krsmith17

Athanasiou is not "still" injured, but yes he is injured again. Nosek was called up over a healthy Athanasiou though, mainly for his ability on the PK, although AA is no slouch on the PK either. But your point still stands, he can't be inserted into the lineup when he's injured. I expect he'll be good to go again very soon though.

Larkin - Datsyuk - Richards Nyquist - Zetterberg - Abdelkader Tatar - Nosek - Jurco Helm - Sheahan - Glendening

I know you're joking but myself and kip had our fair share of disagreements regarding Smith, but he was far from his biggest critic. I think for the most part, kip was somewhat fair in his analysis, we just disagreed on Smith's potential and whether or not he was likely to reach that potential. I can think of a few others here that I would say likely made that video before kipwinger.

Athanasiou is injured.

I know you say you posted that video for a joke but you can literally make a similar video compilation of 95% of the defensemen or players in the league. Some players just take a lot of heat, and Smith is definitely one of those players. Smitty has been great though, for the majority of this season, but especially the last handful of games here.

Very confused by that comment frank, no idea what you're getting at there... Are you saying that most of our prospects top out as 3rd liners? Because that would absolutely be false. Also, I didn't say there was anything wrong with Holmstrom becoming a 3rd line center. In fact I said if he were to become such a player, he would be "a steal for sure"...

I like Holmstrom but I think he tops out as a 3rd line center / 2nd line winger... which is great for a 7th round pick. Another steal for sure.

Lol of course. Is there any other way?

Also, Jurco is staring to gain some confidence and had a great game last night. I really hope Blash keeps that line together for another few games. I also wouldn't mind Sheahan being bumped up to Datsyuk's wing with Richards, Helm down on the 4th with Glendening and Andersson and stick Nosek between Tatar and Jurco. It'd be cool to see what a line of the two Slovak's and a Czech, aka Tomas, Tomas and Tomas could do...

To be fair Bill, I'm sure most would agree that I'm number one on the list of Smith supporters around here. I've been arguing with people for years that Smith has a ton of skill and top 4 potential. He's finally getting some opportunity under Blashill, and with that has come confidence, and he's starting to run with it. Good for him. He's looked great for a few games now. Keep it up Brendan!

Gotcha. Don't get why one of the Red Wings top prospects' 15 year old brother would be the player you're most interested in seeing play, but to each their own I guess...

Evgeny Svechnikov. Yes he is. Russia won 2-1 against the Czechs earlier in a shootout. No points. Played a pretty good game though, generated a few quality chances.

Buppy, I do agree that he is getting overhyped, possibly even as much as he was right after being drafted and again after his final year of junior. However, make no mistake, he has been one of the Griffins best players pretty much all season, it's just that the points are only now starting to come the way they should have been since the beginning of the season. Still though, he has a ways to go before you can say that he's "dominating" the AHL...

Yeah, I'm sure they didn't care too much about losing a couple days off, being called up to the Wings, even if they didn't play any games (Nosek still might after the break, although I doubt it). I do agree though that it'd be awesome to see Nosek replace Andersson...

wings_fanatic, just curious, how do you feel about the whole rotation between Jimmy and Petr that Blashill has been going with?...

Sheahan, Glendening, Miller and Helm are all defensively sound players, but yet they are -8, -7, -5 and -4 respectively... Marchenko has been one of our better defensemen in his own end but yet he's a -2... Shea Weber and Alex Pietrangelo are both -4. Are they terrible defensively? Brent Burns is -14. He must be the worst defenseman in the league, other than Ian Cole of course, who is -17...

I don't want any trades for any more rentals either, unless it's literally for scraps, which won't happen. No more Legwand / Cole / Zidlicky deals please. I'd rather stand pat at the deadline than make any more of those type trades. If we're looking to upgrade our team, it better be for a player in his prime with years remaining on his contract. That one average player is not going to make or break this current team, keep the assets and keep building for the future. Zero chance Jurco gets waived.

No one is saying that +/- is completely meaningless, just that you seem to put way too much stock into it. I think Larkin being +20 as a 19 year old rookie is very indicative of the kind of player he is, but even if he were a mere +4, I would still be just as impressed with his play. Sheahan hasn't been as good as he can be, but he also hasn't been our worst player, yet he's sporting the worst +/- on the team at -8. The constant hate from everyone on Ericsson, but yet he has the best +/- of all our defenseman at +7. Do you really think he's been our best defenseman?...

Yeah, he absolutely does play big minutes right now... He's also putting up unbelievable numbers right now... That's not the point though. Do you believe he is going to be playing 23ish minutes per night and putting up 0.65ish points per game in a couple years from now? I don't. I think those numbers are going to decline rapidly. "Buff" is 260lbs. If you want to believe that is pure muscle, by all means. However, I think the guy is over weight and his game will decline at an accelerated rate over the next couple years... Of course this is just my opinion, so like I said, time will tell, but I hope we stay far far away from any Byfuglien trade talks, unless he can be had for Quincey and Andersson... which he can't...

Bill, you read WAY too much into +/-... It's probably one of, if not the worst stats to go by, but yet it seems to be your go to in every argument for or against a player. Green has been much better defensively than any of us could have expected. He's actually been quite good, especially considering he is an "offensive" minded defenseman. Sure, his point totals could be a little higher, but he is leading the defense in points per game. He's also just coming off an injury, and has been playing better every game since coming back. He's been great at jumping up in the rush, timely pinches and very solid in his own zone. Green is not an issue with this team whatsoever...

Only time will tell, but I'd be shocked if he's half the player he's been over the past few seasons in 2-3 years from now. There's probably not a guy in the league in worse shape than him today. How can you expect a guy that likely holds that title (or close to it) to to play at an elite level into his mid 30's? As for the question of whether or not I think there's a player in our system that plays a game like Byfuglien. Absolutely not. Do I think we need a guy that plays that way? Not really. I'd like an upgrade on the back end, but for me, it's not Byfuglien...

31 is like 27 for a defenseman? Ummm... Okay? Regardless of what you mean by that, the age is not the issue with me, it's the fact that I believe that his game is going to fall off big time over the next few seasons. Would I take him for spare parts? Probably, but it's going to take more than that. And I'd only do it with the understanding that it is just for a playoff run, no way do I want to sign this guy long term. Again, the age is not the issue. Guys like Suter, Weber, Seabrook and Burns are all virtually the same age, and I'd take any one of those guys in a heartbeat. They should all be elite for another few years, Byfuglien on the other hand, I really doubt his game stays at the level it's at now, past next season...

I will be pissed if we give up any assets to bring Byfuglien over in a trade. I will riot if we signed him to that ludicrous contract... F*** Byfuglien! He may be worth it this year and maybe next, but he's going to free fall very soon. The guy is in terrible shape and will be 31 in a few months. Please Kenny, stay far away from any Byfuglien trade talk...

DeKeyser has been moved up to the top pair with Kronwall, Smith and Green on the second pair and Kindl and Marchenko remain on the third pair. I like it. Blashill also said he hasn't decided if Nosek will play tomorrow. Hopefully he's in for Andersson...

Ouellet is highly overrated in my opinion. Don't get me wrong, I think he will be a serviceable defenseman, but I think he tops out as a 3rd pairing guy. And no he is not an upgrade over anything we have on the team right now, otherwise he would be playing. As for what I would expect to get for him? By himself? Not much, maybe a mid round pick or similar caliber prospect in return. As a package like I suggested? Depends on what pieces go with him. But I do believe a package can be made including Ouellet to upgrade our defense. Whether or not Ken can get a deal done, is a different story... Everyone knows that I'm a huge Smith supporter so it will come as no surprise to hear this from me, but Ouellet is not an upgrade over him today, nor will he be in 3 years... Smith has been playing some great hockey of late, being spoken really highly of by the coach and Detroit media, but leave it to LGW to continue to b**** about him...