newfy

Exelby isn't just a hitter though. He blocks shots just as good as Lilja. His last year in Atlanta he only played 59 games he had 100 blocked shots, 151 hits, and was only a minus 2 on a horrible team, a team that Kovalchuk was a -12 on. That isn't that bad at all. He also played over 16 minutes a game which is 4th defenseman time pretty much. Lilja played 60 games in 08/09 so the games played is pretty much a wash. He only had 95 hits, 92 blocked shots and he did all of that as well in 16 minutes of playing time per game. The only thing Lilja beat him in was +/- but he was also on a much better team defensively. They play played almost exactly the same amount of games that season, the same amount of ice time per game and Exelby has more blocked shots(marginally) and way more hits. Oh yeah and they both played big parts on their teams penalty kill. The stats don't lie, Exelby blocks shots just as well as Lilja and he definitely hits way more. You throw in the fact thath e can fight and it makes him even more valuable to the team. These stats also come from when Exelby was in Atlanta and Lilja had time to develop a niche on a great team in Detroit. With those stats, a younger age Exelby could be much better after learning some real defense in Detroit like Lilja did.

Yeah we sign guys like Lilja, Cleary, Eaves, and Miller were all on the outs with their teams and their careers were in rough shape. Eaves couldn't play for Carolina(bad team), Lilja was on the outs from Florida(bad team), Miller was on the outs from Tampa bay(bad team) but a guy like Exelby who has all thet ools to be a solid text book 6th defenseman but might just need alittle fine tuning couldn't come here and do well for this team? Everyone seems to think Lilja was as good as he is now as soon as he came here. He was god awful. Exelby is much better then what Lilja was when he first came here, he's younger then Lilja, Lilja has played about 15 games in the last year and may not even be able to handle a full length season anymore. But for some reason as a 6th or 7th defenseman we can't sign Exelby. I don't think you guys have watched a lot of Toronto games this year but he's not that bad at all. Give him a year and he could be on the same level defensively as Lilja but tougher and stronger. I don't just point out tough guys and say I want them. I point out guys that I tihnk would be good fits for the wings. I don't want Boogard(the toughest guy on the league) signed here as a free agent. I pick guys who can play tough but could also be a good fit for the team. Exelby could be a force the way he hits and can fight when he wants too. He's an element this team lacks on defense and if Holland wants to get tougher to play against its someone like him that will get signed on defense.

He makes big hits with regularity and sure maybe he's out of position when he makes some but not always. No more then Kronwall is when he makes a big hit. This past season there was a huge logjam at defense in TO and there team was trying to shake things up a lot. They had like 14 defenseman it seemed like at some points in the year. Age is a factor because if he does well and can provide some tughness and hitting from the backend he could end up here full time til he retires for all we know. How do you know if players out there aren't keeping their head up for Exelby? They definitely do more then they do for Lilja. And as for replacing a better defenseman, we're not replacing a much better defenseman just slightly better that has played like 15 games the last year. Lilja was here to be a tough defender, make hits and stick up for the goalie not his offensive ability. We're replacing our crease clearing tough dman with a tougher, younger, grittier tough dman that has all the tools to be better then Lilja in a year or 2. Exelby isn't incapable of an outlet pass or anything like that, he is a better then average 6th dman in this league and would be the best replacement out there for Lilja's role probably.

There are guys who are much younger, play with more of an edge and are probably just as good defensively. Salei wouldn't be awful but there is better options out there.

Exelby is no slower then Lilja, not bad positionally and definitley WAY better then Lilja when he first came here, still a huge hitter, not a regular healthy scratch hardly at all, he's younger then Lilja and much better then when Lilja came here. He's also twice as tough as Lilja ever was. Oh and he's not going to be very pricy at all. Youre acting like we're replacing Lidstrom with Exelby. He doesn't score, neither does Lilja, but he hits like a truck and fights. He might be a little worst positionally now but he is definitely much better then when Lilly came here and he can still be taught since he is only 28. Whats wrong with that?

He's average offensively for a 6th defenseman and a way over average hitter, fighter and crease clearer. You know the three things you really look for in a 6th guy and the things Lilja did before the injury. Oh yeah I forgot we gotta replace Lilja, so we need to replace his amazing offensive ability

Because Holland said he might be looking for a 6th defenseman and Exelby is proably the best free agent available in the price range.

Yeah Carcillo has drawn more then one penalty when hes on the ice with Orr this season. Orr is one of those guys who doesn't play much at all so for the 5 minutes he does I think guys like carc, and Asham don't worry too much.

You cant have a guy like Lidstrom as our 6th guy. Anyone we get at that price range is going to make mistakes its the way the NHL is. Do you remember when Lilja was first here?

Wow what do you know.. Newfy made another one of these threads, surprising right? Okay I think this is the last one(we'll see) but here is another pretty good option for our gritty 4th line type guy. He's definitely not my first choice but he isn't an awful choice either. I think the biggest thing to look at here is the ice time. He can consistently put in 10 minutes a night without being a huge liability as well as put up 20 points roughly a season. He is definitely a tougher player, he had 13 fights one season but that number was down to 3 last year and 5 the year before. He's 31 which isn't too old and still play 9 or 10 minutes a night. He has very similar size to Abdelkader. He doesn't fight as much anymore but will step in for his team and definitely defend himself. He is very similar to Dallas Drake. Check this fight out. http://www.hockeyfights.com/fights/52186 or this one which shows he can hit pretty good and will answer the bell. http://www.hockeyfights.com/fights/92405 What do you guys think?

I was thinking I don't want Mair to until I started looking at some of his fights and point totals. Mair can actually fight pretty good and puts up around 20 points. I'm not sure why he barely fights anymore however. Still not my first choice but I wouldn't be upset about signing him for a year or 2 either(until callahan can come in )

This kid is the real deal. Hudler with speed I've heard. If Hudler could skate he wouldn't be nearly as bad defensively and he would get a lot more points just like the way someone like Helm gets his points. Tatar could be a legit 80 point guy in the future and that excites me. Ferraro I think will bounce back, he was probably just frustrated on a bad team and all his injuries in what should've been a great year for him. Hopefully he can make the World Junior team next year and we will really get a chance to see what he can do. I think with his feistiness, grit, blazing speed and solid hands already he will at least make it as a third liner or could be a checking line center. He could be much more then that but I think he's pretty much the closest thing to an NHL player that this team has playing junior.

I think Nystrom is the best choice by far. Most offensive upside, still young, could very well end up a drake clone that fights more and Calgary might be looking to shake the team up a bit. I want someone younger then Asham but wouldn't hate having him obviously. No to Nichol for the same reasons you said, plus he isn't big enough to really lay punishing hits. Arty is a tank but I would rather have other guys. Winchester I'm starting to think we have the best chance to get and is probably just as tough as all of them with a lot of offensive upside. I couldn't complain about any of them and would all be better replacements for Miller and Maltby

We don't need a guy who will play 5 minutes a game and just fight but at the same time we don't need a guy who is going to score 10 goals a season and fight heavyweights. Our third liners barely scored 10 goals this year guys so for a guy to scrap heavyweights and score 10 goals would be pretty damn good. We need to get a player or two who can fight but skate pretty well, make a break out pass, hit and be defensively responsible. We don't need fighters that score, we need fighters who will fit a role on the PK or can just play a solid 10 minutes a night without getting burned all the time. 25 points from a good fighter is a lot to ask for a cheap contract but for around 800k we could get a solid player that is good defensively, kills penalties and wills tick up for his team. Thos offseason has A LOT of good fits to make this team harder to play against. I can't say if having a fighter really makes this team better but I will say this. You can't argue that when this team has been tougher to play against with grittier guys (guys who usually are able to fight like Drake) we have been more successful. When our team has been softer and more skilled with no balance of tougher players we lose and get worn down instead of wearing down other teams. Guys who fight and stick up for themselves also rub off on the team, when May was in the lineup everyone had more edge to their game and a few guys were even fighting. Fighters do have an effect on the team mentality.

Give your head a shake

Winchester plays forward bro He is the new era enforcer type, I would like him here for sure

I'm pretty sure youre allowed to trade players rights for players rights but I wonder if Boll is on the outs in COlumbus or if they wanna keep him?

It must be a good idea if Jollymania approves.

I just wanna add that he averaged over 2 minutes of PK time per game last season, 108 PIMS(not bad) 10 of which were majors so he wasn't really hurting the team, he scored 5 PP goals in his 13 goal season, and wont likely be resigned by St Louis. The season he scored 13 goals he had over 10 minutes toi per game and 9 last year which is pretty good for a pretty tough guy. He played over a minute per game on the PP as well so he can be a valuable player.

If we don't trade up for Mcilrath I sure hope we draft either Petrovic to make up for that tough stay at home guy we need or get Brad Ross. He could be a very good player down the road and is tough as nails. Kinda like a better version of Callahan from what I've read.

I dunno, Holland seems to like skilled forwards but always seems to have a fairly tough defense man corps. Kronwall and Stuart might be the hardest hitting pairing in the league. Lilja used to be tough, didn't fight a lot but could when he had too and then theres Ericcson who I think might start playing meaner and less pretty since he had a bad season. We had Lilja, who could fight small heavyweight type fighters when he needed to and with him gone i could really see Kenny signing a guy like Exelby. Same price range, toughness upgrade and Holland has said he wants a tougher team to play against. Exelby or Boynton are fine by my standards.

Yeah the guy is a giant and really tough its just too bad he doesn't lose the huge windshield. He's never even really lost a decisive fight and he's fought some tough customers.

Hmm maybe Israel has you forgetting that saying something sucks is pretty much common American or Canadian english? And no theyre done by the playoffs for the teams that make it.

Yeah detroit dealt there pick for Schneider. It sucks because if that didn't happened we coulda picked Corey Perry . If you think hes a weaselt hats fine but he's one of the better power forwards in the game now. With Dastyuk setting him up it could've been an unreal combo.

That may be true but Holland did say Meech might be traded and he also said he is looking for another #6 defenseman. It makes me think Lilja and Meech are gone, Ericcson plays the 5 spot and Kindl starts as the 7th until he gets his feet wet. All this depends on if they can get a decent defenseman to play that 6 spot at an ok price, probably around 1 mil.