krsmith17

I never want to lose an asset for nothing, but I'd rather risk losing Marchenko than Sproul or Jensen. And while Jensen might slip through waivers, I'd say zero chance Sproul does... Sproul >> Jensen >> Marchenko in my opinion. I don't want to trade Smith, but I do agree that it's a possibility and maybe even best for the team and player at this point. I just hope we get a decent return on him if we do trade him... Coreau will definitely be sent down, since he's waiver exempt, and I agree on sending down Miller and Ott, but I'm just not so sure Holland would do that. I can see him trying to sneak Jurco through and losing him for nothing, which would suck...

Pretty sure the waiver rule still applies to Jensen since he has played a total of 10 games and / or been on the active roster for 30 cumulative days... I'd hate to lose Jensen. If we absolutely have to waive a player, I'm hoping it's Marchenko... but thinking it would be Jensen, or even worse again, Sproul...

Similar to Bertuzzi when he was in the O, though Bert's PIM's weren't quite as high. I loved the Givani pick when we made it and even more since. Between Bert and Smith, we should have two very gritty wingers to possibly slot in the middle 6. Similar players to Abby, hopefully with a little more skill, maybe we'll luck out and Givani will develop into a Simmonds lite...

Helm skated in place of Miller on the 4th line today with Abdelkader and Glendening... Is Blashill seriously starting to get it?... The only other change I would make with the forwards, is move Larkin to center and insert Jurco in place of Sheahan...

It's been mentioned countless times on here, but that's not how LTIR works. Helm's cap hit never came off the books when he went on LTIR. The team is just permitted to exceed the cap by the $3.8M. We don't need to clear cap space for Helm to come back, we just need to clear a body. My hope is that body is Ott or Miller, not Jurco...

I'm confused... How does it not?

I agree. What would your ideal defense look like kip?

What about this guy?...

It seems like Holland always get "lucky" with an injury, just as someone else is ready to come back... What really happens behind closed doors?... Seriously though, this is great news. Good to see Helm nearing a return, and as much as I would hope that Miller or Ott would be the odd man out (waived), I'm not convinced it wouldn't be Jurco... and that would be a terrible mistake in my opinion...

I agree 100% with everything you guys are saying except this... Ericsson is that guy and although he's not near as bad as some make him out to be, he shouldn't be in our top 6... We should be rolling 6 defensemen that can skate and move the puck. DeKeyser, Green, Smith, Sproul, Ouellet, Jensen and possible Kronwall if his knees hold up... I'd like to see us trade Ericsson if at all possible, even if it means eating half of his cap hit, and trade / waive Marchenko. The two of them as a pairing is awful in my opinion...

So Nerve, you will be at the Toronto game? Just wondering because I make a bet on every single Wings - Leafs game with my buddies, but if you're going to be there I may up the ante for this one... "Case of beer?" "How about 10 cases of beer?" "Why so confident?" "Oh because NerveDamage will be at the game." "Who?" "Never you mind... Bet?"

If only we (LGW) could all agree on a lineup every night...

Yes it is, but we also traded away our own 3rd round pick for Dylan Sadowy last year. We do have an extra 6th from Florida in the Kindl trade though...

I agree LW. Vanek is ranked number 3 on TSN's "Trade Bait" list, behind Duchene and Hanzal. IF Holland is willing to shop Vanek, I think a first is definitely a possibility. Not guaranteed, but not that far of a stretch either. In saying that, TSN are also reporting that Holland "may not" be looking to move Vanek at the deadline, and instead may try to re-sign him. I really hope that isn't the case... I think Vanek could be a good fit with the Rangers. I wonder if they would be willing to move prospect Sean Day in a trade for Vanek...

14 - 40 39 72 - 51 - 62 21 - 71 - 26 8 - 43 - 41 / 15 65 - 25 2 - 3 61 - 48 Never going to happen, but that's my optimal lineup with everyone healthy... Imagine having three scoring lines and a 4th line that can shut down top lines while actually generating offense... Imagine having 6 defensemen in the lineup that can skate and move the puck... Imagine having a coach that didn't rely on grit and didn't have a defense first approach...

Helm is due back this weekend, which is great news for the team. Let's just hope Miller is the odd man out. I guess the only other option would be Sheahan, but I still think he's more valuable to the team, despite his utter lack of production this season... No chance Mantha or Athanasiou come out. I still want to see Jurco get a shot, but unfortunately that's not going to happen under Blashill...

Coreau. Rozie is his nickname. Not sure where it came from but his Twitter name is @Rozi3B1rd. Good call Buppy. I too thought for whatever reason he was waiver eligible this year. Just checked and you're right. He can be sent up and down without waivers, which is great news, although probably terrible news for Mrazek...

Umm that Sidney Crosby guy might do it...

The only thing that should be set in stone in my opinion, is that Vanek gets traded to the highest bidder on or before February 28th. He is our best asset at this point, and the more he produces, the better for us. He should garner a second at the very least and quite possibly a first if he continues to put up close to a point per game pace. Especially if a team believes he could be the missing piece to their playoff run...

I agree. I liked Athanasiou's goal more. Kid is silky smooth. Dear I say "elite" level skill...

If that were Jurco or Athanasiou, they'd sit the rest of this game and sit the next game (or 7 in Jurco's case)... But Tatar won't miss a shift... f***ing Blashill and his double standards...

Maybe not purposely, but you're still avoiding or missing my main point... Every single player on the team gets countless opportunities, except Jurco. That's on the coach, not him. He didn't do s*** to deserve to be scratched after last game, and he was far from the worst forward on the ice, yet he's the odd man out once again... Comparing Jurco's production (or lack there of) to any player on the team isn't a fair comparison, because there isn't a single player getting the same treatment (usage) as Jurco. Miller or Glendening or whoever you want to name doesn't play a game or two and get scratched for five plus. Jurco does, and the reasoning is... there is no logical reasoning... except that Blashill is a moron, or there's something going on behind the scenes... Anyway, I'm done with this. Jurco is an NHL talent, but won't likely ever get the opportunity under Blashill... Agree to disagree.

You continue to avoid the main point / reason Jurco has struggled, so here it is again... Jurco continues to get scratched for no reason at all (unless it's practice related... doubt it), while literally every other player on the team can do no wrong, certainly not enough to get scratched anyway... There are "maybe" two forwards on the entire team that you could argue should not ever be scratched due to lackluster play. Other than that, every single player has had stretches as bad or worse than Jurco before his inevitable scratch... Do you honestly think that if Tatar or Nyquist were scratched in all but 11 games this year, playing mostly on a line with Glendening / Ott and a scattered shift with Nielsen / Larkin they'd be producing? Not a chance, they're finding it hard enough to produce with skilled players... Do you honestly think that if Jurco were given an extended stretch on a line with Zetterberg / Mantha or Nielsen / Vanek that he wouldn't be producing? He absolutely would be... Anyway, I'm done with this. Until Jurco actually gets a legit shot on this team (or another team), people will continue to discredit his skill.

I agree that Blashill likely isn't going anywhere any time soon...