krsmith17

Buyouts - Samuelsson, Bertuzzi Resign RFA's and UFA's - Filppula, Brunner, Nyquist, Andersson, Cleary, Smith, Kindl Recall - Tatar Sign - Stalberg CAPGEEK.COM USER GENERATED ROSTER My Custom Lineup FORWARDS Viktor Stalberg ($1.750m) / Pavel Datsyuk ($6.700m) / Damien Brunner ($2.750m) Gustav Nyquist ($1.500m) / Henrik Zetterberg ($6.083m) / Johan Franzen ($3.955m) Valtteri Filppula ($3.750m) / Joakim Andersson ($1.000m) / Tomas Tatar ($0.840m) Justin Abdelkader ($1.800m) / Darren Helm ($2.125m) / Danny Cleary ($1.400m) Cory Emmerton ($0.533m) / Patrick Eaves ($1.200m) DEFENSEMEN Niklas Kronwall ($4.750m) / Jonathan Ericsson ($3.250m) Brendan Smith ($1.750m) / Danny DeKeyser ($1.350m) Kyle Quincey ($3.775m) / Jakub Kindl ($1.500m) Carlo Colaiacovo ($2.500m) / GOALTENDERS Jimmy Howard ($5.292m) Jonas Gustavsson ($1.500m) OTHER Buyout: Mikael Samuelsson ($0.000m) Buyout: Todd Bertuzzi ($0.000m) CAPGEEK.COM TOTALS (follow @capgeek on Twitter) (these totals are compiled with the bonus cushion) SALARY CAP: $64,300,000; CAP PAYROLL: $61,052,879; BONUSES: $1,010,000 CAP SPACE (23-man roster): $4,257,121

Would people please stop trying to point out that Smith is making mistakes... Do you really think any Red Wings fan is that naive to say that Smith is not making mistakes and he has not cost us some goals in these playoffs? There is not one person here trying to say that he has not had his fair share of f*ck ups. But what some of us here are saying is that you cannot be so impulsive to say this guy should be benched or that he should be TRADED ASAP!! THAT is why this thread is beyond ridiculous. Smitty will play tonight and he will have a better game, mark my words. There is a reason why one of the best coaches in the game has so much praise and confidence in the kid. He is going to be a star in this league so stop kicking him when he's down and support your god damn team! GO WINGS!

Come on man, give the guy a break.. He spelled Brad right...

Well said Axe. The people ragging on Smith are clueless. Every Red Wings fan is aware of Smitty's mistakes and we have all found ourselves cringe when he has the puck in the defensive zone with Toews, Kane, Hossa, etc. zoning in on him. But like The Axe said, these are some of the best players in the world, and you expect a rookie to flawlessly exit the zone every time. Yes, he has made his fair share of mistakes and he might make another one in his career... The point is there is so much potential and upside to his game and there is so much experience to be gained, especially in this game 7. To say he should be benched for Ian f*cking White is absurd, and to say that he should be traded is laughable... beyond ridiculous... Also, as matt198913 said, these same people are going to be the first to jump on Dekeyser (or whoever else...) when he struggles next season. The bottom line is, some people just love to b*tch and complain, but they're what makes the world go around, so keep it up fellas, without people like you, there would be none of these great debates.

This topic is laughable... I really wish I could "Hate This" on so many people's rants or so-called views of Smith. There are a few people on here that really know their sh*t and it shows and then there is the majority that knows jack sh*t and once again it really shows. You're right, Smith is terrible. Trade him for a bag of pucks. I mean what does Ken Holland and Mike Babcock know anyway?...

Great analogy... But once that Ferrari is restored it's still a Ferrari... Point is, you would regret trading away Smith in a few years. Luckily for you and the rest of the wannabe GM's on here you will not have the chance to have such a regret because you are not in the position to make such knee jerk decisions and thankfully Kenny is such an outstanding GM and sees the future of a player not just how he is playing today. I'm willing to bet you were one of the many people on here saying trade Ericsson too. I've been defending many of our players (including Ericsson) and for the most part I have been right in my assessments. Not saying I don't occasionally hate on a player but I don't immediately say "trade him". Players make mistakes, play bad games and go through rough patches just like everyone else.

^ This X 10 There are always going to be negative people that look for the negatives in everything around them... some people always need something to b*tch about... Smith will be a number 2-3 defenseman in a couple years, and even then he WILL make mistakes... Let the kid play and learn from his mistakes!

To me, Nyquist is the most important to our future just because our backend looks to be extremely stacked with talent, not quite as much up front. With Datsyuk's future unknown (although I think he will be a Wing for at least another 3 years...) and Zetterberg starting to slow down (when it comes to putting up points, I still think he's one of the best in the game at shutting guys down... Just ask Mr. Toews :-p ) and Franzen and Filppula not always playing their best hockey lately. I think it's guys like Brunner, Nyquist, Jarnkrok, Jurco, Frk that are going to be most important to our future. No one player is going to replace Pav and Hank but they can be "replaced" by committee... I think our backend is going to be one of the best in the league in a 4-5 years. I am extremely excited to see Smith, Dekeyser, Sproul, Ouellet, Jensen, Backman, etc... I know, not every one of our prospects are going to turn out as we all project them but the future definitely looks bright in HockeyTown.

Haha now that's definitely a lot more intimidating. Love it!! lol What happened to our previous little conversation? Did a mod remove it or something?.....

I can't help but cringe when reading some of these comments... Filppula hasn't had a very productive year point wise but to say he isn't worth the money to resign him is flat out ridiculous. He doesn't always put up points but he is a very valuable player on both sides of the puck, whether he is pick-pocketing an opponent or spending valuable time in the offensive zone wearing down the other team. To say Val isn't hard on the puck is crazy, I would have agreed with this statement two years ago but the past year and a half he has been a force in all three zones and extremely hard to strip off the puck. He is worth anywhere between the $4 - 4.25 mil he WILL receive. Just ask any other team that would love to have a dependible guy like Val on their team, almost every GM in the league would love for him to become available to throw upwards of $5 mil easy his way. He is the type of player every coach loves to have on their team, the guy you know plays hard every shift and backchecks on every play. The points will come, I'm very confident in that, just like the entire Red Wing brass. Filppula WILL be resigned so accept it and move on. Just like all the Ericsson haters on here just one year ago you will eat your words. Count on it. There is so much negativity on here, I can't help but laugh at times... We are now going into the second round of the Playoffs (thanks to Filppula's game winner) to play against the Blackhawks. It's sad that so many "fans" (and I use that word loosely) counted us out of even making the playoffs halfway through the season. Sad... Go Wings!!

I'm not sure where exactly we will land our first pick but I would love for Valentin Zykov to still be available for us. He's a big body (6'1", 215 lbs.) Russian, right winger that shoots right. He plays big and isn't afraid to go to the dirty areas to score goals or to make a play and is extremely strong on the puck. He played his first major junior season in the QMJHL this year for Baie-Comeau Drakkar and put up 75 points (40 goals, 35 assists) in 67 games, earning himself Rookie of the Year honors. This kid looks like the real deal.

Zetterberg - Datsyuk - Bertuzzi Filppula - Franzen - Samuelsson Nyquist - Andersson - Brunner Cleary - Abdelkader - Eaves = W X 2

Luc Robitaille - Steve Yzerman - Brendan Shanahan Pavel Datsyuk - Igor Larionov - Sergei Fedorov Keith Primeau - Adam Oates - Brett Hull Valtteri Filppula - Henrik Zetterberg - Marian Hossa Dino Ciccarelli - Bob Probert - Darren McCarty Nicklas Lidstrom - Jiri Fischer Viacheslav Fetisov - Vladimir Konstantinov Paul Coffey - Larry Murphy Chris Chelios - Brian Rafalski Dominik Hasek Chris Osgood Jimmy Howard

In the minuscule chance that the NHL did go through with this, it's not as if every player would be released from their current team and the big market teams would be able to stack up on all the star players. I'm sure there would be some time period where every team has the opportunity to negotiate a new deal with every player on their current roster. Does anyone really think if this were to happen that every team would have equal opportunity to sign Crosby, Stamkos, Weber, etc.. Not a chance.. I'm sure most teams would remain the same but it would give owners / general managers the opportunity to negotiate better deals with their players.. and I'm sure there would be a rule against front loaded contracts and their would be a cap on the number of years allowed on a contract. I think it is a great idea for the league but I'm sure some players would disagree, namely guys like DiPietro, Gomez, Redden, Lecavalier, Kovalchuk, Ovechkin, etc.. I think all of the contracts on our current roster would be renewed, although there are a few players that I would prefer Kenny not giving a new contract.. Zetterberg, Franzen and Kronwall would be resigned to shorter term contracts which isn't necessarily a bad thing.. Anyway, as much as I hate Bettman, I think this would help the league immensely. Not so much the Wings because Kenny has done such a great job over the years but some of the teams that have signed players to contracts that haven't worked out..

I could be wrong here but the way I understand it, Columbus traded for two of their first round picks not their draft lottery balls... So the Kings and Rangers would keep their lottery balls and when each of their names are called their first pick would go to Columbus. I know it wouldn't effect LA or NY for the first round but it would effect the order in the later rounds of the draft... Axe, you could be dead on with what you said here but if you know this for sure can you attach a link with the information.. Thanks.

I know Lidstrom is known as the "Perfect Human" but god damn, didn't realize he was so ripped... I also know he's known as "Super Swede" but didn't realize he could walk on water... Wow!!! What's can't this "man" do?...

1) Who is your favorite Detroit Red Wing player overall to wear the Red Wings Logo? Steve Yzerman without a doubt, he's the reason I became a die hard Red Wings fan... 2) Who was your favorite Detroit Red Wing player that joined the red wings? (Non drafted by Wings, could be threw Trade / FA / Waiver etc...) Brendan Shanahan was an awesome acquisition but Dan Cleary is my hometown boy, so... 3) Which current player would you dream of them joining the Wings? Drew Doughty (#1 choice) or Shea Weber (#2 choice) would be the best Lidstrom replacements in my opinion... 4) Which are the players that really "hurt / bugged" you when they left the Red Wings to join another team? Sergei Fedorov, don't get me started... 5) Is there a player that you never wanted him on the team ... but eventually joined the team? Robert Lang, what we lost in the trade for this bum was ridiculous...

Did I say Datsyuk was our number one penalty killer? No... The point I'm making is that Pav can be counted on in ANY situation, on every inch of the ice... It's not like Babcock doesn't play him on the penalty kill because he doesn't think he can get the job done, he doesn't play him on the penalty kill because for 1.) our third and forth line guys are there for that reason and 2.) there is no need to waste Pav's energy on the pk when he is obviously much more of a threat even strength and pp... Anyone that thinks the guy that leads the league in takeaways every year isn't suited for the penalty kill is insane, although our go to guys on the pk are Helm, Eaves, Miller, Cleary, and Abby... As for the second part, you are absolutely right, Ovechkin is put out in the last minute of the game a fair bit, but for all the wrong reasons... just to score that empty net goal. Bruce Boudreau is the biggest joke of a coach in the NHL... That's the difference between a great (Babcock) coach and a terrible (Boudreau) coach, one coach thinks team first while the other tries to get his top player more points... And just one more thing I'd like to add to the debate... Pav is much more versatile, he can play both center and the wing, which is a huge plus being a forward... I give Ovechkin a lot of credit and I think he is an unbelievable hockey player but me personally, I'd take Pav over Ovi any day of the week. He is a much more well rounded player, is a much better team guy and has success to go along with it... Ovi is another guy like Kovalchuk, he'll always be a great player but will never win anything unless he changes his game...

I agree with you that a lot of us Wings fans are going to be a little bias, and pick our main man Pavel.... But I don't think the stats that you are throwing at us are the only one's that matter... Sure, goals and assists are damn important but that's not what Datsyuk is all about, he brings so much more to the table in my opinion.... You pointed out many stats where Ovechkin was dominant over Datsyuk but there are also many where Datsyuk is dominant over Ovechkin... here is just one stat that I'd like to throw out there... Takeaways / Giveaways Pavel Datsyuk 2006-07 (107 / 86 = +21) 2007-08 (144 / 68 = +76) 2008-09 (89 / 50 = +39) 2009-10 (132 / 73 = +59) 2010-11 (71 / 38 = +33) Total Past 5 years = +228 Alex Ovechkin 2006-07 (67 / 95 = -28) 2007-08 (68 / 93 = -25) 2008-09 (60 / 107 = -47) 2009-10 (66 / 76 = -10) 2010-11 (48 / 59 = -11) Total Past 5 years = -121 Something else that needs to be taken in account is the fact that Pavel can and does play in ALL situations... Datsyuk plays even strength, power-play, penalty kill, and the last minute of every game when his team is up OR down a goal, whereas Ovechkin plays even strength, power-play and when his team is down a goal (basically just in offensive situations) Ovechkin is a much more of an explosive offensive threat but Datsuk is much, much better over 200 feet of the ice and I'd take a player like Pav over Ovi any day...

No, you're right they are not in the locker room anymore but there are still some great role models in the Red Wings locker room that can mold this kid into an unbelievable player, both on and off the ice, Cleary being one of them. I think the reason for his arrogant attitude is due to the fact that pretty much everywhere he has played throughout his career he has been top of his team in skill level, I think watching guys like Datsyuk and Zetterberg day in and day out would change that pretty quickly. Either way you want to look at it, you cannot deny this guys skill level, and like I've said time after time, I see absolutely no harm what so ever in signing him to a one year contract at under 2mil... Anyway if you disagree, fair enough, let's just agree to disagree, but there is no way you can say that signing him would not work out, because no one knows that for sure until it actually happened... As for me "losing my temper"... I'm not losing my temper, I just can't stand when people try to present their opinions as fact. You tend to think what you say is the end all be all, and that irritates the hell out of me... A lot of people on here tend to attack other people for their opinion or ideas and it's ridiculous... probably the worst forum I've seen online for that sh!t...

That's a few great articles Red Wings Addict, I haven't read them in years, but it doesn't change the fact that Cleary credits much of his success today to guys like Chelios and Schneider... I'm not saying that's the only reason he made the team but he has said it has a huge part to do with it... Anyway, bottom line is none of you guys know what would happen if a guy like Zherdev played here, I just don't see the problem with signing a guy with his skill set to a one year contract. If it works out he would be a HUGE addition, if he doesn't, we're out 1.5-2 mil for one season........... By the way, don't even try a comparison between Zherdev and Hudler they are completely different.... And if there is one person here that wouldn't give up Hudler at 2.875 and take on Zherdev at 1.8..... you're insane.... lay down the crack....

LOL Crymson you are such a f*ckin clown... you think you know everything about everything and you definitely don't... I think it's pretty sad actually... you state every one of your opinions as fact, just because you say something doesn't make it true... Let me tell ya somethin, your statement above is purely speculation just like everything else you are saying about Zherdev. However, what I said about Cleary and all the problems he had before he came to Detroit, and how he credits Chelios and a couple other guys on the team to turning his life around is fact. I live a half hour from his parents place (where he grew up) and my cousin is good buddies with him, grew up with him, through school, right through minor hockey, and still trains with him every summer. I've met Cleary several times and no, he didn't personally tell me all his personal sh!t but he's after telling my cousin many times, so what you're trying to say about him changing before he joined the team and it having nothing to do with the team is way off base. Stop trying to act like you know everything, and unless you have the facts shut the f*ck up... Oh, and as for Zherdev not working out on this team... it is once again pure speculation... I'm not saying he would definitely work out play alongside Pav and Hank but I don't see the harm in signing a guy with his talent and potential to a one year contract at under $2mil...

First of all, I'm extremely pissed right now because I thought this was was a rumor of somthing that was possibly in the works with Ken Holland rather than just an idea of some random dude... But YES, Zherdev would be a great addition! I have wanted this guy from day one, he has unbelievable skill and would be amazing playing alongside Datsyuk. Don't mind all the haters on here that claim that he is a "cancer" in the locker room or any of that other bullsh!t. Yes, I know he has had his problems with other teams but that is no reason not to give him a look. It wouldn't be the first guy we took a gamble on that worked out... Dan Cleary had a terrible attitude, absolutely no work ethic, caused all kinds of problems with coaches and teammates and had a drinking problem.... we took him on a one year tryout, and he started hanging out and training with guys like Chelios and he completely turned his game and attitude around... Now Cleary is one of the hardest working individuals on the team and is mentoring our younger guys and trying to help them out the same way he was helped by the vets when he came to Detroit. Who's to say that can't happen with a guy like Zherdev, working with guys like Pav, Hank, Cleary... and being coached by one of the best in the game Mike Babcock... Great idea, and go get 'er done Kenny! As for Emery, the only problem I have is his injury problems, I'd rather take on a guy like Conklin that is familiar with our system or even take a gamble on Ozzie for another season for that matter....

CAPGEEK.COM CAP CALCULATOR FORWARDS Tomas Holmstrom ($1.875m) / Pavel Datsyuk ($6.700m) / Nikolai Zherdev ($2.250m) Johan Franzen ($3.954m) / Henrik Zetterberg ($6.083m) / Jan Mursak ($0.550m) Todd Bertuzzi ($1.937m) / Valtteri Filppula ($3.000m) / Jussi Jokinen ($2.600m) Daniel Cleary ($2.800m) / Darren Helm ($0.912m) / Patrick Eaves ($0.900m) Justin Abdelkader ($0.787m) / Cory Emmerton ($0.533m) DEFENSEMEN Nicklas Lidstrom ($6.200m) / Niklas Kronwall ($3.000m) Joni Pitkanen ($4.000m) / James Wisniewski ($4.000m) Brad Stuart ($3.750m) / Steve Montador ($1.800m) Jakub Kindl ($0.883m) GOALTENDERS Jimmy Howard ($2.250m) / Ty Conklin ($0.900m) CAPGEEK.COM TOTALS (follow @capgeek on Twitter) (these totals are compiled without the bonus cushion) SALARY CAP: $64,000,000; CAP PAYROLL: $61,667,044; BONUSES: $0 CAP SPACE (23-man roster): $2,332,956 Here come the haters...........