stevkrause

What is wrong with you people suggesting he play already? You're going into it sight unseen! I've watched a few Griffins games this year, including a road trip to one in person... Kindl has AMAZING upside, but is NOWHERE NEAR NHL ready... if you have a problem with the positioning mistakes Meech and Lebda make, multiply that by 10 and that's where Kindl is - don't get me wrong, I love the guy and think he WILL be a bonafide NHL'er on day, but that day is not now, NOR is it now down 2-1 in the freaking STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS! Come on people, use some common sense - Lebda, Meech and Chelios are all far above Kindl in depth and 2 of the 3, plus Lilja and Rafalski (equaling 4, yes 4, NHL d-men) would have to be injured before he EVER saw playoff action...

the guy's got talent, no doubt, but there was a reason he only almost made it, he has consistency issues and needs to get better positionally... at this point, Meech, Lebda and Chelios are all upgrades from Kindl on the backend

then, if anything, it just means play Meech... Chelios is still an upgrade from Kindl at this stage... and it is a very fair comparison, because Ericsson stepped into the AHL already looking good, regardless of draft status, whereas Kindl has struggled - draft position means nothing when compared to real-time game play

I do agree with this, but like I suggested in prior threads, I think we should roll 5.5 d-men and cycle Meech and Lebda interchanging, but NOT together...

I've seen it at least 10 times in other threads, check threads specifically pertaining to Raffi's injury...

I guess that depends how long term we're talking here, like 5 years from now? If so, I think the only ones that can be a certainty and Kronwall and Ericsson... Kindl and Smith VERY likely as long as they develop as they should and don't rule out Stuart still being here in some role... also, I think Pyett, Kolosov and Lashoff are actually above Piche in the development stage, so I could see it being one of them before Piche... if I had to hazard a guess, I would put the pairings like this 5 years from now - Kronwall-Ericsson Stuart/Free-Agent Signing-Kindl Smith-Pyett/Lashoff

he is still only 22 and had to adjust to the North American game as well If 2 years from now we're still saying that he's not ready, instead of chomping at the bit (i.e Ericsson last year and this year) then I think it will be time to start worrying... I sitll fully believe he will mature into a top 4 NHL d-man, it's just not now by any means... growing pains...

thank god, haha some people seem to actually have that mindset and it blows my mind!

Please tell me this comparison is a joke...

It's possible...

I appreciate your interest of mixing it up, but Helm is not a 1st liner. period. What I would like to see once in awhile, is that when we're down, with like 5 minutes left, just throw Hossa-Datsyuk-Zetterberg out there for one shift... as a whole, I think we need to go to: Zetterberg-Datsyuk-Holmstrom Franzen-Filppula-Hossa Hudler-Helm-Cleary Maltby-Kopecky/Draper-Samuelsson

if that is the case, then it's time to shake things up and go with a 5.5 d-man roster... and I say 5.5 meaning dress both Lebda and Meech and have them split duties, with other guys taking more ice time for example: Cycle 1 - Lidstrom-Ericsson Kronwall-Stuart Lebda-Lidstrom Cycle 2 - Lidstrom-Ericsson Kronwall-Stuart Meech-Stuart Cycle 3 - Lidstrom-Ericsson Kronwall-Stuart Lebda-Ericsson Cycle 4 - Lidstrom-Ericsson Kronwall-Stuart Meech-Kronwall and repeat...

really? any source saying that for sure? if so, major bummer...

absolutely disgraceful...

um......... what? :rotflmao:

he was only months away from turning 35, which per the CBA, automatically locks in his contract... even following retirement and thus, a cap hit... very classy move by Naslund to help them free up cap space, when he could have just sat back and collected a pay check

makes a lot of sense, as soon as he went down for the season for back surgery, I knew why he was waived... never question Holland...

UGH - Update - see topic

ok, here's the thing... we have 5 d-men that anyone else in the league would kill for and that's WITH 2 being down ... yes that is depth... take away 2 top d-men from any other team in the league and they're down to 3 d-men at best that their coach is TRULY comfortable with... most teams in this league have 4 top tier d-men at best and fill out that 3rd pairing with what we consider our scraps on a DAILY basis... with everyone healthy, we arguably have 3 top pairings...

I still think skill outweighs having a right handed shot on the point... especially when that right handed shot almost ALWAYS hits someone with his shot and doesn't get it to the net...

sadly, at his current developmental level, he would be a downgrade from Meech or Lebda, he can be a HUGE defensive liability at times, but he's getting a LOT better and at a rapid development, whereas Lebda and Meech are what they are... I say Kindl will be a full time roster player in 2-3 years, seeing call-ups within the next 2...

and he's smart with the puck... plus, guys are always more hesitant to block 100mph, or at least they'll think twice after getting pegged once real good