mmamolo

not sure if that's sarcasm or not but I wasnt saying that guarenteed Eaves would be on the roster beyond this year. I'm just saying that as an RFA Detroit coudl retain his rights, put him in GR, or trade him away. I doubt they'd walk away from him even if he doesnt work out at all on the NHL roster

I still say Lidstrom signs one year deals from here on out. As far as money goes I do think it'll be $5-6 per year but really it's tough to say. I'm just pulling a number off the top of my head

Oh and I doubt Eaves leaves. He'll be an RFA and at worst I think he'd get resigned to a 500k deal. One year isn't always enough to fully turn it around. Look at Cleary's first year here

FIrst, if Lidstrom wants to play he's back 100%. SEcondly I find it really hard to believe that Helm and Abdelkader would get $1.5 each. That would be a significant raise for Helm and it really depends on what role he falls into on the team this year. WIth ABdelkader most likely spending the majority of the year in GR I doubt we see him get that much as well. I think they'd both get around $1M Personally I'd like to see Frolov here

take solice in the face Crosby was basically ineffective in the finals. If it wasn't for Malken the Pens would have been f***ed. Plus, the non-suspension was bulls*** anyways. It's a new year and come opening day whatever happened last year doesn't matter anymore

I dont think bertuzzi going a whopping 2 for 3 last season means much. Had he scored on 67% of his chances over say 12-15 opportunities then yeah. I think Datsyuk will be the only staple in the shootout lineup. I could see the 2 and 3 slot being given to whoever looks hot on that night. Anyone from Williams, Filppula, Franzen, Zetterberg, Leino, Eaves, and Cleary

I think i see one in Datsyuk's future

only if it counts as two fights, one for each player

I think the depth in GR afforded us the opportunity to sign and keep potentially injury prone players. If we didn't have the depth the risk of signing Bertuzzi would have been that much higher, especially considering we already have an often injured Holmstrom. You're right though, it's the talent at a low cost. THat was the main factor in these signings

I really think it's possible for Eaves to eventually take on a 3rd line spot. He wont get any PP ice time so Williams wont have to worry about that. But in the end at ES we may in fact see Williams get some 4th line time. It just won't start that way. Eaves will have to outplay Williams for it. But let's face facts, with injuries and stuff we may see Williams get some 2nd line time, Eaves some 3rd line time and Maltby some 4th line time.

We're kind of comparing apples with oranges in my opinion. You can all decide who's the apple and who's the orange but Hudler and Bertuzzi are two very different players. Bertuzzi brings a net pressence, a physical part to his game, while bringing bad penalties and injuries. Hudler brings some speed (more than Bertuzzi anyways), offensive awareness, while bringing streakyness. This really boils down to what makes someone a good hockey player in your mind. Does putting up points with minimal ice time make you good? Or does bringing a more physical, net pressence goal scoring method make you good? If we're talking straight production than I'd say Hudler would produce more this season had he stayed. Plus Bertuzzi is on the downturn of his career while Hudler has room too improve. That being said, with the needs the Wings had a few days ago I think I'd prefer Bertuzzi over Hudler for this season. He fits the bill of needs far more than Hudler does, in my opinion.

Definitely agree. There is a double standard in officiating. It does tend to go both ways but i cant help but notice it tends to go against us more than it goes for us. That's just my opinion and maybe it's biased but I try not to be. That being said, I really think Eaves could break out this year for us as well. I think by rights he has to start on the fourth line but I definitely would nto be surprised to see him getting more ice time as the season goes on.

I think another good point to be made is the balance between prospects/rookies and experienced NHLers. With the infusion of Leino, Helm, Ericsson and Howard into the lineup it only makes sense to bring in a few more guys with NHL experience (Williams, Bertuzzi and Eaves). Even though we do have some other younger players that could potentially play in the NHL this year (Abdelkader) too much of a good thing (youth) can be detrimental. Experience is one thing that cannot be taught, it can only be acquired. We are already relying on our youth big time this year, which is a good thing, so it will be that much better next year (even if Bertuzzi, Eaves and Williams all fail miserably) to bring in Abdelkader and another rookie when this year's batch has a full season of experience under their belts. Plus, for the money that Bertuzzi, Williams and Eaves all signed for I think those are gambles worth taking. If collectively you get 40 goals and 100 points I'd say it was probably worth it. At a minimum these three guys bridge the gap until next year's offseason and best case scenario we see some solid numbers put up and we have more options on who to sign next year. I really don't think it's out of the realm of possibilities to see Bertuzzi and Williams get 18-22 goals each and for Eaves to show the improvements necessary for us to want to keep him around. I think he has the ability to ressurect his career the same way Cleary did.

Leino Williams Eaves Helm Check back to this post next April and you'll see

Oh god that still seems like an eternity. It felt a lot shorter than 6 weeks before someone actualyl mentioned how much time is left.

I think it goes to Boyle. It's not a surprise Marleau was stripped. Really, Im surprised it took this long. SJ needs to make some changes and this should only be the first of more to come.

Bertuzzi 2nd, Leino 3rd and Holmstrom 4th. No other way to do it.

I do agree he wants to play for a little while still but $3M is really low for a guy like him. That's a tough sell I think

That's f***in funny

I thnk that Eaves was signed because if he sits on the 4th line at 500k and doesnt progress it's no big loss. For Abdelkader (or any of your 3 forwards mentioned) to stunt their development by playing 5-8 mins a game hurts them (and us) in the long run. Plus at 500k it makes our cap work a little more easily than Abdelkader's $880k or so.

Honestly, as good as that line up looks in a lot of ways I would still rather see: Holmstrom - Datsyuk - Zetterberg Bertuzzi - Filppula - Franzen Leino - Williams - Cleary Eaves - Draper - Helm Maltby Problem is that I definitely think Cleary deserves top line minutes. It's basically a catch 22. Either situation I think someone is being under used. If that's that case then I'd rather Holmstrom be under used because he can still step into the PP role and be very effective.

I really don't understand the ppl on this board who say they don't like players coming back and that Bertuzzi's first stint here was a disaster. They guy played 8 regular season games for us, coming off of a big injury. He only played 15 regular season games in 06/07 in total. In those 15 games he had 11 points which is pretty decent. He had a rough playoffs with a bad back scoring 3 goals and 4 assists for 7 points in 16 games. I dont think it's fair to assess his time in detroit as a failure because it was so brief. Plus it appears as though the only thing that stopped him from resigning was that he wanted the security of a two year deal while the Wings were only offering a one year deal. Im not the biggest fan in the world of Bertuzzi's but I think it's a solid signing at $1.5M/yr. I just don't think the bashing is warranted.

I definitely think Leino starts the season on the 3rd line. If he progresses we may see him get some 2nd line time but right now he's not high enough on the depth chart. I like the line of Franzen - Filppula - Bertuzzi but I have a hard time seeing how the other lines fit well together after that. Cleary - Datsyuk - Zetterberg Franzen - Filppula - Bertuzzi Leino - Helm - Williams Eaves- Draper - Holmstrom/Maltby Although in some ways I'd almost rather seen Helm and Eaves switch spots. I see Helm as a high energy grinder who would elevate Draper and Holmstrom/Maltby and be more effective in that role. He doesn't really have the scoring I'd like to see on the 3rd line. But then again, Eaves may not have it either.

This is a very good point. Holmstrom's contributions dont always come in the form of points. That being said last year he had 14g 23a in 53g. The year before that he had 20g 20 a in 59g. I dont think it's impossible to see him get in that same 15-20 range in 50 some games playing powerplay time and when he's in the lineup playign with Pav and Zetterberg. I really think that he will get a lot of rest, especially down the stretch, and that's when you'll really see Cleary with Pav and Zetterberg. At the end of the day everyone here saying Holmstrom's ES time is going to be cut down are probably right. He'll get 1st PP time and he'll pick up some ES shifts but I dont think it will be on the regular. Also, Love the Ciccarelli reference. It's funny, I got into such a superstitious phase when watching the Red Wings. Somehow I managed to convince myself that I had to watch Wings games with the volume at level 22 otherwise they would lose. To this day I still refuse to watch a Wings game at home unless the volume is at 22. I can thank Dino for that.

Although I definitely think Cleary deserves a top line spot, and he showed that he can be very effective with Datsyuk and Zetterberg it kind of strikes me as odd that Holmstrom wouldnt be playign with them as I think that's where Holmstrom can be most effective. I would rather see him get 10-15 goals playign with D and Z then getting 5 goals buried on the 4th line. Although that statement only holds true if Cleary's prodcution doesnt vastly improve with Datsyuk and Zetterberg over say Filppula and Franzen. If Cleary plays with D and Z all year we may see some significant contributions. Having scored 20 goals in both 07 and 08 getting third line minutes it is entirely possible to se him get 25-30 with first line minutes and guys like Z and D to play with. Maybe even more