Carman

He's not that one dimensional, he's pretty good on the penalty kill. He's nothing special, but he's a solid bottom pairing guy.

Not really.

Well good thing we have the best OHL defenseman, best college defenseman, leading scorer in the AHL waiting in the wings. It could be worse.

Leopold is a solid player, nothing fancy or anything. But should help. Probably an improvement over Redden. But I don't get to see much of the blues.

Haven't we had mobility for 3 straight years? What's your confidence that we won't end up with cap space next year anyways? The recent track record is trending the opposite.

A good defense can lead to a quick transition and more scoring. Is it just me or does it seem like the Wings give up way more odd man rushes than they have? I'd agree though, our defensive depth should be good enough. Our forwards just aren't cutting it right now, injuries have a lot to do with it, but it's still something that should be fixed.

I'd still hit it. Ugh, this sucks man. Hopefully it's not a broken jaw, and just a messed up row of teeth. This guy is so awesome to watch, and I want him healthy in the finals so Zetterberg can shut him down again.

Good for him. Hopefully he does well in Philly. He does his job well.

Kronwall hurts his team just as much as Bouwmeester does, if I had the time I would find all of his uncovered offensive zone pinches, being out of position and neutral zone risks and I could make Kronwall look just as bad. Kronwall has taken the 2nd most minors in the NHL for defenseman, that's not good for a number one guy, Bouwmeester for example has taken 8 penalities while play 25 minutes a night, while Kronwall has taken 17. That's a pretty telling statistic in today's age when penalties get called because you are caught out of position. But let's go over the examples you gave from last night And on that specific play by bouwmeester on that 2 on 1, Hudler completely abandoned being the high man after Bouwmeester saw him, and already committed, and if I'm in the film room would blame him, not bouwmeester. Bouwmeester saw Hudler make his way to cover, and Hudler didn't cover after Bouwmeester already committed. Pinching isn't a bad thing, especially when you see you have a high man. And you're going to blame him for taking the pass away on a 2 on 1 on the Calvert goal? What level of hockey did you play? As a defenseman on a 2 on 1, your job is to take away the pass and keep the puck carrier to an outside shot, Bouwmeester did his job, and he didn't let him get in on the goalie. I'm confused on how that's at all his fault. And once again on the third goal, his forward Stempniak gave absolutely no effort on the back check, and it was a 3 on 2, if he leaves the middle of the ice Prospal has an easy path to the goal. That goal is also on Stempniak for not skating hard and taking the late man, it's not on Bouwmeester leaving the middle of the ice to take a late man.

Awesome news. Can't wait to see what happens next. We sure have a lot of defense now, I'd be really disappointed in holland if some moves don't happen.

Bad game, but it's the end of a road trip and it was a successful one outside of this game. Can't win every game. I am concerned about our offense though, we are 19th in the league, and with Franzen going down it's not looking good on that front. Smith/Lashoff pairing is pretty brutal. They have a hard time getting out of the zone, and are prone to giving up chances. Just going to throw this out there, seeing Brent Burns play offense, what are the chances we could see Brendan Smith play forward? I know I'd want him to be a defenseman, but man he's got good size, speed, he's gritty and has decent puck skills. If we need more size in that top 6, I think it may be an interesting notion. I really doubt it will ever happen, just something I'm thinking about. Smith just hasn't looked comfortable back there all season long, and having him play a wing might help him deal with some pressure. Then again it's probably a terrible idea to change the position of a young kid, but Smith has the talent, he's just not able to think the game at a good enough defensive level for my liking right now.

Now that's just crap luck wow.

Datsyuk just undressed Couture. Wow haha.

Or his agent wants him to hold off until the Iginla coverage dies down.

If we get Jbow, someone will be bought out. We'd have too many defensemen.

Forgetting Backman, and Jensen=P

I was being nice to Yandle. I think Kronwall is miles better defensively. But fact is they are both point producers, and I think Kronwall still takes too many risks for a number one defenseman, he takes entirely too many penalties just look at where he ranks in the league for crying out loud. They are pretty similar when it comes to their decencies to be honest. And that's why I don't like the fit.

18 million in cap space, we should be fine, should have no problem keeping Brunner, our RFAs, Howard and getting Horton. This too. I wouldn't touch Mrazek, unless we kept the first round pick.

Not worried at all. He has the same agent as Iginla, and you can imagine how busy he's been. Don Meehan for the curious.

A first round pick and Tvrdon, and Aubry? I'd do it. They didn't hand over any of their top prospects.

Like two people on the entire Calgary team is a +. They have the 3rd worst goals for/goals against in the league at -19 Phoenix isn't much better, but they still are with -9. I just think Bouwmeester doesn't have much help around him. Yandle was at least on a playoff team. They are both really good, I'm just in favor of defense, over offense. I just don't think Yandle is the right fit, it's like adding Byfuglien to play with Mike Green. I'd rather have a Seabrook/Keith top defense.

Quincey had one year of playing 23 or minutes Bouwmeester has 9 years, and 8 of playing 25 or more. I just think Bouwmeester can reach a higher level playing for a team that can actually make the playoffs. I can't think of many players that can bring their A game every night for a team that doesn't have a chance. I feel the risk for Bouwmeester isn't high, the very least we get a guy that can play 23 minutes and save Kronwall some penalty kill time. The potential is we get a 6'4 defenseman, that can skate like the wind, and fillls an important spot on this team that can allow Kindl, Smith and Lashoff to grow into their roles while not having to do too much. Yandle to me is a rover type guy, I don't not like him. I just don't think his offense will solve enough of this team's issues. We give up entirely way too many odd man rushes and high percentage scoring chances. And that's because we have too many risk takers on the back end. White, Smith, and Kronwall pinch entirely too often. And Yandle would most likely join that club quickly. While Bouwmeesters range can alleviate that problem for one of those guys.

An plug that plays 25 mintues a night... Bouwmeester is not a plug. He may not be elite, or even very good. But he is a top pairing guy in this league, and he's never been on a good team. It depends on the price for me.

No doubt, but I think the resources put into Yandle would make us more one dimensional on that back end. And he does make a ton of mistakes, just like Kronwall. He takes a ton of penalites(2nd on his team for 3 years in a row), he has bad pinches. If he was good defensively he would play more than 3 seconds a game on the penalty kill. I just think he's too similar to Kronwall, and would be too many of the same type guys. Bouwmeester is much more versatile.

I want him. Bouwmeester would really take some pressure off our other defenseman. Yandle doesn't interest me as much. He's better offensively, but makes a ton more mistakes. We have enough offensively first defenseman, Quincey, Smith, Kronwall, White, Kindl... We need a guy that can eat minutes and upgrade us defensively. Bouwmeester may not be the best defeneman, but he may be the best option. There just aren't that many good defenseman moving, Burns, and Suter are the main ones I can think of. I'm glad we stayed away from Carle. I don't know, I think Bouwmeester may have a bigger effect then we realize, he's really wanting to make the playoffs, and I think the potential is there for him to really break out. Who knows though, I completely understand the hesitant people, but if the price was right I don't see the reasons why we shouldn't. He would improve this team.