Theophany

Yeah, I'm going to laugh when you get Team Lidstrom's pairings: Lidstrom - Byfuglien Weber - Keith I think Lidstrom did the best job with keepers as well, biases aside.

No, you're correct, I believe. The waiver rule is in place so teams can't bury players in the EU leagues.

Blatantly false. Abdelkader is 43rd in the leauge (tied with Getzlaf and Jannik Hansen) with 105 hits. Zdeno Chara has less hits than Abdekader in nine more games played, for the love of God.

If Lidstrom retires, the entire team has to play 5x harder in the defensive zone, no matter who we get. He's that irreplaceable. Smith may be the next Doughty-type player, but the next Nick Lidstrom won't appear in our lifetime, just like there won't be another Bobby Orr. He's easily the #2 defenseman ever in my book, and he's just barely behind Bobby Orr. You don't find a replacement for that with $6M. You pray that he plays until he's in his late 40s like Chelios and Howe. Edit: as for what I'd do with his salary when he retires, maintain our D with another $3.5-4M guy and use the extra cash to go after more depth at the forward position; we should have some good (possibly great) dmen coming through the system soon, specifically Smith.

Replace "enforcer" with "guys that can play a regular shift and drop the gloves" in my post, same thing. We already have guys that can take a regular shift and will fight, by the way.

You have unrealistic expectations of a hockey team in today's NHL. No team will win the Cup every year. It also doesn't logically follow that adding an enforcer would allow the Wings to win the Cup year after year. When was the last time a team needed an enforcer in the playoffs? I'd argue that the answer is "never".

The only one I agree with is the trapezoid. I like how hockey is played today.

Same, though I can play lefty mainly because I also play lacrosse (where you need to play both lefty and righty), though my shot is awful as a left-hander.

Guys, Lidstrom isn't tough because he almost had one of his balls removed via a stick and missed two games. I mean, really? The Wings need to "get tough"? What the author really means is, "the Wings need to fight more, because I don't understand hockey and I want to see someone get their face caved in". If we had a Dallas Drake-type ready to go, I'd gladly have him playing third and fourth line minutes, but should we go out and go after a guy like that when we have the potential in our system coming up in the next couple years? We're one of the top 5 teams in the league every year. When that stops happening and lacking a fighter is the cause of it, let's go out and get one. Otherwise, I'm completely content with us having more skill top to bottom than any team in the league.

Except that Ozzie isn't done for the year; nothing has said that he is. Holland said that were the Wings to get Nabokov, we'd roll with 3 goalies the rest of the season once Ozzie was back. You won't get a goalie who's putting up .900 sv% and higher numbers for cheaper than Jmac, especially as we'd have to give something up to get them, where we don't have to give up anything for Jmac. Remember that Holland plays the long game, not just a one-and-done Cup run that he bets the farm on. You'd see a lot more impulsive moves from him, were that the case. All that said, I've laid out the reasons that you're not going to see another goalie in Detroit this year. Howard/Ozzie/Jmac/(Pearce et al) will be it. Nothing from outside the Detroit system. Giving up a player or a draft pick for a mediocre goalie will not happen, and that's all the team can afford with our cap situation.

But it's a nonsensical thread, because there's no way they're going to get rid of MacDonald for a goalie of equivalent stature, as I've already pointed out. Sorry that you didn't think this idea through/you're embarrassed that someone pointed out that anyone that considers acquiring another goalie is not exactly the smartest hockey person out there.

You think we can get Dom for a league-minimum contract and think we'd get him through waivers? Yeah, let's gift-wrap another goalie for another bottom-feeder team.

I never said there shouldn't be any discussion, just that this is a stupid idea and the thread needs to be closed. "HEY GUYS I KNO LETS TRADE SUM1 FOR A GOALIE THATS WORSE THEN JMAC AND LETS PAY HIM MORE TOO" I mean, really?

In other words, he has a bigger contract than both of our goalies, will probably sign somewhere else after this season, and has a garbage Sv%. MacDonald is a better deal, and has played better this season, IMO. Looking elsewhere for a goalie is why none of you are GMs; you look internally to see what you have and what can be had. Nothing that we can get right now is better as a backup than MacDonald for what we'd have to give up to get them. 1) We don't have cap space for anything more than a bare-minimum goalie, hence the Nabokov contract. 2) We won't give up anything for a goalie that's likely to put up mediocre numbers and be gone after this year. So this thread can safely be closed, because it would be absolute idiocy to trade for a crap backup when MacDonald has been doing fine.

...except that they're not twins and they haven't played together for almost their whole professional careers, right?

Yep. Dunno if he will, though.

Other than when he does a spin-o-rama Bertuzzi doesn't do it, so why would a forward need it?

Yeah, we require that for lacrosse out here, too, it just happens that a membership to US Lacrosse covers that completely.

I know for lacrosse, if you pay an annual membership to US Lacrosse you're covered by insurance for any injuries you might have during a game; wouldn't hockey have something similar? Edit: I haven't played hockey seriously since high school, so I wouldn't know.

The slap shot is one of the most overrated shots of all time unless you're extremely good at it. Most of the time you'll heel it and the puck will flutter in front of you. I grew up playing defense and the first thing I learned to do was not take a slap shot unless I knew I could take it, otherwise I'd pull it in and control it before passing it or wristing it. It's a pretty common mistake that people make. It's way easier to be accurate with a wrist shot instead of a slapper. Golf doesn't really translate, by the way. I've been golfing and playing hockey since I was 5, and while the muscles used for slap shots are kind of similar, you're not trying to hit a moving golf ball into a 4' x 6' net. For stick work, the most important thing you can learn how to do is skate with two hands on it unless you're skating backwards. Unless you have extreme wrist strength like Bertuzzi, you're not going to be able to do anything with one hand on the stick other than poke check.

It's a certain time period, not just playing a few games. If I recall, after the FA period is over, players have to pass through waivers if they aren't signed in that period until the end of the season (i.e. through the playoffs). Thus Nabby would still have to pass through waivers.

I don't think there's any chance that Jimmy will sign anywhere else, frankly. Nabby would be a backup if Ozzie retires, if not, he'll go to another team.

Ever since it was confirmed that there were no bonuses involved, I've been of the mind that Holland is making a deal for Nabby to get him back into the league, and possibly a team low in the standings. It's also possible, keep in mind, that Holland is setting up a free agent acquisition after this season. Nabby plays and gets back into NHL shape with a team this season, and in the off-season, he signs with us after Ozzie retires.

You know that's what was going through Murph's brain when he heard the news. Fake twitter accounts often have more truth to them than real ones.

Hilarity to be had on Murph's twitter page: "there is a good chance nabakov could be claimed, because he is great quality for a great price...sort of like a dollar hot dog!"