dat's sick

I guess my memory is just bad then because I've been watching the draft the last couple of years and can't seem to recall it being like this.

Weird, I thought it was tonight, but wake up to see the entire 1st round is done. Guess they've split the drafting up over 2 days, which is strange but atleast I can watch the other rounds.

Is the draft going on right now? I don't really understand, did they do the 1st round and then took a break?

Size isn't very important in today's NHL. Go with speed and skill, please.

I wish we could steal Hjalmarsson somehow..

There wasn't any real clear-cut winner this year. Pronger and Toews looked like the obvious choices for most of the playoffs, but then they had quite weak finals. Toews wasn't undeserving of it at all imo, but it always feels a bit weird when the Conn Smythe goes to a player that isn't dominant in the finals. That's why it was so right when Zetterberg won it because he was without a doubt the best player in the SCF that year.

Yeah his 4 points in 13 regular season games for Philly screams "on fire" to me.

Ritola maybe?

I hate Pronger, but damn he's been hilarious in interviews these playoffs.

I wasn't happy when we traded Leino either, but dude, AT THE TIME it was the only logical choice for Holland. Eaves and Miller had made themselves into vital parts of the team, while Leino had been stinking it up all year. The one and only thing Leino had going for him was that he was great in his call-up the season before which indicated that he had potential. We all, including Holland, knew there was a chance he would go somewhere else and do great things, but he couldn't afford to wait and see while the Wings were struggling to even make the playoffs. Also I'm not really buying that he didn't fit into our system but somehow fits so much better with the Flyers. Remember Leino didn't even have a permanent spot on the team at the beginning of the playoffs. If Philly had lost the shootout against the Rangers and missed the playoffs, moving Leino would have looked like a really good move. Of course, now that they made a miracle run and Leino is playing great in the SCF it looks bad, but that's just how it goes sometimes. One thing I hope this Leino situation does is make Wings fans be more patient with rookies before they completely throw them under the bus. So many people had completely given up on Leino, saying his call-up the year before was a fluke and he was too slow and too soft didn't have heart and whatnot, meanwhile me and a few others were trying to mention that he's a rookie and needs time. Turns out that's exactly what he needed.

Nice, look forward to seeing what the cap hit is. And 2 years is good, it might encourage Lids to stay another year past this as well.

Yes, the Red Wings organization should be like a prison! Allow no one to leave alive! There's no telling if Yzerman will actually be able to "steal" these people, they have a will of their own you know and might not want to leave the Wings. Not allowing him to talk to them at all would be crazy though, I wouldn't want to work for someone who doesn't allow other people to offer me jobs.

It's kinda funny that Yzerman said in his press conference he wouldn't raid the Red Wings, and now that's exactly what it looks like he's doing Seriously though, him bringing a "capologist" and a scout over there won't suddenly make the Wings collapse and turn the Lightning into a powerhouse. Obviously Steve knows the people in the Wings organization and wants to get some of them into the Lightning, who probably needs a lot of new (better) people. At the same time getting some new people into the Wings might be good too. As long as he doesn't go after Babcock or Håkan Andersson, or Datsyuk or Zetterberg, it's fine with me.

Totally agree. If they were paired up right from training camp I definitely think they'd find their chemistry again. You can't split them up for a a year and a half and then throw them on the same line for the last 5 minutes of a must-win game and expect them to tear s*** up. They need some time together, without that pressure of having to create magic out of thin air. Personally I'd love to see it. I don't think Babs will do it because he thinks it's a waste to have two of the best centermen in the game on the same line, and while that is a fair point I think it's also a waste to not take advantage of the way they can dominate games if they're on the same line. Depth is great and all, but I kinda want the Wings to once again have a line that makes opponents go "oh s***".

He could say that, but what if he feels after this year "hey you know what, I still want to play" and decides to come back? There's no reason for him to go out and say something like that and we can't ask him to. He still has a lot of hockey left in him so it's all about motivation for him, and I'm sure it's hard to know exactly how motivated you will be in a year.

The more Pav and Hank on the same line, the better. I almost think we could have them on the same line all the time next season.. wonder how Babs will do? Filppula-Datsyuk-Holmstrom Franzen-Zetterberg-Hudler Cleary-Abdelkader-Bertuzzi?? Draper-Helm-Eaves Ritola Unless I'm missing something or someone, it feels like it would be better do go ZDH and let Fil center the 2nd line between Mule and Happy. edit: basically what blueadams said.

Yes you can, but you should probably stop dropping so much acid.

We could have signed Kovalchuk for those extra $0.2 million *cries*

You think Green, Keith or Doughty is as important to their team as Lidstrom is to the Wings? The only one that is even arguable is Doughty, the other two aren't close. We didn't have better depth up front in 2008 than we will have next season. In 2009? Yeah, but that was a lucky 1-year thing where we had many underpaid players on the last year of their contract.

I can not believe people actually think like this. edit: I also can't believe this thread is overwhelmingly negative reactions. What the hell LGW.

None of them are signed to 1-year deal and Doughty's next contract will be A LOT bigger. Not to mention Lidstrom is more important to the Wings than any of the Norris finalists are to their team.

YES LET'S PAY LIDSTROM A HALF-EATEN HOTDOG IN HIS (MAYBE) LAST SEASON OF HIS LEGENDARY CAREER WHEN HE'S STILL ONE OF THE TOP 5 D-MEN IN THE LEAGUE GOOD IDEA

GREAT SUCCESS! If it's for around 6 mil, that's a very nice hometown discount imo! Anyone who believed he would sign for 5 mil or less needs to see a doctor! Because you're crazy! In the head!

There are a lot of interesting prospects in the Wings system, but I don't see a lot of potential top 6 forwards or top 4 d-men. I really hope Tatar can keep developing though, maybe he could even get a call-up next season?

What post were you reading?