2probert4

Highly unlikely St Louis deals with Detroit... for anything.

FOX Sports Detroit said this morning the team would target Niskanen and Boyle in Free Agency. Tootoo probably isn't bought out because he doesn't really save them much money in doing so, but the Wings have one to use this season or lose it.... This will be a major off season for the Wings and Kenny Holland, who is nearing the end of his contract.

Nashville is a mess right now, the only reason they excelled as they did at times was Trotz could make Chicken Salad out of Chicken Crap. Their organization is a mess right now, Trotz is gone, the GM has one foot out the door and the ownership is possibly tired of paying Weber his 14 mill a year. (He gets a check for 13 mill by July, then 1 mill for his salary) Their prospects are all the grinder type (except for Forsberg and Jarnkrok) sure they got the better end of the deal, but saying they are dangerous I don't agree with at all...

FooFoo also hardly played the 2nd half of the season, and after his bonehead penalty vs the Ducks, he didn't see playoff ice again..

the return for him would not be great, due to the length of his deal and his age

Don't forget "can't skate" , "poor puck-handler", and lacks discipline.. Jury is out on this one.....

Everyone is signing with the Pens....

Lidstrom had a reason for his level of play, its called he took a puck off the inside of the foot...

Does anyone really think a player is going to reveal anything prior to July 1 ? Nobody is going to say "I want out of here now".. There have also been reports that NJ won't have the revenue to resign Parise, so its 6 of one, and half-a-dozen of another. Not saying any of this to talk down to someone either.... Weber was cornered by some blogger at the draft, and told the guy he hoped they could work something out in Nashville, to which it was spun into Weber wants to stay a Pred....

Because Craig Leopold, former owner of the Nashville Predaturds, has been one of Bettman's butt buddies for close to 15 years. Leopold did not sell the Preds to Balsillie, so Bettman approved him to buy the Wild. Someone may have posted this prior to this response, but it's always fun to talk crap about Bettman, and anything Predaturds.

1 year is a different beast than throwing away 4 years. Not sure what to think about that deal to be honest. Not every player is a Quincey. Would be very surprised to see Holland trade away another 1st rounder.

they also (counting Weber and Suter) had 15 combined UFA and RFAs to decide upon (Radulov and Andrei Kostitsyn are not returning) so 13. Plus they have deals running out after next season.

Holland is too tightwad to throw picks away such as 4 #1's don't see that happening anytime soon. 4 1st rounders is too much for anyone. Not when they are about to become UFA the next season.

It's not guaranteed he stays in Nashville either. They aren't the market to be a cap ceiling team, regardless of what David Poile says. I think it's been quiet because Suter doesn't want to bolt out and show up the organization, plus the Finals were going on. He will test the market, and would be foolish not to do so. I presented a question to their radio guys that which did not get a response. "If the Predators couldn't get past the 2nd round WITH Suter and Weber, why now all of a sudden they are a Cup Contender by retaining them, at a MUCH MUCH more expensive rate, which affects resigning / obtaining other talents due to less cap space." You could hear a pin drop. Good points, and there was talk of a long term deal for Weber when Rinne was given his big pay-day (Somewhere around 7yrs @ 8 per which was turned down) but one of the Philly writers said the Flyers should try and deal for him, it would of course have to involve JVR and a combo of players picks and prospects, which would help Nashville in the long run, this team has many holes to fill and that would help. The reasoning behind NOT doing that, is people are threatening to drop their season tickets if Weber is not retained. I guess they don't see the big picture in all of this.

Preds aren't contenders... They weren't this year and with 15 free agents (UFA and RFA combined) plus with limited finances, uhh nope. World Class goalie obviously....

Tired of the undersized players, long overdue for getting the much-needed size in the Wings lineup. Brunner may go to Tampa, where they would put him in the lineup. Schultz will be interesting, because there will be a couple of team who would put him on the NHL roster so he may go there. Not sure what Holland will do with the logjam at the blueline, Smith HAS to play every night, not split time with Kindl or whomever else.

Nashville's market doesn't allow them to spend to the cap ceiling, they set a record for sellouts this season with 24 (many of those ownership bought up the tickets) so with the success that franchise has shown over the past few years during the regular season and still not selling out..... About a month ago the Tennessean had an article admitting the Preds still haven't made a profit, and probably won't this season either. 15 free agents to make decisions about (UFA and RFA) but im sure Radulov and Andrei Kostitsyn will be elsewhere. Plus they have to decide on that Hart Trophy candidate Jordin Tootoo as well... lol

Parise and Suter are good friends, they played on a few teams together prior to being drafted, and have said they would like to play together at some point in the future. That's where some of that "we sign both Parise and Suter" comes from.. That and the statement in the previous post where everyone comes to Detroit. Some of the Vancouver fans are like that , everyone is going to Vancouver and everyone is lined up to take our trash players (Ballard) (Raymond) so we can make cap room. I agree that Franzen is lazy, big time, I think someone in the locker room should kick him in the arse once a week to keep him motivated. Anyone who says they take Hudler over Parise, hasn't watched Parise play. Using the plus minus stat as a reason , that's almost comical. Hudler more than likely will price himself out of Detroit

Nashville never had a shot at Parise... They don't have the revenue to resign their own 15 free agents (combined UFA and RFA) much less add another 7 mill per player like Parise. Well, make that 13 because Radulov and Andrei Kostitsyn more than likely are gone. With the season they had and only sold out 24 times, (many of those they bought up their own tickets) whats that tell you ? Preds supposedly offered Weber a similar deal to Rinne's when they signed Rinne and Weber of course declined. Both Suter and Weber made it clear they will go somewhere that they can win a championship....

Emmerton and Mursak can't be demoted without being exposed to waivers... Someone correct me if im wrong, but I think Tomas Tatar is in the same boat as those 2. Even if the cap does increase to 70M, you can bet that it doesn't stay there after one season. Bettman will want a cap decrease once again.

At this point, with Lidstrom almost out the door, I would say Suter would be the more important of the two, he's a top 2 pairing level player, and he's very good defensively. Nashville has 15 free agents to resign (combined UFA and RFA) plus the lack of a deep run will influence both Weber and Suter. NJ has money trouble as someone said earlier, possibly 20 mill in losses this season alone. Speculation of borrowing against next seasons TV money to make payroll this season also was flying around, so it's safe to say Parise probably doesn't return. Just food for thought... Illitch is in his 80's and want's another World Series and Stanley Cup....

Kypreos said he thinks Suter will go to Minnesota , not sure why all of a sudden these big names are rumored there, such as Parise... Craig Leopold only cares about making money, as long as he's doing that, hes happy. Guy was a joke of an owner in Nashville, hasnt done any better with the Wild.

Radulov's deal doesn't expire until April 30, and if he breaks the contract there, they (KHL) would expect some form of reimbursement for his salary, someone told me as much as 2/3 of it. It's still up in the air if /when he returns to the NHL. I wouldn't be surprised at all if Radulov is just using Nashville (again) to get a larger increase in pay in the KHL.

I wouldn't want McGratton, his off the ice issues aren't what this organization needs... Babcock Holland Illitch wouldn't tolerate his partying habits. As long as Holland is the GM, its safe to say there will not be an enforcer type player on Detroit. I agree with the person who posted that Abby should get Kocur to help him with his positioning of his body during a scrap, the leverage and positioning a large part of it, and I think Abby looks off-balance in most of the scraps. Ive always noticed that Kocur Downey or Probie tried having their feet perpendicular to the oppoent, digging into the ice allowing them to use their legs and hips in each punch. Just a thought people.......

Tony Twist was on the Blues and he had an upper body that resembled a football player, man was HUGE.