krsmith17

Jeff Skinner was an 18 year old All-Star if my memory serves me correctly...

Ummm you might want to fact check that one... Where did ya get this info?...

Weiss didn't work out. It sucks we had to buy him out but it happens to every team in the league. Howard has been great up until this recent stretch. He will need to be traded within the next year or so though. You're really bringing up Tootoo? If he were still here, you'd have a point. Holland made good on that buyout. Ericsson is slightly overpaid but not near as bad as some make it seem. The Kindl deal sucks but again, there are many other much worse contracts around the league. Cleary is a Griffin, not a Red Wing. Nothing against our cap. Holland isn't perfect, nor is any other GM in the league. There may be a few doing a better job right now, but I have no issue with the way Kenny is managing this team. Once again rebuilding on the fly. Be patient...

So... what exactly is your argument?... I wasn't arguing anything, just making general statements regarding the topic. I agree with everyone saying that Larkin has potential to become elite. I don't think it's fair to label him as elite status quite yet...

Wow... I agree it is definitely a "hockey deal". Not sure who wins this in the end, good trade for both teams, but I think Columbus may come out on top of this one...

I said this in another thread, but it's much more relevant here... My problem with arguing the word "elite" is much like arguing the meaning of many words, people have different interpretations... To me, elite is not exclusive to two or three players in the league, nor is it two or three players on every team. When Babcock left for Toronto, one of his quotes regarding Nazem Kadri was "well I expect him to be an elite player". I don't think anyone would suggest that Babs expected Kadri to be a top 50 player in the league, let alone top two or three... I've heard Blashill say several times that he believes DeKeyser "is an elite player in the league". Does that mean he thinks he's the next Lidstrom or Orr? I doubt it. Another quote from Blashill regarding Nyquist and Tatar, "I believe they either have been or are going to be elite players in this league". Does anyone think that Blash is saying that they have the potential to be the next Gretzky or Lemieux? Again, I doubt it. How many times have we heard coaches, commentators, analysts say so-and-so is elite, or even just a generic comment such as "they have some elite players over there" when talking about the opposition? It could be regarding the Chicago Blackhawks or the Buffalo Sabres, the word is still used. No one would argue that there is at least one elite player on Chicago, whether it's Toews, Kane, Keith, etc., but who on Buffalo is elite? My point is, oftentimes the word is used very loosely, and it just depends on your interpretation of the word. Larkin has been compared to some of the greats that were / are elite. Everyone's heard the comparisons to Yzerman and Toews, just or not. I think everyone would agree that Larkin is an elite rookie in the league and has elite potential, but I don't think it's fair to label him elite league wide at this point in his career. Just my opinion...

He can block "10" crap teams. If he sees himself getting less and less starts, I can't see him trying to block a team like Buffalo for example. He could definitely challenge Johnson for the starting role there, they are a team on the rise, and he'd be back in the states, somewhat close to his hometown. There are always options...

I'm of the belief that no contract is untradeable, and in my opinion Kindl's is far from it. Obviously there won't be 29 teams offering up packages, but I would think that there would be a team out there that would be willing to give up something for him and take him on as a reclamation project of sorts. He's a former 1st round pick, 'relatively' young for a defenseman, and despite what LGW says, he's not 'that bad'. Maybe a late round pick or low tier prospect from a team like Edmonton, Columbus or Philadelphia... Nah, the Flyers would never take on a bad contract... If that can't be done (I think it can), we should waive Kindl, and hope someone claims him. Marchenko has clearly earned a spot over him and I honestly don't want to see any defensemen sent down to Grand Rapids. Right now we have a perfect lefty - righty back end with Ouellet - Russo, Paetsch - Jensen, and Lashoff - Sproul. If Marchenko were to be demoted, I think they would lean toward keeping their two veterans in the lineup and take out one of the righties, likely Sproul. And that would suck, considering the year he's been having down there...

Every that constantly b****es about Ken Holland, be thankful you're not a Flyers fan... #Flyers' buried / retained salary is astronomical: Vinny ($2.25M), MacDonald ($3.975M), Schenn ($1.8M), Gagner ($2.25M), Grossmann ($500K). That's absolutely insane... Nearly 11M in unusable cap space...

You acknowledge that Zetterberg never plays in the All-Star game because he chooses not to, but then go on to say that Crosby has been "snubbed"... What makes you think Crosby, for whatever reason, chose not to go, like MANY have in the past... Sure it's possible, but I'd find it very hard to believe that Crosby was simply overlooked. Even with his subpar (to his standards) season, he is still producing more than quite a few that have been selected.

Andy, both will definitely be gone in the top 5, and it wouldn't surprise me to see them both go in the top 3. No chance we get either...

I'll give you Strome, but I definitely wouldn't say he was "way" better... Strome and Hicketts were far and away Canada's two best players in my opinion. I'd probably give Hicketts the slight edge, but I'm not going to argue with anyone that says Strome had the edge. Anyway, great tournament overall, but I was not overly impressed with any Red Wings prospects...

I think Marchenko has been good enough to uphold a spot in the lineup, however with everyone healthy, I think he may get sent down... There's no question, a trade should be made, but we all know that isn't happening...

They should both be in. Nosek has already been reassigned to Grand Rapids, and Andersson should be the healthy scratch.

Why would it have to be a "contending team" that acquires Howard? There are plenty of teams that have weak goaltending, and there are plenty of teams that could use a veteran goaltender like Howard. He certainly isn't untradeable like some seem to be suggesting...

Who was Canada's best player then? The only other player that came close in my opinion was Strome. Marner was very underwhelming all tournament until the last game / game and a half. Konecny was pretty good but only had 2 points the whole tournament. Hicketts was at his best on the PK, so I'm not sure where you're getting that. I don't have any stats to back this up, but he had to have been in the top few shot blockers in the tournament. I remember one penalty kill in particular in which he blocked 3 shots within 20-30 seconds... No you're right, you didn't say Hicketts is a bad hockey player, you just said he has a low skill level... I agree Toby, I don't think either have a great shot at making the NHL, based on size. My point is that Hicketts, in my opinion, has a better shot than Saarijarvi. I thought that was a bad pick in last years draft, I hope he proves me wrong, but so far I haven't been overly impressed...

Ken Holland said Miller and Jurco have been cleared and are available for Thursday's game in San Jose. Pulkkinen is about 2-3 weeks away from returning.

Ken Holland said Quincey likely to be cleared on weekend. Before that happens, Wings need to clear some cap space. Wouldn't reveal how much.

Hicketts has "low skill"? Are you kidding me? He was Canada's best player in the tournament, granted on a weak Canadian team. But Saarijarvi isn't even close to Finland's top player in my opinion. Hicketts had 3 points (1 goal, 2 assists) in 5 games and Saarijarvi has 3 points (all assists) in 6 games, not including the game that is currently going on now. In junior, Hicketts plays in the lower scoring league, and is still over a point per game defenseman and is top 3 in the league in points per game for defensemen with 30 points in 29 games. Saarijarvi has 19 points in 28 games, which is still pretty good. Hicketts is a year older but he also put up virtually the exact same points last year with 64 points in 62 games, which again was the top 2 or 3 in points per game for a defensmen. And yes, Hicketts also does have the intangibles, which almost seems like you were kind of mocking... Nonetheless, Hicketts is a much better all around hockey player than Saarijarvi at this point and I believe that if either can translate their game to the big's, it's definitely Hicketts...

I know I'm likely in the minority here but I'm still not very high on Saarijarvi. He's a good puck moving defenseman but I'm not sure he will ever be able to hack it in the NHL. He really hasn't impressed me a whole lot in this tournament. Like Hicketts, he lacks a ton of size, especially for a defenseman. However, I think "Jumbo Joe" has a better shot at making the Wings some day than "Mini Vili". Hicketts just plays a lot bigger in my opinion, and he never shys away from the physical play. He always goes into the corners against bigger players and more often than not comes away with the puck. He is very strong for his size. Svechnikov hasn't exactly ripped up the tournament either, but I think he has played really well despite not having a single point. He's still the non-pro prospect that I'm most excited about. Holmstrom had a really good tournament too but I think Svech is the better player with a much higher ceiling. I hope he gets himself a couple points in the gold medal game today. Non Red Wings related - Puljujarvi is unreal, 15 points in 6 games so far. He'll go top 3 for sure.

Mantha also has 12 points (6 goals, 6 assists) in the 10 games since he was a "healthy scratch". He had points in 7 / 10 of those games. The Griffins were 7-0 in the games he registered at least one point and 1-2 in the 3 games that he didn't, one in which the team was shut out. I've said it before but I've been very impressed with Mantha all season. I missed the last 3 games but watched most of yesterday's game, and again he was the best player on the ice for either team. I still think he is better off finishing out this season in GR, but I can't wait to see him wear the winged wheel, and it won't be long before he is if he keeps up this level of play.

The best danglers / stick handlers in the league, most are left handed (Datsyuk, Kane, Duchene, Gaudreau, etc.). The best shooter / snipers in the league, most are right handed (Ovechkin, Stamkos, Kessel, Seguin, etc.). All of which are right hand dominant. There are obviously going to be exceptions to the rule but there is definitely a correlation between handedness and shooting / stick handling. Look at the two most prominent snipers in our organization right now, Teemu Pulkkinen and Martin Frk. Both of these guys have absolute bombs and shoot right handed.

No pending UFA would cost near that much, not even Stamkos. That would go down as the dumbest trade in the history of the NHL. What's stopping Stamkos from bolting after this season to go back to Tampa or Toronto or any of the other 27 teams? We're then without a legit top 6, 25-30 goal scorer, a top prospect, power forward winger that projects to be a 30 goal scorer, and our top defense prospect, as well as a pick...

The #RedWings line combinations are: Tatar-Datsyuk-Helm Abdelkader-Zetterberg-Nyquist Larkin-Sheahan-Richards Andersson-Glendening-Nosek

Going into next season... Larkin - Datsyuk - Mantha Nyquist - Zetterberg - Abdelkader Tatar - Nosek - Jurco Helm - Sheahan - Athanasiou