newfy

By not using formulas and actually watching him play. He'll score the odd goal, PK decently and thats about it. This team has all of that covered and its completely redundant to keep him. There are definitely other guys who would help the team much more

Canada could potentially have a few guys play for the WJ team from the wings next year with Quine, Ouelette and Sproul. This year though they have noone close to good enough from the states or Canada to make the team. Jurco will be on the slovak team this year guaranteed however

Mursak provides a lot more than Connor. Connor looks great because his speed meshes well with Helm, Mursak will look even better I think. Connor only has speed really, Mursak is just as fast but has hands, a bit of a scoring touch and is about as physical as Helm. He has a lot more dimensions to his game than Connor who can only beat you with speed. Mursak can lay you out if he wants, blow around you, dangle you and has a pretty good shot. He's going to be a solid third liner, maybe second liner for a lot of years here

Haha I meant to toss Mursak in there. As for Prust, I think hes worth a decent penny. Hes the perfect player for the wings really. He provides that toughness, hitting and fighting, is really fast and chipped in 30 points last season. I wouldnt hesitate to give him 2 million a year if I were Holland. He's one of the few legit enforcers that can play a regular shift and produce some points. I think he would be a difference maker in the wings bottom 6 adding his speed and toughness. He's mores killed than Miller while being a big hitter and great fighter. If Eaves is worth 1.2 I would pay Prust 2

I like the speed he adds to the lineup, cause in the new NHL you can never have enough speed. Helm and Connor compliment eachother perfectly and I'm pretty pumped to see Mursak on the other wing on that line, or they could play Mursak or Connor on the fourth to spread the speed around and that way keep Abdelkader on the wing because hes much better there. The bottom 6 hasnt had much energy outside of Helm and ABdelkader for a few years now. Its time to cut dead weight like Miller, Emmerton, Brunnstrom even Eaves maybe and add guys who provide and specialize in something. Whether its a big hitter like Drake, or some speed demons who can draw penalties, the team is better off without the redundancy of the types of bottom 6ers the wings have got now. Next year a potential bottom 6 of Connor Helm Abdelkader Connor Prust Eaves would be pretty awesome. You add speed energy and some toughness energy and get an all around better bottom 6. People will always say the 4th line isnt a big deal, but they can be a difference maker especially in a long playoff series

Yeah his over inflated salary and being played in a role he didnt belong in from what I can tell

Can they just assign a guy for a conditioning stint? A guy like Commie could use that right now, hes played like 3 games all year and say whatever you want, he should get ina few games just to stay a bit in game shape. Than when theres an injury, everyone here who said he shouldnt play will be like "OMG why did we sign this bum blah blah blah" while hes clearly not in shape haha I can see it now. I agree Kindl has ben playing well, but on second night of back to backs every now and again does it really hurt to scratch a guy for one game who only plays even strength? If that damages his confidence, he shouldnt be an NHLer

You know why those are famous celebrations... Fleurys was a game 6 OT winner against their biggest rival back when both teams were still sick. Selannes was on a record breaking rookie goal I thought? Anisimovs was on a tap in during a meaningless regular season game that he did none of the work for One of these things is not like the others.

A goalies game is 90% mental. You got guys rattling him with cellys like that and if your goalie is lacking in mental toughness the floodgates could open. Goalies are a strange breed. There has always been a code regarding them and teammates defending them, you never taunt a goalie or you get it. Good for Tampa on backing their goalie and letting the tendy know the captain and team have his back

I dunno, Canadians are raised in hockey to not do that kind of s***. I expect that from football players. Pretending to shoot a goalie and tainting him isn't acceptable. One of the first things you learn in hockey, is always protect your goalie. Whether hes getting hit or taunted, you always stick up for the tendy. You get taught that in novice

You dont just let a guy taunt your goalie like that, especially with all the s*** thats been happening in the NHl with tendys lately

I should add that, I dont think the wings need to add a guy like Prust who is a known very tough commodity. Even adding a guy like Troy Brouwer, a big body that can hit and can fight much like Abdelkader would work too. Gaustad and Brouwer are 2 guys I would love to see the wings get. Brouwer could provide some size and offense to the top 6 on Datsyuks wing with Franzen

Mursak is a somewhat physical player, and actually sticks up for himself a bit which is nice to see on this team every now and than. That said, Mursak wont be a physical game changer at the NHL level, hes probably a bit less physical than Helm is but with his speed and ability to play a bit physical he will be definitely be a step in the right direction. An energy line with Helm and Mursak will be awesome to watch in the playoffs, they both will play off eachothers strengths really well. Now if they could find someone ABdelkader could play off his strengths with, this team would be better off. I'm pretty sick of having grinders who pretend to be skilled guys and put up under 20 points a season. Take Miller and Eaves money and throw it at Prust this offseason. Mursak will be a nice addition though over someone like Miller thats for sure

Not the toughest fighter but always willing and can actually play a half decent game

I think Abdelkader is the only consistently physical forward. But I also question how much running around he wants to do with no backup if someone tries to go after him after. Add one more guy that plays similar to him like Prust, and I bet you wuold see his physical play jump up considerably because they feed off eachother. When Franzen is out there turning away from every check and not finishing them, it probably doesnt give any energy to the team to finish their hits. Look at the bruins, the team has a lot of legit tough guys. Chara, Mcquaid, Thornton and Looch, than all of a sudden Nathan Horton goes there and feeds off their energy and hes in more than his career total in fights in one season in Boston and completely upped his physical play. Benoit Pouliot plays tough, and hes no tough guy. Brad Marchand can run around and do whatever the hell he wants. I'm not saying the wings need to go out and trade their team to make it like Boston's, but I do think adding one or 2 more Abdelkader types to the lineup would help everyone know that somebody has their back and they can feel free to play more on the edge. They need a Prust, or prime Brad May type. Maybe even Travis Moen. Once Abdelkader has one more guy running guys out there with him and show that they can take some of the crap from other teams, he will be more effective and a physical force out there

I think its a Drake type presence that is missing. Not a guy who will go out and hit and fight and definitely not a goon, but Drake was a player who could play regularly and spark the team in a way noone on this roster really does. Kronwall on D, and Abdelkader when hes playing the wing (sometimes). They need to add that one guy, that when the skill just isnt working, can go out and crush 3 guys in one shift (Drake vs the Stars) and completely swing the momentum just because he throws his body around. This team could use some skill in the top 6, but I think it could use some crazy in the bottom. Trading for Prust at the deadline could help A LOT. He is that type of player.

He is playing wing in Grand Rapids quite a bit, I wonder if that has something to do with his pretty solid offensive output

Hes a very solid defesnive player and a top notch PKer but yeah I dont see it really either. No reason to think Ferraro cant get to his level defensively

I hate the blues

He can fight against crappy 4th line, little agitators like Burish, or guys like Brian Bickell but never mans up ti fight anyone even close to who he should be fighting. A guy who plays on the edge like him has been in plenty of blowout games and done cheap things at the end where fighting some goon would have no real impact on the score and he doesnt. Instead he fights guys like Fedor Tyutin and Horcoff. People dont like Carcillo but he goes with pretty much anyone and backs up most of his actions. Hes got some skill too. I respect him more than Backes for sure

So the wings are in a division with Ott, Boll, Dorsett, Tootoo, Carcillo, David Backes, Barret Jackman, Adam Burish,Brett Bulmer, Tanner Glass, and Cal Clutterbuck now? Time to sign Prust Kenny

Nyquist time?

Kaiser was talking during the griffins broadcast earlier tonight saying theres rumours that Detroit isnt happy with Conklin at all. Apparently the rumour is that once Mcdonald comes back from his injury, which should be soon and gets in shape with GR, he is going to be called up to back up Howard. Conklin hasnt looked good in his starts really, and Jimmy needs someone to take some starts. Mcdonald played great last year when he was up, I think this would be a smart move. Actually as I'm typing this on the intermission Mcdonald is being asked in an interview about it and is saying we'll see what happens. He said Conklin has been struggling so when hes back from Christmas break he plans on starting a couple of games and we'll see what happens. Sounded a lot like there was some truth to it

Shanny cant suspend him after not suspending Lucic, which was a much more blatant run if you ask me. If he does, we'll see the NHL is back to its old star player treatment bs as before

Ferraro has developed into a pretty solid 2 way player since his draft year. He made a diving play late in the game last night to save a for sure goal and send the game to OT. Hes not on a Helm level yet, but at even strength Helm isnt that THAT amazing defensively, his bread and butter is the PK. I think Ferraro can get to a comparable level, especially if he realizes hes not making it as a sniper and focuses on his two way play