SwedeLundin77

I completely agree with you LeftWinger. I think that we will be as good as any team in the Western Conference just because we'll be one of the more balanced teams. I haven't seen Ward play too much since he left, but he has a held a job everywhere he's gone and not been sent down or any crap like that, so that's good. I'd go with Ward or McKee at this point. Ward would probably like to come back and play with the remaining guys and he doesn't have to worry about being in Bowman's doghouse, although Babs has a pretty strict demeanor too.... I really think we should let Miller walk. I'd like to keep Eaves as I believe he can be a pretty solid force for us and can play 3rd line and put up points when properly utilized, not a lot, but you know - 10-15 goals.... This is a good gameplan.

I like how fast McKee came over too.. He'd be a solid addition as our 6th d-man and doesn't require a lot of cap (under a mil). McKee and Asham... call it a day. If Asham is too rich, then Modano under a mil. Done and done. Let Meech go, Let Miller go. We have TOO many forwards right now. I'd hate to not even give Ritola a chance to play. So maybe Modano is a bit too much to worry about trying to get, but how do you pass up a guy of that caliber, for that cheap, and he'll for certain bolster our 3rd line... Anyway, I think this week will shed some light on things.

I think if we can sign him for around 1 million, and if he'd be okay with that, then why not? I mean this is the type of player we're looking for on the front-side.... why not just get him on the back and that frees us up to possibly get Modano for our 3rd line and then we can roll 3 pretty damn good lines. And then we have Abdelkader, Eaves, and Helm with Draper and Ritola battling to get in. I know, getting Modano isn't the most necessary move, but I feel he would really boost our third line, give us a reliable offensive player who still has wheels, despite being 40, and can put up reasonable points for a million or less.

Haha, so apparently now, Holland has been kicking the tires with Modano AND Kozlov... Slava that is. Very interesting, indeed. I mean, it wouldn't hurt the team necessarily but we have SOOOO many forwards right now. Just thought some would want to know, I saw it on spectors I believe.

Why not someone like Sydor for our 6th d-man? Or Wozniewski? Or Eriksson? Or Cullimore? Or Hutchinson? Or Strudwick? Or Hnidy? Or Mottau? Or Boynton? Or Mara? Or Eaton? Or Salei (injury could reduce his previous price-tag) Dare I also add this name in: Schneider??? As a mentor for Ericsson and Kindl as well as a 6/7 d-man These are all just options, I was just thinking about how we were minimizing our options down to a choice few when there are quite a few veterans with size out there who made very little before. This is pretty much that list. I gotta say, I threw Schneider in as a joke, but imagine if he wanted to play one more season around 850k-1 mil max. He'd be pretty much the perfect idea because he can mentor the kids and be a steady hand on the 3rd pairing. He can also be thrown on the PP and be an extra cannon back there. Discuss!!!

Modano - 2 years, 1 million and .750.... As long as he understand that he may be benched at times depending on the need.

Seems like Edmonton may try and keep Vandermeer... Doesn't make sense not to, since the buyout for Vandy is more than it was for O'Sullivan...

at 700-800k, possibly... but then we'd be so log-jammed. If we got him we'd have to let Miller walk or trade him and the same goes for Ritola too probably... I just don't see it happening.

This is all speculation, and some other speculation against him coming here or St. Louis include the fact that is wife is currently working in Texas and toward the west coast... I think she's trying to get into acting or is acting. So that would seem to indicate that he may not want to move too far east of Texas. I could see him ending up with Phoenix, Colorado, LA, Anaheim... something like one of those teams if they have room or need for a Vet.

So because Lilja wants to walk and see what opportunity is out there for him to play more minutes, and Holland wants to keep his cap number reasonable, and we have Abdelkader (who is going to be great part of this team going forward), and possibly re-signing Maltby to a 2-WAY deal which sees him as the 15th forward if everyone re-signs.... this all means that Holland has lost it? If anyone truly believes that then you are pretty much a 'tard. Lilja isn't the answer, necessarily, he did do a good job on the defensive side, but we could get someone possibly younger that does the same thing. Or who knows, maybe Kindl will really open some eyes given the chance. And the addition of Miller, and Flip coming off injury, and coaching.

This will never happen as we don't have the cap room to pull it off, nor the room on the roster. We'd be getting a guy for sentimentality sake and screwing one of the kids over - NOPE.

"Darren Millard meanwhile tweeted Thrashers forward Colby Armstrong appears headed to the UFA market and there's been no talks between the Buffalo Sabres and forward Raffi Torres." Just saw this little nugget of info on Spectors. Does anyone else think that making a push for Armstrong if we can fit him in budget-wise would be the right move to round out the troops, then we'd just need to move out Miller and possibly Ritola... I'd say Draper but you know that'll never happen. I also heard some rumblings about Torres on the interwebs... not even sure what kind of salary he would demand, but do you think he'd fit in with the squad? Discuss!

That's exactly what we need... a dirty cheap bottom six role player - indicated by Holland expressing interest in signing an enforcer type. I just wasn't sure if Boyd fit that mold at all. I just know he can put some points up, so I thought if he could be had for cheap enough and he's a more aggresive type player that maybe he'd fit the bill.

Word on the street is Nashville is not going to qualify him. Would he be a good option for us or too redundant? I'm not 100% sure how he plays, I thought he played with a chip on his shoulder but I could be wrong. Discuss.

The only way Cheechoo here makes any sense is if we hadn't already signed Bertuzzi. I understand some fans wanting him here because we are pros at reclamation projects in players. Cleary, Stuart, Bertuzzi.... that's just what we do now. But I say no unless he wanted to sign for league minimum after he's bought out. I like your thought, but we are already stacked with defensively sound, faceoff winners... yes we could use a righty, but not so bad as to clog up the team. If we moved someone out then, maybe, but otherwise no. Stick with Vandermeer.

Word on the street is that the Rangers are not going to re-sign Jody Shelley... if we do indeed pick up an enforcer type player - why not this guy? Discuss.

To all the apparent "booze and hockey don't mix" fans: Gee, look how terrible Patrick Kane is when he gets drunk and beats cab drivers.... Surely his skill has taken a hit eh? Yeah... exactly. This is a prime example that just because you drink, doesn't mean you slide in the draft. Sheahan slid down in the draft because he was amazing in juniors and his offense took a hit because he was a youngster on a new team with older players and competitors, and being taught to play defense first. Oh and everything he was used to doing had changed when he went to UND, no family, making new friends, tough ass academics, etc... He'll be a top 6 forward on this team in the future, if i'm wrong i'll kill, skin, cook, and eat the damn crow.

Didn't seem that way, seemed like another person who forgets that this team has been successful with both undersized and bigger players in the system...

Yeah, we have been good at drafting talent in later rounds, but we have also been too good to really draft early in the first round. We got a #21 pick which, in my estimation, has the potential to be like a Mule or Kesler or Pavelski type player - which if that's the case, we got a great pick. Time will tell. BUT you have to give the kid a chance to show what he can do. Last season he was a 17/18 year old playing against 20-24 year olds in a different league, away from home, with academics in the back of his mind. That's a lot to take in, so I will judge him more on what he does going forward and onto the Griffins in a season or two.

Thank you!!!! Finally, someone else with a level-head about that whole drinking business. They're kids and yes, sometimes they drink, and yes, sometimes bad luck strikes and they get caught. Get over it, it's not like it's some character flaw. It's called part of growing up (he was 17 at college for the first time).

I think our future is pretty damn good looking at our prospects. You have to remember that our core is still 25-30 right now so we have another 5-10 years to develop and integrate new talent into that system and keep rolling over the core into new players. You lose Lidstrom, but if Smith projects what they say he can, he'll be a solid guy to step in and have a bright future. You also look at Defensive prospects like Lashoff (19), Almqvist (19), Nicastro (20), Fournier (18), Jensen (19), Rufenach (21), and Piche (22). THese are all guys capable of stepping in, in a couple years as long as they develop well, and let's face it, they're in a good program to do that. The Wings love to develop and take it slow with prospects which could end in good things to come.

This is probably way premature, but it's just nice and fun to speculate sometimes. DO NOT take this seriously, critique all you want, but don't take this as a "I believe this is the way things actually will be" kind of post. More like, "maybe this could happen". So, in 2 years, Lidstrom, Holmstrom, Bertuzzi, Osgood, and Draper will all more than likely be retired or moving on (probably only Bert). So I'm just speculating, again, but with the prospects we have, maybe this is something we could see at that time: Hudler - Datsyuk - Franzen Tatar - Zetterberg - Nestrasil Cleary - Filppula - Ritola Helm - Abdelkader - Eaves Okay so that was a lot harder than I thought, I was sort of thinking about plugging Sheahan into the system in a couple years, which is unlikely, but I thought with his size and physical and mental maturity it could be possible. But for what the team needs, Tatar may be more ready, and Nestrasil is a RW with some good size who can score too. I figured you'd plug Flip into the second line and Sheahan could center the 3rd line to start his NHL career... playing in on the powerplay and PK. Oh and the Defense: Smith - Rafalski Kronwall - Stuart Ericsson - Kindl Kolosov/Pyett

I think that video is from 2007 too... so he's only 16, maybe 17 there. Good hand, eye coordination - maybe he'll be tipping in Tatar wristers in a few years.

We are already projecting to have 13 to 14 forwards. There is no room for Modano. I'd like to have him too, but it's just not realistic for this team. Especially not when it comes to taking time away from Abdelkader, Eaves, Miller, or Ritola. I'd much rather those guys get a chance and infuse some energy into the lineup. Modano would be a good option say if we don't get to sign a couple of guys, but only then.

Gee, I suppose being in the hunt for Lord Stanley almost every year is also a bad sign too... Get over it, whatever the scouts have been doing has worked. Don't act like we have ALL small players. There are plenty of prospects 6' or bigger and growing still.