kipwinger

Colorado's Shane O'Brien is rumored to be on the block. I haven't seen much of him. Anybody have any thoughts? Edit: Also, and this is completely unrelated to Shane O'Brien, how does everyone else feel about the possibility of moving Nyquist? Personally, I feel like Jarnkrok is the future at the center position, and because Nyquist hasn't shown the same level of success at the NHL level as someone like Tatar, I'd rather move him while his value is still high. Both Khan and Brendan Savage argue that he's untouchable in their Wing's gameday debate today, but I honestly don't see it that way. With Helm, Dats (maybe), Zetterberg, Flip, and Jarnkrok down the center I think we're good moving forward without Nyquist. Of course don't just move him for a temporary fix, but if the return was someone young and talented then I'd do it in a heartbeat.

Jesus Christ.

This defense is just absolutely brutal. They don't play defense, they don't move the puck, they can't run a powerplay. And the worst part? It looked every bit at bad as it is on paper before the season even started. I'll be blown away if we can somehow get two points out of this.

Boy Ian White is sure setting the world on fire tonight.

I agree, he does get caught out of position a lot. However, I'm not always too bummed about about it considering it's usually when he's trying to make plays. And on a team that in my opinion is often too passive, guys who try to make something happen will generally get more of a pass from me. Same goes for penalties. I get super pissed at hooking, tripping, etc. Or as I call them, the lazy penalties. But put someone hard into the glass and get an interference, or bury them into the net (both of which Kindl has done quite recently) and I'll give it a pass for the aggressiveness of it. None of which is to say that there isn't room to improve, but there are deficiencies that drive me crazy, and those that with a little more patience can be turned into positives.

As much as people complain about +/-, and there is some reason to mistrust it, it does tend to give an accurate picture of how involved guys are in team scoring over time. When guys consistently are in the positive over the course of a season, or a career, you get a pretty good idea that this person is generating offense. It doesn't, however, say too much about defense. In Kindl's case this is generally supported by Babcock's comments last week to the effect of..."Kindl moves the puck really well, but isn't playing too well on defense". I don't mind Kindl, and just like I've said with everyone from Bert to Flip to Abby. Put them in the right roles, which accentuate their skill sets rather than forcing them to play in a manner different than what got them to the NHL in the first place, and they'll succeed. Forcing them to be something they aren't is inefficient. Kindl is a decent puck mover who plays well in transition. Play him with a stay at home, reliable d-man like Huskins and he'll excell. Ask him to be Huskins and he'll fail. It shouldn't be either Kindl or Huskins, realistically is should be Kindl or Quincey, Coliacovo, or White.

Filppula has very little trade value because he's a UFA next year. I don't see him moving at all.

Yeah it's really hard to say because Jurco isn't having the best rookie season, and Frk is still in the juniors (though he is lighting it up). However, they both have the right combination of size and skill to be effective at the NHL level. They're two of the few who don't come with the caveat "highly skilled but need to put more weight on" or "good size but need to round out their game". They've got a ways to go, but I'm hoping to see them reach their potential.

Well, I don't know alot about the guy but one thing that sticks out to me (aside from his skill level) is that he's always attacking the net. He drives the lane and forces to d-men and goalies to deal with him, which generally has a lot of residual benefits like rebounds, open linemates, collapsed coverage, etc. Conversely, he's not real big, and that style of play typically wears on littler guys like Weiss.

Aside from the first win over St. Louis, the good game against Chicago, and the subsequent win over Dallas, every other win we have was largely the result of huge individual efforts. Thank god we've got a couple of guys who can win a game all by themselves because if not, we'd be in real bad shape right about now.

Back on topic... 1. Jurco or Frk. One has an insane skill set, and the other has a cannon for a shot. 2. Richard Nedomlel. I always think that defensemen who can hit, fight, and block shots will succeed in the NHL. Plus it should be readily apparent that I have a huge boner for stay at home defensemen. 3. Teemu Pulkkinen. He's undersized and doesn't skate well. Which is too bad, what a waste of an amazing slapshot.

I was actually thinking about starting a thread about this, but I guess I'll just do it here. I wanted to know who people thought was better, all things considered: Datsyuk or Zetterberg? While I'll readily admit that Datsyuk is the more skilled player, I still think Zetterberg is the better player overall. He draws the tougher defensive matchups, he hangs on to the puck better when pressured, brings more intensity night in and night out, is a noticeably better penalty killer, and consistently puts up similar or better offensive numbers. Plus, he'll actually shoot the puck without being forced to at gunpoint. Anyone else care to chime in?

Nice play. It should be on ESPN web gems. Nothing is sweeter than watching an incredible individual play. Except maybe winning a game that you ought to. Maybe that's better. But good on Pavel... Now I'm off to watch Michael Vick highlights, because watching one guy do amazing s*** while his team loses is my very favorite hobby.

If we can get Brad Stuart for a 2nd and a 4th, then I believe there's always a way to upgrade your defense. May not be a superstar, but the right guy in the right role could seriously help us. Honestly off the top of my head I believe any one of Robyn Regehr, Henrik Tallinder, Anton Volchenkov, or Mark Stuart could be had, and all would be a help. Of course only one of Volchenkov or Tallinder, but not both...clearly. I agree we're thin in terms of trade bait, but it's not like there's simply nothing to be done.

I'm going to be seriously pissed if I don't wake up tomorrow to a "Wings rumored to be in trade talks with team X about player Y" headline on the hockey sites. This is killing me. I know that there are injuries and that it makes a world of difference, but considering there's no timetable for Helm or Bert or (presumably) now Sammy, and every game we lose puts us more and more in a hole, we better do something to stop this skid. They could start by getting a defenseman who isn't a mediocre hack from St. Louis, or San Jose, or Colorado, or whatever other gutter we've been picking up "retreads" out of. The season doesn't have to be over, but if they don't get some quality personnel in the lineup, and we keep waiting for Babs' pipedreams (Flip the shooter, Abby the third liner, Ericsson the top pair d-man, Cleary the useful hockey player) to come true we'll be out of playoff contention permanently. It doesn't have to be a blockbuster, but there are moves than can help this team. Make them!

Anybody else think we have so many injuries because teams take it to us night after night after night?

haha, is the word tragecomedy?

According to the Ottawa Sun, the Avs are reportedly interested in trading Ryan O'Reilly's contract rights for a "young forward and a second round pick". Supposedly O'Reilly wants to sign for between 3-4 million per season, but there's no mention on how long he's looking for. Nyquist + 2nd for O'Reilly? Done. http://www.thefourthperiod.com/news/col130127.html

I have been discussing the Wings "problems" for a couple days now with various other hockey people and I've come to several conclusions. Essentially, I believe that the Wings have two types of problems, legitimate ones and illegitimate ones. Illegitimate problems are those stemming from the injury bug basically. Not scoring goals when down, special teams, and an over worked goalie are illegitimate problems. By that I mean they'll be fixed as guys get healthy. Legitimate problems are those that cannot be addressed using the "wait and see" approach. First, I think we need a top pair shutdown defenseman. Kronwall plays better when he's got a reliable, defensively responsible, partner. Plus, while Ericsson is playing good this year, but I don't think anyone can tell me that they wouldn't rather have him as the shutdown guy on the second pair. One top pair shutdown guy would go a long way toward solidifying the defense corps as you'd have Kronwall-Player X, Smith-Ericsson, White/Kindl/Quincey-Lashoff/Huskins/Colaiacovo. Next legitimate problem (IMO), Babcock needs to find line combos that work and stick with them. I know that this one dovetails with the injuries, but here I'm talking more about identifying deserving players and matching them with complimentary players in order to maximize effectiveness across the line. If Tatar is playing good, then leave him in, but make sure that you put him with guys that compliment his play. Same for the top lines. As I've stated before, You aren't maximizing anyone's game by sticking them with guys with similar skill sets, or asking players to be something they aren't. Don't rest your success on whether or not Valtteri Filppula will somehow decide to start shooting more because he probably won't. Put Flip with a guy who does shoot a lot and you're maximizing his skill set. Essentially, let players play the games that are in their wheelhouse. Remember when Babs put Datsyuk on the wing at the beginning of the season? That's what I"m talking about. Don't do stuff like that. A healthy roster will fix a lot. The addition of a big minute, shutdown defender (who cares if he can score or not) will fix a lot more. And finally, Babs' coming to terms with the roster he has, and not the one he wishes he had, will do the rest. We're not in bad shape.

Well that was embarrassing. I'd give my left leg to have our entire team play together with the lineup we projected to have at the start of the season.

How is it possible that a Red Wings team can have a powerplay that is this bad? Ugh.

I think he plays a little more North/South than Nyquist does, and he clearly doesn't have a problem with shooting.

Tatar is really playing well, anyone else more impressed with him at the NHL level than Nyquist?

Your either/or reasoning is remarkable. Thanks for playing. Ideally I'd like to see Brunner-Datsyuk-Cleary. Flip-Zetterberg-Tatar. Then both lines would have more balanced scoring. Obviously when Bert and Franzen are healthy neither Cleary nor Tatar would be in the top six. But yes if the only choices were Nyquist OR Cleary then you're right, Nyquist would be better. Thankfully, those aren't the only two choices.

The world has never seen the kind of stick handling and passing that a line with those three would put together. Their zone entries would be a thing of art, their jaw dropping toe drags a gift from the heavens themselves. It would be as if Marty St. Louis was cloned twice and unlike the movie Multiplicity, neither of the clones would be semi-retarded, and they would pass and pass so fluidly that one might be tricked into thinking that the Datsyuk-Flip-Nyquist line had somehow melded with the winds and waves of the earth into one big flowing hockey life cycle. It would be the most brilliantly skilled line to never score a goal in the National Hockey league, of course.