NGKEIB

Well, Moen is gone now. I'm going to repeat what I've been saying for a while, and that is that we should look at Blair Betts. If he's not gotten an offer yet, we should see what his injury status is, and if it's okay, sign him. He can be had for so little, and is so good at killing penalties, faceoffs and blocking shots! I know that he doesn't play as physically as some people his size do, but still... Throw in Oulahen, which leaves us enough cap space to a. recall Abby when needed; b. make (smallish) moves at the deadline if necessary. Maltby, Schmaltby. I thought he had a sub-par regular season. I thought that he had a good playoffs. I think that none of this makes any difference as he has a contract for this season and will play. EoS. EDIT - Per-Johan 'Pebben' Axelsson would be good.

Yes! I can't wait to beat up Philly and Toronto!

The fact that he could 'be had for cheap' because he suffered a possibly career-ending injury isn't an argument in favour of signing him... Betts! Git 'er dun, Kenny.

If we sign someone like Betts and promote someone like Oulahen, then we give our PK a huge boost.

Nope. We won't score as many goals as last season, though I expect that a number of players will improve their statistics. But if we sign at least one good defensive forward, and focus on defense, we should be alright. I want Abdelkader to stay in GR anyways.

... Just pretend that Zetterberg's and Franzén's contracts weren't signed until yesterday. And who needs Kotalik? The Rangers probably overpaid like wild. I'm more interested in a solid checking defensive forward. Our top 6 is taken care of.

He has the potential to play very well; he did in Ottawa's cup run. It's more his attitude, but maybe 'character guys' like Pronger and Laperrière can get him on the right track. In any case, I couldn't care less how he plays, I just want to see him fight. I'll never forget when he took on Andrew Peters. In any case, teams that face Philly and Toronto (assuming they make the playoffs, not a given in the Leafs case) in the postseason will sure pay a price to get through them. Also, why is Toronto called the Maple Leafs? Surely they should be the Maple Leaves...

Damn you Burke... I want Betts.

Interesting idea. My main beef is that he has never played a full NHL season, or even gotten close to doing so. I'd take a guy with a bit more durability if possible.

Matt cut the hardline!

Like Opie, I have a strange sense of déja vu. Grier's last contract paid him more than he was worth. Moen is like Chris Neil; I'd like to have him on the team, but once again, I see him asking more than he is worth. I'd like Blair Betts.

I'd rather sign a cheap checking forward with good PK skills. Or two.

I believe that the two unnamed players are Curt Fraser's sons. For a good read on the prospect camp, with reports on what they do and how the individual players fared, be sure to read this article on MLive: http://blog.mlive.com/snapshots/2009/07/re...p_09_day_1.html

You also need to keep in mind that he wasn't satisfied playing in the AHL at all, which would obviously have affected his production. He put up very good numbers in the playoffs (especially in the first round). I'm more inclined to take his NHL numbers as an indication of how he might play than his AHL ones. I'm not saying we should prorate his points and say he'll get 30+ goals or anything, but I'm suggesting that his AHL numbers may be less insightful than his NHL ones.

Filppula and Cleary's production will increase as they will get more minutes. Zetterberg and Datsyuk may be reunited, which will probably push Z to around 40 goals. Leino will probably reach double digits. Holmström hopefully won't be injured as much. Franzén will be a beast. Osgood will score one goal. The real issue isn't the amount of goals we scored, it's the amount we let in. If we sign some cheap checking forwards who can kill penalties etc. we should be alright. We can always make a move for a scorer at the trade deadline. While things in the offensive department may not be looking good, there is no reason to attempt to sign some washed up forward who will have a bad attitude and get injured and not score that much. Sign a few hardworking players to help fix our defense, and we will take care of ourselves.

That's why he can't be traded. We need someone to play the role of the short drunk whenever there is any celebration; especially now that Hudler won' t be around.

I think that we will trade either Lebda or Lilja. Meech can be the 7th defenseman (with Janik available in GR should he need to be called up) and 13th forward (with maybe Abdelkader, Ritola and co. to be called up). I'd be happy with signing some dirt-cheap but still good defensive players to boost our PK and lower our GA. Oulahen and Betts could probably be had for peanuts. Give Oulahen a one year at around 500k, and if he's good, then keep him. If it doesn't work, put him as 13th/trade/send him to GR or let someone take him on waivers, and pick someone else up at the trade deadline as we'll have wiggle room to sign people. Betts earned 615k last season, is definitely due a raise (and I would happily give him a multi-year contract) but would still be very cheap for a great penalty killer. Problem solved! Maltby and Draper won't be around forever, and we'll need a new fourth line. The only problem is who would play on the 3rd. Leino-Draper-Helm? Cleary-Helm-Draper? Holmström-Draper-Helm? Either way, I think that Oulahen-Betts-Maltby would not get scored on too much. In this system we might have enough cap space to call up e.g. Abdelkader if we need a replacement for a player.

Try googling it; if not I have an MP3 file that I can e-mail to you. Isn't Lebda also the guy who fell over with/dropped the Cup?

If I was the GM of the Detroit Red Wings, I would be looking into this guy. He doesn't score many goals, and he doesn't fight, and his name isn't Travis Moen, and I know that these facts will not align him with the kind of guy a number of people are looking for. However, he is big, blocks a lot of shots, is good at faceoffs, is great on the PK, and takes very few penalties (he only had 16 PIM last season). I'm not concerned with finding cheap scorers, it's much better value for money getting good defensive guys. He earned 615k last season, and is due a raise, but could still be had for cheap. The fact that he is very good on the PK means that our scoring players might get some rest in that department. Our PK was awful last season, and we weren't good defensively (e.g. Draper's plus/minus), and the answer to that isn't to sign a washed up player who will be good for 13 goals before he gets injured. We need to tighten up defensively. I think that Betts would be a good solution. What do you think? The only things against him are that he's a centre (and we're so deep there...), and that he was injured by Brashear and I'm not sure what his status is.

LOL LIEK OMG!! HOMETOWN DISCOUNT HELLO!!! Any player should rightfully be expected to get less minutes and less money than they would get anywhere else for the chance to play for Detroit.

Sounds more like how Chelios will be when he retires from pro hockey in 2018.

Brian Boyle. 6'7''. 250 lb. It was one of the draft day deals, the Rangers got him from the Kings.

And in that one game against Chicago he showed that he was able to handle bigger minutes (he had more even strength minutes than any of our defensemen) and more responsibility. I believe he was involved in two of the Red Wing goals as well. I like Lebda. Has anyone else heard that radio show the morning after the SC win where he's totally hammered?

I'm not sure. At first I thought that maybe he hadn't been signed or anything because he was still injured/in serious rehab, but apparently Sather didn't sign him because he thinks he has some guy coming up who might be able to take his place. He also signed a big player in Boyle, which suggests that the Rangers don't want him back. He has been linked with Edmonton (where he's from), but you wouldn't think it would take too much to lure anyone away from there...

Turns out I was confusing two events. The billion-dollar-bribe happened in Dallas in 2000, and he got hauled in with Peltonen in Florida a couple of years ago.