Opie

This is the dumbest signing I have ever heard of, ok so no not really this is probably the smartest move of the season so far. I think this is a better signing than AO, because in a couple of years AO will be worth his 9-10 mil, but in 2-3 years this kid will be worth more than 6.5 mil. He is as Beeryce said he is Scott Stevens meets Segei Gonchar and once Lids is out of the league (and Neids) this kid has a few Norris trophies to earn. I may be ahead of myself but who has a better >25 all around D-man?

Exactly, like in the NFL (similar salary cap), you will see trade deadline deals come to a slow (maybe not as severe due to length of season). Because of what you mentioned, plus teams will need to keep room for the next season (tagging). So signing a guy who has a contract will become a little tougher. IMO the smarter GM's are the ones who make the Bert or Calder type deals from last year. It is relatively risk free with potentially high reward. Trades that involve Rolston, Ryder, Sammy, Calder, Williams, secondary type players will continue to happen at the deadline where as big name acquisitions will more or less be a thing of the past, with one or two exceptions a year. As opposed to the fire sales we as fans are used to seeing.

But isn't that one of the biggest knocks on Sammy is that he shoots too much and now you are telling me the team needs someone to shoot more???? Now I am

I hate to tell you NFM but if any combination of Nick, Ralf, Cheli go down this team will not win the cup unless they have another legit #1/2 d-man on the roster. That would entail trading for Blake or Foote which would create a huge void somewhere else namely on offense or talented youth that is currently on the roster. All of this given up for one year of service would lead to exactly what egroen refered to here: If Nick goes down you can almost kiss the cup goodbye. The two injuries suffered last year, and I would place most of the emphasis on Schneids (due to pp concerns that bit this team in the ass in the WCF), severely cost this team. You can not afford to carry 4-5 legit top 2 d-men on your team anymore. The salary cap has and will continue to prevent that (unless a couple of them are young stud d-men like Phanuef and are still on rookie contracts) so the argument that this team has to prepare for two top 3 injuries is similar to saying that 2 of the top 4 forwards getting hurt. Do you really think if Dats/Homer, Z/Flip, Dats/Flip, Z/Homer, were out injured that the wings are still the favorite to win. Not saying some how they couldn't pull it off, crazier things have happened. But you get my point. A depth addition would be #4-6 d-man and a # 5-9 winger. And still adding for depth would not cover up the whole left if Lids went down. Trading in case injury hits will only put the wings in a bad spot. IMO>Trading should be done to fix a weakness or to improve yourself for Playoff hockey, meaning getting someone to step in when your enforcer is a black ace for the playoffs, or adding a couple of 3rd liners so you can roll 4 lines.

Not sure, but what would be nice is if they were available to people like TSN is.

cough* chamberlain *cough

I remembered reading something like that, but couldn't remember if it was Cleary or not. She pretty much told him to work hard and earn what he thought he deserved or he was never going to be what he thought he was or could be. Something like that, but again I wasn't sure if it was Cleary or not.

Especially when said coach has a team that the captain (of the team not our "The Captain" the caps make the difference) gave up on before the season started in hunt for the Division against a SC pick from many "Experts". That team is build on speed, PP, and Defence. The wings are built on puck possession, PP, and Defense. So some how Ryder would fit better in Detroit with a hard nose coach who shrinks Hudler's minutes when he isn't playing D, Ryder is just going to float around, play no D and Babs will be ok with that. DOUBT IT HIGHLY!!!

The funny part of that is that he is on pace to shatter his single season point mark by ... Oh wait he is only 9 points ahead of his normal pace. But he is on pace to set a new high in goals scor... nope he is just on pace to tie his last season's mark. Oh but for sure his plus minus must be better than it was before right? Well while yes it would be a career high for him to be +37 (his pace) it would only be so by 1. Surely he must be on pace to shatter one personal single season record, yes I found it.... SHOTS! His previous high was 207, he is on pace for 280. Good thing he hit the weights it really has taken him to that next level!!! Go Pavs get bulked up dude!!!! /sarcasm

I saw that in the highlights, I really think he is a poster on here and listens to what we say. Dats needs to be tougher! Dats needs to get more points!! Dats needs to not be so Lady Bingish!! [/sarcasm]

So you trade a viable scoring option, some one that has been top 8 on the team in scoring the past two years and is on pace to be there again this year, for a late round draft pick. Come on Lou, really, or did you just feel like bashing him because that is what makes you feel good. Why is that a wishlist thread about who you would want added to this team has to turn into a bash Sammy thread. I know you are not a troll, and I know you have more sense than to think that Sammy would only return a 7th round pick. So then my question is what is your point? back on track: Rolston This guy is the some one that since he joined the Bruins I wanted to see in a winged wheel.

To tell you the truth watching Glen Murray on a regular basis for the past 5-7 years (however long he has been in boston) he is starting to go down hill. He has lost a step, had nagging injuries nothing to major but nagging. Most of his goals are Hullie goals, a great feed from Savard, Kessel, or Bergereon (when he was playing) and a decent one timer. The problem is that sometimes his one timer hits the net and sometimes it hits a board with short glass on it and no netting attached if you know what I mean. There was a lot of talks about Dallas wanting him early in the season on a line with Modano, but as the season has progress Dallas has wained interest and looks to have decided against it. Now not that he is not still a talent but he costs almost 4x as much as Sammy. Now I know stats don't tell the whole story but here is a little side by side: GM 34gp 10 g 9 a 19 pts +2 24Pim 4ppg 2ppa 18:19 ATOI $4.15M MS 51 GP 8 G 19 a 27 pts +12 14PIM 2ppg 5ppa 15:51 ATOI $1.2M

OR.... Instead of creating 5 threads about trading for or signing one player, everyone stick to the one that already exists. This board has a cool little feature called "Search" it is almost like using what some call "Google" except it only searches the Letsgowings.com message board for whatever words you put in the text field!!! AMAZING!!! TERRIFIC!!! SUPERB!!! You may be asking yourself how do I get the rights to use this amazing feature, do I have to make payments, do I have to be a certain level poster, do I need moderator permission. NO, all you have to do is use it!!!

I am really starting to like Lebda, watching him play live in Boston I kept an eye on him, well that is except when the ice girls were out and about. He skates unbelievably well for a d-man, handles the puck well, makes very smart passes, and appears ( I was not ever even close to being a high school D-man let alone nhl) to never really be out of position. Sure he makes mistakes, they all do. He may not bring the hitting that Lilja does but I think he fits the overall team mold better than Lilja or even Kronwall. Not saying he is as talented as Kronwall, but just that he fits better. I think until Ericsson, Kindl, or others prove to be better he should be the # 5 or # 6 D man. As much as I like the idea of Staois or Blake (which is not a lot btw) I would much rather have Lebda out there with Cheli. Again not because Lebda is the better player, but the intangibles he has are much better suited for the puck possession/moving defensive system the wings have.

Very similar argument to one that happens every winter here around Beantown, will Jim Rice get to the HOF. Bare with me for a minute, I want Nick to win it badly, will he , I doubt it. The same idea holds true here, if you have to make an argument for a guy winning the MVP or being HOF is that person really what you are trying to say they are. Case in point, if AO were to win MVP (As things stand right now) no one would question it or need to make an argument in support of it. If you are saying Lids should win it, most people are having to argue/prove that point. I think the only run away for the Hart right now on Feb 6 is AO. Other than that there is a bottle neck of 4-6 players vying for it if he gets injured, Lids being one of those. But as I said above with a best D-man award and best Goaltender award, but no best forward award, the Hart will be thought of as forwards first. The voters see the awards this way (IMO) Norris = Defensive MVP Vezina = Goaltending MVP Then you have the Hart which is league MVP, but with no Forward MVP award, the voters tend to look forward first.

Hank, Normally I would argue that players don't look at Detroit the same way fans do, and that players go after the money and so don't agents, blah, blah, blah. But I think in this instance (and probably Z, hopefully Z) the players will weigh the franchise heavily. Like you said Lids and Dats are steals right now, could Dats have got a better offer, yeah probably not the dramatic difference Z or Lids would get from others (only because of previous playoff performances). When the leaders of your team are willing to take 1-2mil (maybe more in lids case) less than they are worth to stay with a winning org, it has to make you think as a player. I mean think about it, you work with the best ad guru in the business, he gets offers from all the other advertising firms in the country, yet he takes less money to stay with your firm because he thinks it gives him the best opportunity to get the best jobs and he feels the company has treated him greatly over the past 10 years. Now you are a mid level guy in this firm and you happen to work with the Guru on many projects. You may decide to take more money from another firm, but you start to think, will I be surrounded by the same type of people or will I be expected to shoulder the load, will the firm treat me with respect? Is money more important than being in a firm that I know wants to be successful, and will surround me with quality people that have the same goal?

I think the Norris trophy ruined it for any D-man to really have a good shot at the MVP, unless a season like the one Pronger won in happens. If there were a category for best defenseman, best forward then MVP I think you would find that D-men would have a better chance.

As a Red Sox fan I can tell you signing some one so that another team doesn't get them, instead of signing them to fill a need works about 5% or the time!!

So every week when they put out their power rankings instead of the same old blah blah about the last week of play they look at different facets of the game and the areas teams do or don't need improvement. I think last week was GM and the week before was own free agents who to sign or not sign. Something like that can't really remember. This week it is captains, who needs a new one and who is all set. They still rank the teams based on overall strength but the description is about captains. Here is what they said about the #1 Red Wings http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/news;_ylt=Auum...o&type=lgns

I am lucky enough to have lived in a town with a QJMHL team in it and live in New England where college Hockey is huge. I have to say that the younger canadian players appear to be a couple of strides (pun intended) a head of NCAA players. Now that doesn't mean that the NCAA doesn't put out talent it does, just not as high end (normally) as the CHL.

The only problem with this is that most of the wings losses this year have come against the Central division. I mean they have killed just about every other division in the NHL, but their own. I worry about the end of the season, as most of their games are against the division. But hopefully they can keep the good hockey going.

Ok so lets look at this, the second part of this is what discredits the first part. Say what you want about sammy that is your opinion, however when you say things like "Hurry up Brunnstrom" who cannot play for any other club until April, and then you want D-mac who never was a lamp lighter (sure he scored a few HUGE goals, but never was a torrid scorer when he was 10 years younger let alone now) to replace a guy who the last two years has been top 10 on this team in scoring. Can you see why now the first part of your thread is discredited. D-mac has an outside chance at making a NHL roster, Sammy could be a top 6 forward on almost all teams in the league, yet a D-mac who is doing well at an IHL level is going to help the team in scoring slump issues. Damn if you thought sammy was the issue for the secondary scoring slump what good will D-mac do to that, or Brunnstrom who could be the next Forsberg or could be the next Grigs. But I am sure those were just oversights and that the Sammy part of your thread is the god's honest truth!

And the main reason for that was that Schneids had a broken wrist and didn't play, correct?

That was a great game. Z scored about 30 feet in front of me!!!!

Great stats, he and Z are such great all around talents it awesome. I mean you can find 20 guys in the NHL that do what they do on offense (respectively Dats moves and passes, Z scoring ability) and you can find 20 guys that play as good as they do defensively, but usually they are two completley different sets of players.