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Hes a potential superstar that the wings could build around for the future. Much younger than any other option. I wouldnt have any prospect off limits except maybe Smith to get him

I think the cup and those midgets were orbiting that chest.... holy

Anyone who thinks this kid wont fight is fooling themselves. Babcock will not dissuade him and he definitely enjoys it. He said after fighting Shaw last year that he had 2 options, fight or turtle and he never turtles. The style that Smith plays will lead to guys going after him and he has to much pride to say no to all comers. He will be told to choose his spots wisely, but he'll probably fight 5 times a year or so and be physical game in and game out. I dunno if he'll be top 4 next season but he should see some decent PP time and put up some points. He might kill a little too. I expect a 30 point season which is good for a young dman, 5 fights and a decent highlight reel of hits. Hes going to be a fan favourite in no time

Hopefully Quincey will step up his game, as well as Ericcson. Stuart was pretty bad this year his heart was in Cali it seemed. Hmm I dont know much about this Murray.. 6'2, 220 lbs,played 39 games with San Jose last year and 10 with Worcester, I wonder if he was hurt or something? Hes a center, could the writing be on the wall for Emmerton and the wings want some size down the middle and in the bottom 6?

I would trade Franzen and Kindl for him. 20 year old 30 goal scorer that is lightnning fast, plays with a high energy level and is also fairly tough would be great on this team.

So its ok if a soft player like Kozlov does it, just as long as it isnt a guy who can also drop the gloves and defend his own actions?

Proven wrong so you go with this angle eh, pretty cowardly.. should just admit you were wrong and be done with it honestly. As for tough guys, Weber only had one fight last year and it was against Bert in the playoffs, he had 2 fights in the 2 seasons prior to that playoff series as well. So he isnt some big scrapper by any means. I'm surprised the wings would have such classless players like Chelios here Or how about Fisher cross checking whats his name in the face in the finals? Or maybe Maltby, or trading for Wendel Clark or that Ulf Samuelsson, you know arguably the dirtiest player of all time? Not to mention Bertuzzi, or Hatcher or Brad May. The wings could not give 2 s***s about class, they care about winning. If Weber gives them a better chance at it than Holland will look into it What team was it that Avery broke into the league with again?

Yeah the wings actually paid off some gangsters in Russia to bribe the right doctors into lying about Vladdys supposed brain cancer... pretty bad ass story, one of my red wing favourites

I think its less important on a nightly basis through the season, you can get away with beating less skilled teams like the isles, blue jackets while being undersized but when the playoffs role around and games become more physical it definitely becomes more important. The point about Cammaleri and St Louis kinda actually shows how important size is. To be small you have to be a 90 point or 40 goal scorer to be relevant. Hudler put up 25 last year and no one wants to see him back because deficiencies in his game caused mostly by a lack of size.

The C will surely belong to Z Datsyuk, Kronner rotating with Parise/Suter if the wings get one of them. If they get both Parise and Suter, Datsyuk and Kronner will get them permanently because that is too many to rotate around. I wouldnt mind seeing Helm wear an A every now and again to show some of the lazy guys on the team that flying around and hustling every shift gets recognized

Depends on the definition of elite but I think we have at least three guys with potential to be top notch guys. Smith, Nyquist and Jarnkrok. Smith will have that star status because of his play style, and will be come a fan favourite. He'll snipe on the PP than turn around next shift lay a guy out and beat the s*** out of that guys team mate trying to defend him.

Agreed. One of my good friends and former linemate is on the team gotta pull for them. I went to the clinching game at the JLC in London and it was absolutely crazy

Smith is basically a Kronwall that fights. Physicality is both big parts of their gaames, they are solid enough defensively and both have high offensive capabilities. Yandle is an OK comparison but it leaves a large part of Smiths game, his mean streak, completely unaccounted for. Kronwall doesnt fight like Smith does, but he does have physicality as a large dimension of his game. Sheahan I dont see a Bertuzzi type player. Maybe in a sense that both are big and physical and at this point Bert will produce around 45 points but stylistically I dont think its all that good. Sheahan is going to be amazing defensively, he already is and hes already big enough to dominate games physically. If he can get some decent offense to come around he might become the best third line C in the league

I like most of these, Smith compares exactly to Kronwall. There is no better comparison for him in the entire league I dont think. Nyquist, I think is more like a Filppula. Shifty hands, good D except Nyquist seems to have natural finishing ability that Val lacks. I really like the Sobotka comparison for Tatar, I had never thought about it but it is a very good one. Sheahan has better hands than Gaustad but I think Gaustad is his lowest potential really. Could see him becoming more of a Bolland type

Yzerman was a third overall pick though, his skill was through the roof, Selanne also a high pick. Size is definitely not overrated, and the wings have started drafting more size because the lack of it is hurting. I think Jarkrok would probably fair well, although he is a diver and a whiner right now, but not with 2 other rookies that are his size or smaller. The skill is important and he has it in spades, and even if you dont value size, its not that a line of Jarnkrok, Nyquist, Tatar would be small. But I would bet height and weight wise it would be the smallest in the league by a fair margin. They need balance.

Do you not see a difference in Zetterberg coming over and playing third line minutes with a team full of vets and him being pretty much the only rookie, compared to three rookies, none of which have even have like 25 games played in the NHL, and being all thrown onto the same line all as rookies? Theyre all tiny, one has never played North American hockey and none of them are a Brenden Morrow type player at least hes small but he plays big. All of those guys you can tell their size and they would get killed out there. I'm in no way against having a rookie or two on the team, put Nyquist up with Datsyuk and maybe even have Jarnkrok center the third line with Bertuzzi and Cleary or someone else but the notion that a bunch of unproven prospects can step in as rookies and all produce 50 points is down right stupid and a terrible idea. A line of all 5'11 players alone is pretty ridiculous, let alone 3 guys under the age of 21. What would have happened to that line against Nashville in the playoffs?

This would be terrible. We're gonna have a 3rd line of 21 year old Europeans, one of which isnt even sued to the North American style of play and the tallest is a whopping 5'11. Those kids would get eaten alive, wouldnt even get near a goalie and would have their confidence ruined

Still a bit skinny and hasnt proven to be able to handle the NA game. He will be on the team the year after this upcoming season, which will also give him some time to add another 10 lbs maybe

Why do people keep saying that teams will overpay way too much for Parise? Hes a legit 35+ goal scorer consistently with a 94 point season 2 years ago. He would be worth an offer of 8 million. Do people really expect teams to offer that much more than 8 million? Thats probably his high end worth but if he signed for that much I wuoldnt be pissed about it at all. With a 27 year old, legit goal scorer the wings need to take a run at him and even pay a bit more than usual because they need to supplement this aging core with guys who can get it done for another 7 years. Adding Parise would be the re tool on the fly everyone hates to see the wings always capable of doing

Prust is exactly what Abdelkader needs. Abdelkader is forced to be the toughest guy on the wings and isnt really great for that role. Hes a physical, agitator, middleweight type that if riding shotgun with someone like Prust could really go wild out there. With Prust to back him up, Abdelkader could run around and do his thing while still having a player that can play some decent hockey with him. People on here always ***** and moan about how useless tough players are and that the wings dont need them, but I know for damn sure that a fourth line of Abdelkader, Konopka and Prust would be better than this years fourth line. That line would have an actual identity, 2 guys who will fight just about anyone and another who is a solid middle weight scrapper so they could all run around and crush guys as much as they wantand very few teams in the league could have an answer for that line.

Good list. Prust is by far and away that should be looked at. Hes a fast skater, good hitter and has some skill as well as some good fists. He is exactly the type of fighter the wings need to look into getting. Gaustad is a good PKer, face off guy as well as tough. Number 2 on my list Moen and Tootoo are also very good players for their toughness as well. People on here obviously hate Tootoo but he toned it down this year and put up a lot of points for a guy who can hit like that and scrap too. I think he would have a Chelios effect, hated until he gets here. I like Glass as well, thats about all I'm interested in from those UFAs. RFA list has some interesting names. A very sick pickup would be Ryan White from Montreal to play the fourth line center spot. Hes a but better at actual defensive hockey then Emmerton, still very young and is one of the scrappier more physical up and coming guys in the league. Hes a very good 4th line C option I've also always liked the idea of Boll. He doesnt score but he is a very good skater/forechecker for an enforcer type. He isnt a big goon who cant skate, hes like a fire cracker wizzing around out there hitting everything. The best guy on that whole list would be Matt Martin. Hes exactly what the wings need and is only going to get better. He grew up a wings fan as well. NYI wont let him go however. Shane Doan isnt on the list but would be nice to have in the top 6 and provide that physical presence. I just dont want to see the usual toughness added. A Downey or Brad May type who is well over the hill and hasone season left in him. Picking up Prust would solve the toughness issue for the next 10 years

There are way too many damn pretty boys trying to finesse themselves around the ice on this wings team. Zetterberg and Datsyuk are the most capable but aren't playing the perimeter. Meanwhile, Hudler and Filpulla havent cut int the middle of the ice or crashed the net yet it seems. Theres a reason Rinne can get this many shots and not allow any goals. Having skilled guys and all is nice but there needs to be a mix. The best line for the wings has been Cleary and Abdelkader because they actually muck, grind and play playoff style hockey. They've crashed the net and generated chances. I cant believe how many weak outside shots I've seen Filppula take but its embarrassing almost. This team needs grittier scorers. A not broken down Cleary would be a great start, maybe find a guy to replace an aging Homer as well. That gritty Maltby, Mccarty type playoff scoring is lacking from this team. People say that a 4th line barely matters, but having a fourth line getting all over the goalie is what this team needs. This team is just not greasy enough. Parise is a greasy goal scorer and would be a perfect start This change starts with getting Hudler outta here. Cool he scored 25 goals, but so would a lot of guys given his linemates and ice time. He's soft and small, even if he crashes the net he does nothing cause he gets manhandled. UFA at years end Replacing Holmstrom with a guy that plays his style of game is also critical. Trying to find a guy like Hornqvist would be huge for this team. Ryan Jones would be nice. He can score around 20 goals but plays a bit like Homer or Cleary as well. Hopefully getting some of the bigger guys drafted lately into the line up will help. Sheahan doesnt seem that far off and is a big body that is capable of banging around the net and playing that style. This team needs to get some new garbage men. Babcock must be ready to rip his hair out watchign these guys dance around the outside while Rinne eats up everything.

Seems like Hudler thinks the writing is on the wall in this article http://www.mlive.com/redwings/index.ssf/2012/04/changes_could_be_brewing_with.html

Yep and they were only a couple bounces away last year, and the year before that too. Some guys go out and make their own luck by working hard, forechecking and not floating around. Detroit has too many players of this ilk it seems. Its not a league of copy cats, its called getting balance on the team. When Detroit won the cup they had it, this team doesnt want to work for it

You use the defending cup champs and the team that currently looks like theyre going to knock detroit out as your examples of teams that you dont want Detroit to look like?