Opie

I highly doubt he will be wearing Fisch's #2. But you are probably best off waiting until Traverse City

With Homer on the 1st line and the emergence of Mule where would he play? Are you going to put him on the second line with Mule? Does Mule get relegated to 3rd line with Cleary and Draper? I would much rather Mule on the second line than Bert. I say pass on him, his career is over, he is not what he once was. Sure he may have spurts and games where he looks like the old Bert, but he inevitably regresses back to the soft new Bert.

Gotta tell you guys I don't think I can remember a player being as excited as Huds to win the cup ever, that kid got amped up about the cup, look at his face in that link NFM just posted!!!

Is the Stanley cup now sponsored by Cheli's Chili? That thing has spent more time at Cheli's than it has the HOF!!

One of the teams hoping to hit the cap floor may be interested in either of them but other than that I don't see a contender dealing for either of them at those price tags.

edit: I am an asshat, just saw the date of the original post here, I apologize for being an asshat!

You are missing my point, you said there was no argument whatsoever that Z will not get a penny more than D and I made more than one argument.

Which is what makes the Penner situation from last year so friggin absurd, all Burke had to do was offer him a contract even if it was the same he was making the year before, then that prevented him from having him stolen right out from under his nose. I think his arrogance got in the way of that one.

I would say that the development of Mule makes Sammy expendable, Hudler can play that role on the 2nd line, but for some reason Huds seems to thrive on the 4th line. Abdelkader or Leino or other youngsters could ease into the line up easier if they were on the 4th in Hudler's spot while Downey and/or whomever else rotate through the 4th line with Helm/Kopecky. The only thing I don't like about that scenario is that chemistry on that 4th line would be tough to come by if it is always switching. But if Sammy is still on the roster more than likely he will be on the second line, unless he fills in for Drake's spot on the 3rd line, which I think would be a big mistake as they are not even close to the same style of play.

51.105 cap @ 56.3

Neids playing has nothing to do with Schneids being shown the door, Neids is already under contract. If Teemu comes back or they want to make a play at a big name forward than yes Shneids will then be shown the door.

My post was in response to Moderators putting up a thread and asking that instead of new threads like these people put everything together, I don't think it is too much to ask that people heed the request of the Mods, on some of the other sites I post if that were to happen your post would be deleted with no hesitation, the Mods here though actually are very nice and let people get away with a lot more than other forums. I mean it is not like there are already three threads on this topic (after a search and looking through 1 page of search results) that this topic could fit under. back to the topic: Malone and Rolston are the two UFA's I would like to see in the Winged Wheel, The second line of Rolston Flip Mule would be a great second line!!!!! Flip feeding Rolston, Rolston firing pucks with Mule around the net!!!!!

But currently who is the better player which was my point?

AH you don't think it is justified, yet I can make the argument! Dats just won the Selke, yes, but he didn't win it just before his contract year, he won it after he signed his contract. Z is going into his contract year and just won the Conn Smythe, was tied for the lead in playoff points, and for all intense and purposes was second in voting for the Selke (He had the second most 1st place votes and the most second place votes, but Madden all but swept the third place votes and thus he had more total vote points). I am not saying what will be given to him, I am telling you that there is an argument to be made, that he will get paid a substantial amount more than Dats.

I'll bite, You are willing to trade away Sammy for "anything" yet you think Tucker will be a good addition. What on earth makes you think Tucker is a better player at this stage in their career's. Tucker is old, tired and washed up, he isn't the type of player Drake is/was. He is a Maltby, with a little more offensive upside, to replace Drake you would want a banger, not an agitator. I love how all of you guys bag on Sammy yet it was he who started the SCF off with a bang, he forechecked and worked hard with Flip and Mule all post season to form at one point in time the best line for the wings, Babcocks words not mine. Yet all of that credit is given to Mule and Flip, because Sammy was just standing around with his thumb up his arse right!

I don't think players can take pay cuts under the new CBA, I do believe Lids took a cut when they were looking to land Hull, Hasek and Robs, but that was pre-CBA and it was him, Shanny, and Yzerman that did it.

Lapointe, which Lapointe, not Marty Lapointe, not the Marty Lapointe ex-wing overpaid in Boston, overpaid in Chicago, Marty Lapointe? Right, you must mean anther Marty Lapointe, not the one traded to Ottawa, who in the hell is he going to fight. We are talking about enforcers not just some one to take his roster spot, I will take Downey for 45 games in an enforcer role before I would take Marty Lapointe for 82 games in any capacity.

Actually one very valid point is the financial changes in the league, at the time Dats contract was seen as an overpayment now do to salaries (you cannot look at this as a vacuum, you must take other players from other teams as comparison) it seems like the wings got him on the cheap. So one could say a valid argument is that due to inflation (lack of better term) Z should make more money, plus having a conn smythe trophy is another good arguing point.

But Crymson surely he would take 2.5 to come to Detroit right, isn't that how it works, otherwise his priorities must be messed up?

GS&T, I agree they don't need an enforcer, they have Downey, I WOULD PREFER they have some one else.

I just read the article those are their own RFA's not other teams RFA's. So the part about them signing with other teams with no compensation is there because if they cannot get their own RFA's signed by July 1st they become UFA's and available to all other teams. It is not that they can offer a contract to Flip and if he signs after June 25 there are no compensations.

I will not boo Avery in the winged wheel because I root for the team first players second. However I do hate the way he plays the game and I do despise all of his antics. To me he is the least professional athlete in professional sports. So while you may be right that we as fans wouldn't boo him, I won't root for him, I would not be rooting for him as a person I would be rooting for the sweater skating on the ice and hoping my team would win. That doesn't mean I would like him on the team.

I think, big difference between know and think, his knee is what kept him out of the SCF, I just don't think he went from being a solid 5-6 d-man to a horrible player that he became in the Dallas series. However he is 46 and it could finally be catching up to him. The Ericsson thing, I am unsure of, but maybe it is the fact he is one of the D-men that can go back to GR, I believe Meech and Quincey are out of options to go back and forth.

1 thing I do know about the offer sheet process is that if Flip wants to take less money to stay in Detroit, which it appears he does, he can just refuse their offer. It is an offer sheet he has to accept it before Detroit even has to worry about it.

I am sorry I have a hard time believing that a guy who scores 102 points 69 games in juniors is going to struggle at the AHL level. He may be slow to develop, but you don't become that kind of scorer just because you are one year older than most of the other top level competition. I watched the Q closely when I lived in Maine, even got to see Sid the year of his Lacrosse goal, I agree it is not the top Junior league, however it is not like it is high school hockey. Regardless if he is a year or two older, he is playing against guys that are being drafted and predicted to be successful at the next level. Not saying he will be a success or that he won't bust just saying those numbers show he has some distinct skill.