stevkrause

This thread has taken an odd turn... first off, all of you Filppula haters need to just shut the f up already - look at his point per game ratio and his production in the playoffs, not to mention how defensively responsible he is and the fact that he STILL hasn't peaked... as I've said before, he WILL be a 70 pt scorer in this league, especially as soon as he is skating with a bonafide sniper night in and night out. On any note, anyone who would suggest that Kovalchuk would make any team worse is a flat out moron, no ifs, ands, or buts about it... now, the suggestions of the depth we would lose/defensive weakness(in the event Lidstrom hung them up) would make us worse, is very legit, this is a salary cap world and you cannot have most of your cap tied up in 2 lines... With ALL of that said, in some crazy parallel universe, when Holland has pictures of everyone involved and could convince Kovalchuk to come here at WAY less than he would make anywhere else, would DEFINITELY improve our team and make us an instant favorite, but that can ONLY be done without losing any of our current pieces and all of these variables, I do not see happening, which is why I do not see Kovalchuk here...

Very glad to have you back and healthy Matt!!!!! The ambiguous post was a little worrisome and I'm sure quite a few others were left wondering how severe it was and it sounds like it was a horrible experience... on any note, welcome back and cheers to your good health!

What are you talking about? It's not even close, he played WAY more games with Detroit... Chicago: Reg Season: 511 Playoffs: 65 Detroit: Reg Season: 578 Playoffs: 150

set the standard for work ethic and determination... one hell of a career and I'm damn glad the longest leg of it was here in Detroit

24 huh? I was unaware the league raised the limit from 23...

Apparently Malts may consider playing elsewhere as Detroit will most likely not extend a new contract to him (and I don't think they should) http://www.mlive.com/redwings/index.ssf/2010/05/red_wings_kirk_maltby_ponders.html I can't imagine him in another uniform, but you can't blame the guy if he still has the desire... it would just be VERY weird to see him in another uni...

exactly - the problem is, that Holland has already said that he is targeting a gritty 4th liner to play regularly as well, so unless Bert is not re-signed (which I think he will be) - someone is going to be odd man out anyway(and that's with Malts already out of the equation) as we will already have 13 forwards with that signing and Ritola (or whoever doesn't win a job) would be number 14...

Have him compete for a job in camp and if he doesn't win a job, send him to GR and if someone claims him, so be it... He is a solid enough, stay at home defensemen with a mean streak and will clear guys out from the front of the net... I don't think he was ever in the right system and wasn't developed properly, he's still only 26 and I think still has a lot of upside...

There's just no room... if they re-sign him, they essentially have to lose Ritola for nothing, as he is out of options... so unless there is a trade in the hopper, I don't see him returning here...

This whole thread makes me smile.

I will take a day off of work to spend the entire day celebrating if this happens...

I think Russia is going to run rough-shot on that tournament...

Awesome read! Now to get back the Nordiques and Whalers!

I'm pretty sure that rule went away anyways with the cap... after Lids retires, Datsyuk will make more than Zetterberg and I think it's already pretty much a given that Z will be the next captain

well, I guess that sums that up.

that's my thought... I don't think he'll even be the #7 next year, as it would essentially mean trading away Ericsson or Kindl and he'd have to BLOW AWAY the brass in camp to do so, but just to give him a chance, maybe one more year in GR and then next year when Nick retires, maybe then he comes in as the #7... I'm not saying he's going to change our team, I just think he's worth re-signing as depth... like you said, it's a drastic improvement over Meebda

I can GUARANTEE that he will get offers from teams... whether he will accept them or not, is a different story... look at a young team like the Islanders, add a veteran presence who's won several Stanley Cups and is a PK specialist for a team with a dismal PK, why wouldn't they at LEAST offer him a league min contract? Other teams that could use him as well: Columbus LA St. Louis Edmonton (wouldn't that be weird?) and probably more... it's not like he's going to play top 6 minutes, we're talking a league minimum contract for a guy that can mentor a young team and show solid, defensive hockey to a young core... he has value still...

I really just want to see him retire a Wing, but if he still feels he has some hockey left in him, you definitely can't blame the guy... with that said, if he does go elsewhere, I hope it's in the East... I don't want us to have to play against him, just because it will be too weird to see him in another sweater anymore than 1 or 2 times a year...

Kovalchuk is one of the most dynamic, explosive scorers/offensive threats in the league and has a cannon of a shot, Hossa is an incredible 2 way player with great offensive upside as well, both are pretty close in side, while Kova has more intensity, but due to that, less discipline... For what Detroit needs, if we're talking dollars to dollars, I would take Kovalchuk in a heartbeat, however, if we're talking Hossa at a million or more less than Kovalchuk, in a cap world, I'd take Hossa.

yes, sorry... I meant various interviews, not various reports... brain fart there... but looks like my gut is probably wrong anyway (and I hope it is) after reading the interview with Babs stating that he is confident he'll be back

I'm going off of all hearsay and his body language... hopefully he just needs a summer off to re-charge the batteries... I just felt like I was watching his last game Saturday night...

It's time... he was a warrior, but it was the end of his career... Detroit - the place enforcers come to retire...

Bruins

I still don't think it's happening, but with preliminary reports coming out that it's getting more likely that Lids will retire... I still don't see Ilya taking less and giving us a discount to come here, but stranger things have happened... you can't help but think... Ilya Kovalchuk ($6.500m) / Pavel Datsyuk ($6.700m) / Tomas Holmstrom ($1.800m) Valtteri Filppula ($3.000m) / Henrik Zetterberg ($6.083m) / Johan Franzen ($3.955m) Drew Miller ($0.750m) / Daniel Cleary ($2.800m) / Jiri Hudler ($2.875m) Justin Abdelkader ($0.850m) / Darren Helm ($0.900m) / Patrick Eaves ($0.900m) Kris Draper ($1.583m) Brad Stuart ($3.750m) / Brian Rafalski ($6.000m) Niklas Kronwall ($3.000m) / Jakub Kindl ($0.883m) Jonathan Ericsson ($0.900m) / Andreas Lilja ($1.000m) Derek Meech ($0.500m) Jimmy Howard ($0.717m) Chris Osgood ($1.417m) ROSTER: 22; PAYROLL: $56.863m; CAP ROOM: $0.137m BONUSES: $0.000m PP1 Holmstrom-Datsyuk-Franzen Kovalchuk-Kronwall PP2 Filppula-Zetterberg-Hudler Rafalski-Kindl PK1 Helm-Eaves Lilja-Ericsson PK2 Miller-Cleary Stuart-Kronwall

Had some ups and downs, but it was a fun season all and all and one hell of a push considering the roster turn over, lack of cap space and injuries... 4 game comebacks rarely ever happen and I'm conceding the season. I can't take all the idiotic threads/posts that are being made right now, so I'm taking some time away... See you guys after the playoffs when signings, re-signings, trades, etc... occur. I'm out!