kipwinger

I think they'd move him. They're apparently thick with defense prospects and Letang isn't playing that well. Plus he makes a fortune. I could definitely see them trying to get out from under that cap hit, it's WAY too much for Letang (7.2 million). Which brings me to my second point. No way do the Wings trade for a guy who makes more than Datsyuk or Zetterberg. I just don't see it.

Where did you hear/see this?

I used capgeek to build the roster and nhl.com for stats and special teams info.

I'd rather have Stamkos because I remember how Datsyuk looked the last time he had a real shooter playing on his wing.

Exactly, based on the rules it's impossible to have Stamkos, Crosby, Zetterberg, Ovechkin, etc. etc. etc. You really have to find bargains and/or guys who are still good even though they're old. It's way harder that you think.

You're right, one game doesn't mean it's a turning point. However, I think the actual turning point was right around the Winter Classic. We've lost 5 times since that game and won four. We beat REALLY good teams in Chicago and Los Angeles(twice), and played very well against the Rangers, Ducks, and Maple Leafs (all one goal games). We had two terrible games against San Jose and St. Louis. Additionally, since the WC Jimmy Howard seems to have regained (and hopefully not lost to injury again) his dominant form, and Tatar and Zetterberg have carried the team. Add some combination of Dats, Franzen, Helm, or Alfie to any of those one goal games and we probably win a couple of them and our record could very easily be 6-3. Not too shabby when you consider that Chicago, LA, St. Louis, San Jose, and Anaheim are probably 5 of the top 7 or 8 teams in the league while Toronto and the Rangers are playoff teams as well. People freak because all they see are the tight standings, but we're actually playing some pretty good hockey in spite of having a farm team.

Where did you see this...link me please?

It's tough dude. You've really got to work to find the quality bargains because there aren't too many good players over 35 and there aren't too many quality younger players in the price ranges stipulated. Plus, only being able to choose one player per team can really throw a monkey wrench in your plans. Have fun though.

Something to the effect of "The Wings are a veteran team who know how to get away with holding so they do it a lot". Or something. It's one of those statement that people get upset about, but in reality it's probably true.

Any other GM in hockey would view the fact that he's got rookies able to outplay vets as a "blessing in disguise". They'd say to themselves, "look at all these capable forwards I've got. I should trade some of them for things we need and/or draft picks". Any other GM would then actually move some of those players and in doing so, free up the logjam which is the reason many of these guys aren't playing consistently in the first place. Any other GM.

I started typing out some lines and I keep forgetting guys because we've got two million forwards and the only ones we can get off the roster are the ones who are playing well, so I erased it. Screw this roster anyway.

I don't want to move Abby either, and I don't think that they will. But I wouldn't say he's untouchable either. He's a guy with value that another team might want. And it's not like he's so good that he's irreplaceable. It's sort of a truism to say that "for the right price I'd move him" because that's true of almost anyone, but if Abby was the deciding factor between us getting a power foward or not, I'd move him.

Gotta say, this was a really fun lineup to build based on all the stipulations. It was hard to find good quality and still meet the requirements. Particularly the age based requirements. Kudos to the OP for creating this one. A. Steen (25)-Datsyuk (15)-Hossa (21) Kunitz (24)- J. Thornton (6) - Okposo (20) Boedker (14) -Ryan Johansen (19)- W. Simmonds (17) M. Raymond (13) - C. Eakin (11) - A. Cogliano (12) J. Faulk (3)- Beauchemin (1) E. Johnson (7)- L. Smid (1) T. Krug (11) - A. Emelin (0) B. Bishop Total Cap Payroll: $59,014,444 Strengths: The forward lines score...a ton. Good combination of size (Thornton, Okposo, Simmonds, Johansen), Snipers (Steen, Hossa, Kunitz), playmaking (Dats, Thornton), and speed (Raymond, Cogliano, Boedker). Penalty killing would be very good to excellent. Goaltending and defensive defense would also be excellent. Defense has better than average size, but excellent toughness. Beauchemin, Smid, and Emelin would wear forwards down really quickly. Weaknesses: The offensive defensemen aren't great. I didn't really want to use Krug, but I needed anther quality PP point man. Also, one could argue that the offense "could" run a little hot and cold compared to other lineups that could be made.

Who was Smith partner last night? God help us if it was Quincey.

Hemsky's not a bad player. He's just a more experienced version of Nyquist...they play EXACTLY the same game. I personally don't think we need another guy like that. Actually, I don't think we need all the ones we've already got...let alone anymore of them. I want a shooter...with size...and speed. Not a playmaking Euro who wants to pass all the time.

I honestly can't wait until he gets back and starts dominating. There's a tendency (particularly around LGW) to just assume that there's no cause for his poor play, and that the only remedy is to move him. The guy has a 10 year track record of success in the NHL. He didn't just forget how to play hockey one day, and he isn't a flash in the pan either. He's been hurt...all year...and soon he'll be healthy. And then he'll be good.

How did Chicago tie it in the third?

Dammit, my stream went out. What happened in the shootout?

Henrik Zetterberg is ******* awesome!

I disagree. The fact that we would rather not move certain assets doesn't necessarily mean that we wouldn't be better off if we did. It's KH's reluctance to move any homegrown assets with potential that makes meaningful trades impossible. You'll obviously never make an impact trade if you immediately take all your prospects, high picks, and young talent off the table from the get go. Look at this Del Zotto trade. Holland would never EVER have made that trade. Del Zotto was a young, homegrown talent with upside. He's very much like Smith in that regard. If you're completely unwilling to make a move because a guy has potential then you're never going to get a return worth a damn. It's their potential that makes them valuable in the first place.

I definitely have noticed that. On the one hand we never make any of the s***ty trades we're rumored to be making, on the other hand we never make any good ones either. The closest we ever get is "the Red Wings are taking to GM whomever but nothing is imminent". At least this level of ambiguity allows me to dream of something better than lame-ass Ales Hemsky.

I think you're being a little harsh on Ferraro. He definitely wasn't an exciting pick when they took him, and he has struggled with injuries for much of his AHL career, but he really broke through last season and looked good. There was a lot of talk last season about him finally taking the next step in his development, particularly in terms of developing his two-way game. While nobody has ever spoke of him playing a top six role in Detroit, as of a year ago he was considered a lock for a future bottom six spot. Having said that, the rapid development of Sheahan and Glendening, along with Babs' man crush on the latter may mean that Ferraro has been leap frogged.

The Fourth Period is rumoring the Wings are interested in Hemsky (every single year this rumor surfaces) and Brad Boyes. I'll f*cking puke if either of these things happen.

By all accounts Bachman has the better all around game. Almquist has a nice shot, but he's pretty limited in every other regard. On a team with a stud defense, Almquist could probably play the roll of offensive d-man and PP point a la Torey Krug. But our team is already weak defensively, so I can't see him playing well for us.

I mean, superficially he seems like the kind of guy that would work for us. He's developed in a defense first system, he's got real good speed, and is producing well despite less offensively gifted linemates. Give him some shifts with our skill guys and it seems like he should flourish. One thing I really like about him is that he gets very little PP time. So almost all of his pretty impressive production has come 5-on-5, which would be a big help on our team. But I don't want to sit here and pretend that I know what guys the team should specifically target. I just know that year after year we all sit and speculate about all the big named targets and it never pans out. Maybe the under the radar moves are the more realistic option.