T.Low

UFA's will be inherently over priced because demand is high and supply is low. They will ruin the salary structure of your team, and quite possibly the attitude of the room. We all know that Holland and Illitch understood after the '05 CBA that prices for UFA's would be waaaay hyper inflated and therefore went to a philosophy of building a team through the draft. As you see, Wings fans are having a difficult time living on a budget when we never had to before. We can't handle not buying every Lecavalier and Horton that we see become available, like the good ole days of buying up a Lucky Luc and having no room for him except on the 4rth line. That is one reason winning the Calder Cup was so significant.

Team 1040 says Flyers have agreed with Vinny

Don't worry, neither will Gillis.

i REALLY HOPE YOU ARE JOKING!

Our reclamation projects are for the old, beat-up cast-offs exclusively, not the young talented but misguided, still with a long hockey life in front of them type of players. This off season is already way more exciting than I thought it was gonna be.

Really got to wonder why he doesn't want to stay in Pittsburgh.

Ahh, unanswered prayers. I played on a regional all star baseball team with Pat Lafontaine. Absolute great guy. Could'nt wait to see him as a Wing. Now, I admire Stevie Y as much as anyone I can think of.

+1 And, while he has done well and is a valuable part of the team here, he has not flourished. It is not like Federov's situation; he will go on to enjoy success and hopefully get a good payday. He may blossom a bit with a change of scenery. I appreciate all that you have done here and really enjoyed watching you play, but the time has come.

While I hope that I am right and you are wrong, I wish more people on this forum could respectfully counterpoint the way you do. Props.

Ha, you missed my epic epiphany on page one. I say Healthy Helm's speed, jump, and work ethic makes up for the skill descrepency between he and Filp. He is a perfect fit between Franzen and Zetterberg, and allows Nyq/Andy/Tatar to stay together as an great 3rd line. Get Dats a big gun to play with, Clarkson-esque, and we've got a great lineup. Abby/Dats/Clarkson(type) Franzen/Helm/Zetterberg Nyq/Andy/Tatar Miller/Emmy/Eaves(Toots) Bert Thats balance, thats compete, thats encouraging. Thats doable. We can win with that.

I agree; I DO NOT want to trade away Mr. Butterfield. That boy's got jump, and I luved the playoff Gordie Howe Hat Trick. Tatar brings it.

All we really need is to acquire one big gun for Datsyuk, and since it sounds like KH is ready to trim some fat, it should be pretty doable. I have been back and forth with the idea of putting Z and D together or using them as 1center, 2 center. or is a healthy Helm ready and able to take the next step and move up to the 2nd line? At the end of the day, the winning formula is simple and basic and we all have been saying it all along; Dats needs a big gun to play with, someone with a lot more of a goal scoring threat on his wing than Z provides. Weather that is Clarkson or whomever, I don't know. Abby(Bickel?)/Dats/Clarkson Franzen/Helm/Zetterberg Tatar/Andy/Nyquist Miller/Emmy/Toots(Eaves) Bert/ If Helm returns 100% and goes back to the 3rd line, then Andy is way under utilized on the 4rth line. Am I wrong thinking a healthy Helm can adequately replace Fil-A-Poola? Doesn't his speed, agressiveness, and work ethic more than make up for the skill descrepency between the two? He seems like a perfect fit between Franzen and Zetterberg. Emmerton is solid, responsible, and cheap; a great place holder until Sheahan or ? is ready. Unless Holland knows one of the Griffins are ready. Maybe Abby can get 20 goals while crashing and mucking on Datsyuks line, doing a lot of the grunt work so a Clarkson-type-scoring-guy can find some space to snipe from.Yes, I'd prefer a bigger Bickel there instead of Abby, but so would every GM in the league now that he's been showcased in the Finals so chances of getting him are slim to none. If we get the right scorer on Dat's wing, then settling for Abby there could be fine while spreading cap space to other lines. This set of forward lines can compete with anyone. We are not that far away, maybe one top acquisition is all we need, and it's certainly doable.

All we really need is to acquire one big gun for Datsyuk. I have been back and forth with the idea of putting Z and D together or using them as 1center, 2 center. or is a healthy Helm ready and able to take the next step and move up to the 2nd line? At the end of the day, the winning formula is simple and basic and we all have been saying it all along; Dats needs someone with more of a goal scoring threat on his wing than Z provides. Weather that is Clarkson or whomever, I don't know. Abby(Bickel?)/Dats/Clarkson Franzen/Helm/Zetterberg Tatar/Andy/Nyquist Miller/Emmy/Toots(Eaves) Bert/ If Helm returns 100% and goes back to the 3rd line, then Andy is way under utilized on the 4rth line. Am I wrong thinking a healthy Helm can adequately replace Fil-A-Poola? Doesn't his speed, jump, and work ethic more than make up for the skill descrepency between the two? He seems like a perfect fit between Franzen and Zetterberg. Emmerton is solid, responsible, and cheap; a great place holder until Sheahan or ? is ready. Unless Holland knows one of the Griffins are ready. Maybe Abby can get 20 goals while crashing and mucking on Datsyuks line, doing a lot of the grunt work so a Clarkson-type-scoring-guy can find some space to snipe from.Yes, I'd prefer a bigger Bickel there instead of Abby, but so would every GM in the league now that he's been showcased in the Finals so chances of getting him are slim to none. If we get the right scorer on Dat's wing, then settling for Abby there could be fine while spreading cap space to other lines. This set of forward lines can compete with anyone. We are not that far away, maybe one top acquisition is all we need.

Too bad regarding the report of Detroit and Brunner having difficulty finding common ground

I hate to agree with guys who've said I was asinine, but this is the best reply.

If I were Filppula I would want to go to Vancouver. He could be a great second line center, moving Kesler to wing. That would be a great second line start. Of course they would have to dump salary in order to get him. But I think it would be a great fit.

-1

Andersson got the pass from Tatar on the empty net 2 on 1, but instead of getting the goal himself, he waited until Tatar was in he clear then fed him for the goal. Very cool.

I got my Ilitch hot and ready pizza so I'm ready to go. Hoping the Griffs are ready to go to. Too bad there is no opposite of suspension, because whatever it is, Nyquist deserves it.

Why the "general consensus" is two fold: Because internet posters tend to rude, harsh, and negative, and secondly, because Babcock was correct when he indicated that Mursak didn't "grab hold of anything" while he was up with the Wings. As opposed to Nyquist and Tatar, he simply wasn't hard enough on the puck, and not strong enough on it when he did have it. He got knocked around a lot. Nyquist and Tatar have been successful and figuring out ways to create time and space to play their game in the much tighter NHL, but Mursak has not been observed making that major adjustment.

And you're ok seeing him go to Vancouver or Dallas for 2yr $3m per?

I can't believe the numbers you guys are throwin out. Compare him and his scoring to Hudler and then consider Hudler got 4 yrs @ $4m per on the open market. Guys that primarily put the puck into the net are the hard one's to find.

Griffs were down and struggling against a powerful Oaklahoma team when the boys returned to the team and sparked turn around. That prompted one writer to dub them (Andy & Nyq reuniting w/ Tatar) "The Just In Time Line". I can't figure out the color analyst; apparently he's a forward for the Crunch? Injured? He sounds just like Maltby. He plays the "embellishment" card on damn near every Crunch penalty. Whatever. The hometown announcers aren't too bad until they start questioning Jurco's backhand goal, trying to say that their bad angle, super fuzzy and grainy replay shows a better view of the goal than the referee's overhead angle replay. The angle was behind and to the right of center, and the video was more fuzzy than the picture of Saskquatch.

Plus one.

Sweeeeeeeet! Go Griffs!