Z and D for the C

I don't really like these lines. Did Babcock say anywhere why he's not putting homer with the first line?

Hey, a shot by Zetterberg hit the net. HE'S GETTING THERE!

Filppula will score a goal tonight.

If the wings can play to their potential, yes. Datsyuk and Zetterberg need to be better though. This team will go only as far as they can take us.

I have no clue why they'd have Filppula play on the first line. It'd be way to easy for team Finland!

Frankly, with Filppula in the top 6, any line combination except maybe Bert Flip Homer would be great.

This. Right now, he is at least a 50 point second line center who is excellent defensively. He very well may grow into a player who will probably peak at upwards of 70 for maybe a season or two, but put up 60ish points consistently.

omg only 2 injuries.

3 threads in the last week on Filppula? Man, everyone must really like him.

For the sake of argument, Filppula's points per game is better than both Bert and Cleary. (And he's better than both defensively)

NHL 10 now rates Howard higher than Osgood. Discussion over everyone, thanks for coming.

Well, pittsburgh is the best team in the league. And it is the only team with superstars.

So could he be back even before the Olympic break? Or maybe they'll wait until after anyway.

We didn't have to sign him at that point.

He wasn't "progressing" half as well as Filppula. Sorry.

Player's get better. Franzen's goal average his first 3 years was 16 goals. He scored 35 goals last year, and I'm sure he can score 40. His point average was 28 (omg even less than Flip's!) and then last year he scored nearly 60 points. These facts should speaks for themselves. Also please remember what I said in my last post.

Again, he has had multiple setbacks. He would have undoubtedly "found his niche" in his third season but the signing of a super star pushed him down the depth chart. This year our team was decimated with injury and even without his injury his numbers probably wouldn't have bee what they could have been (look at Datsyuk's and Zetterberg's numbers)

you called me a jackass and an absolute moron and now I'm name calling?

At this point his career numbers mean nothing being that this is only his 4th season. Last year he was supposed to have an larger role on the team (2nd line center, PP time) but due to the Hossa signing was bumped down to the third line with no PP time. If we didnt sign Hossa he would have been on the second line with a guaranteed 50 points. And it's more than just 29 games, it's 4 months. There is no reason to think he can't continue that pace.

WE HAVE. In my 2 1/2 years here, I've argued with a lot of people. But I've never argued with someone as thick, stubborn and just plain stupid. Filppula is a second line scorer and as produced accordingly since being on the second line, and his 3 million salary is perfect. As he grows as a player, he will become more of a deal. These are the facts. Anyone who argues against them is wrong. There is nothing else to say.

Okay, so describe what a center who makes 3 million should be? Did you not even read my post?

So every player between 2 million and 4 million is being over paid? How much does a player have to produce over 82 games to be worth 3 million? I don't know why you keep bringing up Leino has though he matters. He played a meaningless 13 games. Filppula has played more than double, and since the start of the season to the current point in the season has kept pace for 50 points, and that's including a 26 game injury. It's not like I'm picking 10 of his most productive games and saying that's what he will produce in a season. We're two thirds into the season and filppula has continually scored enough for 50 points over 82 games. From 13 games in the middle of the season, projections mean nothing, but over two thirds of a season, they do.

More numbers: There are 88 players making between 2 million and 4 million per year. From these players, there are 32 players that have a higher P/G than filppula, and 54 with lower P/G. Compare this to 42 players who make as much or more, and 45 players who make less. This isn't taking how great he is defensively into account. Now I'm not saying Filppula is a steal or anything this season, but he is worth his salary, period. It's stupid to argue against this.

That's just not true. Filppula's PPG over the entire season is much higher than Bert's, and has out scored him since filppula's return. And all this while Bert has played with Datsyuk for the majority. Just completely wrong. Here is a list of players who make more than Filppula with similar current production: (sorted highest ppg to lowest) R.J. Umberger: 0.67 P/G @ 3.75/yr Chris Kunitz: 0.67 P/G @ 3.73/yr Ryane Clowe: 0.67 P/G @ 3.63/yr Andy McDonald: 0.67 P/G @ 4.7/yr Brad Boyes: 0.64 P/G @ 4/yr Tuomo Ruutu: 0.64 P/G @ 3.8/yr Saku Koivu: 0.63 P/G @ 3.25/yr Andrei Kostitsyn: 0.63 P/G @ 3.25/yr Valtteri Filppula: 0.62 P/G @ 3/yr Kris Versteeg: 0.62 P/G @ 3.08/yr Jordan Staal: 0.61 P/G @ 4/yr Steve Sullivan: 0.61 P/G @ 3.75/yr Radim Vrbata: 0.59 P/G @ 3/yr John Tavares: 0.59 P/G @ 3.75/yr Brenden Morrow: 0.58 P/G @ 4.1/yr David Krejci: 0.56 P/G @ 3.75/yr Scott Hartnell: 0.56 P/G @ 4.2/yr Tyler Bozak: 0.55 P/G @ 3.73/yr David Legwand: 0.54 P/G @ 4.5/yr Marco Sturm: 0.53 P/G @ 3.5/yr Brian Rolston: 0.53 P/G @ 5.06/yr Mike Modano: 0.52 P/G @ 3.45/yr Milan Michalek: 0.51 P/G @ 4.33/yr Paul Kariya: 0.49 P/G @ 6/yr Michal Handzus: 0.49 P/G @ 4/yr Jochen Hecht: 0.49 P/G @ 3.53/yr Ales Kotalik: 0.49 P/G @ 3/yr Rostislav Olesz: 0.48 P/G @ 3.13/yr Vyacheslav Kozlov: 0.46 P/G @ 3.67/yr Dainius Zubrus: 0.46 P/G @ 3.4/yr Dave Bolland: 0.46 P/G @ 3.38/yr Dustin Byfuglien: 0.45 P/G @ 3/yr David Booth: 0.4 P/G @ 4.25/yr Evander Kane: 0.4 P/G @ 3.1/yr Chris Drury: 0.37 P/G @ 7.05/yr Rod Brind'Amour: 0.25 P/G @ 3.6/yr Jonathan Cheechoo: 0.23 P/G @ 3/yr My god they all need to be traded!