stevkrause

Exactly... I don't think teams should have to lose guys THEY drafted, just because they can't afford them all... it doesn't help us much this year, but it could have been huge this past off season...

It doesn't sound like he thinks he won't be back either though... too hard to tell at this point... I personally want him back as long as it's at 1mil or less - He was very good with Ericsson and really helped steady the young Swede when he got back and they should lock him up for another year or two... this also puts pressure on Kindl and Ericsson to step it up and WIN a job, not just be given one...

Exactly!

With all the history, I do not see how Keenan could ever come to Detroit, regardless of his ability...

Generally speaking, you don't want your defensemen to be your enforcers, it shortens up the bench and hurts the pairings and wears down the D - you want your "enforcer" to be a 4th line guy, who can add energy and still give you 5-8 SOLID, defensively smart, energy minutes a game... With that said, Ericsson does need to put on some weight and play a little meaner - this is when he is most effective and when he is playing with his most confidence, but this doesn't necessarily mean fight - it's like you just said, just wear guys down, make them afraid to go to the dirty areas and pay a SERIOUS price to go to the front of the net - THAT is what we need him to become

I think the main point is, that Ericsson was playing great hockey and developing very well under Fraser in GR, plus look at the call ups when they've been made (Janik, Kindl) and those guys were NHL ready and looked comfortable and perfectly in place... now, couple that with the fact that Lebda actually looked like an NHL defensman and not a human pylon in 08 and has steadily decreased in ability in his 2 years under McCrimmon and Meech hasn't developed like we'd hoped... NOW, add that with our STUNNING rise in shots against and GA in the last two years... I find it impossible to believe that all of that is coincidence... The fact is, the guy may think the game incredibly well and understand strategies, but that doesn't mean he is a good NHL coach - when players don't develop at the pace they're supposed to, or take steps back, it's usually the coaches faults... and THIS is where the real problem lies... Like I've said all along, if we can retain MacClean, shift him back to D and PK coach (where he was in 08) and bring Gallant on board to coach the forwards and PP...

If that's the case, then that is a real good home town discount, like it was already said, probably giving up per year value for term...

People keep making comments/posts about trying to sign him in the off-season and I just don't see any way this is possible, regardless of how enticing and intriguing it is... even if Nick hangs them up at years end AND the cap goes up to the reported 57.7... there's no way we can afford him, some team will throw some INSANE contract at him (8 mil + a season), which we cannot match and even if he took a discount to come here and play with Dats, our defense would take a MAJOR hit (I'm not ready for Kindl to jump right in and play every day) by not using the new space to address the D - Ilya Kovalchuk ($6.900m) / Pavel Datsyuk ($6.700m) / Tomas Holmstrom ($2.000m) Jiri Hudler ($2.875m) / Henrik Zetterberg ($6.083m) / Johan Franzen ($3.955m) Daniel Cleary ($2.800m) / Valtteri Filppula ($3.000m) / Drew Miller ($0.800m) Justin Abdelkader ($0.900m) / Darren Helm ($0.950m) / Patrick Eaves ($0.900m) Kris Draper ($1.583m) Niklas Kronwall ($3.000m) / Brian Rafalski ($6.000m) Jakub Kindl ($0.883m) / Brad Stuart ($3.750m) Jonathan Ericsson ($0.900m) / Andreas Lilja ($1.000m) Derek Meech ($0.500m) Jimmy Howard ($0.717m) / Chris Osgood ($1.417m) ROSTER: 22; PAYROLL: $57.213m; CAP ROOM: $0.087m BONUSES: $0.000m

Hopefully he does well in GR next year and can be up here full time in a few years... the guy looks like he has all the tools to be EXACTLY what we need on the 4th line

Agreed... for his salary, he should chip in at least 30+pts and be a PK'er, along with the enforcer role...

Put Getzlaf with Malkin(whom he played with for a large chunk) and Guerin you're man love is so sickening, you can't even be objective... no one is arguing his ability, I'm just making the point that it's not a DRASTIC difference and there are more factors that should go into it than how many points they have... Also... at least all those players have moved out on their own by 22...

1.36 PPG to 1.23PPG - wow... drastic difference...

I don't see how that isn't CLOSE to the same... I didn't say it WAS the same... also, when you average in ice time and supporting cast, I don't see that big of a difference as far as point total... I'm not saying Getzlaf is a better or even comparable player on skill level alone, my point is, it's not that far of a stretch... Get Stamkos to NY and then we can really talk...

And using a low-class player as the face of the league does not attract new fans... it just makes it look like more of a mickey mouse operation... I would easily argue that Crosby isn't even the best player on his own team, let alone the league and also, he averages more ice time than any other forward in the league not named Kovalchuk... you can argue this all day long, but he is NOT worthy of being the face of the league. period.

Tampa actually seems like one of the best opportunities there is now... new ownership that wants to win and is very hands off, GM gets to choose new coaching staff and inherits a LOT of young talent and some high picks in this years draft... furthermore, you add in the contingency of MI transplants in Tampa and this could potentially be the single best fit he could find outside of Detroit... I'm just glad he's not leaving

It's not JUST about points either - Punching another guy in the junk from behind, taking all kinds of other cheapshots, not shaking hands and overall flopping around and acting like he's been shot with a shotgun over the smallest shots, just to return to the ice 2 shifts later... he portrays the game in a poor light and is a HORRIBLE role model for young players - THAT is not a face the league should market... hell, even though I can't stand him, how about Getzlaf? Even he plays the game with more honor - close to the same PPG, has a Stanley Cup, Olympic gold and is young as well... or even Bobby Ryan... my point is, there are plenty of others in the league that would represent the league better...

That's the general point... the picked the wrong guy... I think Ovechkin would be, if it weren't for the language barrier... but they need to choose a new "face"

I'm going to defer to someone who has seen him play - with that said, how long ago did he play there and is his potential at least worth a 5th? I mean it's not a high draft pick, so this could be a good move for Carolina...

I would like to see us make a run at Evgeny Artyukhin... I wonder if he could be had for a 1mil or less... he made 950k last year... I think he'd be a great addition... EDIT - I see us tendering offers to all of our RFA's and then trading away at least a couple of them, or not signing them, because if we even sign ONE FA in this off season that's not already on our roster, we are out of roster spots... someone has to be odd man out, I wonder if Ritola will be a Red Wing next year and if his one game in the playoffs/end of the year stint raised his trade value... I can't see him cracking the roster next year...

At least he actually carries himself like a captain and plays the game with some honor... I REALLY don't want to see the Hawks win the cup, but Toews would be a drastic step up in terms of marketing... I would like to see them market Stamkos more to be honest, it just sucks he's in such a crap market...

I got mine from HockeyDB - where did you get yours? I must have added wrong... I just verified mine against TSN and they don't add up...

He actually had Columbus relatively competitive and has head coaching experience too...

I think Chelios will eventually be a coach and a damn good one... unfortunately, it probably can't be here (at least not anytime soon) - there's something to be said about coaching guys you once played with and how it usually doesn't work... Also, as much as I love Lidstrom and think he can basically do no wrong, I do not EVER see him coaching - he does not have the demeanor to be a coach, he'd be more of a front office type guy (like Yzerman) However, I really think McCrimmon needs to be sent packing, I think he was horrible and directly related to the steps back that guys like Ericsson and Kronwall made this year and just the overall horrendous PK we had while he was handling the duties... With that said, I really hope we can retain MacClean and shift him back to the D coach (where he was in 08) and then bring Gerard Gallant on board for the offense... I think this would have great on ice results and good PR...

this is a great idea, I could definitely get on board with this. Regardless, Campbell needs to stop handling discipline - he's a joke... he does the rest of his job well, but they need this part removed from his job description

This was basically the same thing I was going to say on all accounts, haha Yzerman stay in Detroit - check McGuire a parasite - check yea, you basically covered it!