newfy

Hopefully he gets healthy and tears up the world juniors this year. I remember a young Kronwall being hampered by injuries but once he got bigger and older they went away and he became a very good defenseman. Teemu is at an age where he is growing and more prone to injury, but once those days get put behind him he should be one hell of a player. I also like that he's been gaining weight, as long as its muscle weight

No but it is a start. That means there is one more guy on the roster who will clear it instead of standing around stick checking guys infront of the net, which is a very bad way to play defense during a scramble. In a scramble youre better off having the other team on their asses. This one guy is here to mentor Ericcson. If Ericcson starts doing it then we have a defenseman with solid top 4 upside going forward who will clear that crease in the future. Also if guys like Stuart and Kronwall hear Babcock praising guys like Ericcson and Ruslan for clearing the crease like they do then you might just see guys like Stuart doing it a lot more. Its sort of like having someone like May in the lineup this past year. He filled his role fine but also rubbed off on other guys like Cleary and the team as a whole just seemed to be playing tougher. One guy on defense could rub off on a few other defenseman and have our team crease clearing a lot more. This may not be the only problem with our defense but it is definitely something that they are horrible at and improving it is only going to help the team. The future looks bright for guys that will do this though so we just need to wait for guys like Lashoff, Kolosov, Nicastro etc

Wow I can't beleive some of you guys. Clearing the crease isn't important and our defenseman do it just fine? What team were you watching last year? Detriots biggest weakness was problem their play in their net front area. And you don't have to equate clearing the crease to penalties either. Have you guys watched the playoffs? Nothing gets called infront of the net, I was watching the Phoenix series on NHL network yesterday and I was sitting there looking at the beating Homer got from Jovo and Morris all series long. The refs don't call net front battles in the playoffs for sure and thats when it hurt us the most. Salei is good infront of his own net and hopefully Ericcson will improve playing with him. To say clearing the crease and net front play is overrated is like saying knowing when to pinch and when not to is overrated. ITS DOING THESE LITTLE THINGS THAT MAKE A TEAM GREAT DEFENSIVELY INSTEAD OF JUST GOOD. Not to mention the wings have been pretty bad defensively the last season or two and haven't been clearing the crease well at all. I bet theres more of a correlation between those 2 things then some people here like Jollymania and Doc would like to think

Hnidy would take care of a problem the wings had last season. Standing aronud and letting guys have whacks at rebounds wouldn't happen with him on the ice. I don't think Salei has the same mean streak as Hnidy does at all when it comes to net front play anymore, Hnidy is tough to play against out there. Even more so then Salie I think. I'm happy with Ruslan though because he is a pretty solid overall player and an improvement over Lilja

Hnidy is a pretty damn physical guy and a solid fighter. Clears the crease and is overall fits the bill of a mean stay at home defenseman. I'm not saying I would have rather had him then Salei but to put down what Hnidy is capable of because we didn't sign him is dumb

If Abby is full time in the NHL this season which he will be then he might lose the visor completely. I don't blame him for wearing one last year since you have to in the AHL and it would make no sense trying to get used to it in the NHL when you might be sent down at anytime and have to put the visor back on.

Yeah but hes a solid middleweight and can throw a big hit. I think its worth him getting a shot with the big club, he is also a pretty solid PK guy. I dunno I don't see him being any worse of a player then someone like May or Downey the last couple years.

I don't see why Abby couldn't be. Their styles are extremely similar. Abby is just as hard of a hitter, will probably put up 40 points a season in his prime and I think Abby will start fighting more. I wouldn't be surprised to see 10 fights from him this season. I like what an above poster said for a lineup IF Downey comes back slightly improved at least. Have a bottom line of Abby Helm Eaves. Trade Miller and Ritola and Meech. Then we have Draper rotating in and out of the lineup and Downey on a league minimum contract getting in for some of the tougher games/injuries. What I wouldn't mind seeing is Tardif get some time as the 13th/14th forward. He can fight and is probably better at hockey then Downey. He's also homegrown. I think he should at least get some games this upcoming season.

I could see Yzermna scooping him up and Tampa is pretty high on the waiver list I believe. I just don't think a Red Wing who got in during the playoffs will clear. He is a young skilled guy not someone like Downey or May

I'm thinking mindfly got laid recently................. A LOT

HArd to say yet. Pulkkinen and Kabanov were supposed to be giving Hall a run for his money and Seguin wasn't on the map this time last year. Courtier is going to give Larson all he can handle to be taken first overall

Is next year draft supposed to be deep? I've read/heard the usual talk about Courtier, Adam Larson etc. but haven't heard if the talent level is deep or not? Do you know?

Did this guy get suspended for his hit on Modano? How many suspensions does he have in his career and what for?

If I could give this post 1,000,000 negatives I would. How can you honestly rather have Meech then an experienced defenseman, who plays mean and crease clears, can mentor Ericcson on the dirty parts of the game and get Ericcson playing mean again, who doesn't have a cup and will motivate our team hopefully like Drake did and has the blessing of the coach to be here? Give your head a shake man

It makes sense now. This is his Dallas Drake type signing for this season. Guy who plays somewhat mean but will hopefully be through the roof come playoff time.

Yeah and youll get even worst for Ritola or lose him completely on waivers, which is dumb to not get any return. Kenny has said he is gonig to trade Meech pretty much so a package deal of Miller and Meech could shore up that 6th defenseman spot, Miller+Meech = stabilizing 6th defenseman. Miller+Meech+pick could equal solid #5 guy and let E and Kindl battle it out for the 6th spot on any given night

Well the nucks are still trying to re-sign him so he's not really a reject, and yeah youre right we don't need an extremely smart and physical defensive defenseman

Agree with everything said here. And there has been talk that Mitchell is down to 4 teams, Detroit is one of them, and they all dont have significant cap space to offer him a huge contract so its not that huge of a pipe dream

Millers only argument for being on this team is his PK ability which while solid, he is not as good as Helm or Eaves. Now with Abdelkader coming into the lineup, Babcock stated he would be starting the year on the PK. Miller is being replaced by Abdelkader on the PK which by Abby's ability in GR I am completely fine with. Miller is not physical, he's a beanpole that cannot hit effectively. He had a career year last year and now his stock is as high as we can hope for so yeah trade him first, and if a nice deal for a good defenseman comes up we have a few trade possibilities. If the other team wants young talent send them Ritola and Meech or we can trade Miller and Meech or Ritola ad Miller.

Yeah but at least with Dougie their team was somewhat successful. They were one missed highstick call on dougie from a Stanley cup probably. Sundin just seemed like a cancer. He comes back from injury in 02 and the team does s***ty after being on a great run without him to the confrence finals

People from Ontario would say otherwise about Sundin. Toronto fans generally thought he was a sick player that could never win a thing and not a great leader. He put up points but was never one to sacrifice the body for the team or anything like Yzerman would

Yeah thats the thing though, after the prospect tourny a lot of writers were saying they thought he could be a PPG player next season in the WHL. That along with his toughness could get him a spot on the team. Yes I have seen the world juniors believe it or not and I know its good players that go. And do you know anything about Kane? He next to never fights he is a goal scorer and I'm obviously not to dumb to see that...

Definitely a national team thing, Sundin is largely viewed as a loser at the NHL level

Sundin was never a leader in my eyes. Gilmour had the fire to be a leader. In 02 when the leafs had that run to the confrence finals, they did so without Sundin, once he returned they played like s***. I've just always seen Sundin as a good player but not a great captain

So your argument for Sundin being a better captain is that he led the leafs somewhere?