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This year our pick is high enough that we could potentially grab a centerman if a good enough one falls to us. Macfarland could be a guy who falls but if he gets it together was considered to be right up there will Hall and Seguin last year. Howden might not be bad and should be available right around when we pick, Toffoli ad Pitlick mght fall too the wings and Bjustad could be there too. I think out of all those guys Macfarland has the most chance to be a number one centerman with his skill set. There is always free agency to pick up a number one center as well.

Even if the wings didn't get screwed in the playoffs by the refs etc. I still think the 08 team or last years team would've overcame that. Those teams were physically and mentally tougher then this team for sure. Where was Kronwall all playoffs?

Yeah but at some point Probert would've had to fight a lot to become as intimidating as he was. In his prime after being in the league for about 5 years he probably was at the peak of how intimidating he was. But he had to establish himself in the league as the toughest SOB around those first 5 years so that people would be scared of him. And yeah there is always those cases where players won't fight but Maltby ran his mouth more then anything, he was never really a huge hitter(he was physical but not a huge hitter) and he didn't really try hurting people when he hit except when he hit Klesla. Guys that fight can usually mean 2 things. They hit a lot so they have people come after them which also means more PPs, or you have a guy who can stop other peoples meat heads from rnuning around at our players on occasion. Either way I think its fair to say 9 times out of 10 a player who fights 5 times a season compared to soemone who never fights or fights once a year is going to be tougher in other facets of the game besides just fighting.

I think this element was missing these last playoffs and it really hurt the team. Kronwall wasn't hitting like he usually does, the wings besides Abdelkader were just less physical in general then they usually are come play off time. Guys like Dats usually even dish out some hits in the spring time but not this year. The 97 team would beat all the teams I think. They had the skill to match all the other championship teams but wow were they tough. If the skill is even it comes down too who is tougher and that team was tough, plus they were motivated from losing to Jersey in 95 and getting beat out by Colorado(iirc?) the years prior. They were the most motivated, toughest and just as skilled as every other team.

I don't know if we have good enough prospects to make the transition as easily as we did last time but we have guys who will help. Tatar, Nyquist, Ferraro and Nestrasil all could be good top 6 players. They might not be quite on star level however so we may need to add a big name guy through trade or free agency to get us back to top notch talent level. Adding a defenseman might be the biggest thing we need because I don't see any potential number 1 studs in the system. Smith could be on rafalki's level but I think we need to either draft or sign that number 1 stud defenseman in the next 3 years to really stay at the top of the NHL consistently.

I don't know if 50% is too high maybe but the general idea is pretty good. I would like something like this I think. I'm guessing players who started with a team then were traded then went back to their old team wouldn't count for cap relief? Like Drake in 2008 wouldn't be cut in half because he left Detroit for most of his career.

We don't need guys who can be physical and contribute offensively. We need guys who are tough and can find a role. We could have a tough guy that kills penalties well, or just a tough guy who is good enough to play a regular 4th line shift for about 8-10 minutes per game. How many teams have a 4th line that each player will score 10 goals a season. Its just unrealistic. You said fights are a useless stat and bring up Probert being intimidating. The reason Probert was intimidating was BECAUSE the amount he would fight. The fact that he was crazy enough to sucker punch Mcguire after he fought Yzerman while the linesman had a hold of him made him intimidating, the fact that he would drop the gloves in a heart beat for his team made him intimidating, not because he was big and checked people. I guarantee you Probert scared players more then Ericcson does but theyre the same size. Its because Probert fought 25 times a season. Players that play extremely physical will get in fights. Abdelkader for example in the playoffs got into 3 fights in like 11 games. Its because he was our only heavy hitting forward. It doesn't matter that he wasn't looking for fights, they just happen if you are a really good physical player. This is why your " fights are a useless stat is dumb". I can almost guarantee you that a guy with 5+ fights(5 prettym uch means they are willing fighters) in a season is a more physical guy with 0 fights. When speaking about physicality and toughness, fighting is definitely an important stat to list.

I thought he meant butt friend?

Hossa is nothing in the playoffs, keeping someone like Andrew Ladd would help them better then keeping Hossa. The ducks have Perry and Getzlaf who are just as good as Kane and Toews. Bobby Ryan is fairly compareable to Hossa since he's a 30 goal scorer and Getzlaf is an absolute beast in the playoffs. The ducks have a great goalie in Hiller, something the Hawks probably won't be able to have any longer and the Ducks have pretty solid defense. What has that got them since they have nothing outside of their top line? Mediocrity at best. The hawks are going to end up just like this now, theyre going to lose guys on offer sheets kind of like the ducks did with Penner(important member of top line) and iwll have to trade away some good players like the ducks did(they didn't have too but they did). The hawks are absolutely f***ed next season and this guy on here talking about how they aren't is f***ed in the head. Welcome back to the days of winning the central Detroit They have no depth however

The pens couldn't beat Montreal but they're going to beat Chicago. Chicago was only the 2 seed because of Stuart's OT goal in the last game of the season. Pittsburgh was the 4th seed in an extremely weak confrence, in a year where they didn't have crosby missing for 20 games like usual. The hawks would've slaughtered the pens.

No thanks to Modin

Yea but that was before had a year in GR to prove himself. Meech had spent his time there and now Janik has as well. Its already been said Meech might get traded, right when this was said Janik got a one way deal.

Yeah the wings seem softer then they actually are especially because even the guys they do have who have shown they can fight, for some reason don't. I expect big things from Abdelkader next year like 8 fights at least the way the playoffs looked and his second half with the griffins. With a spark plug in the line up like Ab then another tough 4th liner hopefully and guys will fight more because there is players to back them up. Ericcson will probably have a bounce back year and trying to earn a spot against Janik and Kindl assert himself physically more, then we might even add another 6th dman who can go. Then we might have Janik who can fight pretty good in the lineup as well. This team will be tougher this upcoming season then the one past and I'm excited to see how the bottom 6 looks with Abdelkader and another tough player(hopefully)

He seems to have a pretty average fight record to me including a big win against Nystrom who everyone seems to most want here. He might not be the toughest player available this offseason and he's not the one I want the most to fill that role but he would still be a good fit. He's probably the most willing fighter out of all the guys who fit that description this offseason and will come cheap.

Wrap your head around the facts. Holland isn't looking for a goal scorer on the 4th line, he is looking for someone that is tough to play against. Burish is that type of player. He would be just as good as Miller on the PK, an upgrade over Draper anymore, Maltby, May all those guys who played here this year. He is the perfect style of player for what Holland said he wants and he only played 13 games this year because of injury so the price might be right. He isn't that bad of a fighter either.

Yeah Lashoff actually can fight eh. Its just he doesn't much. He mght develop that little niche to his game trying to make the show, kinda like Quincy did that one year. Lashoff will definitely be a pretty big hitter in the league if he makes it and hopefully he can stand up for his team as well. And yeah what is Stuarts deal? 5 fights a year before he came here and now nothing

Thats assuming Janik is in GR. And yeah I follow the prospects really close and I don't know if there are 2 guys I'm more excited about. Tatar is probably the only one and the of course Callahan is close but I wanna see what Smith can do next year. He has all the ffensive upside to be another Rafalski type but from what I've read he can be kind of mean and perhaps once hes in the AHL full time instead of college that meanness will come out. Lashoff has Brad Stuart(style anyways) written all over him which is pretty sweet. Both the guys are kind of mean but can play too.

This guy seems like one of our most pure offensive prospects. Why is it that he went undrafted? Does he not have the speed or something to translate at the pro level? Or did the wings just scoop up another free agent prospect who is looking like a steal(kinda like Lashoff)?

The season before when he was healthy he was a huge part of the Hawks PK and he's a great energy player. He's one of the best agitators in the league and he's more respectable then most because he will back up his actions more often then not. He's a 4th liner, Pk's, fights, hits, can skate a regular shift, and can play decent enough in the offensive zone. He is exactly what Holland is looking for, thats why people want him signed.

Hes a free agent and I was just saying kind of jokingly because Holland said he's going to sign a guy like him.

By the look of when Janik was up this year I would say Janik provides more to this team especially because of our lack of what he provides. He had a better defensive game then Meech I thought and the physicality and fighting ability really makes him seem more valuable.

Even more reason to sign him Kenny. I don't want Cleary to be our guy who has to fight Pronger, Burish is our gritty forward next year and I guarantee we see him and Pronger fight. I think the smart money is on Burish to win as well.

I dunno about this. Janik has a 1 way deal the second year of his contract so he may figure into the wings plans more then you think. Meech has been said to be on the trading block and stuff. I'm thinking Janik will be our 7th defenseman by years end and will be our full time # 7 next year. He'll get inserted when we play teams like anaheim or calgary since he is pretty tough.

He must have improved play in Grand Rapids this season over the course of the season. He played well in his call up this season and will probably see some time called up or maybe even as the 7th guy. They must be fairly high on him to give him a one way deal in his next season. Its good Janik plays a lot like Lilja, fights too which I like obviously.

In the article about Bert eith resigning or retiring it says the wings are targeting either a gritty forward or 6th defenseman. If Lilja isn't back they may look for a similar style player(pre-injury) as Lilja so who do you guys think are possibilities? After hearing Kenny sa they wanna be tougher to play against I tihnk they'll bring in more of a tough, crease clearing type guy and salary needs to be taken into account. This is who I have as possibilities: Garnet Exelby - pretty tough player. Would be a decent #6 Nick Boynton - only 30. Will hit, fight and is a decent player Jason Strudiwck - getting old but still plays the game hard. Very similar style to Lilja but tougher. SHane Hnidy - Classic stay at home type Milan Jurcina - From what I've seen he seems like a big hitter and clears the crease. Maybe someone else can chime in on this one. Anyone else you guys can think of as potential free agent Lilja type, mean, stay at home guys?