number9

Sammy's probably going to be out. Sounds like a broken hand.

Crawford is indeed better than most ppl think, but Niemi > Crawford. With Hossa out we'll see what happens. They do have a lot of good young players, which scares me, hopefully they're not the next... Red Wings

I find it hard to believe that someone who plays as much NHL 13 as you do grew up in the 1970s

Apparently the Canes want Jordan on Eric's wing and Skinner at RW. Need another center behind Eric. I have no idea what Carolina is offering though. I think Filppula would fit in perfect there. He's a 2nd line center and could center fellow countrymen Jokinen & Ruutu. I would think Carolina would be very interested in trading with us if Holland is willing to move Val. Maybe we could squeeze a guy like Faulk out of them if not more

Dats wants to end his career in Russia. AKA whens he's in his 40s, like Fedorov. His agent has made it pretty apparent one more contract is coming and that Dats would never jump ship at 36.

They are one of my favorite teams right now. Doing very well for themselves. We'd want a D piece we can use now, and your right they probably wouldn't wanna give that up right now. There D would take a big hit. I noticed that they seem to draft nothing but Plymouth Whalers. Karmanos owns both teams so I understand why they do it, but that's a terrible strategy IMO.

I must say Volchenkov is the exact type of player we need on the back end. My problem with trading Franzen is that he's basically our only power forward besides the aging Bertuzzi. Our front of the net presence would be very depleted. And who would we put in front of goalies on the PP? IMO I think Franzen takes way too much crap around here. He goes from a guy everyone raves about as a playoff machine, then one bad playoff run and now he's pretty much despised and NEEDS to be traded. I'll admit he doesn't have the best contract though

There's no way he goes undrafted by the Wings if he's ranked high enough to be considered

Fil would net at least Gleason. And maybe picks on top of a trade including Mcbain or Faulk. I doubt Holland even looks at a guy like Bowman. D is the need.

Vol could easily waive his NTC to play here, but I don't know if he would with how the Devs have been playing

I never said Raedeke brought size or skill. I said he brought speed and strength. "He’s not scared to go into the corners. He doesn’t run guys over but he has strength on the puck and we like the game he plays.” - Jim Nill "We think he has a little bit of Darren Helm in him. He’s a good skater with good speed" - Jim Nill I said Sheahan brought Size, Strength, & Skill. Since you seem to agree on the size and strength, I'll educate you on his skill. “We think he could be a point-producer for us, for sure. He’s got a great feel of when to go into holes in the offensive zone below the tops of the circles. He finds places to go and get the puck. He has the ability to really beat guys down low." - Mark Leach "He can score and set up plays and he’s pretty solid all-around offensively.” - Mark Leach "He does remind me of Johan Franzen. He’s got a big, thick body. He’s been a big scorer. That’s what we project him to be.” - Jim Nill "He has very good offensive ability" - Jeff Blashill I said Andersson brought size and strength. So yeah no sh** sherlock... he's a checker. And of course he has to improve to be equal to Abdelkader, he's a prospect....... Aubry's not as skilled as Datsyuk, or as fast as Helm, but he's also not a skill-less slow bruiser. "Good solid two-way player, good skater, very smart, smart on the puck, and he can dish the puck pretty well" - Mark Leach “He doesn’t have any glaring weaknesses." - Mark Leach I said nothing about Nestrasil's demotion. He's only 21 and still has plenty of time to improve and find his game. What I did say is that he brings size, strength, and skill. “He’s willing to pay the price every shift and he’s ready to battle every shift. He’s a big body, he throws his body around, he never refuses physical contact and he’s always engaged … He’s not a guy you look at and say, ‘He’s going to be a third- or fourth-line guy in the NHL.’ He’s got more skill than that. If he keeps improving his skating, he could be a good offensive player in the NHL.” - Yanick Jean Parkes is a checker? Yeah, no sh**, that's why I said he brings size and strength. And again, he's a PROSPECT, of course he needs to improve to the level of somebody like Abdelkader. If he didn't need to improve and develop more he wouldn't be a prospect lol. I'm not even going to address your comments about Nyquist. That's just beyond uninformed and ignorant.

Russian D-man prospect. We drafted him in the 7th round in 2011. He was ranked as the 25th best Euro that year, but he made it pretty clear that he didn't want to leave Russia, so no one wanted to draft him. However, he told the Wings that if we drafted him he would come to NA to play for us. So basically we got a late 1st round D-man with a 7th round pick.

Via Mr. Khan

Yeah both would be a semi-good replacement for Datsyuk or Zetterberg. Good thing we don't need a replacement thought HA.

Marchenko is rising and rising fast. We all thought he would, but I'm gald he's finally proving it. This league will revel in our drafting and development process yet again soon. It amazes me when ppl on this forum (mostly not regulars) think we should sell or trade our vets and rebuild. The fact that we haven't done that has earned us a reputation that brings us guys like Brunner & Marchenko, while still being cup capable. Brunner chose us despite similar offers from many other teams. And Alexei chose us as one of the only NHL teams he'd be willing to play for. Reputation does matter.

I'm guessing Rich would have traded Yzerman and Lidstrom in their waning years had he the power. It's typical, every time our greats get old, were done without Yzerman! Were done without Lidstrom! Were done without Datsyuk! And soon he's going to be saying were done once Jarnkrok leaves! You don't build successful long-term organizations trading away elite players for unproven youth, no matter how highly touted.

I hate to be bold, and this opinion is definitely based on the fact that he continues to play with Datsyuk and Zetterberg, but Brunner looks like a 30 goal scorer right now (for an 82 game season anyway) and this is still his first year....Knock on wood but if this kid settles in more than he has already could he turn out to be a potential 35, maybe even 40 goal scorer? Right now it seems possible, but I think he may lack the size to ever compete at that level. He certainly has the skill though.

I don't think anyone doubts Avery's ability on the ice. He's a PREMIUM agitator and decent grinder. IMO equal to Steve Ott. But he clearly had off ice and locker room issues galore. Runs his mouth so much that he can't seem to stop once the game stops. I would certainly entertain the argument that he is the best agitator of all time. He's so good that he agitates his own team as well!

Funny, all summer and lockout you argued that he was a regular and that "We would see". Frankly, this team has absolutely zero need for a regular 13th forward who will always be a 13th forward. We have Nyquist, Tatar, & Andersson, & Jurco and others as well who could fill that position from time to time and be better served from it. "Emdog" is dead wood. Hopefully the Wings can get something for him.

Howard is a different style of goalie than most. A lot of goalies have crazy reflexes or crazy aggressiveness, and will post shut outs or incredible games where they stand on their head. Howie grits his teeth and does work. He might not get shut outs or glamorous wins, but he does consistently find ways to win and is very level-headed. He doesn't often post amazing games, but he also doesn't often post crap games. Reliable and efficient. Lids was amazing to say the least, but many people give him way too much credit for Howards play. One man, even Lids, only does so much.

Daigle, among others. You said we lack size, speed, skill, and strength in our F prospects. That statement was wrong. If you are referring to your statement about our prospects only having a few of each those skills (which I wasn't addressing) consider Datsyuk and Zetterberg. They're not known for their size or strength at all. Still elite though. Look at Hudler... Slow, small, and weak....but his skill alone allows him to be extremely succesful at a pro level. For a so called Detroit fan, you have a very skewed view of our prospect pool....

Size: Sheahan, Jurco, Andersson, Tvrdon, Aubry, Bodin, Nestrasil, Parkes, Raedeke Speed: Nyquist, Jarnkrok, Jurco, Ferraro, Athanasiou, Tvrdon, Quine, Aubry, Bodin, Coetzee Skill: Nyquist, Jarnkrok, Tatar, Jurco, Pulkkinen, Frk, Athanasiou, Tvrdon, Quine, Aubry, Coetzee, Nestrasil Strength: Sheahan, Andersson, Aubry, Bodin, Callahan, Hudon, Nestrasil, Parkes, Raedeke Looks pretty well rounded to me. Add Mursak to the speed and maybe the skill as well.

Such a tired old rebuilders argument. Datsyuk said he wishes to end his career in Russia, not jump ship when he's 36. A player of his caliber, the best 2-way forward in the league, doesn't end his career at 36. An elite player like Datsyuk could likely play in the NHL past the age of 40 if he really wanted to, however it's clear he wants to do something along the same lines as what Fedorov did, play until 40 and then spend a couple years in Russia. When asked about his clients comments Datsyuk's agent has made it very clear that Pavel feels an extreme sense of loyalty to Detroit. The team and the organization. It's highly doubtful that the classiest player in the NHL, who loves his team inside and out, and could very well have his number retired here, is going to ditch at 36. Everything written about the matter has said it's very doubtful he goes to Europe without signing at least 1 more contract with the Wings. IMO it's much more likely he signs for a discount price with us when the time comes. For crying out load Fedorov (one of the most popular players of all time in his home country) played in the league till the age of 40, and he had no such tie with any team in the later portion of his career like Datsyuk does. And even if it was likely that he would leave at 36, we all know Holland still wouldn't trade him. We treat our loyal franchise players with loyalty in return. Disagree with it if you like, but it's not going to change how Illitch and Holland run things. If you don't like it root for a different team... Maybe try Minnesota. There's about a 1% chance he leaves early, and even less of a chance that he gets traded. This is the real world/hockeytown, not NHL13.

Kenny has Yoda patience. But I agree with it... It's a business, long term success trumps short term

Can't wait for this summers NHL.com headline: Wings Hungry For Tatars