Buppy

That's classic... Plus Pookie has played 7 games in 10 days. Even a kid that young needs an occasional day off.

This is the first time I've heard Larkin described as a "potential franchise center". But odds are that neither player actually develops into a star, and for right now at least it looks like center will be a bigger area of need, so I could go either way. It would all depend on what we were getting in return.

As did the Ducks a couple years after they won, and then they did miss the year after, and again two years after that...

Sproul has 16g and 49p in 122 AHL games. At the same age, Hersley had 1g and 9p in 47 games. When he want back to Sweden he immediately began scoring at a rate similar to what he's doing now. I don't see any reason to think Sproul is any less promising. Maybe not quite as developed or well-rounded yet, hard to say since the situations are so different, but easily as much potential.

Being waived doesn't mean they have to send him to the AHL if he isn't claimed. They may just be throwing him out there in the hope he gets claimed, and if not they'll just keep him.

I hope you demoted Hull here for being born in Canada. Otherwise I have to assume you've committed some horrific crime and now you're trying to prepare your insanity defense...

Rafi Looks like Hersley was 22 or 23 when he went back to Europe, btw, not that it really makes that much difference. But the Euro leagues have a ton of players who didn't make the NHL, many who did fairly well in the AHL, who do well over there. And it's not unusual for players to get better in their mid-late 20s. I still don't see any reason to be particularly optimistic that he could be an NHL player at all, much less a good one. Three teams have already owned his rights, and I'm sure plenty of scouts have seen him since he's been back in Europe. His numbers have been pretty good since his first year back there, which doesn't really scream "late-bloomer" to me. More than welcome to try out. Like I said, nothing to lose. But if he's really any good he's probably already had that offer. I have to think that even if he does have the ability to play here, he doesn't seem to have any real desire.

What makes you think he's a late bloomer and not just an AHL washout that happens to be doing pretty well in Europe? Granted there's really nothing to lose in offering him a tryout, though I wouldn't expect much from him. Though considering he already left the minors once, I doubt he'd be interested in anything but a guaranteed NHL spot.

All just an attempt to get NHL players out of the Olympics. We already have the WC for people to not give a s*** about so not sure where this fits in. So every four years I'm supposed to not give a s*** about a different international tournament? And take NHL players out of the Olympics so I can not give a s*** about that too? Who has time to not give that much s***?

That isn't at all what I was suggesting. I suggest they are expendable because we have both Tatar AND Nyquist, as well as Datsyuk, Zetterberg, Weiss, Franzen, Sheahan, Jurco, Abdelkader, and Helm in addition to a high end prospect like Pulkkinen. And sorry if I was unclear; I didn't mean they should be traded for a bag of air and an empty roster spot for Pulks. Obviously I would expect something of value in return. (Seems so obvious that I didn't think I would actually need to specify that.) In fact, I would expect much more in return than we could get for Pulks (or almost anyone else), which is another reason I think one of them could be a good trade asset. Being unproven is not proof that he won't be able to produce. Making any kind of move requires some faith. Whether it be faith that a kid can produce if given the opportunity, or faith that a new guy will work with our team, or faith that someone will continue to produce. You clearly have no faith in Pulkkinen, but that doesn't mean you're right or that those who do have enough faith in him to not want to trade him are over-rating him.

That explains why Adam Almquist is...wait, nm...

Mantha is probably in a class by himself for now, though the longer he goes on struggling in GR the more that will change. Larkin earned some attention in the WJC, but that will likely fade somewhat unless he really dominates at UofM. I'd put Pulkkinen on the same level, higher if he sticks with the Wings a bit longer and scores a few more points. Jurco should probably still be considered a prospect as well. There's not a big market for goalies, so Mrazek doesn't really belong there. He's probably down with AA, Marchenko, and I would add Bertuzzi and Nastasiuk in that same group. Both are putting up decent numbers in juniors this year. If we're talking a deadline deal, I'd agree the Pulks is one of few decent trade options. Off-season though, I think Tatar and Nyquist could be in play, depending on how the rest of the season and playoffs go.

According to Rotoworld, he still suffering headaches. The speculation regarding a mental health issue is likely due to my saying there is evidence that such issues can make PCS worse and/or more likely. I don't think anyone's trying to say he's sitting out because he's got anxiety.

Making Mantha or Larkin off-limits is no different. Nyquist and Tatar would have much more value, possibly enough to justify the risk of not being able to replace their production. Jurco's value is probably about the same as Pulkkinen's or a bit higher. Sheahan is probably close to Nyquist/Tatar. Helm would certainly have some decent value, probably Abby as well at the moment. Weiss might even draw some interest. Pulkkinen has a rather unique skillset in our system. One that could potentially make us a more well-rounded and dangerous team. While I don't think anyone should ever be completely off-limits, I think he is someone we should make an effort to hang on to. Sure, if were getting a good, proven young player that can help now and in the future, and the other team demands either Mantha or Pulkkinen, maybe you do it. But he's not our only, or in my opinion, best, trade asset.

Scrap the WC and do a Superbowl-esque neutral-site outdoor Cup finals. Ice in Arizona in the middle of June. Do it, Gary.

So do a lot of others guys, some with much more, and most with a far more redundant skill set. I wouldn't be completely shocked if he were to get traded, since I think he's shown enough to be in demand, but I doubt we'll be dangling him out there as some seem to think we will or should.

Again, not very accurate. While he has been going through a pretty bad slump this year, not so much last year. It had only been 5 games without a goal last year, and prior to that was his best stretch of the season. Furthermore, while the hit from Gudas last year didn't really look all that serious, he did leave the game immediately afterward. He missed a while, came back for a game, then symptoms came back and he missed another month (including sitting out of the Olympics). This year no one noticed much at first because he finished the game, but he got blindsided at center ice, stayed down for a while and had to be helped off. Concussions are weird things. Symptoms can linger. Lilja and Eaves missed almost a year. Careers have ended. Post-concussion syndrome can last for years (or even become permanent), isn't necessarily related to the severity of the initial injury, seems to be more common in people who've had multiple concussions, may be exacerbated by stress (such as from a prolonged scoring drought)/psychological disorders, and there is no established treatment. But yeah, he must be faking it because he's a lazy bastard. (And you can tell he's a lazy bastard because he's always faking injuries.)

I don't think you hated to say that at all, if you did you might have at least tried to check your accuracy. Prior to last season, Franzen hasn't had a concussion since the '08 playoffs, nor had he missed 3-4 weeks for anything other than the knee surgery.

I think his pace has been fine. Sure he's run out of time a few times; everyone does. Despite the limited ice time and his line generally not doing too well at establishing possession, he managed to get a fair number of shots. Does need to get stronger and better on the boards to help with possession, but that shouldn't be his main job anyway. His job should be to get open, and everyone else's job is to hold possession and find him when he does. As much as he needs to improve, the guys he plays with also need to learn how to use him. Like most weapons, he won't be very dangerous without someone to fire him.

For the AHL All-star game. Though he may stay down if Jurco is coming back I suppose...

No one was saying it was literally impossible. It was, however, impossible to keep Datsyuk, Zetterberg, Franzen, Filppula, Cleary, Homer, Draper, Maltby, AND Hossa, and the defense and goalies, and ice a full roster.

One player doesn't replace 6. We started the year over the cap, with Lilja on LTIR. Aside from Hossa, we were losing Hudler, Sammy, and Kopy, as well as Downey and McCarty. We brought in Eaves and May, both at league minimum, and promoted Leino and Helm, both also very cheap. Miller was added later after injuries started piling up. So we could sign Hossa instead of Bert and JWilly, but that's still an extra $2 mil+ in cap that has to move and a player short of a full roster. So you have to move at least one other player, and I believe only Flip and Cleary were making enough. But that also creates another spot to fill. So we'd be adding another player at around league minimum. It's not that it was absolutely impossible to keep both, just not realistic. Moving a 40 point player and filling the roster with scrubs at league min just isn't as reasonable as choosing to keep just one of the big guns, plus your 40 point guy, and having a few mil left to try to find a couple cheap depth scorers.

You're a bit off here. There was no money for Sammy or Hudler that year. We were over the cap the entire year, only getting by on LTIR. We eventually had to dump Leino, demote May, and force Maltby on to IR just to bring Franzen and Lilja off IR. It would have been difficult to keep Hossa instead of Franzen, much less keep both. Both would have meant losing Flip for sure, plus some. Realistically, the choice was Hossa or Franzen. Mistake? Perhaps, though I doubt having Hossa would have made any significant difference.

No, not really. Career gpg and ppg is very similar. I have no idea why anyone is interested in Petry, or why anyone would think he can score.

I don't know; the way he straightened his legs out in that NJ one didn't seem natural to me.