Opie

Every team in the league would take a team like the 97 Wings, however with a Salary cap that is damn near impossible, guys that play like Vladdy or Shanny in their primes would cost a fortune so you can not afford Fetisov, Kozlov, Fedorov, Yzerman etc... all under the same cap. Unless they all take massive hometown discounts.

I think it makes Wheeler much more available though, not that it fits the need you were looking for in Boychuck, but they will struggle to add Sequin and Wheeler to the current cap hit. Especially if they have to hold onto Thomas's 5mil a year hit!

Can they afford another starting D-man and Wheeler all at the same time? They just traded away their second best D-man and are going to replace that with something off of the scrap heap, and sign Wheeler, or sign a decent D-man and a lesser winger and watch Wheeler walk away. They have to hope no one throws a 4 mil offer at Wheeler, if he gets an offer sheet Boston will have a hard time adding him and Sequin to their current cap situation. Without a doubt the Horton deal was win for the Bruins, but they got no cap relief and are now going to have to rely on unknowns on the backend. They need to find a way to get rid of Thomas' contract, then sign a vet back up for cheap. That would help them dramatically.

With Boston moving Wideman for Horton, that clears up the D spot for Boychuck, the question remains can they afford him? Wideman for Horton is a pretty even salary swap, the B's without a doubt got the better skill in the deal. The other thought is do the B's sign Boychuck the D-man and let Wheeler go now that they added Horton.

I am not sure why the EDM fans think O'Sully is a pos, he was a fan favorite here in Manchester. He has a ton of upside, in fact I am not sure why the Oil would buy him out, give the man a year to get accustomed, Penner wasn't a hit right away. Teams forget that when they pick up a player who just had a decent year as a youngster, their teammates had a lot to do with it, and if your team sucks adding a decent player is not going to make your team instantly better, but it will make their stats instantly worse!

OK you sold me! I was not stuck on either pairing, but I think the Lids Ralf pairing needs a break, and while Kronner and Stewie are great together they are a little to similar and that physical aspect they bring is missing on the Lids Ralf pairing. And I agree 100% Stewie is and has been a great fit here!

I wouldn't mind seeing a Lids Stuart pairing this season a little. Ralf Kronwall is a decent pairing as well so it is not like the move would really hinder either pairing.

Beating the NBA in ratings has become the equivalent of beating a deaf kid in musical chairs! Unfortunately the NHL doesn't know what a chair is yet! Seriously the NBA's ratings are going down badly, year after year. Scandals, the soap opera aspect of FA's all that other crap, the NBA is struggling. ON the other hand glad to see the NHL ratings rise, for what the third year in a row?

umm since when is one season enough time to say if a player will be great or a bust, what if he turns out to be just a decent hockey player, or average or slightly below average?

Even if he fails miserably in TB I see the Wings welcoming him back in some role in a heartbeat. No way if he goes to the org and says, I want back in do they say no to THE Captain!

I love how people complain about the Wings drafting/scouting/Free Agent process when this is the most successful org in any sport in the last 20 + years. How is it again that we as Wings fans get labeled spoiled all the time?

This is the best time for them to finally shed some of the baggage they have. The Pavelski line was without a doubt their best line this year, trade Marleau, get rid of Blake, get younger. Stay away from Kovy. Trade Marleau for a decent shut down center. Hope Homer asks for too much from the Wings, pick up secondary scorers. Heatley and Thornton with Homer Pavelski line upgraded third line D is pretty good already, just find some one to replace Blake. Turco is not an upgrade over Nabby, Try to get Vokoun out of Florida or Rinne out of Nashville? Probably neither are going to happen but Vokoun is the more likely.

Miller IMO best NHL goaltender right now! Keith Probably the best youngish D-man in the game (the next guy is the best young D man in my opinion. Youngish= he is younger than me ) Doughty I wanted to take Lids but the age thing kept me back, because I am starting the Mayberry Mullets I need youth for the long Hall. Dats - IMO Best all around Forward in the game, and I only need one of these, so Z fell off of my list, because I am a Dats guy, but choosing between them is not easy. Ovechkin Do I really have to explain? Crosby I don't care which of he and Dats play center, both will excel on both ends of the ice, both will create great opportunities for the rest of the team. I almost said Hossa so we could get to the SCF, but I figured 3 times in a row is the end of his line.

I got a say, big mistake if they make him the highest paid GM in the league. I love guy and he did great things for the Canadian team, however in the Olympics he doesn't have to worry about competing offers, and players asking for more money or handing out NMCs. Good luck Stevie, this is only a training stint until you come back to Det!

As a HUGE J-Ho fan, I am glad to hear all of these comments about how cool he is in person. The guy seemed to have a good head on his shoulders when at U-Maine he was berated with questions about how good he was, how he was winning games, and he always deflected the credit to teammates. Even though a blind man could see the only reason they went anywhere was Howard.

I agree with Leonsis, the NHL is in better shape than the NBA. But not just financially, the Ref scandal and inconsistency (plus the carry over of the Jordan rules to any player with a commercial) has hurt the sport. The game has become a pick and roll league, with the resurgence of the point guard position I see the games getting more interesting and fast paced, guys like Rondo, Rose, Paul, etc.. push the pace and are great defensive players as well. But right now the NHL without a doubt has the better product as well. The top 8 (final 8 I guess is a better term!) teams in the NHL change almost yearly, the past three years in the NBA the top 8 haven't changed much at all. For the last 3 years the top 4 teams have been C's, Lakers, Magic, Cavs (not in that order) each year, it just so happens 3 are in one conference so they have had to alternate the conference finals. But the best 4 teams in the league are above.

I am torn here, as much as I love Homer in the Winged Wheel, the words coming from his agent are like nails on a chalk board: "Multi-Year" SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEECHHHH "NO home town discount" SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEECHHHH Sounds like Homer, well at least his agent, is thinking one last pay day to go get! A 37 year old homer is not the same as a 37 year old Draper or Bill Guerin or even Dallas Drake, the man has taken infinitely more damage than any of those guys. Think about it this way, since the lockout his body has taken LESS damage a year, the rules changed and he is not beat the way he used to be, yet he is older so his body more than likely can't take the same abuse it did a couple of years ago. His body has taken a toll, and I think that deserves the Wings rewarding him, but realistically. I would be ok with 2 years 2 - 2.5 mil total, anything more than 1.25 a year I say pass, with a huge lump in my throat!

How much heart was shown by the USA in these past Olympics? Just admit you made a slip of the fingers on your keyboard. You call people out for saying Ollie is the representative of Finnish heart, and then yourself use Lebda, well lets see how many more international games does Ollie have under his belt compared to Lebda? Who is more of a representative of Hockey for their country? You listed what 5 Finnish players with Heart, and one of the Koivu brothers I would say has part time heart, but that is my opinion. I can list 5 US born players under the age of 25 with heart, I get your per capita argument but that is just a shovel you are trying to use to dig out of your hole. OH BTW you definitely dug yourself a hole! Are you sure you would have more supporters on a Finnish board, as it is I don't see many Finnish fans coming to your aid here! Your statement was a blanket statement that you should have used qualifiers on, you didn't now you look like DRW02(for the old school LGWers) and Mindfly, admit you made a dumb statement, happens to the best of us and the worst of us! Back on Topic, I welcome Huds back with open arms, he will provide secondary scoring which was sorely lacking at times this season. I think he and Holland both knew something along these lines would happen, I think had the Wings not been under cap problems Huds would have never gone to the KHL, as he did say before leaving the only team in the NHL he wanted to play for was the Wings. But I am kind of gullible and until I have a reason usually take people at their word.

Not to be a dink Bring back the bruise brothers but you just named 3 Canadian players, he said Finnish players play more Canadian style than US born players. His intentions (I think) were to say that Finnish players do indeed play like Shanny, Yzerman and the such.

Not a fan, to tell you the truth. Kaberle has been a disappointment for the majority of his career imo. IMO he would be the 4th best d-man on the team behind Ralf, Stuart, and Kronwall. But then again just my opinion.

Sorry for flooding the board this morning! http://blog.mlive.com/snapshots/2010/05/westport_rideaus_alumnus_and_r.html

update, sort of! Malik's take!

Thought so, thanks for the answer! Mods feel free to delete this thread!

Does the NHL do this? Could Nik sign a 1 year deal with a team option to pick up a second? I know Baseball does this, does the NHL? Never heard it before so I assume no, but wanted to ask to make sure.

gcom007 - What do Ozzie's Rings and Mike Vernon's career record have in common? They have nothing to do with this post season! EVA- I agree he should have played less during the season, however Babs didn't think a rusty Ozzie could pull it out. Not my opinion not my decision. The other option was 3 other rookies. Yes Howard needed to rest more during the season, however the only way Babs thought he could get any wins was to play Howard. Can you imagine the overreaction here if the Wings finish 9th. You may say well what does that have to due with anything, the pressure on this org to make the playoffs and a run at the cup is higher than any other team. Babs had to do what he could, was it what caused the loss to SJ, no! Games 1 and 2 how many special teams goals did SJ score? Three goals, dude this is not 1999 anymore do me a favor and look through the scores of the rest of the league during the post season and tell me how many games the winning team scored 4 or more! Sure it is about 50/50, what does that prove, 3 goals is not that big of a hurdle. How many goals did the Wings average in wins? and Losses? see you only provide one side, the side that helps you. I would be just as worried that the goalie has to give up less than 2 goals to get wins. But that is just me, I think the team lost as a whole, including Howard. PK goals were almost guaranteed at the end, and you can say that was on Howard all you want, but that is you being biased! Oh and anything to say about the Hart thing? He is a rookie, lets see what he can do next year, he could be the next Raycroft, He could be the next Vokoun, the next Richter, the next Carey, or even the next Chris Osgood, which based on their relationship and personalities is probably the most likely, and hey a 400 win (not that Howard has that much time left in his career) goaltender is pretty damn good. Last thing on this subject, you keep stating you supported and support Howard, but everything I read in your posts says the opposite. Stop avoiding direct questions and it may not look like that. Sorry that is the way your posts read, you make generalizations about goals he let up, and twice I have asked you for specifics and then you directly quote me and still don't point to any specific goals. Do you know who needs to say to people they support Howard "really I do, I do I support him, I always have and I will prove it", people who don't, they are trying to prove it to themselves as much as the people reading it. It is like saying "I am only going to say this once" if it is the truth you don't have to worry about saying it once, twice, a hundred times! (Thanks Cal Lightman for that quote! lol!)