krsmith17

No way, Larkin and Pulkkinen may get it done... Myers is THAT good...

I also think that Nosek really has replaced the loss of Jarnkrok in our system. Nosek has 3 goals, 7 assists and a +4 in 14 games, just coming off a hand injury. He may not be quite as flashy as Jarnkrok, but he definitely has the size advantage, as well as a speed advantage in my opinion. I think Holland and co. may have found another diamond in the rough with Nosek. And it's nice to see Tvrdon finally cementing a spot in the Griffins lineup. He has a goal and 5 assists, and is a +5 in just 5 games so far this season. He has been flying out there, he is looking really good as well.

Sproul is really turning his game around (as expected) of late. In his first 18 games this season, he was really struggling with just 1 goal and 1 assist and a team worst -9, since then, in his past 9 games he has 2 goals, 8 assists and a +7. He is now tied for the team lead as a defenseman, mirroring Nathan Paetch's totals, 3 goals, 9 assists, 12 points, -2, in two fewer games. For those that were worried this kid may be a bust because of his slow start, he is the real deal. I highly recommend watching some Griffins games if you don't already. Even before this current streak, he was playing well, just couldn't get the bounces. The puck is finally starting to settle down for him and he is reading plays really well. You can tell, the past few games, he is playing with a ton of confidence, the same confidence he had when he was ripping up the OHL. I can't wait to see his smooth skating and right handed bomb of a shot on the Red Wings blue line full time in the near future... Pulkkinen really deserves a call-up really soon. He is definitely one of the best players not in the NHL right now in my opinion. He is second in AHL scoring and will be first within a week or two for sure, unless he is called up before then... (doubt it). The Wings could really use his right handed bomb on the power-play.

Trade this bum for Myers ASAP.....

I don't get why people are saying that Backman doesn't want to put in the work. From everything I've heard and read, he has been putting in the work on and off the ice, he just isn't putting up the points he was expected to. He was one of the best defenseman on the entire Griffins team, in last years playoffs. Coming in to training camp everyone, including Babcock had high hopes for him. He didn't exceed expectations in camp but I don't think he was really a disappointment either. He had a slow start with the Griffins this year, but not one of the games I've watched, did he look out of place, certainly not to warrant a scratch over Brennan Evans. Can you really blame the guy for getting frustrated? He was one of the top defenders in a much better league for the past year or two, now all of a sudden he is being scratched for guys that are completely inferior in skill set, who also have no future in the NHL. There is no question that the SHL is a better league than the AHL, and maybe he has every intention to go there where he will get the big minutes, and then come back in a year or two to earn a spot on the Red Wings roster or another NHL team. Like I've said before, I do feel that Backman has the potential to be an NHL defenseman, but none of us know exactly what really happened there. However, I do wish he were still down in GR over Evans. But then, I also wish Ouellet were up with Detroit over Kindl too... Oh well, we'll have to wait and see how this one pans out...

I made a bet with my brother-in-law (Habs fan), that Detroit would be ahead of Montreal by Christmas. We made the bet on November 26th when Detroit were 6 points back with two games in hand on Montreal. The deal was if Montreal are ahead after December 23rd (tonight), I owe him two dozen beer, if Detroit are ahead, he owes me two dozen beer and a 26er of rum. I desperately need a Wings victory over the lowly Sabres, as well as the Islanders to come up huge with a regulation win over the Habs tonight... GO WINGS! f*** THE HABS!

Makes sense to have Weiss on the line with Glendening and Miller. You wouldn't want to disrupt any of the chemistry on the other lines, especially with all three lines firing on all cylinders.....

Yeah, because Scott Czarnowczan is definitely an upgrade over Backman... Rare mismanagement by the Wings on this one in my opinion, although I guess none of us know the full story about what was really going on there...

kliq, I agree with about 99% of your posts but I can't disagree more on that being a "much more accurate" trade proposal... I would lose my sh!t if that trade were to happen. We just lost one of my favorite young Wings (Sheahan), my (everyone's) favorite prospect (Mantha), one of the top players in the American League (Pulkkinen), and my favorite defense prospect (Sproul). Maybe we should add in Mrazek and Scrivens to top it all off. That trade would be absolute robbery by Edmonton in my opinion.

Don't worry Frank and co. Mike McKee will be here smashing faces in about 5 years or so...

Howard needs to stop a few pucks for sure, but he definitely isn't the whole problem. Jimmy is 4/15 (0.266%) which is awful but the players are 4/19 (0.210%) which is even worse. Pav and Gus are the only two that have scored so far this season in the skills competition. Mrazek, who is a perfect 3/3 (1.000%) in the only shootout he has been in, is an option to throw in cold, but we know that would never happen. I just think Jimmy needs to bear down and Babcock needs to throw out a random group of players next time around. I'd almost prefer to see Glendening, Miller and Quincey at this point. No goalie would have a clue what to expect and that's honestly what I believe is half the problem with our players of late. Every team reviews tape of their opposition prior to the game and our guys all have their one or two go-to moves. They're too damn predictable. Nyquist tries the same forehand, backhand, slide it through the fivehole deke, granted it has worked a couple times but when the goalie is anticipating that one move every time, it becomes a lot harder to pull it off. Tatar, I wouldn't say is predictable because I'm pretty sure no one in the building has any idea what he's going to do including himself, and he usually dekes himself out, gets in too tight to the goalie and loses the puck before getting a shot off. Even Datsyuk has become predictable with one of his two backhand, forehand or forehand backhand dekes, but even though the goalie knows exactly what he is going to do he can sometimes still pull it off because he is that good. Anyway, we better start finding a way to get the extra point in some of these breakaway competitions or it will end up costing us come playoff time.

I'm not worried about Backman, he will be fine. But I do agree that Ouellet needs to get up with the big club full time. Why Kindl is still on this team is beyond me. We're not going to get much of a return for him but I believe he can still be a serviceable defenseman on several other clubs. There are 3 teams that I think could use help on the back end right now, due to lack of depth or injury. The Oilers need help at every position, but mostly on the back end. Kindl could be a good fit there. The Islanders and Jets could also use a little help on their back end right now, because of injuries. Any of these teams could have him for a mid to late round draft pick or even future considerations. We can bare to lose the "asset", the roster spot should be more important to us right now.

Very fitting name...

Well... it worked... Lol

Kip, I do agree with you that that is probably what the asking price would be, and I also agree on saying "no thanks". However, I don't understand why you insist on always calling Brendan, Reilly's brother, and referring to Reilly as "the Good Smith". Reilly is a pretty decent player but I do think that Brendan is better. Defense is a much harder position to play at the NHL level, I don't need to tell you that. Brendan's overall skillset is far superior to Reilly's in my opinion. He is bigger, nastier and is a better skater. Reilly of course puts up more points, as he should being a forward, but you act like he's the better player of the two. He is not.

Lol that may have been underpayment but that is MAJOR overpayment... You're saying that a package of Smith / DeKeyser, Nyquist / Jurco, Pulkkinen, and a first MIGHT get Taylor Hall?... Wow...

I do like those pairings a lot but the only thing that would make them better would be to switch Quincey and Smith. I really wish DeKeyser and Smith would be reunited, they looked great together.

Both Quincey and Smith were struggling at the time they were put together last season which was a recipe for disaster. They're both playing much better hockey since then, and I don't think they would struggle the same way if it were tried again. I think Kronwall - Ericsson, DeKeyser - Green, Smith - Quincey would be a great top 6.

It's not much of a demotion in minutes, but realistically, what player with the skill set of Jurco wants to play on a grind line with Glendening and Miller? I'd much rather see him being used in the way Abdelkader has been used over the past couple years. As good as Tatar - Datsyuk - Helm have been, I see Jurco in for Helm as much improvement.

Nyquist - Zetterberg - Abdelkader Tatar - Datsyuk - Helm Cleary - Sheahan - Jurco Miller - Glendening - Andersson

Franzen is not skating today. That may be good news to some... Weiss was skating but left ice early.

Yandle is clearly the best of the three but Green is the best option for Detroit in my opinion...

dirtydangles, I couldn't agree more, on all points. That's pretty much exactly how I feel on all 5 guys. Ouellet and Jensen, to me are the most NHL ready right now. We've all seen what Ouellet can do, he is a very reliable, well rounded defenseman. Jensen is a smooth skating, puck moving defenseman that is great on both sides of the puck. Sproul has the highest ceiling, and although he is somewhat struggling right now, I really see him bringing it by the new year. I agree that Backman has the potential to surprise, but he's still a few years away in my opinion. Love the Marchenko to Ericsson comparison, that's exactly who I've been comparing him to as well.

Yes, we are "stacked" at the forward position but I think you're willing to trade the wrong guys. I get that they have more value to other teams right now but they're still nowhere near the true value that they hold. Athanasiou is a stud and there is no way I just "throw him in" a deal at this stage of his career for a project player. And I certainly don't want to trade away some of these guys just because we can... My biggest issue with trading any of these young "unproven" guys is that you're never going to get full value in a trade, that's why I love how hesitant Holland is in trading prospects, and how set he is on building through the draft. Guy knows what he's doing, plain and simple. To be honest, I'd much prefer trade a roster player that is a known commodity and has more value to most teams right now, than to trade a guy with as much untapped potential as Athanasiou or Pulkkinen. Like I said before I'm not one of the people that are saying "stay away from Myers" nor am I one of the people saying "trade for him NOW, we need HIM". I think he may be a decent fit with the Wings and grow into somewhat of the player he showed prior to being drafted and in his rookie year. But the most I would be willing to give up for such a project would be a couple middling prospects and a pick, none of our top end guys.

Oooh so that's how it works... That's why there are so many negative posters on here... I get it now... Always look at the glass half empty so that there are no let downs, just pleasant surprises... Gotcha.