krsmith17

Smith is probably the only thing we've ever agreed on here... It's all good though.

I wouldn't be at all surprised if Frk becomes an NHL player, just not a top line player... next season... Also, both Pulkkinen and Frk as well as teammates have said that Frk's shot is actually harder than Pulkkinen's, just not quite as accurate. I don't think it's that bold of a prediction to say that he could be a third line power play specialist at the NHL level, I'm just not sure if we will have a spot for him...

Lol I'll keep that in mind Bill. You've never said such things on here have you?... my apologies... LOL

Just getting back home from Denver. What a time. As much as I hate the Aves, I don't have a single bad thing to say about any of the fans I met, and the city is amazing. Two great games last weekend and although it was disappointing to see the Alumni team lose, it was awesome seeing Yzerman and Shanahan score a goal each and the rest of the gang lace 'em up again. The regular game was awesome too, and we had plenty of Wings fans in our area to high five on every goal and celebrate after the game. I managed to meet a few players, and got loads of pics, had a chat with Larkin's old man, drank loads of beer, visited the Coors Brewery, and had an amazing trip..

Dickie, I wasn't specifically talking about what Bill said in this thread, I'm talking about the constant ramblings of Bill in just about every single other thread about how Nyquist and Tatar suck, and how they need to be traded for whatever we can get... And Bill has stated several times in other threads that Frk is going to be a top line winger... wingedominance13, there is not a single other person here that is hyping Frk, other than Bill...

"Most of us do NOT like our team..."? ummm, I don't really think that's accurate... Also, I love how you list all these players who "have not turned out", including Nyquist and Tatar... but believe that Frk is a top line NHL player...

You really think we could get an elite prospect like Nichushkin for two pending UFA's and a 4th round pick? Not a chance... Our biggest need is still on the back end and we're incredibly deep up front, so why would we trade away a couple defenseman for a young forward? If we're making such a trade, it needs to be for a young high end defensive stud, such as Trouba, Morrissey, Theadore, Werenski, etc. not a forward...

All aboard the Frk hype train... Oh it's just Bill? Never mind... Bill you say a ton of outlandish s*** but there's no way you actually believe that Frk is better than Nyquist and Tatar...

I'll be there. Anyone know of any must see / do things in the Denver area?

DeKeyser is absolutely a top pairing defenseman, a very solid number two. I like Fowler a lot, and he would be an upgrade for sure, but I'm not sure if he's what we should be trading for. I see him as another very solid number two, in the same mold as DeKeyser, slightly better. In a perfect world, we trade for a more offensive minded, clear cut number one that shoots right handed. I'm just not sure if that player will be made available though. In saying that, if he could be had relatively cheap (he can't) I'd do it... I would have loved Bieksa a few years ago, but he has gone down hill quite a bit since then, and is not at all the type of player we need right now. I have no interest whatsoever in Vatanen. He's a good puck moving defenseman, but he's very undersized. I don't see him as anything close to a number one.

Hollanf already said that Saarijarvi will not be back in Flint next season. He will either go back to Finland for another season or two or start his pro career with one of the Wings affiliates, Griffins or Walleye. I think he will get a look once the AHL / ECHL playoffs start, and they will make their decision from there...

He played another great game, and all three goals were nice, especially the first one on the penalty shot, great fake move to the backhand. Two of the others were bombs from the right point, one on the power-play. He almost had his 4th on a nice rush in the 3rd period, but unfortunately he rang it off the iron. It seems like he can dominate games at will, he just needs to want to do it more often. Holland and Martin were at the game last night, so maybe that was the motivation he needed to be on his A game. He just needs to bring it more often... I really hope he gets called up at some point this season and shows that he is NHL ready..

Unfortunately, I think the Flames will be quite content rolling Hiller and Ortio for the remainder of the season. It certainly wouldn't hurt them to fall further in the standings, increasing their chance at Matthews. It wouldn't hurt to make a phone call though...

I've always thought Yandle was a little overrated around here, and Quincey took way too much flack up until recently. However, I'd definitely take Yandle over Quincey if we're just looking at the players, but once you factor in contracts, I'd take Quincey at $4.5M over Yandle at $6M. In saying that, I'd also rather have Ouellet or Jensen at under $1M than Quincey at $4.5M... I don't think we should bring Quincey back next season, unless we're able to get rid of both Ericsson (highly doubtful) and Kindl (somewhat probable). And if we know now that we plan on letting Quincey walk in the offseason, we should try to get a return on him at the deadline, and same goes for Richards. I think we could get a decent return on both players from a contender at the deadline, and I don't think either would be the key to our playoff success this season... Trade both, and replace Quincey with Ouellet and Richards with Pulkkinen or Mantha. I don't think it makes us any worse right now, and gives us a couple more picks to work with going forward...

I think Quincey could easily get $5M for around 5 years if he tests the open market. I wouldn't want to pay him any more than his current salary of $4.25M for 3 years. Otherwise let him walk...

I guess ideally Quincey would be a really good number 5 on a deep team, and he would definitely play as such if he were to be traded to a contender. Although I do think he is a very capable top 4 on most teams. I'm not one that thinks we HAVE to get rid of Ericsson or Quincey either, but I wouldn't hate moving on from both if we could somehow land a top pairing defenseman. My ideal defense pairings for next season would be something like this... DeKeyser - Player Acquired in Trade (Trouba...) Kronwall - Marchenko Smith - Green Jensen / Sproul Quincey - traded before the deadline for a 2nd round pick... Ericsson - traded for a similar type forward contract... Kindl - traded for a mid round pick, retaining half the cap hit on the remaining year of his contract... Ouellet - traded in part of the package to land that top pair defenseman... Jensen / Sproul - waive whichever one doesn't fill the #7 slot and hope he clears... I know that would be a pretty significant turnover and has no chance of actually happening, but that is what I'd like to see...

You think Quincey is a 5th/6th defenseman?...

Mantha has looked good, although he still lacks consistency from shift to shift / game to game. He can flat out dominate when he wants to, which to me is the most frustrating thing when watching the Griffins games. Like most goal scorers, he's very streaky and always leaves you wanting more... I honestly think he's been getting down on himself after being way over hyped a year and a half ago as the Red Wings savior, and since then falling down to earth and being passed on the depth chart by both Larkin and Athanasiou... He needs to prove he's mentally tough and push through the adversity though. I really hope he makes a strong push for the rest of the season and into the playoffs, has a good off-season and great training camp this fall, and makes the Red Wings out of camp. He's been less than stellar in the AHL, but I really think he's the type of player that will thrive in the NHL, alongside the likes of Datsyuk, Zetterberg, Larkin and company...

I've never really hated Quincey or even the trade made to get him back here the way some people have, but I'm kind of impartial when it comes to re-signing him. He's a very solid shutdown defenseman that can eat a lot of minutes and is a very good penalty killer. I know it's highly unlikely that he gets traded before the deadline but I would definitely be open to the idea. I think he could garner a pretty decent return to a contending team at the deadline, and I don't see him as making or breaking our Cup run. If we're planning on re-signing him to another couple year contract at a similar cap hit, that would be fine with me, but if we're planning on letting him walk in the off-season anyway, I think we should try to get a return while we can...

Dickie, the more you talk about Jensen, the less I believe you've ever seen the guy play... Jensen's biggest assets include his strength and physicality, and the fact that he is extremely positionally sound. You say the complete oposite and then go on to say that he has "superior speed" when he isn't even THAT fast, just a very strong, fluent skater... You're acting as if people are saying he's the next big thing, when in reality, for the most part, people including myself believe he will be a solid bottom pairing defenseman. I'm probably one of the only people that would place him above Ouellet on the depth chart, and that's fine. Ouellet may end up surprising me and becoming that top 4 guy (I hope so) but I just don't see it.

Datsyuk named 1st star of the week after picking up 7 points (5 goals, 2 assists) in 4 games.

I'm taking the afternoon off work for this one...

Dickie, I've asked you this before and you failed to answer, so I'll try again. How often do you watch the Griffins? Actually a better question, how often have you actually seen Jensen play? He's a much better skater than Ouellet and more physical. He's never flashy, and always makes the safe play. He absolutely will be an NHL defenseman, whether it's with the Wings or some other team...

Ouellet has top 4 potential, and Jensen won't even make an NHL roster as a 7th defenseman... Got It!

I meant with what's available. It's just very encouraging to see Blashill finally starting to put some solid lines together. You couldn't ask for much better in a 4th line in my opinion.