not understand the grit vs skill debate. Since when do third and fourth liners dictate a teams style of play? Why cant we have both grit and skill? With players like Datsyuk, Zetterberg, Hossa, Franzen, Filppula as top six forwards and Lidstrom, Rafalski and Kronwall on D, we would still be a highly skilled team. This is the reason why Hudler, and Samuelsson just arent necessary. Now that Maltby and Holmstrom are as good as pylons out pn the ice, we need to inject some grit into our third and fourth lines. Let our top six play 2/3 of the game and have the third and fourth lines pound you for the other third. That mix would be much better than having Samuelsson and Hudler float around the ice. -Let some team sign Hudler, let Samuelsson walk, buyout Homers contract (this would save 1.5 million), Waive Maltby. If no one claims him, he can play in GR and not count towards the cap. - Re-Sign Hossa - Bring up Leino, Helm, Abdelkader, Ericcson - Sign Ian Laperriere and Chris Neil Zetterberg-Datsyuk-Cleary Franzen-Filppula-Hossa Leino-Helm-Laperriere Abdelkader-Draper-Neil Lidstrom-Rafalski Stuart-Kronwall Ericcson-Lilja Lebda Osgood Howard

First off this site is awesome. http://www.capgeek.com/cap_calculator.php?Team=26 It shows Pittsburgh Penguins salary cap situation for next season. They have to fill 9 spots with 10.7 million in cap room. Notable players not under contract for next season. F Bill Guerin F Ruslan Fedotenko F Petr Sykora F Miroslav Satan F Craig Adams D Kris Letang D Rob Scuderi D Hal Gill D Phillipe Boucher G Mathieu Garon I would think Guerin and Fedotenko would sign back with them for less money than their current 4.5 and 3.5 million dollar salaries. Conversley, I would think Letang and Scuderi would get raises from their salaries, both around .7. Just interesting to look at. Pittsburgh has their own cap issues.

Also looking at Anaheims. They have a ton of cap room. 6 spots 16 million in cap room. They could be scary.

I wholeheartedly agree with you, Owl. As long as we keep the core of Zetterberg, Datsyuk, Franzen, Filppula, Cleary, Lidstrom, Kronwall, Ericcson, Osgood... this roster can be toyed with without faltering. I would like to get bigger and more agressivie on D. I would not be opposed to trying to get either Rafalski or Stuart to waive their no trade clause and go after a Bouwmeester. Getting Lilja back in the lineup, and having Ericcson in his sophomore year will improve our D dramatically. We need to do a better job clearing the front of the net. I couldnt even count how many times our D was out muscled in front of the net. We need to inject some new energy into the lineup.

http://www.denverpost.com/avalanche/ci_12573949

Todd Marchant would also be a nice choice. He played a nice series against us in the Anaheim series.

http://tinyurl.com/noams7 Start from here. Bye bye Chelios, Holmstrom, Maltby, Hudler, Samuelsson, Hossa.

I agree. The Wings NEED to improve their third and fourth lines. Nobody would have believed it if someone said the Pens would win while Crosby, and Malkin wouldnt be much of a factor and that Ozzie would outplay Fleury. The reason is because our "depth" is so overrated. Samuelsson and Hudler, if they arent scoring are liabilites. They arent very good defensivly and they refuse to touch anyone. Im so sick of them losing battles in the corners because they avoid contact. Also, Holmstrom and Maltby are overstaying their welcome. To me, our loyalty towards vetarans may have cost us a Stanley Cup. These guys were clearly in over their heads, most average fan noticed it. Abdelkader clearly should have been playing. Let Hudler get signed somewhere else, recieve compensation. Let Samuelsson stink it up elsewhere. Trade Holmstrom. Waive Maltby. If no one claims him let him go play in GR. Fill their spots with grittier role players so we can say we have depth for real next year. It was clear that players like Fedotenko, Guerin, Talbot and Staal won this series.

I know LGW posters cant stand negative threads and often verbally bash posters who create them, but lets be honest, Rafalski was (insert expletive here) AWFUL last night. So honestly if you guys couldnt see how bad he was, i dont care if i get bashed for this. So things worse than Brian Rafalski... 1. Paris Hilton's my new BFF 2. Sidney Crosby's playoff beard 3. Gary Bettman 4. 5. etc

There's no doubt Pavel can be at least effective out there. I agree, if he doesnt play, we do not win this series. After hearing so many stories about players playing hurt in playoffs in a variety of sports, I have to admit, Im a little disappointed in Pavel Datsyuk.

Id be willing to bet a months salary that hed be playing if he had an injury identical to Datsyuks. Just saying.

You could really make an argument that the Wings were outplayed in games 1 and 2 and that the Pens were outplayed in game 3. I cant wait for game 4!!

You've never heard stories about players refusing medical attention to play? One specifically was Paul Kariya. After getting hit he refused any medical attention because he knew they wouldnt clear him.. Later, he scored the game winning goal. If Pavel went to Babs and said he wanted to play, you bet your ass hed be playing.

Heaven forbid someone call out a red wing player. You people need to realize that just because fans call out a player does not mean theyre a fairweather fan. Anytime an Osgood is a bad goalie thread, Samuelsson or Lilja sucks thread, etc is made this board goes ape sh!t and accuses that said poster of being a fairweather fan, doesnt know the game, low IQ level. These accusations are illogical and are fallacies. Is Pavel soft? Maybe. Who knows. I dont know, you guys dont know. If he is, however, that doesnt take away from how good a player he is or what he means to this team.

Its the Stanley Cup final and Pavs is skating. If you can skate, you can play. Enough is enough already, we need him in game 4.