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Beachamin was a beats in Anaheim he's definitely a second defenseman in this league. Phaneuf is how old and he already has a norris nomination? Yeah he hasnt played great lately but hes still like 24. Hes for sure a top 3 defenseman and Komisarek is for sure a top 4 defenseman as well. The only thing TO really has going for them is they have strong D, to say theyre a bunch of chumps is stupid

I'm thinking more like Hatcher then Pronger because Pronger is actually so good regardless of how much people hate him here. Mcilrath is ranked to go around 20th, the highest I saw him going was 15th and most of the NHL writer mock drafts have him going to detroit. If he's still on the board when Detroit picks I'm sure they'll take him. Unless of course someone else drops way more then what they should, Macfarland is a possibility.

Yeah I was talking about Jimmy D my bad haha. And it is fairly accurate, I just finished reading a book and the story came up. Holland tried out for the wings, got cut, then the Adirondack coach(i think) suggested Jimmy D make Holland their Western scout. Jimmy did and Holland worked his way up until he was operating under Holland. Jimmy was made president and Holland GM so that Jimmy could monitor what Holland was doing and help him along the way til he got his feet wet, the rest is history. Now Yzerman, who has made twice the contributions to this organization as Holland did is in the position for this to happen to him. Holland should allow him to step up and take the GM role and Holland help him get his feet wet. Yzerman has done to much for the team to just let him walk away.

Oh well it was just the worlds, we got our olympic gold. Russia has basically their olympic team at the tourny with 14 Olympians, they won't be beat. Canada had one olympian

Ya but thats only because Boogaard is established as the toughest guy in the league and Abs is on an entry level contract. With Boogaard money you could also sign another Jason Williams who has talent but is completely useless because he does nothing with it. I would rather have a guy who knows his role on the team and does it perfectly. Theres alot of players like that like Koci and Ivanans that I wouldn't want but I wouldn't count boogard as a guy who just fights. He's really not that bad of a player, just because you don't get points on the 4th line doesn't mean you don't do other things well.

Yeah and if they dont care true enforcers, every team in the league carrys at least one person that they want to fight. Babcock even told Abdelkader to start fighting more when he got sent down at the end of the season. But yeah I guess Babcock is just stupid and Holland wants to sign a player thats tough to play against(Which basically implies scrappy guy)but yeah those skill lovers on LGW know way more then Kenny and Babcock.

Don't be so sure. He's predicted to go somewhere around 20-25 right when the wings pick. And earlier this season there was that list of players the wings were scouting and kenny had Mcilrath highlighted among about 4 other guys. Its not that unlikely.

This game is getting pretty interesting, Federov just got tuned in by Downie after a cheap shot on Downie's knee and a cross check to the head. Sign Downie! Get r done kenny

The thing about that is that theres also an 82 game season where your players need to stay healthy and make themselves ready for playoffs. I'm not saying enforcers are necessary because I don't think they are I would rather have a few tough guys like Abdelkader, and Nystrom middle weight types that can handle themselves. But I would never say a guy like Boogaard is useless. Jason Williams can play in the NHL, why can't a 6'6 intimidating guy who hits like a truck be useful in the NHL?

This is dumb. It shouldn't even be in question that Stevie might leave, Kenny needs to stop being selfish. He gets in the league as a scout and eventually Nill agrees to become president and oversee Holland as GM. Yzerman turned this team around completely when Nill drafted him and was a life long wing. He's proven he's capable of building a team but Kenny refuses to do what another great GM(Nill) did for him. Yeah you've done well Kenny but you gotta pay back your dues somewhere down the road.

Exactly, Booggard is probably the only one left in the league whose presence on the ice can pretty much stop the other team from hitting, let alone starting rough stuff.

Boogard is the only legit heavyweight that can scare the s*** outta ppl. I would take him on this team anytime. He's not a bad skater or hitter and people just dont f*** with him. I really don't see us signing him though.

Thats where we differ I guess. He didn't slash it hard enough to break it, he was impeding the puck from going around the boards. It makes sense to call it if its hard enough to break it but it isn't hurting anyone, the puck is right there and it didn't break so its not like it left the other team at a disadvantage.

Yeah I think thats the key here. Holland wants a physical guy but someone that can provide some offense. Thats why Winchester, Nystrom and Torres are probably the best fits. Torres is getting old though and isn't the physical force that Nystrom and Winchester are so I would take those 2 before Torres

I wouldn't be so sure. By the looks of Lilja's blog post he very well could be leaving. Meech will be made an offer but Holland also put it out there that he might get traded so it makes you wonder if he really fits into the teams plans. They will wanna replace Lilja with a tougher style player because thats what Lilja was supposed to be for us.

I would probably give him a 1 mill to 1.2 million dollar deal. Any lower then a million we have a steal. 1.5 million wouldnt be too much but being higher then that we're getting a bit pricey. I dunno if Nystrom would get a lot of offers from other teams or not.

If a guy is an RFA when his contract is up you will be reembersed with draft picks depending on how big his salary is. If its below 800,000 or something like that there is no compensation. The team that has the rights to the RFA also has the option to match another teams offer.

The thing I like about him is that he's not a fighter first really he's a solid 3rd line grinder who can score 15. Then he can give you 10 fights a seasont oo. After a disappointing season in Calgary for the whole team maybe he'll want out. He's a hard hitter too. Best UFA to fit our teams needs for sure.

I don't think Crosty will ever hack it in Detroit. We're better off signing an NHL type guy then relying on Crosty. However I would never rule it out because he did work his way up from the ECHL. He plays forward and defense so I guess thats a plus. I just don't see him ever having the ability to play in the NHL. Right now Callahan is the most likely tough guy to make our line up, and hopefully after june 25th Mcilrath will be too.

Give him maybe 4 years and he will be.

The people who would fit best and who I would want from that list in order from best to worst. Nystrom Winchester Burish Chipchura Asham Thorton Glass and of course I would love Boogard but he actually is the only true heavyweight in the league that I would want. I wanna see this team get its bottom lines and top 6(if possible) filled out with solid middle weights like Philly. They have the idea right there, instead of getting some goon who can't skate they just draft tough players that can play or sign them through free agency. Richards and Hartnell for example. Those guys I listed can all play hockey half decent and are solid tough guys. The thing however is that they all provide something besides toughness like the ability to skate to get in on the forecheck. These are all guys I could see Detroit getting. The only RFA's are Chipchura and Glass. Vancouver may want to make a shake up with another early exit and may let Glass walk especially with Ripper establishing himself. Chipchura has had some bad seasons and the Ducks already have plenty of tough guys so I could see Chipchura being allowed to leave. He still has potential to be a top 6 player but he also had 10 fights last year. Hes a really good skater (he was a first round pick a few years ago) but just can't put it together. Detroit is the place for him to find his game. Burish could stay close to home and with Fraser and Eager Chicago might not make a huge effort to try to resign him. Only time will tell. Yes he's unrestricted and the Wild tried trading him at the deadline last year but they didn't make the move quick enough. I can for sure see Boogey man going somewhere else this offseason

Yeah actually speaking of Grand Rapids, Brookbank used to play there for a couple seasons so maybe wings brass have an eye on him. Kolosov is the only thing close to a physical, mean defenseman in GR. Piche is small but he's feisty from what I've read. Yeah I really think the money we spend on Bert would be better spent towards a physical defenseman but if Bert takes a paycut to get to play here for an extra season or 2 maybe we'll have the money to sign a guy like Brookbank and Bert.

Exactly. Sure this organization prides itself on loyalty but at the same time it is a business and the team needs to stay competitive. If a guy loses his edge (like it seems Lilja probably has) then he should be replaced, not clogging up a roster spot for fresh blood to be brought in. I don't want to see just anyone brought in to replace him, I wanna see someone who will provide what Lilja used to and can't anymore. A guy like Brookbank would be the best fit probably. He'll clear the crease, lay big hits, is a heavyweight fighter and can kill penalties. He plays 15 minutes a game on a ducks team and is a lot younger the Lils. Seems like the perfect replacement to me. I guess I should add that he's plus 10 as well so he's pretty responsible considering his team didn't make playoffs.

I think signing Brookbank and letting Lilja go would be a good move. We would save cap space and Brookbank gives everything pre injury Lilja adds plus a lot more effectiveness at it. If Brookbank could be had cheap you could sign both Lilja for a season and see who deserves to stay I don't see Lilja being the same player over the course of a whole year.

It was Eklund, don't worry there was no truth to that free agent list. Why is he a douchebag? Because he beats up on the soft wings every year? Add him to our lineup and suddenly we're the team beating up o other teams.