Buppy

I agree, not re-seeding for round 3 would be dumb. However, Boston and Montreal are in the same conference. They could never meet each other beyond the 2nd round. Nor could Detroit/Chicago, Philly/Pittsburgh or Pitt/Washington or any other intra-conference rivals.

He's always been one of my favorite non-Wings (though I was happy to see him suck with the Avs), and even more so the way he's played the last couple years. I don't think he wants to go anywhere, but I would be ecstatic if we could pick him up (without giving up too much). Only making $4M this year too. I can't imagine any teams that would NOT be interested in him.

It's not random selection, so it's not really 7% better chance. Larger pool size just means a better chance of the larger conference having more good teams. It's about as likely that the 5th-place team in one of the 7-team conferences will be better than the 4th in one of the 8-team. I'm kind of torn. I liked divisional playoffs and the rivalries created, and I like playing the first two rounds close to home (or at least no further than Dallas/Winnipeg). But this method creates such a large chance of someone getting screwed. Much better if they just went with the 4 conference winners + 12 wildcards.

The appeal is that he's a valuable asset who could be used to bring back someone who fits the team needs better. I don't want to see him traded (and I doubt he will be, as someone would have to make Kenny a pretty sweet offer), but if we could use him to get Parise (without adding too much more) it would be foolish NOT to. Though unless he's part of a package to add another star-caliber player, it would be pretty foolish the way he's played so far this year.

$4.5M is a bit steep for someone with career stats similar to Flip/Hudler (side note, impressive draft class with those three, considering Hudler was the highest pick at 58th overall). We could have afforded it though, and he seems to be breaking out (or continuing the breakout he started in Colorado).

Sharks would be good, particularly if we see them again in the playoffs and/or they win the Cup. With re-alignment pending, I'm guessing it will be Pittsburgh.

I was referring to the affect Iginla would have on our options this off-season. Assuming we didn't trade someone significant that is already signed for next year, and using this year's cap number, we'd have ~$18M in cap left to re-sign Helm and Abby, re-sign or replace Nick and Stuie, plus backup goalie, 7th D, and 13/14th forwards. Likely not enough to go after someone like Parise. There should be several other options we could add that either will not limit us next year, or at least would fit better into a long-term plan.

That money would be needed for his replacement. We could skimp on defense spending until the next year, but I wouldn't want to see that. I'd just hate to trade for Iggy then see Parise hit free agency and not be able to make an offer. Again, it wouldn't be terrible, and if the price was good enough I'd go for it. Just not the best option IMO.

Iggy has just under $5 million in cap hit remaining this year. We would not have to move any salary in order to add him. (Nor would Chicago.) If Calgary were to move him, it would most likely be a rebuild move, meaning they'd be most interested in prospects and picks. I doubt they'd be interested in any of our roster players aside from maybe Helm or Abby. We have quite a few nice looking forward prospects, but I think we need to value those prospects higher than other teams would until we find some replacement for Pav and Hank. Trading them for an aging Iggy wouldn't make any sense. We're weak on defense prospects, and with Nick nearing retirement we can't afford to move Smith for a forward. I think we'd have to offer two 1st-rounders, plus swap another pick (like a 3rd for a 5th) or even just add another pick, plus throw in whatever roster forward we want to move to make room for him (Emmy, Bruno, Eaves, MIller). Since he's signed for next year, we wouldn't be able to make a run at any of the top FA forwards (unless maybe we moved Flip/Cleary, or skimp on defense, or the cap goes up significantly). Wouldn't be the worst thing in the world, but I'd rather look for someone who would help more in the future. Ryan is a little perplexing. He's only 24 and already has three 30+ goal seasons. Not off to a great start but not terrible either. Considering the Ducks can't score you wouldn't think they'd be looking to trade him in order to upgrade. He's not the type you'd trade if looking to rebuild either. I have to think he's not a fit in the locker room. Either he doesn't want to be there or the team/coaches don't want him there. A cause for some concern I think. Being signed for three more years at a fair price I can't imagine he'd be cheap to get either. Not sure what the Ducks would want. Maybe Flip since they seem to like the Fins lately. Not sure what their prospect pool looks like but their current defense is aging. Smith or Kindl might draw interest, but I wouldn't want that. Maybe one of our newer picks like Oullett(sp) or Sproul. A top forward prospect plus a 1st (and maybe another later pick) to round it out. Not sure if I'd like a deal like that or not. I'd want to know why they're shopping him. Parise as a pending UFA, and having a down year so far (though not really any worse than Iggy or Ryan) and coming off a serious injury should be significantly cheaper. The injury is a bit of a risk, but not huge. He should still be a solid 30+ scorer for several seasons (and possibly return to full 40+ form). Also a risk that he could leave after the season, but we'd have plenty of time to negotiate. Unfortunately, the only real reason for NJ to move him is if they don't think they can re-sign him (or maybe to find a replacement for Broduer). Assuming they feel the need to move him, maybe something like Flip, a good prospect (Sheahan seems like a good fit), and a 2nd.

Iggy is signed through next season @ $7 million. I like him, but not that much. Pending FA forwards who could potentially be available and may be considered top-6: Ruutu, Tuomo -------CAR 28 $3,800,000 UFA Jokinen, Olli ------CGY 32 $3,000,000 UFA Stempniak, Lee -----CGY 28 $1,900,000 UFA Comeau, Blake ------CGY 25 $2,500,000 RFA Prospal, Vaclav ----CLB 36 $2,500,000 UFA Hejduk, Milan ------COL 35 $3,000,000 UFA Jones, David -------COL 27 $2,500,000 UFA Samuelsson, Mikael -FLA 34 $2,500,000 UFA Versteeg, Kris -----FLA 25 $3,083,333 RFA Penner, Dustin -----LAK 29 $4,250,000 UFA Parise, Zach -------NJD 27 $6,000,000 UFA Whitney, Ray -------PHO 39 $3,000,000 UFA Doan, Shane --------PHO 35 $4,550,000 UFA Grabovski, Mikhail -TOR 27 $2,900,000 UFA Kulemin, Nikolai ---TOR 25 $2,350,000 RFA Semin, Alexander ---WAS 27 $6,700,000 UFA I may have missed a few, and there may be some who aren't going to be FAs who may be worth looking at, but it's not very impressive. Parise, Semin, and Doan probably the most likely to have a real impact. Don't know that I'd want to trade for any of the rest of them, unless it was cheap. (For that matter I wouldn't give up much for Semin or Doan either.)

Getting hit in the jaw can cause some serious intra-cranial vibrations, and is a leading cause of concussions. High on the side where Eaves was hit isn't as bad as other areas but can still be very serious. Hopefully, the jaw is the worst of his injuries.

Acoording to the way he plays the game. Just because he isn't very good at it doesn't mean that's not what he is. (Well, two-way defenseman would be more accurate, but his play definitely leans more toward offense.) Likewise, just because he's big and we all want him to be a Stuart-type doesn't mean that's what he is. He probably should be, and getting him to change his style would probably be easier than fixing his shooting issues. That's just not how he plays right now.

Bad news is that he is. Good news is that he is progressing, albeit significantly slower than his first stints with the Wings led most of us to expect. He was better last year than in 09-10, and better again so far this year. This year, his offensive instincts (in terms of when and how to jump in) aren't really that far behind Kronwall or White. If he could fix his horrendous shot accuracy and laughably slow wind-up on his slapper he could be a 40+ point defenseman. If he can't fix those problems, he'll likely never grow into his contract because he's never shown any signs that his positioning, shot blocking, anticipation, physicality, or reaction time are (or could be) any better than 3rd-pair level.

I don't understand why there's so much discussion on this. From day one Eaves has been among the bottom forwards. When we're healthy he's always competing with the other 10th-14th forwards for a spot. Pav, Hank, Mule, Flip, and Cleary aren't ever going to be healthy scratches. Bert probably wont either since he's big and has high-end experience and instincts (if not high-end skill anymore). Helm and Abby are young guys who figure prominently in the teams future plans, so it would take some very poor play to move either out of the lineup. Thaat leaves Hudler, Homer, Miller, Emmy, Eaves, and Bruno (Mursak once he comes back) fighting for the last four spots. Hudler, despite the obvious fact that Babs doesn't like his game that much, still has far more skill than any of the others. Homer is a great roleplayer with experience who meshes well with our top lines, and he's been playing well so far. With Flip and Abby playing wing, Emmy is by far our best option for 4th-line center. Miller has been playing exceptionally well for his role. Add it all up and it leaves Patty at 13 on the depth chart. If there's any mystery, it's only why Miller hasn't bumped Abby off the 3rd line (which would then allow Eaves to rotate more evenly with Emmerton, or take his spot entirely).

I never liked Kenny bringing back both Bert and Homer, but I have to admit Homer is still a solid top-6 roleplayer, and playing with Mule plus Pav or Hank really seems to bring out the best in Bert. If we could somehow land an elite winger like Parise and roll out a third line of Happy-Flip-Cleary, we would be fricken deadly.

That's actually a pretty equitable trade, if not an overpayment by Detroit. Right now, Turris has to be considered a downgrade from Hudler; on about the same order that OEL is an upgrade over Kindl. The "potential" factor is largely negated by Phoenix's need to move Turris, and I'd say Ferraro OR a 3rd would balance the remainder. Change Hudler to Emmerton and it's a much better dream. However, at this point it looks like Ferraro is not going to be an NHL player, so I doubt Phoenix would have much interest.

No room for both. Bruno was sent down to make room to keep Smith. Though it wouldn't make much difference to me if we picked him up to replace Bruno for now. Injuries could open a spot down the road.

You're so blind it's pointless to try and make you listen to reason. It's hilarious that this whole exchange is due to your complete inability to just admit that Hudler is a slow skater, and that his skating can be a liability at times.

Failing to react in time to stop a point-blank breakaway shot is far more forgivable than letting an opponent blow by you in the neutral zone. There's a reason most people give goalies a pass for allowing a breakaway goal. Stopping a breakaway is mostly a matter of maintaining good position (which Jimmy did) and hoping the shooter hits you or misses the net (which Richards didn't). You can blame everyone else on the team for not bailing Hudler out, but the fact is Richards was Hudler's assignment defensively. Again, not terrible. Not like I'm calling him lazy or saying he gave up on the play. He's just slow.

Surprising that you haven't blamed Zetterberg for not winning the faceoff cleanly enough. With you it's always everyone except Hudler. Cleary was battling for the puck after the faceoff, and swept it back to the D, like he's supposed to. Obviously not perfect, but he was still doing his job. Kronwall hung back to cover the late man, as he's supposed to in that situation. You could argue they should have switched roles, but from their actions it's obvious neither played felt that was the correct play. Howie stayed with the shooter, did not over-commit to anything, as a goalie should. He just couldn't react quickly enough. The fact is that goal was the result of Richards being a lot faster than Hudler. They both started moving when the puck dropped, and as you say Hudler started backing up almost immediately. It's not like Richards was shot out of a cannon or started sprinting up ice three seconds before the faceoff. Hudler was at a disadvantage because he needed to turn around, but he still had two steps on Richards at their blue line, and Richards was past him by ours. And if you want to say that Hudler had no chance due to the disadvantage, then the correct play by Hudler there would be to step into Richards and take him out or at least hold him up enough to ensure Kronwall gets possession. Most likely an interference penalty, but 4v4 is better than giving up a breakaway opportunity. Not saying it was terrible by Hudler. Mostly it was a good effort from Richards to take advantage of a slower player playing a position he isn't accustomed to.

If we could get him for Ferraro and a 2nd I'd do it. I thought he looked very good against us in the playoffs last year, and a change of scenery might be just what he needs to start hitting his potential. Maybe Emmerton and a 2nd would be better. We'd need to open a roster spot anyway, and moving Emmy would allow us to slot Turris into the 4th line center spot to start. Miller/Eaves/Homer would be good linemates to help ease him into the system, then move up from there if he did well. Even worst case he's likely an upgrade over Emmy.

The only "something more" is that he isn't as good as most of our forwards. Emmerton is a center, Miller's playing great, Bruno has to play some time... Everyone else is better, or at least offers more potential even if they haven't been great so far. Same goes for previous years, most of our forwards have been better leaving Eaves to rotate in and out when we're healthy. We have to scratch two forwards every game right now. Patty just needs to make the most of his opportunities or wait for injuries or someone like Miller or Emmy to start playing poorly.

Anaheim and New Jersey, I suspect.

We were 3-1 against the Avs in 95-96, and lost a tough series (against the team with the 2nd best record in the league). We traded for Shanny 3 games into the 96-97 season, before we ever played the Avs that year.

The way for us to be better is for Datsyuk and Zetterberg to play better. 5g/18p in 17 games is just not near good enough. Double those stats and we're probably 12-5 or 13-4, at or near the top of the league. Juggling role players would do nothing. Adding a sniper would help, but if Pav and Hank continue to struggle it won't be enough, especially if we gave up Flip or Franzen considering they have been our best forwards this year. Defensemen, team defense, and goalie have all been good. Bottom 6 has been good. We could use more from Cleary/Huds/Homer, but that's a minor issue and likely corrected by Pav and Hank improving. Stars are supposed to make the supporting cast better, not the other way around. The only thing we really need is for our stars to be stars.