evilzyme

It sounds like we lost Filp (as expected) and still in talks with Cleary and Brunner. From Freep today: I really didn't think it was going to take this long to sign Brunner, but I guess he really wants that long-term deal. In the same article they make it seem that Vinny is going to Dallas also.

I have the black new era with the red D, got it from Lids. It should be your best bet in all honesty. Lids has updated their Red Wings collection in my opinion, so you have a pretty decent selection.

Real hard decision and I, personally, hope we don't end up having to move either of them. Unfortunately, it may be the case if we're gunning for a top flight winger. In my opinion, Nyquist fits the bill that most of our forwards do; playmaking and defensive minded. Tatar is the more natural goal-scorer. I think we lack more of Tatar in that aspect and in that sense, would have to select Nyquist to leave. Tatar was a rabid dog when he was with Detroit this season and is hungry. He wants to be in the big show and he certainly proved his worth. He has the drive of a winner and is hard to contain. Even with his lack of call-ups, initially he had seemed to be stronger on the puck than Nyquist already. Nyquist came into his own and became stronger with the puck as his confidence started to climb. Holland makes it seem like we've gotten the 4 youngsters (Nyquist, Tatar, DeKeyser and Lashoff; honestly can't remember him in regards to Andersson) marked up full-time next season which gives me the feeling that he isn't going to move any of them unless the absolute right deal comes along. He seems very content with how the management's plan is coming into place.

This is the biggest thing for me. We have him for 4 more years to teach Nyquist, Tatar, and Jurco specifically. Very excited about the future of this team.

I always wondered what happened to that solid inside source KK's had....

Detroit Red Wings, Pavel Datsyuk 'very close' to agreeing to multi-year contract extension | http://t.co/ISgcy4Lx9p http://t.co/crhozOqWNW -- Ansar Khan (@AnsarKhanMLive)

Wow man, can you get any more arrogant? Maybe some fans don't have the money to go travel to Grand Rapids? Some require staying the night which can lead to pretty high expenses. Not everyone can attend consistent games. Yes, I know Grand Rapids games are cheap. I've had the luxury of sitting on the glass because of how cheap tickets are, it doesn't mean I can attend every single game though. What you ignore is that fans can still follow a team and cheer for them while not attending games. Social media and online streaming make this very possible. Not every fan has the luxury of attending every game, like you. You really want to call them bandwagoners because they maybe wanted to splurge and spend the extra money to go see them live for once? It was a special occasion. People tend to splurge when the occasion is special. Do you attend every single Red Wings game? Do you watch them on television sometimes because you can't attend games? I suppose you're just a bandwagoner if you don't attend all these games every season and just go to a single playoff game. My god man, get off the high horse.

Malik had tweeted this Hotstove stuff: Panthers, Weiss talking about contract extension w/ Pat Morris in person. DAL, DET, TOR have asked about Weiss's rights. -- George Malik (@georgemalik)

Awesome news!! Haha, just got beat!

They were reporting that DeKeyser will be in for game 1 of the finals. It should be really interesting to watch Andrej Sustr against Danny DeKeyser. The two big name NCAA free agents playing against each other for the Calder Cup.

Mrazek's stood on his head this postseason. He's been particularly awesome in the Barons series. We got some absolute skill in our pipelines, and it's getting deeper and deeper at each position as all of them are developing so nicely. The mood towards our franchise has changed so drastically since the beginning of the season.

I read about the Crunch only losing once earlier this week, absolutely nuts. Should be an EXCELLENT finals. Anyone heading to GR for a game? I'm thinking about heading out there.

I've been hearing that they have to go through waivers before becoming a UFA. I'm trying to find an article to showcase it but honestly can't. I could be absolutely wrong though

I really don't see Hossa getting bought out. If anything, he'd get moved to a franchise that can handle the contract. I just can't see Chicago buying him out, and losing him for absolutely nothing. If he gets bought out, he has to go through waivers which also means there's a slim to none chance we'll get to him. Teams would be foaming at their mouths at a chance to claim Hossa.

Babcock wants him back, ofcourse. The statement completely means it's better to hold onto something you know, rather than give away that something and then have to search for a replacement. You never know what you're going to replace him with; that's an unknown at that point and time if he left. If he atleast re-signed, we know what we have and what we have to work with. Filp had a rough season, especially after last season but it's rough to really gauge it with a shortened season while in a transition year. He never really stepped up and was a game changer, or had the power to take over a game. When the rough times came this season, were we expecting him to automatically blossom into one? I've been frustrating with him, as many of us have, but it's rough to replace a top 6 center (some may not regard him as a top 6 center, but rather a 3rd line center) that is also defensively sound. Filp's two way game is good, but it's not over the top at the same time. He's been victim of more than enough blind passes to the middle or behind him while in our own zone. He's shown that he can productive at times, and certainly can make a play. Moral of the story, I think Filp will walk. We have too many players pushing to get on the roster, and I think we're going to go hard for a top 6 scoring forward with size (Clarkson). Filp doesn't fit the bill of that, and we can replace his 2-way game with Nyquist.

I've seen more than enough trapezoid calls made. You were exactly right about why it was implemented. It slowed down numerous forechecks because good puck moving goalies simply shut down the chip and chase. The trapezoid actually forces them to wait until the puck is BEHIND their net, instead of allowing them to come out and play it before hand. It certainly has done it's job, but at the same time, if you have a good puck moving goalie you would be against it. It basically is an even the playing field type of rule, but what can you do?

This is absolute gold!!!

Awesome to hear! I'm hoping to make it there this year

Haha they could be. There was no doubt he was having fun and it was a great experience, but for all we know the NHL may just not be his thing. I think he'll be back, and will sign around a 2-3 year contract at 2.5-8mil. His brother visited him around the 21st of April and he started to really shine around there. I think he may have been home sick and either he had his brother come out, or I wonder if the franchise had asked him if he wanted his brother with him. He had went all the way to Anaheim with him and everything. He'll go home, have some time in his homeland and then he'll ink one up and head back here to play some hockey!

Honestly, I don't think he'll go to another NHL team. I have two theories dealing with Brunner (1) he may have realized how much of a grind the NHL is, possibly may not want to play in a full 82 game season and will go back to the SEL. (2) we're moving to the eastern conference. he's played his first shortened season of the NHL in the Western Conference. he found out how physical the NHL is, and may be a little scared (i'm not so sure, he's played pretty physical and would set up if needed in the SEL, IIRC). Throughout the season, and its general consensus that the Eastern Conference is more physical and bigger. With him hearing this non-stop throughout the season, he may evaluate his time within the Western Conference and it could possibly deter from from wanting to play in the Eastern Conference. Without having played any Eastern Conference teams this season, he is left in the dark. Now, again, these are just two just.. weird theories that I developed and hold most likely zero substance. I hope he re-signs with him because I could see him turning into one heck of a player for us. With a solid summer of training, training camp, and pre-season he could come out swinging next season and be more a threat he already was.

I'll try to hit on all of these. Firstly, he didn't just say the player has an agent and may want to test the market. Pasha has already stated if he's playing in the NHL it's going to be Detroit, and he's the one sitting here saying he wants a contract. Different story. Holland says this; No, I don't think they are very close because they haven't talked contracts during this whole season. Holland has said all season that he's met with Pasha's agent once and they said they would discuss everyone before he left for Russia during the off season. I think the majority of the hate towards that comment is that you shouldn't have to say, "I got other options" towards one of your alternative captains, none the less a generational talent that has given you everything he has. I don't know where you're getting the "It's just the Holland haters finding anything and everything!!!" It's a dumb comment to say, especially publicly to the media. All he should've and could've said was exactly what you stated, "we'll see how everything goes, but obviously this is our main priority in having him around here for more years because of everything he's done. we'll sit down and make sure the contract makes sense for both Pavel and the franchise in the future." And no, i'm the furthest from a Holland hater, i'm normally the one defending him around here, it's just that you don't say that towards a core player and someone whom is regarded as an alternative captain for your team. As for your article stating he wants a deal done by July 5th, it was published the same day as the freep and MLive articles. It's just a journalist excluding quotes and stating what he believes himself. Every quote from the same day out of Hollands mouth didn't say anything about getting it done asap on July 5th. Now mind you, all of this can be taken out of context and Holland could be speaking on behalf of Pasha having options. The problem I have with that is; (1) you have your star player asking to get more years with the franchise (2) he's stated that the only NHL team he'll play for is Detroit or he'll go to the KHL. http://www.freep.com/article/20130531/SPORTS05/305310080 3:25 PM, May 31, 2013 http://www.mlive.com/redwings/index.ssf/2013/05/pavel_datsyuk_says_he_wants_to.html on May 31, 2013 at 10:45 PM, updated May 31, 2013 at 11:54 PM http://sports.yahoo.com/news/datsyuk-hopes-sign-deal-red-000639700--nhl.html The Associated Press – Fri, May 31, 2013 8:06 PM EDT As for Lidstrom being a generational one of a kind, but Pavel not? It just doesn't make sense to me. Lidstrom played unreal defense and contributed offensively while excelling at both. Pavel is one of the best playmakers in the game, the slickest hands the league has seen, and regarded as one of the best 2-way players to play the game. You can't replace Pavel, he's a one of a kind. They're both generational talents and to say one is while the other isn't just doesn't make sense to me.

Holland sounds like a jackass acting like he wouldn't throw the bank at Pasha. Listen, Pasha wouldn't go overboard in the first place. He understands the cap and from what i've seen, it isn't his personality. I could be completely wrong though. Anyways, look at these quotes. http://www.freep.com/article/20130531/SPORTS05/305310080

Great day to be a Detroit fan.

I highly doubt we stand pat. We simply have too many pieces to stand pat, and way too many players knocking on the door. Holland has already stated that he knows players are trying to push others for their jobs, and what it comes down to is a numbers game. That doesn't mean we're going to pick up new players, but we're certainly going to be active and moving pieces. With that being said, I see Holland going for the cheaper contracts on the rookies the franchise has the trust in. If anything this season was a wake-up call for Holland that his rookies need to be alongside his veterans so they can get this experience in before we don't have that many veterans. We were already rookie heavy this season, and we couldn't afford to add more inexperience to the line-up. Not to mention, we didn't even have Helmer with us for a full season. I don't think he goes absolutely nuts during free agency, but I think we'll continue to see a fresher, younger, faster Red Wings team. In the end, I don't think they're going to go after another D man, even though we need that true #1D. We have Kronner, Big Rig, Smitty, Quincey, Kuba, DeKeyser, and Carlo which is a solid 7 group. Not to mention we have numerous prospects moving into the A and trying to compete for jobs. Not saying they're pushing for them this upcoming season, but we need to look 2-3 years down the road. We already have to move some pieces on the back end, which is going to include some faces we certainly don't want to move but are going to be forced I believe. Scoring depth is going to be where we have to look. Unfortunately, we also don't have the space nor do I believe in a roster overhaul at this point. Brunner, I believe, will develop into a good threat, but I think we need that proven goal scorer to alleviate pressure on Brunner. He shouldn't be looked upon to be our main goal scorer, at least not yet. 2/3 line is most likely going to be his beauty spot. We need a true top line scorer who can pot em when needed. Of course, that isn't the easiest to get. A full off-season with a full prospect camp, training camp, and preseason is going to provide a lot of competition for the roster. It's going to be exciting as hell to watch, and certainly should be fun for Babcock and the coaching staff. I suppose this should be on another thread, but does anyone think we'll get rid of Tom Renney? I think Bill Peters has cemented himself within the staff nicely, but i'm not so sure we're sold on Renney. I'm not sure if Babcock wants to go around looking for another assistant coach after he just went through changes the past 2 seasons. Anyways, just wanted to bring that up and get some feedback on all of it.