sureWhyNot

There is a good reason why he hasn't played in the regular season. Look at his pre season stats, he has played a handful of games over the years and they are nothing to write home about either. "Confidence" had absolutely nothing to do with the decision to bring him up - nada. $$$$$ was the issue my friend.

When did we we resign Maltby to his last contract? Serious question - was it over the summer last year, or was it two years ago? Lineup looks solid - I am not worried. Do I think we will be as good from the get go as last year - probably not. But that said, if our young guys can pick up their play we have a whole new look and feel of a team - younger. This was something we were going to have to move towards sooner then later so I am actually kinda glad we are getting it going now. Who knows - I am not thrilled with the off season - a sentiment I think a lot of fans are feeling. But at the end of the day, we are dealing with a salary cap - and you can't do anything about it. I mean our core is sick, and hell, I think our team may be a little hungrier, and even have a little chip on their shoulder - something I don't really think they were playing with last year. The one thing that scares me though is Howard. I have watched Howard quite a bit in Grand Rapids and quite frankly - he is not NHL caliber. Hopefully this is a stop gap, but if god forbid, Ozzie can't go for any extended amount of time - we could be in trouble.

Love Mark Bell. He took his punishment and has moved on. Doubt we will pick him up though - while I would LOVE to sign him, I don't see him fitting the mold Kenny and co. have decided to settle on in regards to "player type".

Hopefully he doesn't wait to long - I mean there is nothing left for the most part right now - can't imagine anything worth while being available when Holland - according to you - "decides to strike".

Spot on.

I am sure folks like yourself will. I however will not, and I expect a majority of fans to take the high road seeing as though the guy led our team in scoring, handled the transition with class, and hasn't had anything but great things to say about the Detroit organization in the past couple of days.

To much misaligned talent? Did I miss something or did we not make it to the Stanley Cup finals for the second year in a row. Who was the last team to do that? Oh ya? Us, the only difference is last time we did it we won back to back, and we had more "star names" on the team then this years.

Knee jerk much? No one is acting like the sky is falling. It has been a busy ass day around the league and the Wings have been the only silent team. It's not the end of the world, nor is anyone making it to be. They are simply pointing it out. So take your contrived anger, and pompous "i see the whole picture from an elevated level" attitude and channel it into something productive. This is a RED WINGS FORUM - where we discuss RED WINGS HOCKEY. What exactly would you like us to chat about on free agency day?

Ya you are right, I was thinking about this a couple days ago and was somewhat surprised they let Downey go - just because, if not anything else, we won't have enough to sign anyone to fill that last spot, and he's a guy who has been around and is well liked. Guess not though.

Bro you could write a novel and you would still be fundamentally wrong in your claim that the Wings will be better next year then they were this past year. Will they still be an elite team, who - at least in my mind - are among the Stanley Cup favorites going into the season? Yes. Are they going to be better then last year? No, they aren't. Go position by position - and be realistic. Goaltending will be downgraded (Howard is really not that good). Forwards is another downgrade - this one is glaring. Subtract Hossa and Sammy or Hudler or all three and replace them with Helm (who is probably my favorite Wing with Hossa gone) and Leino (love this guy almost as much as Helm) - while I am super stoked they will be with the club full time, you are lying to yourself if they will come close to matching the production we have lost. Defense - this is the one area I can see us improving. Erikson for Chelios? Yes please. Big Rig will be huge, especially since he gets better and better each NHL game he plays. So ya, our Defense is improving - and well, that's about it. It's really no ones fault, I am not complaining, like I said earlier I think we will be fine. But to say that we are going to be better is just unequivocally false.

haha. unfortunately Hatcher's career went down the drain with the rule changes. He wasn't quick enough and had really only prospered when he could rely on the clutch and grab style of hockey. Once that changed, he became a parking cone and had two options, take a penalty or get burnt. Hossa is so far from either Hatcher or Krupp I find it hard to believe anyone takes the comparison even somewhat serious and/or applicable for comparing to Marian Hossa and his departure.

Haha.. Seriously? I mean I would not argue that the Wings are in "deep" trouble, I actually think they will be OK, but if you can look at our roster today, compared to yesterday and say we are in "great" shape - well, something is wrong with you. Holland is doing absolutely no chess playing what so ever - he can't, he has nothing. No assets, no money, nothing... Holland is probably wondering why he resigned Maltby and Draper another round of multi year contracts their last go around. Other then that today sucks in regards to having a better, or even equal team in regards to skill.

Bro you have got to be kidding. He's not the ***** of anything, a) he is a profesional, this is his job, he is obligated to do whatever is financially best for him and b) we are not really the same team (minus Drake) at all - not to mention the fact that even if we were you fail to mention the fact the teams around us (specifically in our division) are getting a lot better then they were in the years past. This isn't to say the Red Wings are "doomed" - they aren't, in fact, I am confident we will march along like last year and end up making yet another run at Lord Stanleys cup. But to say Hossa is a *****, and what not is so ignorant its almost laughable. I loved having Hossa, and am super bummed we lost him. But I am far from angry at him.

Haha - wow. $5 million a year huh? Kinda wish we could have come up with $700K more, because I am sure he would have been willing to take $4.7-4.8 to stay here. I understand the money wasn't there, but man - so close. Actually I am a little sick to my stomach right now.

You aren't being serious, are you? It was a 6th round pick, the guy has a lot of upside possibility in his offensive game, he is a above average penalty killer, this too will surely improve as he works his way through the Wings system - and he is a fearless scrapper - something that wouldn't hurt to have especially if all the other aspects of his game come along as well.

Great pick!

Yup, yup - you are right. But when you think about it, Nill would never, regardless of its validity say that the draft was "weak", lacked depth, etc - especially since they have the 29th pick and a statement like that wouldn't send the best "welcome to the team" message to whomever they chose.

I know the kid is only 18 but TSN as well as a publication out of Finland have him listed as 5'8 and 148 pounds... This has gotta be wrong? When Kane was drafted he was 5'10, 160. Only a 12 pound difference. So ya, they are pretty comparable. Also, I have been reading up on the kid and from the sounds of it he is the real deal in regards to talent, skill set, and ceiling. I kinda would like to snag him and see how he develops.

I can't seem to find where Nill says this years is as strong as 2003's. I definitely believe he say it, I am curious as too the context he said it in. I did come across this: Source I will keep looking. It just blows me away that Nill would compare this to 2003.

Right on. Not really wanting to argue about it - seeing as though I don't really care either way. While it's true about McKenzie, but you could go even farther by asking if he is so bad, and clueless why is every NHL publication talking to him and TSN paying him? Not to mention the fact you will not often hear GM's or front office guys make negative comments in the days running up to the draft - ever - regardless of the draft pool. I will say though comparing this year to the 2003 is flat out absurd.

I know this means nothing - I just thought it was somewhat funny. Here is likely future (and I cannot emphasize future enough here) Red Wing Toni Rajala....

You really think that this year can compare to 2003's draft class? I mean your personal opinion. The question marks start popping up after picks 8 or 9. I think this one was super top heavy with Tavares, Hedman, Duchene, Kane, and Schenn, but other then that its a toss up.

Not my opinion. It's TSN's Bob McKenzies - who is looked at by many as one of the most involved and on point experts in regards to the NHL draft.

2003 was the deepest talent pool we have seen in a while, or at least comparible to the deepest. This year looks nothing like the 2003 draft.

Nah, this one is pretty weak... You can tell the strength of a draft class by how many players (usually numbers 1-15 on the rankings) have more "pros" then "cons" in the scouts analysis. This year the ones with more pros then cons only lasted through #8