Datsyerberger

Oh, I'll never say it can't... it's perfectly legal by the CBA. I just say it won't, for reasons also supported by the CBA (ability to match offer sheets, player having to accept offer sheets, ability to protect players from offer sheets with team-elected salary arbitration... etc) It's more likely a RFA is traded in any case, whether the GM's name is Holland or not. 1. The team with the player usually gets a better deal than the compensatory picks--or one more suited to their needs--via trade 2. The team making the trade gets to choose what assets they send out, and obviously the trade guarantees they get the player (rather than another team potentially offer sheeting him first, or the current team matching).

And for 1.25-1.75, he's a #5/6 d-man at a reasonable price if we can't find anything better for the role. Yes? In my opinion, Ericsson still has some room to grow: he's a later bloomer, he's a large guy, and he's a d-man. All of this could equate to a player that doesn't hit his prime until 30. If everything comes together for him, he could be a respectable #4. The biggest issue currently is a matter of where to put him. He's solid defensively when he's not consistently the last line of defense, so you can't put him with a risk-taker. Likewise, he needs someone reliable to let him jump up for his offense. At the same time, his partner has to be reasonably reliable offensively to carry the pairing during a slump. This makes a guy with balanced offense and defense like Lidstrom a perfect partner for him, but it just so happens our guy like that is ******* amazing and our #1 d-man. Ericsson is not top pairing qualtiy at this time. Lidstrom is the only guy we've really had like that (Kronwall is more offensively oriented; his offense from jumping into the play is lethal, making a defensively-oriented partner ideal for him. Stuart doesn't have the offense. Rafalski wasn't reliable defensively. Salei definitely didn't have the offense). Hpwever, if the Wings can acquire a d-man to play on the right side of Kronwall that's of sufficient quality, that may be different this next year. I think the Wings are looking at a point where Lidstrom's numbers can be toned back, and likewise Kronwall can take on more responsibilities. They can share a 1a/1b role when it comes to overall minutes. Kronwall's partner can be someone that logs #3 minutes. Stuart can anchor the bottom pairing, providing a steady partner for Kindl, even while he gets double shifted on defensive minutes and eats crazy PK time to give him similar #3 minutes. This leaves Ericsson as a solid choice for Lidstrom's partner, and it just so happens that's the style of d-man Ericsson needs to play next to. Pairings (sorted descending by ES icetime as a pairing) Kronwall | ???? Lidstrom | Ericsson Stuart | Kindl PK icetime (descending) Stuart ???? Lidstrom/Kronwall/Ericsson Kindl PP icetime Lidstrom Kronwall ???? Ericsson/Kindl/Stuart ES icetime Kronwall Lidstrom ???? Stuart Ericsson Kindl Total icetime Lidstrom/Kronwall ????/Stuart Ericsson Kindl If the right person can be acquired to fill "????" I'm quite fine with that arrangement. If he cannot, or if Ericsson cannot be had for a reasonable contract, I would prefer 2 new acquistions, both of 2nd pairing (or better) quality.

Just to play devil's advocate (eva, you're the devil fyi), eva does bring up a fair point even if his numbers are arguably inflated (and seeing as the last few pages have been arguing the amount of inflation I'm going to leave that part alone). Hudler does have both incredibly good vision and pretty good offensive tools (stickhandling, passing, shot, all of which could belong to a top 3 player that had sufficient other tools). However, because of his negative qualities (small size, low strength, unreliable skating, questionable commitment -- all to fairly notable degrees), he doesn't have the ability to produce on his own except against inferior competition. His offensive tools may be great, but he cannot reliably get to and maintain a scoring or offensive position. Obviously, inferior linemates are also going to further impact his already disadvantaged playmaking in this scenario and lead to crap production. Stick him with linemates who can carry the play and suck attention of defenders onto them, on the other hand, and you do have an extremely potent offensive threat in Hudler. Give him enough space and you've got someone with the offense of a top 3 forward, playmaking and finish, for a 2nd/3rd line tweener's contract. Filppula is quite different. He's not as good of a stickhandler or shooter as Hudler, doesn't have the same vision, doesn't shoot as much when he's in a good shooting position. However, he can skate, he can protect the puck better, his work ethic is likely better.. he doesn't have the tools to set up or finish at a top-3 point producing level no matter who you put him with, but he does have enough tools to make something out of nothing in most situations. How apt that these comparisons are fairly comparable to a couple players on another recent cup winner, namely Bolland and Versteeg on the Hawks during their win. Players like Filppula and Bolland are the sort of core players you build around after your stars, players like Hudler and Versteeg are the sort you add to a contender to make their offensive threat overwhelming. Is it any surprise that Filppula and Bolland continue to be core parts of their team while one of Hudler & Versteeg has been to Europe then scratched/shuffled all over the place, and the other has bounced several times in the last few months, even though the latter two have the best 2 offensive seasons out of all of them (on SCF-quality teams in those particular seasons)? And what does this mean for Hudler? If our team is sufficiently deep, use him as a PP specialist while playing him on a 3rd scoring line that might include occasional time with star forwards during hot streaks. If our team is not sufficiently deep, trade him and use the cap/roster space to acquire a forward that more accurately fits a bottom 6 role... or hold onto him in the hopes that the team can become the former while he's still on the roster. His current contract is just about right for the offense he can generate.. on the right team, that is. As a Wings fan, I prefer to keep Hudler -- or rather, I prefer a team that has the offensive depth to properly utilize a player such as Hudler. In the post-cap world, those teams are cup contenders.

Might be more along the lines of Chelios thinks Meech deserves another shot at being a backup d-man/emergency forward on the Wings roster due to hard work/good play in the AHL last year.

I think he's great. I also think the Pens have no intentions of trading him (excepting brutal overpayment, of course).

From the article: Decapitated legs? Really?

He's going to get more than that. Around 5.5 for a few years seems more likely unless this next season is an utter disaster for him.

When did the NBA go long sleeved?

The reason he wanted an NTC on his contract was so he could hopefully settle down somewhere with his family and play hockey in one place, after having bounced around a bit. I think he sticks with Detroit as long as they want him. Otherwise, he's a defensively sound 2nd pairing d-man with a decent amount of grit and a solid amount of streaky offense. He's paid just about right. Nothing much to discuss beyond that.... fills a role really well for us.

Must have practiced his Russian with Datsyuk. Not much, just a few important words like "skate" "puck" "goal" "stick" "f***" "s***" "dammit".

Kronwall v2?

Kaberle I'd take if the price was reasonable and I didn't care much for the other options. Richards is a pipe dream.

Oh, I don't think the basic element of the IceGators' name is bad. Gators. That's good. Alligators. Also good. IceGators? That's silly. However, I have to give it to them.. that's not as bad as Ice Pirates. I'll bet that one got some ragging (Ass Pirates, anyone? Southern accents don't exactly help its cause, either).

Still not sure he'd have ideal center size.

Good thing you're a Mudbugs fan, because while their logo isn't spectacular, the IceGators have one of the most brutal logos (and names) in pro hockey. Yuck.

Well, just saying, if we draft a big defensive oriented d-man, it'll probably be some gamble picks in the 3rd round or later, not 1st like some people are hoping.. the good ones worthy of taking in the 1st round tend not to last that long.

Coburn would be a guy worth looking at and one I'd agree may be available for a respectable price.

Someone that's a shooter. A sniper-type score. top 6 quality so at least a 20g sort of guy. No danglers, no front of net guys/crease crashers, no playmakers, no utility guys... A shooter. Ryder is probably the closest fit I can think of that's going UFA. Ryder is probably the closest fit. Even though Cole really isn't, I'd take him just because he's good enough all-around. Same for Tanguay. But ignoring the couple higher end guys like them on the market, a shooter/sniper would be ideal.

Franzen: Underrated shot, but more of an around the net finisher than a sniper. Zetterberg: Natural center, leans towards playmaking Tomas Tatar: Natural center, leans towards playmaker Pulk: The only true sniper in our system, needs to work on using his wrister more We don't really have much for natural "shooter" type wingers in our system. Size on D is a very obvious concern as well. Well, part of the thing is that the predictably decent big defensive d-men tend to go earlier in the 1st round than we typically draft, with the less quality ones falling to the later rounds (usually 3rd or more).

Which teams would think Hudler would be worth trading down in the draft, though?

Surprised there STILl isn't a goal or a penalty in this game.

If you want the skill of Drew Miller with the dumb penalties of Bertuzzi and Abdelkader combined, he'd be great for the Wings.

Well, here's what I'd like Forwards, with Hudler: Zetterberg - Datsyuk - Cleary Bertuzzi - Filppula - Franzen Hudler - Helm - Eaves Mursak - Abdelkader - Holmstrom Emmerton (?) Forwards, without Hudler: Zetterberg - Datsyuk - Cleary ? - Filppula - Franzen Bertuzzi - Helm - Eaves Mursak - Abdelkader - Holmstrom Emmerton ? or Zetterberg - Datsyuk - Cleary Bertuzzi - Filppula - Franzen Mursak - Helm - Eaves Abdelkader - Emmerton - Holmstrom ? (?) D-men, Nick with Nik: Lidstrom - Kronwall Stuart - Righty shot Grit/PK - Kindl ? (?) D-men, Nick/Nik pairs as 1a/1b Lidstrom - Righty shot Kronwall - Gritty righty shot Stuart - Kindl ? (?)

I know you were. So was I!

Talbot's a guy I definitely wouldn't mind, but pretty sure Pittsburgh brings him back.