kipwinger

I'm at the point where I think we should probably sign Daniel Sprong to a 2-3 year deal like we did with Jake Walman (and Maatta, for some reason). I really like the way he hustles, he's not a complete waste on the defensive end of the ice, can play up and down the lineup, and he's 26. I'd also really like to see him start getting a bit more ice time as well. It's nice to have scoring throughout the lineup but I think he's shown that his game is responsible enough to play a bigger role. Something like this in as the top six: DCAT-Larkin-Raymond Kane-Compher-Sprong

He's so f*cking milk toast out there. I can't stand that dude. Maybe move him to the wing and see if that helps. I don't know what else to do with him otherwise.

Zadina with a mini breakaway and doesn't even try to make a move. Just shoots the puck helplessly into Lyon's pads. Osgood and Ken Daniels then clown him for being the worst defensive forward in the league. Pretty much sums up his career.

Agreed. So it goes without saying that Chiarot and Petry will be -2 by the end of the first period.

To signify that a new year means a new Red Wings, word on the street is that SY has directed the team to kill Filip Zadina at center ice. This is all very standard "turning of the page" sorta stuff and should appease the old gods greatly.

I think Edvinsson, Berggren, and Mazur are all head of him IMO. They're all performing exceptionally well in a pro league more analogous to the NHL style. Particularly when it comes to defending. On raw talent alone I'd argue he's first or second but it's not unheard of for European players to have a hard time translating to the smaller ice. Look at Kasper (who had an exceptional D+1 season in the SHL as well). With Berggren and Edvinsson those concerns are gone. I presume they will be with ASP as well, but I until he proves it you have to assume all those guys are one step closer to the reaching their ceilings and I'll always err on the side of guys that have proven it.

I've noticed something about a lot of our prospects that I thought I'd point out. Many of our prospects are very young for their age group. Kasper is 19 and won't turn 20 until April (nearly the end of his second post-draft season). Edvinsson isn't 21 yet. Wallinder, Hanas, and Savage are quite young too. Is this just coincidental or is it a part of SY and Draper's draft strategy?

We played well for the most part. I'm encouraged by the effort against a team we have no business beating. We play the same way on the road trip we'll get some wins.

GR is currently beating the s*** out of one of the best teams in the AHL, with multi-point games from Edvinsson, Berggren, and Johansson. Goal from Mazur as well (6th in 7 games). So yeah, it could.

If not for the worst defense pair in the league we played a pretty solid game. I do not understand what Lalonde sees in that pair that the rest of us don't.

Chiarot and Petry and getting absolutely caved tonight. On the ice for all three goals against. Woof.

If he was 22 I'd say "give it a shot". But probably not at 32.

If Ben Chiarot was a winger he'd be one of the top power forwards in the league. But as it stands he's SUCH a bad defenseman.

Chiarot and Petry are f*cking abysmal. Unreal how terrible these guys are.

Yeesh, Chiarot just manhandled that kid.

Nobody on our team can execute a simple breakout. Every pass is behind a guy, or lazy, or in their skates.

I love Christian Fischer and I want that dude to get extended. He never ever ever stops battling.

The banter between John Keating and Chris Osgood has become an integral part of the Red Wings broadcast. Those two have great chemistry and they're genuinely hilarious. Considering how bad Osgood was to begin with maybe there's still hope for Jimmy Howard?

Another observation from the Jets v. Wild game I'm currently watching: Nino Niederreiter is a badass and he plays hard as hell. Any team (Hurricanes) that would rather have wimps like Teuvo Teravainen on the wing than him deserve to lose.

I'd be looking to retain on Copp as well. I'd really like to see SY target Shane Pinto from Ottawa for our 3rd line spot. He doesn't want to be there, he's been a bad boy, he'll be cheap, and I like his play. Get him on a 2x2 deal and separately eat 50% of Copp's contract when you ship him to a contender and we could easily be paying the same amount next year for a huge upgrade down the middle.

In addition to his many other accolades, shout out to Marc Andre Fleury for always having the nicest looking goalie kit in the league. If you're a young goalie and you don't bite his style (the way forwards did with Ovechkin's visor and laces) then you're a goddamn fool. Fleury stays looking sharp.

Overall I'm a little concerned about Nate Danielson's lack of production this year BUT I'm not too bothered with his play at the World Juniors so far. His line has pretty much exclusively been used for matchups/defensive zone starts and he's finding the scoreboard when it matters. 3 pts. in four games getting the Glendening deployment isn't too bad. I'd really like to see him come out of this tourney with just under a point per game and then use that as a springboard for the rest of the WHL season.

It just feels like the Leafs are primed for fleecing in a trade doesn't it? They have no defense or goaltending. They also don't have any cap space. And they have to win now. Seems like a team with lots of defenders, lots of goalies, and plenty of cap space should be able to fleece them but I don't know what they have worth acquiring.

If we pressure them early and they're out of gas from last night we might see a couple early powerplay opportunities. That would be huge for us. We draw more penalties than any other team in the league and they may be chasing the play for a bit there in the first.

I don't think he's very good, but I agree that there's a play to be made here. Maybe we claim him, waive Reimer, and keep Samsonov, Husso, and Lyon until the deadline. At that point we can either keep the best two for a playoff run or sell off whichever is performing best for whatever we can get. Brings us pretty close to our cap limit tho.