SwedeLundin77

I like it.... another likable coach that players will want to come play under.

Answer to this topic = NO!

Ericsson gets it bad from Wings' fans.... I believe mostly because he set such lofty expectations after he burst out in the 08/09 playoffs and then fizzled the following season. The fact is, he has become a strong shut down penalty killer. It's hard to believe and I had to see the stats to really believe it myself, but when he got hurt last season, our PK suffered.... he returned and all of a sudden our PK got better. I don't believe he'll ever be valued higher than a 3/4 d-man, but I do believe he'll be a strong shut down defensemen with "some" offensive skill going forward. He just never had much of a chance. I say if we don't get any significant defensive help this offseason, we put Ericsson on the second PP and see what he can do. It can't hurt, and the opportunity is there.

I'm all for getting Nash, but the cost might be too much to bare, and I personally feel that trading for a defenseman at this point is the smarter move. You use your assets to acquire Yandle and sign Semin or Doan. That is a strong team, regardless. If we put all our eggs in the Nash basket, we more than likely just add depth defense and we had better score more. We don't want a Tigers incident now do we?

Cleary had the most heart in our short playoff run... and he was playing on one leg. Let's not discount someone just because you are biased as all hell. It's like people think we're going to ice some 25 and under team all of a sudden. We have always been known to have a good mix of veteran and young players as well... This year will be the most balanced we have been given more youth will have a shot. While I don't necessarily agree with Samuelsson, I do agree that he is an upgrade over Hudler (better speed, better defensively, right handed shot, better size). He can also effectively step into 2nd through 4th line roles effortlessly and he knows the system. Cleary-Helm-Bertuzzi Miller/Eaves-Abdelkader-Tootoo You can interchange Sammy with Cleary or Bertuzzi. In a perfect world, I'd like to see us ice a Mursak-Helm-Brunner third line, speed speed speed! But I personally feel Mursak is gone in a trade of some sort for defensive help.

While I am upset about Suter going to Minny as well, I do not fault Holland or Mr. I for it at all. They did as much as the possibly could and made competitive offers. By all accounts, it seemed like the Wings were Suter's 2nd choice, so it just came down to family, location, and a friend going there as well. I think Holland is a solid General Manager. Should he have been more ready for Lidstrom's departure? Of course, but at the same time, we were basically at the cap the past few seasons, and who knows... maybe he tried to get someone bigger in here last season and couldn't get the right fit. I'd much rather he play it smart and save the cap, then listen to a bunch of clown fans who just want us to blow our cap out of panic and the assumption of a steep decline in stats... Don't be surprised if we end up with similar stats this season to last season... LA won the frickin' cup with a rag-tag bunch of D-men.... Doughty was the only real standout on that squads back-end. Keep calm and STFU!

Yeah, this is overblown and I doubt there'd be any sort of investigation. This is nowhere near the severity of the Lebron/Bosh clown-show.

If all else fails, I wouldn't mind giving Cola a 1-2 year deal.... see what he can do and if he can stay healthy... can't hurt with all the cap we've got and if any trades prove fruitless. The kid has the goods, he just needs to stay healthy and he'd be a solid 5/6 man for us.

Everyone keeps freaking out over our defense... don't get me wrong, I really hope we make a move to get Yandle, Boyle, Murray, etc... If we don't, however, I'm not going to be all that upset if we just get a solid 5/6 man. What I have been thinking about lately, is the most recent Stanley Cup Champions: LA... See take a look at their defense corps: Doughty, Mitchell, Voynov, Greene, Martinez, Scuderi.... So you're telling me that we're up s***s creek with: Kronwall, Ericsson, White, Smith, Quincey, Kindl If you ask me, I'd much rather take our defense over theirs at this point in time... Young and hungry. The bottom line is that Holland is not done... Once we sign Abdelkader, we'll have 16 forwards, and I don't see us sending Brunner or Nyquist down, so that means we'll need to shed 2-3 via trade. That should be enough for us to get a solid d-man, I believe. Hopefully we can land Yandle, but time will tell. I also feel that we are either going to add Semin or Doan within the next week. If we get Yandle, I can see a package like this going over to Phx (Filppula, Eaves, 2nd rounder). So that leaves us with the following: Nyquist-Datsyuk-Semin Franzen-Zetterberg-Brunner Bertuzzi-Helm-Samuelsson Cleary-Abdelkader-Tootoo Mursak Kronwall-Yandle Quincey-White Ericsson-Smith Kindl Howard Gustavsson It's also awesome to note that as of right this instant, we have 4 right handed shots on offense: Brunner, Samuelsson, Eaves, Tootoo... and make it 5 if we sign Semin or Doan.

Not understanding the hate in making that move... we need defensive help, if Kenny brings him on short-term, what's the hurt in that? He might even help out for all we know.

Uhh... offense is not a problem, at this point. Defense is where we need to worry. We have, what? 15 forwards signed right now? So Mursak and Tatar probably won't see any ice time with the big club. More than likely, you'll see Tatar in a trade for something we need, defense. Datsyuk, Zetterberg, Franzen, Filppula, Samuelsson, Brunner, Bertuzzi, Cleary, Helm, Eaves, Tootoo, Miller, Emmerton, Mursak, Nyquist.... We'll probably shed Emmerton and Mursak in a trade of some sort. I say you trade Franzen and pieces for a need, sign Semin in Franzen's place... Who knows..

We aren't done... we have what? 17 million in cap and a glaring need to upgrade our defense. I can almost guarantee we'll fill some needs and not overpay for them (hopefully).

Can't blame Holland... put up a competitive offer and knew better than to blow up the cap in order to get a guy who really, in the end, isn't the absolute answer to our defensive question. Now we need to turn our focus on Carle, Yandle, Boyle, Murray, etc... More than likely we'll have to trade... we certainly have enough forwards to make it happen, but I just hope we don't have to give up anything extreme, unless we are somehow going to get Semin, Doan, Nash, or Ryan... We'll see...

Yeah that is a tad high for Jagr... I would consider him at 3.5 max, but that is still a cautious consideration. I would rather we looked at these players as backups to Parise: Alexander Semin Shane Doan Wojtek Wolski Eric Fehr Peter Mueller Steve Sullivan Kyle Wellwood

If we lose out on Suter, the free agent market is pretty bare.... not sure if we would try to add anyone there or maybe look at the trade route.... Matt Carle Pavel Kubina Michal Rozsival Jeff Finger Cam Barker Carlo Colaiacovo Randy Jones Jim Vandermeer Scott Hannan Ryan Parent Or possible trade route: Keith Yandle Dan Boyle Douglas Murray Paul Martin (don't want to help Pitt though) Jack Johnson NIcklas Grossman

I have to imagine that if we lose out on Parise, we'll make a strong push for Semin. From reports that I have seen, it sounds like Semin may be waiting for the Wings to make an offer, but that could be hearsay. Not a stretch though, may want to play with his countryman Datsyuk.

Yeah, you really have to love those uppity fans who think they are the next big thing in hockey knowledge. If you really believe you know as much as you spit out here, why are you posting on a forum and not involved in hockey in some larger capacity? For the record, I think Nashville wanted Tootoo to play like the old Tootoo (cheap shots and such) and that's why he went out of favor, but let's not forget that the guy put up 30 points playing in the bottom six with nobody that good last season.... sounds like a terrible hockey player to me, too.

Regarding Questoin 1: I believe Brunner, Nyquist, and Smith may all be sent to GR without a problem (they are on 2 ways). Pretty sure Mursak and Emmerton are out of options. Questoin 2: Pretty sure Eaves is ready to go for training camp, last I heard. Question 3: I believe the roster limit at the start of the season is 23 (14 forwards, 7 dmen, 2 goalies) Question 4: MacDonald is on a one-way contract this year, so either we trade him or send him down and see if he gets picked off waivers...

Perhaps, if it's true... again, I just heard it on the internet so who knows where that came from. It's not a stretch though. They're friends, so Ryan is probably seeing if whatever team signs Parise, can afford to sign him as well..

Last I heard, and this may be hearsay, but Parise will decide by the end of today and Suter will decide shortly after Parise does...

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/ What a laughable ass headline that is.... hahaha

He'll get eaten alive in Calgary.... They couldn't do much with even more talented and better skating forwards... Good luck.

Table scraps? Stop talking.

Your last sentence is wrong... Sammy will more than likely step into a 2nd line role, perhaps 3rd line... he's a winger, which has zero influence on two centers (Helm and Abdelkader). It's for 2 years, and remember that Cleary comes off the books after this season.