dirtydangles

could be playoffs.... i don't see kenny making anything happen

how much longer for weisser and big E?

Even if he had his affairs in order that contract is a disaster for the future. There is no way he plays it out. Before this info came out I was of the opinion that an amnesty buyout was the best option.

If this ailment is true, buying out Franzen may be the best for the team in the long run, and may be best for Franzen. He still walks away with a boatload of cash and he would no longer have to deal with the pressure of NHL hockey. If we LTIR him he can't do anything and is handcuffed to the organization for a good long while.

I agree on Callahan. As for the cap - lets hope it goes up a bit and we can squeeze out enough money to re-sign Alfie AND nab a top 6 winger. PS. I don't think its right to re-sign Gus and pay more - that would be like 7-8 mill in goaltending alone. With Howard's contract and ability to carry the load I think we should go for a cheaper option - we can always use Mrazek a bit too like this season.

Barring a Trade - that will never happen (Girardi would be nice). This is what I would do this offseason: Trim the fat: Quincey, Cleary, Bert, Sammy, Eaves all gone. Buyout Franzen: This needs to happen for the future of the team cap-wise and the compete level on the ice. Promote kids for bottom 6 duty: Lets get some competition in the bottom six between some youngsters. This team lacks compete and accountability for poor games. Sign a top winger: Vanek would be nice but there are a few options out there. I honestly think this is addition by subtraction. Get the team sorted out long term and figure out the identity of the team. The following year Alfie would retire so I would bring up Jurco/Jarnkrok if ready. Sorry if the cap numbers aren't what you expect - I have no clue where the cap will be next year but I think there is wiggle room. CAPGEEK.COM USER GENERATED ROSTER My Custom Lineup FORWARDS Henrik Zetterberg ($6.083m) / Pavel Datsyuk ($7.500m) / Vanek/Gaborik/UFA Winger ($7.500m) Gustav Nyquist ($0.950m) / Stephen Weiss ($4.900m) / Daniel Alfredsson ($4.500m) Tomas Tatar ($1.000m) / Darren Helm ($2.125m) / Justin Abdelkader ($1.800m) Drew Miller ($1.350m) / Joakim Andersson ($0.733m) / Riley Sheahan ($0.800m) Luke Glendening ($0.700m) / Landon Ferraro ($0.750m) / DEFENSEMEN Niklas Kronwall ($4.750m) / Jonathan Ericsson ($4.000m) Brendan Smith ($1.263m) / Danny DeKeyser ($1.300m) Xavier Ouellet ($0.894m) / Jakub Kindl ($2.400m) Brian Lashoff ($0.725m) / GOALTENDERS Jimmy Howard ($5.292m) Thomas Greiss ($0.750m) OTHER Buyout: Johan Franzen ($0.000m) Buried: Jordin Tootoo ($0.975m) ------ CAPGEEK.COM TOTALS (follow @capgeek on Twitter) (these totals are compiled with the bonus cushion) SALARY CAP: $64,300,000; CAP PAYROLL: $63,039,167; BONUSES: $224,167 CAP SPACE (23-man roster): $1,485,000

Quincey + Anyone equals s***. Cleary + any line mates = s***. FACT.

CAN WE GET A PETITION TO GET NYQUIST UP TO THE BIG TEAM?

It explains why he is a completely different player out there some nights. Maybe the thought of being bought out is aggravating it? Who knows.

This game is WIDE open. so many turnovers

he made the initial stop. malone shouldn't have had that much time to reload

so fil scores at least one on his own net?

I can't shake this feeling that Nyquist and Weiss would light it up together. Nyquist back checks and plays D and also does a good job setting guys up too - takes some pressure of Weiss defensively.

I honestly think our entire issue would be solved if we had another high quality hard working top 6 winger to play on the second line with Weiss and Alfie. Franzen isn't that guy. Nyquist could be. Or we could trade for someone. We just don't have enough high quality top 6 players in our top 6.

Babcock's comments “Someone else is going to learn how to play in the second hole and play well.” Does this statement apply to current situation without Weiss healthy or is he thinking long term? I think the centre isn't the issue on that line. We all agree that Cleary and Franzen have not been contributing and Weiss can't be blamed fully. Not to mention Alfie is really only dominating on the PP.

First off - "The Plan" is so unrealistic (sorry if it was a joke). Only realistic trades are the Chicago and FLA ones. Flyers aren't doing that trade regardless of the value. Giroux is not much older than Nyquist and already PPG. Also Why the hell would we convert smith and make him a top 6 forward? Why would we get a player like Lindholm and put him on the 4th line? Mrazek won't get that trade done either.

Trading Franzen to Vancouver and taking on Booth is terrible for us! Franzen will retire before his contract is up and we will take the brunt of the contract penalty (we can buy him out this offseason instead). Instead we take on 1 more year of booth at 4.25mill and he is more useless than franzen then years down the road we get stuck with franzen's cap penalty from retirement. EDIT: I like the rundblad idea - but bags would destroy him (another offensive dman)

I laughed. Why not. It was disrespectful sure... but it was pretty funny (wouldn't be so funny if it was a wings player).

First glance i didn't even see how bolland could have been cut - then i saw slow-mo and you can see it came from the side angle rather than cooke's which was from the back and turned his skate. Really unlucky here. No intention at all.

I would have rather seen ouellet up over almquist... ouellet has a better defensive game.

I honestly don't care right now if Weiss is on the scoresheet or not - its how he looks on the ice that matters to me. He does look like he is getting better.

Weiss has slowly improved. Last night he was creating chances and looked half decent. He isn't anywhere near where we need him to be yet but he IS improving - slowly. Part of this is likely that his wingers (cleary) aren't creating chances or burying the ones he provides.

Great graphics! SOOOOO PUMPED TO SEE HELMER!!!!!!! Let's kick it boys.!

weiss has been pretty okay tonight. i noticed him a bit.

bardown son!