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Tinordi might be available in the second round even. Central scouting has him ranked 40 something for NA skaters. I don't see how some people can say he is a better pick then Mcilrath but w.e if we grab him in the second I'll be happy.

I know where Granlund is ranked, I never said I would do it but I would look into it for sure.

Well the top prospects game, plus the combine helps to get a feel for a player. Plus probably 5 games through the season. Its not enough to know for sure what he isl ike but you can get a pretty good feel for a guy with that much exposure to him.

Yeah those high risk picks always make you better in the long run and mean you won't have a winning team in the future if you don't take them That high risk pick of Zherdev at #4 who had all the talent in the world was a way better pick then say Mike Richards at 24 or Getzlaf at 19. That pick looks stupid now, and at least Zherdev is still in the league. If we have a guy with all the talent in the world playing in the KHL it doesn't exactly help the wings win games. Yeah all those goals Hudler got for Dynamo Moscow really helped our playoff run last year too. High risk picks aren't smart in the first round when you can get proven top 6 players or top 4 defenseman with 0 risk at all. As for you saying the wings drafting Europeans have worked out in the past, Kindl isn't exactly looking amazing right now. Ad pretty much all the rest (except Kronwall I think) were not taken in the 1st round.

Doesn't the commitment to play in the KHL make you wanna take someone that will for sure be over here and could be a top line player?

Yeah they list guys like Watson, Forbort and Bjustad who are all higher rated then Mcilrath for the draft but for some reason they didn't list Mcilrath. If they are thinking Tinnordi could be a pick then Mcilrath should definitely be on the radar as well.

Ben Eager and Tollefson are very different. Eager played all playoffs, is a big hitter and will fight anyone as well as chip in with really good offense for a 4th liner. He played in most if not all the playoff games this year on the way to a cup. I'm not saying this is a huge loss but to compare him to OKT is stupid.

Haven't seen Granlund play but I would consider it probaly. Mcilrath is the type of player that doesn't come around all the time.

I don't know what Toronto could offer him. The only thing is Kaberle but he doesn't provide any cap relief and I doubt they make that trade Kaberle for Savard straight up.

Not necessarily a first but maybe a half decent prospect or a pick of some kind. This is a guy one season removed from 88 points and a few off of 97. Definitely worth Hudler + something.

Noone on this board cares if you can score 90 points and youre soft. Its the bottom 6 who don't put up points and are soft that people here don't like. That being said Savard is the same type of player, willing to waive his no trade clause to Detroit and would be much better

Pretty good pick up for Edmonton since it was only a 6th round pick. Fraser isn't too bad for a 4th line center, he will score a few goals and fight if he's gotta. I remember he fought Phaneuf at the world junior camp when Phaneuf ran Crosby. Good times.

He was still deserving of the Selke this year. His offense just wasn't quite as high as usual.

Yeah god forbid you dont get a guy who will score 50 goals every season in the late first round. A huge shut down defender who will be top 3 on a team and can beat up anyone in the league is a horrible pick at 21. Its not exactly like we're picking in the top 10. He does have offensive upside, he isn't going to lead defenseman in points or anything but he will be good enough offensively and his defense will make up for it.

Petrovic is lingering around the end of the first and earlyish second. If you take him past the 10th pick or so in the second then youre probably getting a steal.

Thats why I don't like mocks either. Detroit tries to hit homeruns with small, skilled euros in the later rounds. They usually go for decent sized, more proven guys in the first round or early second. Allt eh drafts say stuff like oh you can expect maybe some swede we've never heard of at this pick, but when have the wings ever went that far off the board in the first round?

We're signing a 4th liner. How many 4th liners in todays NHL are really quality. Draper gives us about 9 minutes a night, so whats the difference if we get Konopka who gives us 8 minutes plus the thought in the back of the players minds that he'll stick up for them. Nystrom, asham or Winchester would be sweet but theyre going to cost us more and are more like 3rd liners then a 4th line cheap guy. Besides Boll, Konopka is amuch better player then the other enforcers you listed. Boulton is a huge plug, Mcgratton is tough as nails but can't play, and Ivanans is the worst of them all. Konopka is going to give us more offense then Maltby or May did last year. Playing on a decent 4th line with Eaves and Abby, Konopka might actually get back that scoring touch he had in the AHL.

Another thread about the possible gritty 4th liner Holland will sign brought to you by Newfy Brad Winchester is a pretty physical player, hits and fights and has HUGE SIZE at 6'5. We could finally have a player that plays with their size. He didn't have a strong season last year so I doubt he would be looking at much of a raise from his $800 000 last year. He fights enough to be considered a tough guy I would say, he had 10 last year and consistently has about that many fights. He has fought some pretty tough players as well. (Brad May this season) http://www.hockeyfights.com/fights/53052 Every game I've seen him play against Detroit I've found him to be a pretty big pain in the ass and is definitely not scared to mix it up or throw his weight around. He had a bad season last year(like most of the blues) but the year before that he had 13 goals so he can chip in from the 4th line. Could end up sort of like Eaves and get back on track here in Detroit. I was reading some blues forums and the general consensus is that he won't be back with them next season. He's from our division and may not wanna move far away, this gives Detroit an advantage. I can see him at least getting invited to camp if nothing else. What do you guys think?

Just because they got qualifying offers doesn't mean they will be here. Holland has basically came out and said he will trade Meech but he was given a qualifying offer. If it means signing an available guy that will make this team better then Holland won't think twice about packaging up Miller and Meech andshipping them away I wouldn't think. Maybe at the draft even.

Yeah I saw that too and just didn't comment. Abdelkader had 3 fights in the playoffs last year alone lol. Abby by himself will probably fight somewhere between 5 and 10 times next year. Figuratively speaking if we sign Konopka that line would raise some serious hell but Abby wouldn't have to fight as much which could let him work on his scoring touch. I would still expect 5-10 fights but Konopka would be stepping in for most of them. I bet if the 4th line was Abby Eaves and Konopka even Eaves would step up and fight about 5 times next year.

I'm trying to stick out of this argument but I will say this, at 33 an average guys body might not be declining. But as a pro athlete your body is very much on the downturna round the age 33.

This is true, looka t how important Stuart is to this team but he is our number 4. He was a #3 overall pick so at 21 if you can get a guy that fills his role youre doing pretty good. As for the skill guys getting better as tehy fill into their frame, that is true but they also do better blowing around younger kids and stick handling through young defenseman. A lot of times these high skill guys don't translate to anything special in the NHL.

Agreed. They could move down and take Petrovic which fills need for a tough dman if Mcilrath is gone and we could take Kabanov as well if he's still on the board. I'm hoping for Brad Ross with our own second round pick though

On a fairly consistent basis actually. I watch a lot of Florida games because: a) They play Tampa quite a bit who I follow because I had season tickets for the Sarnia sting and like seeing what Stamkos can do. b) Horton was one of the top producers on my fantasy team this year so I watched quite a bit until he got his leg broken and missed 15 games or so . Yes I do know what he brings to the table compared to Mule. He's much younger, has been better statistically so far in his career, and is also a lot more physical then Mule. My data is their regular season stats and what I've seen from both of them. Given their age and the fact that Horton has broken 60 points twice, high 50s once and Franzen has hit high 50s once and the rest of his point totals have been in the 30s, I'm comfortable with saying in the regular season Horton is a better player then Franzen, now wait til he's playing with a guy liek Savard and youll really see it. Mule has guys like Datsyuk setting him up, who did Horton have? Its unfair to look at playoffs because Horton hasn't been there. He very well could put up points like Mule did in playoffs or might nto at all. But right now regular season wise, not to mention age, Horton is better then Franzen. Now you haven't made an argument saying why Mule is better but youre the one talking about "data". Give me some data besides.. umm well he has a lot of playoff points. Because you can't prove that Horton wouldn't or that he would.

To move up 3 spots or so they would likely only have to give up their second round pick and their first. Anymore then 3 you might be looking at 1, 2nd, and that 5th we got from philly maybe.