Datsyerberger

So here's my little dig, based upon certain parameters: 1. The article stated Bettman presented South, Midwest, East, Pacific. I'm working (loosely) based around that. 2. NO CONFERENCES. Focused divisional play with maybe home & homes outside of division. I hate this if its conferential 3. VERY IMPORTANT: the concept of what 'Midwest' is shifts northeast due to a northeastern bias of the teams in the league. Now then... PACIFIC: Colorado, Phoenix, Los Angeles, Anaheim, San Jose, Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary SOUTH: Dallas, St. Louis, Nashville, Tampa Bay, Florida, Carolina, Washington MIDWEST: Detroit, Chicago, Minnesota, Winnipeg, Toronto, Buffalo, Columbus, Pittsburgh EAST: Montreal, Boston, New York I, New York R, New Jersey, Ottawa, Philadelphia A huge pro of this: if Phoenix has to be relocated to QC, they can be moved from the Pacific to East while keeping acceptable parameters (Pacific goes from 8 to 7, East goes from 7 to 8). Also allows for an expansion that sticks 1 team in the East/Northeast (read: QC, Hamilton) and one team southish (KC or Houston).

Who will they target? I'm rather stumped at this point. It's likely going to be something like the M. Richards trade where noone saw it coming. Untouchable: Datsyuk: (obvious) Zetterberg: (also obvious) Kronwall: Our main d-man moving forward, and the guy who will be the partner of whoever we get Lidstrom: derp Howard: And leave us with who to play goal? Helm: Brings more to the team than his value in a trade Aside from NTCs, that's it for my untouchables. Our most attractive roster pieces to trade: Filppula -- Skilled young 2c, has a lot of nice qualities Stuart -- Still in a good age, gritty, defensively solid d-man with some offense Cleary -- Still some years left in him, gritty 2-way winger that can take faceoffs Franzen -- Goalscoring beast when he's on, don't think the Wings move unless the return is awesome, but not untouchable Abdelkader -- Young power forward with some upside, might make an attractive addition for some teams Mursak -- Oodles of speed and plenty of offensive upside; think Wings would rather hang on to him but might give up in the right deal Kindl -- Some teams might be attracted enough to want him as an addition, but not as a main piece Now then, I'll cover the non-roster pieces momentarily. First, consider what we'd be bringing in with a trade. Right side d-man, possibly righty shot, to play with Nick and/or Nik. Someone young, or at least with a lot of years left in them. What's Smith? Right side d-man with lots of upside. He can't fill what we need right now... but he might make a very attractive piece. So I'd consider Smith movable for the right person coming back our way. I also think Detroit might consider moving McCollum in the right deal, if he still has reasonable value. He'd more likely be an 'additional'. Now let's look at some of the Wings other high end pieces: Jarnkrok, Pulk, Jurco, Tatar: Hard not to think the org isn't super high on these guys as the near future and unlikely to trade them. Sheahan: While a very nice piece, I think he makes a good trade piece. While he's large and a solid player, his skill set is much more replaceable than the above. Nyquist: Even though a very attactive piece, and highly ranked, might not have as much org value as the other O talents. The Wings might relucantly move him, but would rather keep. Anything else is touchable in the right deal. So what are we looking at moving out? Possibly a combination of: Smith Sheahan Nyquist? Filppula Stuart Cleary Abdelkader Kindl Mursak Picks Depending on whether the receiving team is biased towards roster or future.

Wow, I caught this thread title for the 6th time but for some reason I read it as "Hudler pulls out of Phoenix" this time around.

Somehow, they blow epic (record setting!) amounts of goat and still manage to stay out of the bottom 5 of attendance year after year. Helps to have a lot of ex-Canadians, northeasterns, and midwesterners living in the area, I guess.

For another D option, by-the-by, Babchuk is a very underrated option. Upsides: 1. Great shot 2. Great shotblocker 3. Lots of size 4. Good skating for his size 5. Good vision, somewhere between Bieksa and Wiz offensively 6. Fierce competitor Downsides: 1. Aside from shot blocking, not particularly gritty or physical 2. Lackluster D coverage (still not any worse than Wiz, and better than Ehrhoff due to his shotblocking imo) 3. Inconsistency 4. Attitude; not a prima donna, but his fierce sense of competiveness does end up working against him sometime. He'll be cheaper than Wiz or Ehrhoff and imo surprise the fans of any team that picks him up.

I'm interested to see if Pecker can maintain at least 2/3 of his offensive numbers in Florida, or if 1/2 or more of them were a product of playing with higher talent on the Hawks. Very much a complementary sort of player, so we'll see.

See Ryder above. Probably the best option outside of Laich. The best budget option for the Wings is probably Upshall. He gives us enough offense (~20g) to fill in as a 3rd scoring line sort of role and simultaneously provides us with a lot more grit. Obtainable around 3.0 as you posted. Laich, say 4-4.5, Ryder, anywhere from 3.5-4.2. Jokinen is a nice piece but imo he gives us more of the same; I like Connolly, but he plays an already stacked position for us and is again more of the same. Also injuries as you noted. Vrbata is a wild card but one I could live with if we're looking for a forward and some of the above aren't available. That sets the bar high, actually. Both Wiz and Ehrhoff bring more offense than Bieksa, both can run or play on a 1st PP unit, and ultimately, offense pays. Expect both to get more than Bieksa unless they take a discount somewhere.

Another option people haven't talked about here enough is Ryder. Advantages over Laich: A little cheaper Better shot Possibly better footspeed Right wing & righty shot Better at finding offensive holes to move into Disadvantages: Not as gritty Not as good 2-way (Still a decent 2-way player) Arguably less consistent, negating some of his greater offensive talent Not quite as much of an all-round game A couple years older

Yep.. the market, the increased cap, and the overall level of play Laich brings. He's got everything: Quality 2nd line offense that can sub in on 1st line. Solid amount of grit Solid 2-way play Loads of character Faceoffs Great PK Solid net presence Hard worker Consistent (for a 2nd liner) Everything a team wants in a player, a perfect second liner.

Wild card, but likely no less than 4. I could see anything up to 4.75-5 being offered by a desperate team, but it may not be a team/location he wants to go to. I think somewhere between 4.2-4.5 is probably the most likely range, depending on length of contract and so on. He's a valuable commodity. Essentially Cleary with more offense and less injuries. Toss in the fact that Cleary is currently underpaid, the cap is up, and an overpayer's market, and Laich is going to make a solid pile.

So we've got Red Wings source (Freep) quoting Jagr's agent saying Wings are still in the mix vs Pens source stating Pens get him. Still a tossup imo.

Really, you can be realistic with the contracts of said players and fit under the cap: Ian White: 3.3 -- still overpayment, his play doesn't really warrant a raise, but he'll get one anyhow in this market Upshall: 3.0 -- Fine with me, someone's gonna have to pay 2.5-3m to get him imo Laich: 4.3, I'll use my above example and say 4.3, could be anywhere from 4-4.5. A desperate team may even toss him a touch more. Conklin/Osgood: Probably more like .6 at this point; Conklin had a crap season and Osgood has been unhealthy Lilja: Previous value fine Wisniewski: 4.7-5.1, somewhere in that range. I'd say 4.7 or 4.8 Still works under the cap with appropriate adjustments.

Realistic Contract Assessment® 1. No: considerably off 2. Yes: Maybe slight overpayment, but I'd live with it anyhow 3. No: Too little by a small/moderate amount 4. Yes: Maybe slight overpayment, but market value 5. Yes 6. Yes 4/6 isn't bad, really.

@ The above quoted roster, Ericsson won't get near that little. The numbers may not be exact for Ehrhoff and Wiz, but the average puts them at $5.1m, which seems about right. Laich will get anywhere from .5-1.25m more than that, so add in a medium at .8 or so (putting him at 4.3) So Laich at 4.3, Ericsson at 1.9, seems a bit more accurate. Boosh is a solid backup. The above, more likely numbers for Laich and Ericsson still fit under the cap in that scenario and still leave us extra, potentially for a deadline deal. Edit: You don't want Laich at center. Much more effective at LW. Let him take faceoffs if needed (good at faceoffs) and that's it. Here, submitted corrections in quote format: Every line has 2 good options for taking draws (Datsyuk Franzen [Hudler]; Zetterberg Laich; Filppula Cleary; Abdelkader Helm) which should make the DRW a beast on draws. I wouldn't necessarily those lines exactly, but I think that basic build (2 faceoff guys, at least 1 playmaker and 1 banger on each of the top 9 lines) makes a lot more sense given the players involved. Plenty of potential to mix and match all lines. I'd like to note I really like to see these lines in some situations: Laich - Zetterberg - Cleary -- Amazing shutdown line with plenty of offense Hudler - Datsyuk - Franzen -- Load the offensive guns Bertuzzi - Flip - Holmstrom -- Flip gains zone, Bert and Homer make aggravating traffic/front of net threats for a 3rd line Abdelkader/Mursak - Helm - Eaves/Abdelkader -- Go out and hit/outskate the already worn out opposition

Dunno, the Wings have a pretty solid history of providing depth signings that basically act as tough guys in the AHL. Tardif, etc. Seems to be one of their most common non-NHL roster signings. Wings running the team could have a positive effect on development, which in turn may have a positive effect on how the team plays.

Hooker picture in 3... 2...

Which can't happen, meaning he's gotta throw his money elsewhere.

Bergfors is like Hudler with less drive and less defense. I'll let that sink in for a moment. That said, wouldn't mind giving his offense a try for the right price. He definitely needs some good coaching, though.

K, I tried it for a minute, and I didn't really see it working out.

Hopefully they aren't german it up in the locker room with people coming from so many different nations.

Clearly Holland addressed this teams needs by drafting a lot of large guys that can czech people.

It specifically notes the Wings scouts have known him a while. I suppose it's entirely possible he either wanted to play specifically with the Wings or would otherwise be happier in the KHL. He would've grown up watching the R5 and later Datsyuk, so... who knows.

It's possible that Marchenko is a case of either A: I really don't want to be drafted by some crap team when I could be a star over here in the KHL. Red Wings, you say? See ya, Motherland. B: Would rather not play in the AHL etc; wants to prove self in KHL and either have a solid career there or be brought directly to the NHL after proving himself there. Possible the Red Wings like his potential enough to offer him that opportunity. Frankly, I can't say I blame him in either scenario. I'd rather make pretty good money, with no taxes, on a great KHL team than get stuck in some cesspit of NHL mediocrity and get under valued contracts on behalf of poor team performance, if I'm a Russian guy and can play at home in a good league. Likewise, I'd much rather play in the KHL for several million dollars a year than risk losing that a couple years playing in the AHL, possibly lowering the value of my future contracts as well, and also possibly making less money in the NHL a couple years after that until I prove my NHL worthiness. For losses that could mount up to $10m+ dollars in a sport that can have career ending or damaging injuries fairly frequently, that's a big risk. I have no problems with the Wings bringing a guy directly into the NHL if they think he's good enough. I wonder if that's the case with Marchenko.

In my opinion, the Sharks win or at least break even on the Burns trade if they A: win the cup B: and/or re-sign him after next season Otherwise, the Wild definitely bent them over.

I've seen a lot of consensus that the Wings have a good draft (which is nice to know). Ditto for Hawks, Wild, Sens.