stevkrause

My thoughts exactly....

I wonder if he'd clear waivers though... Holmstrom too... its getting ugly right now If Howard is going to be out any length of time longer than a couple days, I think we need to sign or trade for someone, MacDonald can't carry this load... Leighton?

I personally think Mursak is ready to play at the NHL level every night, even regardless of his goal last night, he has blazing speed and is very responsible defensively, not to mention works his ass off... I think Tatar still needs at least a year playing major minutes in various situations in the AHL (and to put on some size) and I personally could take or leave Kindl at this point, but think we may possibly be best served sending him out at the deadline, not that he's been bad, I just don't think he really fits what we need and will need moving forward, especially with what we already have in the pipeline... As for the "vets" - I wouldn't be opposed to Draper coming back on a 1 year deal at a discount, and retaining Miller, as long as Miller and Draper both understand they may be healthy scratches from one night to the next, re-sign Ericsson and Eaves long term (3 years+), re-sign Salei for another 1 year or 2 year deal, re-sign Howard (term TBD on how he plays over the rest of the year, but likely 3 year deal), go looking in FA for a backup goalie (Conklin?) and last but certainly not least, depending on what Lidstrom wants to do, if he wants to come back, done... if he hangs them up, go looking in FA for another impact defensemen (*cough* Kevin Bieksa *cough*) Just my 2 cents...

They should try and deal Niemi and go crawling back to Nabby... he opted out of his KHL deal and is a FA...

He was actually handling the Wings offense and MacLean was handling defense and got shifted to offense when McClellan left... but your point is taken This is pretty much it all right here - Nabby really masked a lot of their defensive weaknesses last year, he just got burnt out by playing too much, come playoffs

As for those saying Eaves is going to want a big payday after this season - http://www.mlive.com/redwings/index.ssf/2011/01/patrick_eaves_finds_offensive.html Sure doesn't sound like someone who would would be looking for a huge payout over staying here to me...

Exactly - that's basically what my reply to the thought was as well...

That's not at ALL what I said, or implied... I wonder if Ilari will still be with the team... he'll have to clear waivers next season due to his age and there's a good chance he'll want to play on the big club, or go back to Finland... If this ends up being the case, then without a doubt, this is all a moot point...

I meant to reply to this earlier, Bieksa wouldn't be REPLACING Lidstrom, no one could do that, it would be a defense by committee approach, expecting everyone to step up and fill a role and yes, Bieksa is a #4, which is just fine, because we already have 3 VERY capable top 3 guys and another one in the making... arguing that Bieksa wouldn't fit here though, or fill a role is crazy - He can play 20 minutes, good on the PP and is a physical presence... You were saying?

EDIT - Even though the numbers are close, I don't see it being a problem and if Lidstrom retires, it won't even be a question.

We have never had an overly successful #21 on Detroit and even Errey and Ysebaert(short of one pretty good season) were nothing to write home about in the Winged Wheel, following the taint that Leino put on it, I think Tatar should adorn another numbered sweater when he comes up next to avoid the jinx of 21! Obviously this is all in jest, but I was just reminded in the report of him being sent back to GR that the last Wing to score in their debut was Leino and he just happened to wear the same sweater, so I thought it was a funny coincidence, but we certainly don't want Tatar's path to take the same as Leino's did here, especially with the high ceiling he has for potential... EDIT - Side note, 22 should probably be taken out of circulation for a little bit too until the stank of Lebda wears off... and he stunk it up pretty bad, so it might take a few years...

Where are you getting your numbers from? We had over 700k+ coming into the season, even with callups, it will not cut into that more than 450k...

Eaves can fill so many roles and is so versatile, not to mention the fact that he seems very at home here in Detroit - As I've been saying all along, he needs to be locked up long term, simple as that. I can't emphasize enough how strongly I feel about that...

Sort by +/- and look half way down the page... http://tsn.ca/nhl/teams/statistics/?hubname=nhl-red_wings POS / NAME / GP / G / A / PTS / +/- / PPG / SHG / GWG / PIM / SHOTS / PCT / ATOI D / Nicklas Lidstrom / 35 / 9 / 20 / 29 / -1 / 5 / 0 / 1 / 8 / 80 / 11.25 / 23:39 I know it's a very misleading stat at times and I'm positive that it won't stay this way, but it still just looks odd... on a side note, look at Abby...

A. It's a salary cap league - having dead money is the sign of a bad GM, something Holland isn't and you clearly would be. B. You aren't going to find an upgrade to Holmstrom at his price level (if nothing else, just for his value on the PP) C. The culture of the Wings is part of what makes them so great - management signs players with the intent of them playing their whole contract and in turn players sign contracts at a discount here with the intent of completing their contract and in most cases, career here He will not and should not retire, nor should anyone want him to and to imply anything otherwise is ridiculous and short sighted.

I wouldn't see how, Holland has made it pretty clear that Meech would not be brought up, as he'd have to be exposed to waivers to go back down... also, he isn't even wearing 14 in GR, so I doubt he's that attached to the number, but you could be right on that account I didn't even think of it that way... hmm... good point... Personally, if he's going the math route, I think he should just add the 2 and wear 41... that way when he ends up on Hanks wing (where he eventually will ) we can have 40 and 41 playing together

I wasn't referring to LTIR - Just our straight up cap space available from this year will cover his bonuses... You always have a way of bringing logic back when someone goes off swimming in the crazy end of the pool... thank you! Flat out ridiculous, on all levels...

yea, but the stank has been put on it since Oates(I had forgotten he wore 21 as well) and like you just said... look at the last 2 prospects to wear it... Grigorenko and Leino :shudders:

without a doubt, don't get me wrong, that would scare me too, which is why it would need to be a good package to make the deal... this is purely hypothetical and I'm not saying we COULD get this, or it would even be offered, but say at the deadline, that a team looking to retool in the East has a GM that falls in love with him and his upside and offers us something like a 1st and a 3rd for him, or even a 2nd and a 4th... I wouldn't be mad at Holland at all for pulling the trigger on that and would probably be dissapointed in him if he didn't... once again, VERY hypothetical, just kinda the way I look at it

Agreed, also, with the way our roster is shaped/shaping... I also fear we'll have too many offensive d-men and not enough stay at home guys to balance them out... with that said, how much of a bargain is Salei turning out to be?!?

I can honestly only think of one player better in the NHL and he also wears the Winged Wheel...

Synopsis - Ericsson, Eaves, Howard back and raise, Salei back, slight raise, Tatar extra year GR, Mursak up full time, Draper, Modano, Osgood retired, vet back up goalie and Lids yes or no decides other D spot/FA pickup, Miller take or leave... Kindl, verdict still out - sum it up well enough? Ericsson came into the org with better hockey sense though and a more physical side, whereas Kindl is yet to use his size the way he should...

I actually wonder if he's one of the types of guys that just doesn't care about his number and takes whatever the club assigns him... he hasn't exactly had the most consistent of numbers in his "career", don't know what he wore growing up, but so far professionally, he's worn 27 in GR (which is available here, but he didn't choose it), and 14 for the National team (which is also available here, but he didn't choose it)... and then 21 in Detroit

I can definitely agree with that... I just don't have a strong opinion of him either way at this point, and I can see the benefits to both sides(trading him and keeping him) so basically all I was eluding to, was that I just wouldn't be upset if they did either...

I had a little recoil when I saw it too, haha