HankthaTank

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It's possibly because he is still a top 5 dman in the game too.

yep. The best feasible end to these playoffs is on the horizon, though I see neither East team beating Vancouver. Would be a nice alternative.

I'll be doing the same, my friend. This is a blasphemous thread.

Whoa...

Yep, and all the points in here I have also stated are something we are going to gain from his stepping away from the game. That 6 million is a huge help and will be certainly utilized to make us better. Some are a bit too celebratory about this but oh well.

Allows the majority of this board to play their favorite game, "ARMCHAIR GM", which they are more than entitled to obviously. Just almost seems like they got handed the 6 million and haven't thought about the puck controlling, point machine we just lost. A declining one yes, but also a great leader and example for the younger dmen like Smith coming up. Hopefully he takes a front office job or something to that effect.

Doesn't matter and we all know that Nick took a considerable discount in that contract. Going back and forth on Raf not living up to his contract when this deal was put in place years back we all applauded this. But yes, this was a huge gift for Kenny but a Rafalski is not easily replaced, my friends. Let that sink in please.

Yeah, I saw that earlier. Kind of proving the actual amount of hockey people have watched as of late; he is just a name. In round 1 he looked absolutely worthless out there. The Bieksa thing is legit, though. Just hope that this doesn't produce a gross overpayment, which it's almost certain to do.

I get that too often during the Wings season to take blame for the Tigers My Tiger record is stellar.

Love the part with Wiz in it. Get Pitkanen the hell out of there though. The love that dude is getting on these boards is super unwarranted currently. But hey, we all love looking for our next whipping boy but there is always Kindl and *gasp* Hudler still?!?!

I am all for bringing Laich in to be on a line with Helm or someone that brings that same energy. With Raf gone and that little cushion, he comes a more feasible player to go after but I wouldn't unload too much for him. Worthy option to say the least.

Well, duh! Just want the off season to be done and see the actual logistics come into play. Tough to grasp, just the life I'm livin'

Seen this a couple times now, why are people so willing to shell out near 1.5 for just a backup?

All fantastic points and exactly why you just can't trust most of these players. Well, aside from Stevie and Nick

Censorship. Some here should move to Russia and practice it.

Pav could have about 50 of these plays a year to the point where it gets unfair. Eberle's was quite sick though and not to mention his first NHL goal. Give it to the kid, Pavs will take other hardware here shortly

Yeah, I agree with above. Make some necessary role player type moves for cheap and make the splash for Suter next year.

Pretty interesting write-up on this topic: link

Of that list, these are the only ones that really jump out at me. I cannot see us making a move for a forward but with the amount of space we are going to have, the possibilities are much higher as to what we can really do. I still think a Kronwall-Bieksa pairing would be quite solid. Plus I believe that Frolov is going back to the KHL but could be wrong. Thought I read that somewhere... found it. Frolov to KHL

Olympifalski.

Don't question Jimmy Leyland... Heading to the Park tonight so hopefully JV is electric as usual.

It's the unfortunate nature of all sports. To see Stevie, Shanny, Fedorov (although he wanted to) leave it was like an empty lost feeling. Almost didn't know who could step in but as we know there are players on this team that are cementing their very own legacy. One thing I have come to learn is that the Red Wings are a revolving door for amazing world class talent and even if we aren't at the top in the next 10 years or so, I will always support and love this team more than any other.

Kronner's role will definitely increase especially if he plays like he did towards the end of the season and all of the playoffs. I agree with Datsyerberger where I see most nights he and Lids splitting the top TOI each night. His complete game and ability to be used in every situation is something you can't question. I do even see him as being one of the Alternates fairly soon down the road here as his leadership has even been well chronicled. Nik Jr. really seems to be stepping to the plate lately. Kind of proves how much people need to understand just how difficult it is to play defense at the NHL level.

Enter: Jan Mursak But yes, I am not celebrating this announcement today but in fact reflecting on one of the most important pieces to this team's success over the past 3 years. His play in 2008 and much of the 2009 playoffs was simply amazing stuff. Nick and Raf pairing back then was by far one of my favorites to watch all time. Best puck moving I've seen in some time. I realize all of the things Raf went through to come here by taking a discount so he could back to his home state of Michigan and play for his favorite boyhood team. His play in the Olympics was quite breathtaking as well and would have been just icing on the cake for an amazing career to add that Gold Medal too. We will not soon forget the play #28 brought to this team and his tribulations he went through with his knees and subsequently the back as well. I gave him plenty of flack for being a 1 faceted dman but people really need to put in perspective what other intangibles guys like him bring. 6 million is there to spend and that's great but a Brian Rafalski just doesn't replaced right away. Thanks for everything Dearborn's finest Brian Rafalski!!