krsmith17

I disagree.

Zadina will wear number 11 that he wore in Halifax, and Veleno will wear number 90... He wore 9 in Saint John (obviously not getting that number) and 90 in Drummondville. Should we just call him a bust now?...

Yeah, I see Smith as an Abdelkader type player. Probably better suited in the bottom 6, but can play on a scoring line without looking too out of place. I don't think Smith will ever come close to 25-30 goals, but maybe 15-20 could be within reach if everything goes right. I'm really rooting for the kid. If he can be anything close to a Simmonds type player, I'll be ecstatic.

This is what I see the lines looking like, barring any trades... Bertuzzi - Larkin - Mantha Rasmussen - Zetterberg - Nyquist Athanasiou - Nielsen - Vanek Abdelkader - Helm - Glendening Frk / Witkowski (Zadina, Svechnikov, Turgeon, Smith in GR) Ericsson - Daley DeKeyser - Green Kronwall - Jensen Hicketts (Hronek, Cholowski in GR) Howard Bernier

Yeah, another season of Zetterberg is a great thing for the kids. I'd love to see Zadina get some time with him. I just want him to join the 1000 point club. 40 points away. Assuming he plays and stays relatively healthy this season, he should definitely hit that mark.

There have been a lot of rumblings about Zetterberg hanging 'em up... Is this a real thing? I hope not... A lot of reputable sources reporting it as a possibility though... Holland has said that he's been in touch with Zetterberg and as far as he knows, he'll be playing this season, but his back will be the determining factor. I know he said he was in some pain / discomfort at the end of last season, and couldn't practice, but for a player that has played 3 consecutive 82 game seasons (77 the year before), I'd think he still has some gas in the tank... Maybe this is all just a ruse for the inevitable LTIR after this season... I hope he plays 3 more seasons, but I fully expect him to hang 'em up after this season (hopefully no sooner)...

I don't get the Jake Chelios signing. I thought we traded Russo to lessen the logjam on defense in Grand Rapids. Chelios is basically an older, s***ier version of Russo. Basically another Lashoff...

Yeah, the one good thing (or bad thing, depending on how you look at it) is that Zadina can play in Grand Rapids. I'd be okay with him starting down there, and assuming Svechnikov is down there as well, they could be a dangerous duo in the American League. I think Rasmussen is all but guaranteed a spot in Detroit, if for no other reason, the other two have options in GR, and he would have to be sent back to juniors.

I wasn't a fan of signing Vanek, but after hearing he was given a full NTC, I really don't like it...

I'm thinking Zadina and Svechnikov will be sent to GR... Rasmussen will make the team as 3rd line wing. Hronek will also start in GR and Hicketts will be the 6th/7th defenseman...

Good signing. We needed a stop gap goaltender until one of the kids emerge. Bernier was the goalie I was hoping for.

Really like this signing. Glad to have Green back. By far our best defenseman.

Yeah, I watched the whole game and Smith is who impressed me the most. He has improved his skating leaps and bounds over the past year. He was all over the ice and had no problem keeping up with Rasmussen and Zadina. Great at creating space for his linemates. Zadina seemed to be trying to do too much himself, which I guess is to be expected with those insanely high expectations on him. He made some great plays, but also got caught trying to go through 2-3 defenders a couple times. Veleno looked great. Rasmussen looked good. I was also very impressed with Berggren. He seems like a very smart player, great skater and passer. Threaded the needle on a couple cross ice passes, through a ton of traffic, right on the tape. Kivenmaki looked good too.

Holland still saying all the right things... He stressed, again, that any conversations he’s having now would be about building for the future. He wants a competitive team to open training camp, in large part to have a healthy environment to develop young players. But he also said he won’t be moving any future assets to bolster his roster. What he didn’t rule out is a trade that would bring back a young player who could help now and help in the future, someone in the 23-to-25-year-old range. “Yeah, that’s a good range. I think if you’re under 25,” Holland said. “It’s about the future, any trade talks I might be involved in.”

Not good at all... Way too early to know for sure, but I've already seen some rankings and there are a ton of top centers, and wingers, but very little in top defensemen... I'm really high on Dylan Cozens and of course Jack Hughes, and also Alex Newhook (fellow Newfie). The top defense prospect (as of now) is some kid Bowen Byram...

No one is suggesting we "strip the team to the bones and throw culture by the way-side". That's why we'd never trade Zetterberg and Kronwall. These guys are the true leaders of this group. But soon there will come a time when these guys will hang 'em up, and pass the torch to the next waive of leaders. One of those guys will be Larkin. And even at the age of 21, he has emerged as one of the true leaders on this team. He'll be named captain by the age of 24 or 25, depending on how much longer Zetterberg holds on... I just don't agree that we need a Vanek or Alfredsson to come in and help lead this team. We already have a slew of veterans (Zetterberg, Nielsen, Nyquist, Abdelkader, Helm, Glendening, Kronwall, Ericsson, Daley, DeKeyser, maybe Green and Howard) that are more than capable of leading. I just don't understand the desire to bring in any old, washed up players (even if it's short term), to a rebuilding team that is already one of the oldest teams in the league... I think Zetterberg and Kronwall, being the great leaders they are, are embracing the opportunity to mentor the new waive of kids coming into Detroit. They're the definition of "team players", and have and will continue to do whatever they can to help mold these kids into great players. Like kickazz said, if they wanted to be traded to a contender, they would have been traded by now. They have their '08 Cup. I'm sure they'd be okay if we went for one last run this year, but understand that wouldn't be the best thing for the team long term.

I thought so too, but haven't heard anything... I think it's pretty much a guarantee that he will (already has) cleared though.

I'd watch the s*** out of that movie. Who plays Emma? Also, Zadina is a handsome bastard as well. Kind of reminds me of Hank in a way... I want to see the "ZZ Top Line" (BertuZZi - Zetterberg - Zadina)

FIFY

This is the argument that doesn't make sense. We won a Cup with a top power-play unit that consisted of 4 lefties and 1 righty. Therefore handedness doesn't matter...? One time we scored goals on back-to-back power-plays with 5 lefties. Therefore we should banish all righties...? Using the 1-3-1 on the power-play, which we do, makes the handedness of the point man completely irrelevant. The only two players on the ice that matters as far as handedness goes, are the two triggermen on each half-board. You want a lefty on the right side and a righty on the left side.

Hahaha all joking aside. I'm still jacked we managed to get Veleno at 30. I really believe he could be the steal of the draft, even if he wears number 90...

The reason for wanting right-handed wingers, at least for me, is to set them up on their off wing though, in particular, on the power-play. We already have two top six left-handed right wingers in Mantha and Zadina. I'd like to see us add one or two top six right-handed left wingers. I mean, sure, if you want all wingers playing their strong side at 5-on-5, I'd be okay with that too I guess. But in the offensive zone, I want a couple righties on the left side of the ice.