stevkrause

Odd... I never heard of that rule before, does this ONLY apply to CHL players? Is that some sort of "transfer agreement" between the leagues, just to protect the CHL? Back to the original topic at hand, I still think the Maltby thing is nothing more than lip service and is just a courtesy to Malts, to talk him up so to speak, so he can latch on somewhere else if he wants, or concedes to spending most of the season in GR and being exposed to waivers as needed, where he could end up anywhere... My prediction is that he either signs with Tampa Bay, or retires...

Boll HAD some offensive potential, he just never seemed to find it - he's pretty damn good at faceoffs and is a good, hard skater too, so I wouldn't have a problem with him, but he's in my 2nd tier of the "wish list" with Konopka 1st tier: Asham, Nystrom, Winchester, Moreau(if bought out) 2nd tier: Konopka, Modin(not for a fighter role) Boll, Artukyin, Boulton EDIT - Re-organized

He is not the most feared guy in the league... he's the most feared enforcer and all that affects are other enforcers... his play between the whistles does nothing for your team and I'd MUCH rather have a guy like Winchester, who is fearless and would still stand up to a Boogard type (maybe not win) and still offers other intangibles...

Howie and Boesch - Detroit rookie thread... I'm in, haha

Eklund needs to stay off the pipe...

My perfect off season involves everything they've done so far (not regarding cap - although I'm not dis-pleased about that either) and adding one of Asham, Nystrom or Winchester and Johnny Boychuk... I would still be very happy though if all we did extra from what we've already done, is just re-sign Lilja and another 4th line sand paper guy...

hell, it's already so off topic and I like this direction a lot better than the one it was going in, might as well just fully derail it and turn it into a GO JIMMY HOWARD THREAD! He sure deserves it, there certainly wasn't a rookie that was more important to his team this past season...

hahahaha well said! :clap:

apparently... I politely asked that my Johnny Boychuk thread (typo - Johnnu) title be corrected 2 days ago and we have two concurrent Winchester threads that are YET to be merged... yet this thread continues to go on and my thread gets deleted instantly.... yea, that makes sense.....

That's where the debate gets sketchy... I will argue until I'm blue in the face that a PURE enforcer is useless in today's game - but a role player that can protect his teammates AND is a mid-heavyweight, or straight heavyweight, which can still be defensively responsible, forecheck AND give you 8-10 SOLID, mistake free minutes a night, that doesn't take bad penalties is invaluable and is BADLY needed by EVERY team... most of the mentioned players in other threads fill this need, however, a Boogard type player in today's league, doesn't serve much purpose and basically wastes a roster spot...

REALLY MODS? REALLY?!? This thread can go on and on like this, but I start a thread asking why threads like this keep going and why everyone on here is so pissy lately, in a light hearted manner and it gets deleted? makes sense..........

I agree - but until we ice a team on October 8th that does not include one of those guys, give it a chance... I, for one, am convinced one of these guys WILL be signed. just playing his cards close to his vest... if he says "we need one at all cost" - it drives prices up and makes negotiations harder...

so pessimistic... they drafted Mitchell Callahan last year (and signed him this year) and have Lashoff coming into the system on D from 2 years ago... he's obviously been drafting to get tougher and the signings of Downey, then May, prove that he WILL fill the need when it makes sense... bulldozers that can score like Lucic don't just fall in every teams lap and it's even harder when you're drafting late every year... have some faith...

I'm really torn on this - We have too many other legit needs... unless we can make a trade and free up a roster spot and he comes here dirt cheap, I don't like it... however... I've always wanted to see Modano in the Winged Wheel and he still has some good hockey in him and that photoshopped picture made me feel all warm and fuzzy... torn...

I keep coming in here, hoping to see some more videos, or updates to this thread that are relevant and yet, all I see are 3 pages of bickering. I think it's time for a mod to lock this thread and put an end to this already...

bump - mods, please merge

I think everyone is reading WAY too far into a lot of this... most of the reports Holland "leaks" are lip service... I don't think there's any intention of bringing Maltby back, I think he's just saying that out of respect for what Maltby did for us and maybe helping him up his stock to latch on somewhere else... As for Miller, he is an RFA and all he did was qualify him, that's just good GM work, if we can sign him for another 550k or so, he's a great filler and if we run out of roster spots, waive him and send him to GR, if he doesn't clear, well... it's no worse than had we never signed him in the first place, is it? Next, Illari is waiver eligible and will likely be in GR all year, but if he impresses, could fill a nice filler role for call-ups and if we catch lightning in a bottle, then it's a GREAT signing - for the millionth time - ZERO risk, high reward potential - another GREAT GM move And adding a guy who isn't afraid to drop them and muck it up, does not mean "goon" in today's NHL - Guys like Asham, Konopka, Artukyin, etc... are still bottom liners, but they can still skate and even occasionally score 10 a year... fillers with bite is really what they are, and THAT'S what you need in a cap world, fillers that fill a role and one of those roles, is to "keep the flies off"

I think this is what Babs wants - 11 skilled forwards dressed every night 1 tough forward dressed every night any forward that is skilled and tough - MAJOR bonus... Defense help more on the ice, than the box, toughness for a defenseman should be judged in areas other than dropping the mitts...

ok, I'll bite... He didn't say he was signing Hossa or re-acquiring Osgood a few years ago either... Holland is smart and will not reveal his cards... for all we know, he's planning on a blockbuster trade at the draft, followed up by a big FA signing on July 1st(HIGHLY UNLIKELY) - but I wouldn't rule anything out until the roster is set in stone... one way or another, I'm pretty convinced we will get some good sandpaper in here...

dead on.

Agreed... the only problem is, that someone else might sign him for even more than we can afford... I don't think he'll be back in Boston one way or another, but at the same token, I don't think our odds are very good either, but I'd LOVE to see him here... I'd even go as far as to seeing Kenny make a minor move to open up space for him... just to free up like 500k so we could offer him in the 2m range... I really think he has potential to be a great d-man and would be a good addition to the second PP unit...

Who the hell said they would take him over Lidstrom?!?!? Also, the fact is, we're not saying he is a top 2 guy, he would be a bottom pairing guy and only made 500k last year, so 1.5 is a HUGE raise and Boston is up against the cap, ESPECIALLY if they add Horton AND they already have 6 full time, non-waiver exempt defensemen under contract, so it might just be a matter of them not being able to afford him... Please don't reply if you are going to completely disregard the context of the entire thread... Well, that's where a couple of us differ, I'd rather it be 1.5 or less, however, a right handed shot with PP ability, could bump him to 2... it's something Babs loves and would fit a couple needs... Like I said in the first place, I'd welcome Lils back with open arms, but I think we'd be remiss to not at least make a call and see if he is an option... and if so, well...

and every pairing has talent too... it's not like they can just hit, there are NO weak pairings in that scenario, each pairing has players who's playing styles VERY heavily compliment one another...

That's what I think too, but it's not completely out of the realm of possibility... MODS - Can you please fix my title? typo... haha, probably not very likely given his age, I'm sure his agent will want term in the event of injury/earning potential... but it's nice to think about... one way or another though, he'd be a great fit here...

Well he is an UFA on July 1st and hasn't been re-signed yet, so... anything is possible really... exactly... that's the only reason I even brought it up - I see it as an outside shot, but not impossible, especially if they DO make a run at Horton... If we offered him 1.5, that's still a considerable raise from his salary last year... I'd love to see him in the Winged Wheel!