stud_defenseman

Wellwood is not a great skater as some of you seem to think. He is however an excellent playmaker and has good moves. I live near Toronto so I am somewhat aware of his problems though. I wasn't aware that he smoked, but I do know that he comes to camp every year in terrible shape, and his work ethic during the year is not much better. ITs a shame because he has a lot of potential, if he was able to get into great shape during the sumer I wouldn't mind taking a chance on him, and you could get him for 800,000 a year since he has done jack s*** thus far in his career... However, we are not in need of a guy like this at the moment, we have lots of young guys who can fill the same role for a similar price, ones who have not displayed this tendency to be injured all the time. brubs, if you are willing to pay wellwood 1.5 mill you are bats*** crazy.

I almost ordered one, they were really nice. Being a student though I couldn't justify buying it.

3 years for 9-10... you are bats*** crazy. Good thing Holland is our GM. He is a good business man, flip is not worth more than 2... he may get a little more tho.

what he said ^^

Jere Lehtinen... was that sarcasm? C'mon, there are atleast 2 players on his own team that are better than him who I would not put on the top 10. Morrow and Ribiero at the moment are top 20 players, as one guy already said morrow could possibly fit into the top ten. Lehtinen is maybe top 30 if he played a full season this year.

I like Flip, but I don't think he will get as much as some of you seem to think. IMO he has not proven to be a top notch player as of yet. 5 years at 17 million?!? I dunno about that. Take a look at Zetterberg's first contract after his entry level contract. He got a 4 year 10.4 mill... and this is after a season where he scored 43 points in 61 games. Zetterberg had far more potential. Filppula scored 36 points in 78 games... that certainly isn't worth 3.4 million a season as ben_usmc seems to think. It would be to the benefit of both parties also if he signed a contract for fewer years...Zetterberg would have been smarter to do the same as well. Even after Zetterberg's first season with his new contract he was already worth twice what his salary was, so by signing a shorter term he could have been making the big bucks a little quicker. It also protects Holland just in case Filppula does not turn out like we think he will. I expect a three year deal at roughly $6.75 million or 2.25 a season... you can't ask for much more being a 24 year old who scored in the last two seasons 36 and 17 points.... come to think of it that is even too much... I'd give him no more than $2 million. He is not a zetterberg or a datsyuk as of yet, and I honestly don't get the same feeling while watching him play as I did while watching Z and Dats a few years ago. I knew they were gonna be great... flip im still unsure of.

Well, the problem is that with the lack of talent on Defence a lot of teams will be willing to pay a bit extra for those guys. So, either they overpay for half-rate talent, or they go out and get a good deal on a good two way forward. Atleast he can play defence

regardless of whether datsyuk was deserving or not, we have the two best 2-way players in the league...well, maybe even 3 if you count Lidstrom we rock.

I love looking back at posts like this. Past comments make people look so stupid sometimes

Ozzie should have picked up mini-me and held him like the cup!

I would pay him no more than Kronner is making ... I know that isn't really fair because Kronwall's contract was signed when he wasn't as good of a player, but Stuart I don't think is very spectacular. I would start the negotiations at 3 mill and move up to 3.25.

No offence, but it seems like kind of a dumb question to me... everyone has to earn their spot on the roster, especially a guy who has played 1 game. I don't think he will find a spot on the Wings at all next year except for a few games here and there for injury time.

Exactly. He has already had ample time in Grand Rapids to develop, what he needs to do now is to step it up a level and play with better players. It's do or die now. It's not like this is Toronto where they seem to destroy a goalie's confidence every other year. Detroit's D-men should be able to protect him enough that he will not get blown out very often. While we can't expect him to get a shut out every other game, our team will allow him to compete almost every game.

thanks for the info...in that case I would probably trade Meech then, get whatever you can for him. Sign Quincey for the 6th spot and let Ericsson play in the AHL again for a year inputting him in the lineup wherever possible. by the way, where did you find this info for whether a player still has waiver exemption status?

Here is what I would do... Sign Stuart, let Lilja go, keep Lebda, let Chelios go, trade Meech, sign Quincey, sign Ericsson. Roster would be... Lidstrom - Rafalski Stuart - Kronwall Lebda - Quincey - Ericsson One question though...can you send Quincey or Ericsson back down to the AHL without them having to clear waivers?

I agree with pretty much everyone else here. If Stuart goes Lilja stays. It is all going to come down to money though. If Stuart wants something like $4 million I don't think we will sign him, and they will take Lilja for something like $1.5 million (even though he isn't worth it). If Stuart is ready to sign for 3-3.5 they will take him over lilja for sure. Even without Stuart, our defense won't be hurt that bad, we would pretty much be in the same situation that we were at the begining of this season, except Chelios would probably be replaced by Ericsson, which even at the start could be an improvement.

Because he could die.

One thing I am concerned about for next year is who will get signed by the Wings on their back end. I am assuming that the Wings will try to solidify their top 4 either by signing Stuart or bringing in a similar free agent this summer. Lebda is also signed and I assume he will be kept around as I think he is worth the 650 g's he will be making next year. Lilja is outta here. Cheli may be brought back for part time work. That only leaves room for one other defencemen to share time with Cheli and or Lebda. The problem is that we have 3 other defencemen who I would argue are ready for full or part time duty. Meech, who is under contract for the next 2 seasons, and Quincey and Ericsson who are RFA's this summer. I think it may look like this... Lidstrom - Rafalski Kronwall - Stuart Lebda - Cheli Ericsson Meech Quincey The question I have is, will Holland be able to sign Quincey and Ericcson, and then carry 9 defensemen? Or will they simply not be able to sign one or more of them? If they do sign them, does their salary count against the cap even if they aren't playing? At the very least I would hope that they would get Quincey and Ericsson signed and trade Meech elsewhere. That way we aren't just letting someone go. I'm hoping actually that Cheli retires as there is quite the logjam on the back end at the moment. This doesn't even take into consideration that Kindl will also hopefully be ready for NHL action in the near future, he may even get a few games in this year if he improves some. Kenny, I think you need to start drafting some more forwards .

I really like this lineup, except I think Helm will be sharing time with McCarty and Ericsson will be sharing with Quincey, Ericsson may even become a starter.

looks like the wings should score like 400 goals next year . There's only so many goals to go around.

Wings are gonna own them 5-0... Kronner (hasn't scored yet) Franzen (Is due...didn't score last game) Datsyuk (Is also due) Z (shorthanded) Huddles (Just so I can see him do the double fist pump with his mouth open wide enough to swallow a small car) Other Predictions: Crosby will probably cry. Roberts will cheap shot someone. Malkin will get annihilated by Kronner with a big hit. Gonchar will eventually say "F--- this crap" and go to play in Russia next year. Hal Gil becomes number one defenceman for Pittsburgh. Malkin accepts an offer sheet from Tampa for $25 m a season for 15 years. Neither Tampa or Pittsburgh makes the playoffs again until 2025. Edit: P.S that vladdy moment chokes me up every time :'(

I also find it quite sickening how everyone loves Crosby to such an extent. Sure he is a great player, but he is in no way comparable to Gretzky. Gretzky simply dominated everyone, he was head and shoulders above everyone else in the league at the time he was playing. Nowadays there are probably a dozen players who are atleast comparable to or better than crosby. How does this make him the next Gretzky??!?!

Even though it is mine, as well as the team's best interest for them to continue to win, I am starting to get a bit frusterated with some of their means of doing so. I understand that embellishment has become a part of the game simply for the fact that players want the refs to notice when they are being interfered with / obstructed / hooked or whatever else, and in this sense it is somewhat necessary. If a player is in any way illegally interfering with your ability to play the game it is obviously in your best interest that the referees become aware of it. However, I think this is being taken too far at times. Osgood, who I never had previously identified as a flopper, has looked very hasek-like so far in the playoffs as there have been two very obvious incidents where he has tried to embellish the play such as with the Ribeiro incident and the Talbot penalty (and to a lesser extent the penalty on Malone as well). I am not saying that these were not penalties (because they were) I am only saying that the extra theatrics really are somewhat embarrassing to myself, a diehard wings fan. the Ribeiro incident in particular was extremely embarassing as there was no way in hell that a slash to the chest could have that kind of effect on a goaltender. Even the shot from Roberts on Franzen, though it was certainly unwarranted and potentially dangerous, seemed to be embellished by the Mule. Basically, the problem for me is that some of these plays are giving our hard working, and talented players an image that is not so flattering. And even though ultimately the most important thing is winning the Stanley Cup, for me I would like this win to be free from any blemishes. I don't want to give anyone a reason to criticize us for our victory, I want everyone around the league to recognize us for being the best team this year, not a team that likes to dive. People on LGW refer to the Colorado Avalanche as being a team with a bunch of divers for a reason... because they were often guilty of diving. Don't think for one second that the Avs fans are going to spare us of similar criticism in the future. We can win without it! Go Wings!

I think it was a great move by the league to start penalizing these dives, but the problem is that they are so difficult to judge it is almost pointless. Players simply have learned to do it better. I liked the suggestion about large fines being imposed for those who are guilty, but the problem is that it is so subjective of a call that there are bound to be many mistakes made. However, for those dives which can in no way be construed as being legal falls I suggest a list be compiled of the perpetrators similar to that which exists with drunk drivers in Ontario (this list is posted on the internet in order to humiliate these criminals for the rest of their existence). This list of players would then be posted at every arena in the league, maybe even on the boards. Every time one of these "criminals" dives again their name is re-printed in an even larger font!

I was one guy who honestly did not want Hossa. If we could have got him much cheaper than he went for then sure, but the cost would have been too high for a rental. I would have rather had them get a second line player who we could have possibly resigned next year. I doubt they would have been able to sign Hossa for the 7 mill he will be trying to get, nor do I think he is worth it.