stevkrause

Exactly... very poor argument for "pro-goon"

agreed... I just don't think he's been fully healthy for a couple years and the long playoff runs don't help... I think everyone on the team is going to look pretty rejuvenated next year and this will be a VERY different Wings team than 09-10, even though the roster will be primarily the same...

He's a good player, but he's way out of our price range unless a trade is made, as he will probably command at least 2.5+ on the open market and we simply don't have the cap space...

Exactly - we definitely need a player on this team that will stand up for his teammates and hold other teams accountable, but at the same token, he needs to be defensively responsible and still chip in a couple points... I would LOVE to see a guy like Clarkson from NJ here, but I don't see them letting him get away, as he has potential to be a true power forward who can get you 20+ goals a year in addition to his toughness... with that said, I think Arron Asham, Eric Nystrom or Brad Winchester would all be good additions to this team for what they offer, depending on the price tag...

For our needs and who's available, who would you take? If I had it my way, I'd like to see Asham here for 1-1.5, I think he adds exactly what we need and even at 1 mil would be a decent raise... I just wonder if his play these playoffs has raised his stock past affordability...

I think last year was a bad year for Cleary from all the injuries, I am predicting right now that he is going to come back rejuvinated and determined as hell next year and have a career year in pts. Go ahead and bookmark it now and call me out at the end of next year if I'm wrong. EDIT - the call me out comment to was the Cleary haters, not directed towards you Echolalia

and in both, the Pennsylvania team is filled with d-bags...

It's still nice to see him get rocked... good hit.

I'd love to see Exelby here, but for some reason, I just don't see him taking less than 1.5 and I think that might price him out of our reach, unless a trade is made, or we get that gritty 4th liner at a very reasonable price and this would ensure that Miller, Meech and Lilja are all gone (Meech and Miller qualified, then waived and sent down or claimed OR traded) Lets say for arguments sake, that we pick up a guy like Brad Winchester at the same tag he was at last year (800k) we'd be looking at this - lines are arbitrary and this is not a line-combo post - it's just easier to format it this way to save space: Valtteri Filppula ($3.000m) / Henrik Zetterberg ($6.083m) / Johan Franzen ($3.955m) Jiri Hudler ($2.875m) / Pavel Datsyuk ($6.700m) / Tomas Holmstrom ($1.875m) Todd Bertuzzi ($1.500m) / Justin Abdelkader ($0.920m) / Daniel Cleary ($2.800m) Brad Winchester ($0.800m) / Darren Helm ($0.630m) / Patrick Eaves ($0.550m) Kris Draper ($1.583m) Mattias Ritola ($0.517m) Nicklas Lidstrom ($6.200m) / Brian Rafalski ($6.000m) Brad Stuart ($3.750m) / Niklas Kronwall ($3.000m) Jonathan Ericsson ($0.900m) / Garnett Exelby ($1.500m) Jakub Kindl ($0.883m) Jimmy Howard ($0.717m) / Chris Osgood ($1.417m) ROSTER: 23; CAP: $58.0m; PAYROLL: $58.155m; CAP ROOM: $-0.155m BONUSES: $0.000m So looking at this, unless the cap goes up by more than projected, or we're able to cut another 155k (keep in mind Abdelkader, Helm, and Eaves qualifying offers cannot go lower and even those players might get a bigger raise than that - I could see Eaves and Helm both wanting closer to 750k or more and possibly getting arbitration with the years they had) So... unless we can get say Winchester (or similar style player) for less and maybe a bigger discount from Exelby(which I don't think he'll take) this might be out of our reach... but that does look like a damn good roster...

I kinda forgot about him - he'd be a pretty damn good bargain addition for what we need. good call.

I feel dirty... I just agreed 100% with an entire post by Carman...

He is viewed as smug, arrogant and classless... when citizens of his OWN country burn his picture, in the same year that he was on a gold medal Olympic team , I think it speaks volumes of how he is viewed by majority of NHL fans... The NHL needs to hitch it's horse to someone else, and FAST, while it still can...

ok, ok, you can have them both... just give us Matt Walker for Osgood straight up and we'll call it a deal... psst... Kenny, after this is done, go sign Biron as a backup Valtteri Filppula ($3.000m) / Henrik Zetterberg ($6.083m) / Johan Franzen ($3.955m) Jiri Hudler ($2.875m) / Pavel Datsyuk ($6.700m) / Tomas Holmstrom ($2.250m) Todd Bertuzzi ($1.500m) / Justin Abdelkader ($0.920m) / Daniel Cleary ($2.800m) Kris Draper ($1.583m) / Darren Helm ($0.950m) / Patrick Eaves ($0.750m) Mattias Ritola ($0.517m) Nicklas Lidstrom ($6.200m) / Brian Rafalski ($6.000m) Brad Stuart ($3.750m) / Niklas Kronwall ($3.000m) Jonathan Ericsson ($0.900m) / Matt Walker ($1.700m) Jakub Kindl ($0.883m) Jimmy Howard ($0.717m) / Martin Biron ($1.300m) ROSTER: 22; CAP: $58.8m; PAYROLL: $58.333m; CAP ROOM: $0.467m BONUSES: $0.000m never gonna happen, but it's fun to think about definitely seems feasible... I have to imagine Fisch is probably ready for a promotion in the scouting ranks by now... plus, maybe it's time to bring Chelios in at some capacity????

Stevie, stop raiding the cupboards!

In theory, it's great fun, but its not feasible, or logical... these guys already kill themselves over the span of a LONG season and already have a travel itinerary that is thrown off by even going to one abbreviated OT... to ask them to extend it further is ludicrous and completely illogical I'd like that point system over the current one, but I still think it punishes a team who played at least an equal TEAM game and once again, you have uneven point totals, some games will award a grand total of 2 points, whereas others award 1... I think every game should be worth the same total, that's why I'm such a huge proponent of the 3pt system

I'm all for it and thinks the SO needs to stay, but as I've said all along, they need to adjust point totals to truly emphasize the team victory and make the SO a last call, not an easy way to sit back and try for the 2nd point: 10 min OT, then SO Win in Reg or OT - 3pts Win in SO - 2pts Loss in SO - 1pt Loss in Reg or OT - 0pts Sit back and wait for SO and you automatically sacrifice at least one point - All games worth the same point total. done and done.

I've never been crazy about Walker's game... Brookbank would have been nice, but I knew he was going to get re-signed... I'd rather us just roll with what we got and re-sign Lilja for less than a mil, or keep Janik on full time as our 6/7 guy depending on how well Kindl adapts...

I agree there are better options, but if he could be had for under a million, he's a good option... he can actually play hockey, is pretty fast and will chip in for probably 20 pts if his progression keeps on pace for what it had been, plus he's HUGE body that's got tons of toughness... I have a feeling someone will give him more than a million though, just on his size and potential alone and for that tag, I'd rather spend elsewhere...

He has already said that money was not an issue and he wanted to stay in Detroit - he will not get more than 1.75 at most and will most likely sign for the same 1.5 or even less... he put up the same pts last year as he did the year before in MORE games and the previous season on Calgary (44pts, 66games) only got him a 1.5 contract... how would 44 in 82 get him a RAISE?

I'd rather Asham, but depending on affordability, I could be very happy with this... likely a low cap hit and fills the roll... I'd probably make him 2nd on my wish list to only Asham at 1.25 or less...

oops... oversight on my part, I want Eaves back as well... good catch. there, I fixed it...

dead on. Tatar will not see a SINGLE minute of NHL, regular season ice time until 2012 at the earliest...

Lombardi would be a great pickup, but I think he's going to cost at least 2.5 and wouldn't address the grit factor that much, but I agree, if it were possible, I'd love to see him here... Konopka might be a nice, cheap, easy tough guy addition, but other than that, he doesn't offer much... that's why I'd like to see Asham, toughness to spare and can still chip in 20-25 pts a year and he's pretty disciplined too, doesn't get goated into dumb penalties that often, but will fight anyone...

We'd have to cut ties with one of Eaves/Miller/Ritola and unfortunately, I would assume Miller would be odd guy out in this case... I'm also assuming that Bertuzzi and Holmstrom will never make it to UFA status and be re-signed before hand - Lines are arbitrary: Valtteri Filppula ($3.000m) / Henrik Zetterberg ($6.083m) / Johan Franzen ($3.955m) Jiri Hudler ($2.875m) / Pavel Datsyuk ($6.700m) / Tomas Holmstrom ($2.200m) Todd Bertuzzi ($1.500m) / Daniel Cleary ($2.800m) / Patrick Eaves ($0.750m) Justin Abdelkader ($0.930m) / Darren Helm ($0.950m) / Arron Asham ($1.250m) Kris Draper ($1.583m) Mattias Ritola ($0.517m) Nicklas Lidstrom ($6.200m) / Brian Rafalski ($6.000m) Brad Stuart ($3.750m) / Niklas Kronwall ($3.000m) Jonathan Ericsson ($0.900m) / (UFA D-man OR Jakub Kindl ($0.883m) OR Doug Janik ($0.500m) (UFA D-man OR Jakub Kindl ($0.883m) OR Doug Janik ($0.500m) Jimmy Howard ($0.717m) / Chris Osgood ($1.417m) ROSTER: 23; CAP: $58.8m; PAYROLL: $58.460m; CAP ROOM: $0.340m BONUSES: $0.000m I don't know, that looks like a pretty good blend to me

They have already said that Lebda and Williams will not be re-signed... I wonder if Asham played himself out of affordability these playoffs and some team will throw some crazy 2 mil contract at him ala stupid contracts like Neil... if not I would love to see him here for 1-1.5 a year, still a pretty good raise for him and a great 4th line guy who is relatively defensively responsible and can chip in 20-25 pts a year too...