Rice

Sounds good.

This is what I said in another thread: Defense going into 06-07 playoffs: Lidstrom-Markov Schneider-Lilja Lebda-Chelios Defense going into 07-08 playoffs: Lidstrom-Rafalski Kronwall-Stuart Chelios-Lilja Pretty easily a better defense on paper. Lilja is out of the top four, Kronwall is in the lineup and improved, Rafalski is younger and better than Schneider, and this year's defense is more offensively capable than last year's. If they're healthy (knock on wood), the Wings will enter the post-season with four legit point men for the powerplay in Lidstrom, Rafalski, Kronwall, and Stuart. Last year there were only two: Lidstrom and Schneider. The bottom-six forwards are essentially a wash along with the first line. I feel they're more gritty and experienced than last season's, though. What it really comes down to is the second line. Calder was a non-factor in the playoffs and was eventually scratched. Lang had a very clutch (series-saving, most likely) goal, but I can't imagine he had teams worried like you suggest. He sucked defensively and floated the majority o the time. Filppula will be replacing him. Filppula is younger, better defensively, and will likely score more goals than Lang did last year (Filppula currently has 18 goals, Lang had 19 last year). Filppula was, IMO, better than Lang in the playoffs last year. Bertuzzi, again, was a non-factor. Aside from his name, the guy was nothing more than a glorified bottom six grinder minus defensive capability. He, like Lang, floated the majority of the time. He had a few nice hits here and there but rarely contributed offensively. He had a key giveaway in the Anaheim series that I remember. Cleary by far outshined Bertuzzi last year and he's gotten better this year. You're looking at the names on paper; opposing teams won't be. The second line was pretty useless in the post-season and the Wings still nearly managed to beat Anaheim. Does this mean I'm comfortable with our second line? No, but I wasn't comfortable with it last year either and the Wings got pretty damn far. You have to remember that Filppula, Hudler, Franzen, Cleary, and Samuelsson are all a year older and have playoff experience under their belts now. Things can't get much worse than Bertuzzi, Lang, and Calder were last year. The guys the Wings have now are younger and more motivated. Plus, the Wings are deeper at defense. On top of all that, you can tell this team is hungry. Hungrier than last year. They came close and they know it.

Update on Fedorov: Washington beats Boston 10-2. Fedorov fails to get a point and somehow manages to be -1. Impressive.

I fail to see how you think spending $35 million on five players (with the remaining $20 million going to seventeen guys) wouldn't force the Wings to "gut the roster too much". With the deal you suggested, Kronwall and Holmstrom would still be on the roster. So, that's $40.25 million on seven players -- leaving less than $15 million to spend on 15 guys with no "bargain" type players left since you dealt Filppula, Hudler, and Howard. Say goodbye to Cleary too, because he's going to sign for around $3 million most likely so that's $12 million on 14 guys. Add in Draper for $2.128 million and there's about $10 million left for 13 guys. Just get the idea out of your head. Richards wasn't coming here. Alright, let's break it down. Defense going into 06-07 playoffs: Lidstrom-Markov Schneider-Lilja Lebda-Chelios Defense going into 07-08 playoffs: Lidstrom-Rafalski Kronwall-Stuart Chelios-Lilja Pretty easily a better defense on paper. Lilja is out of the top four, Kronwall is in the lineup and improved, Rafalski is younger and better than Schneider, and this year's defense is more offensively capable than last year's. The bottom-six forwards are a wash. I feel they're more gritty and experienced than last season's, though. What it really comes down to is the second line. Calder was a non-factor in the playoffs and was eventually scratched. Lang had a very clutch (series-saving, most likely) goal, but I can't imagine he had teams worried like you suggest. He sucked defensively and floated the majority o the time. Filppula will be replacing him. Filppula is younger, better defensively, and will likely score more goals than Lang did last year (Filppula currently has 18 goals, Lang had 19 last year). Filppula was, IMO, better than Lang in the playoffs last year. Bertuzzi, again, was a non-factor. Aside from his name, the guy was nothing more than a glorified bottom six grinder minus defensive capability. He, like Lang, floated the majority of the time. He had a few nice hits here and there but rarely contributed offensively. He had a key giveaway in the Anaheim series that I remember. Cleary by far outshined Bertuzzi last year and he's gotten better this year. You're looking at the names on paper; opposing teams won't be. The second line was pretty useless in the post-season and the Wings still nearly managed to beat Anaheim. Does this mean I'm comfortable with our second line? No, but I wasn't comfortable with it last year either and the Wings got pretty damn far. You have to remember that Filppula, Hudler, Franzen, Cleary, and Samuelsson are all a year older and have playoff experience under their belts now. Things can't get much worse than Bertuzzi, Lang, and Calder were last year. The guys the Wings have now are younger and more motivated. Plus, the Wings are deeper at defense.

I did read what you wrote. How do you justify pairing Rafalski and Chelios aside from the fact that they're both American? I'm sure Babcock wants to limit Chelios' and Lilja's ice time during the playoffs. Rafalski plays upwards of twenty-five minutes a game, so that pairing isn't going to work. Similar deal with Kronwall and Lilja.

One of the reasons the Wings acquired Stuart was to keep Lilja out of the top four. The defense will most likely look like this when everyone is healthy: Lidstrom-Rafalski Kronwall-Stuart Chelios-Lilja (Who cares about nationality?)

The Wings' offense stems from the defense. They scored enough goals in the playoffs last year but their offense began to go dry when Schneider went out, on top of Kronwall already being out. The Wings entered the playoffs last year with two legitimate powerplay point men, Schneider and Lidstrom. This year, they should have four with Lidstrom, Rafalski, Kronwall, and Stuart.

I never said his salary couldn't fit. I said his salary ruled him out of the Wings' consideration for the reasons I listed above.

Never hope for a certain opponent. I remember how badly I wanted the Wings to play the Oilers in '06. Just let it all play out and hope for the best when the seeds are set.

I know we could've taken on his salary this year, but he still has three more seasons left on his deal at $7.8 million per. Zetterberg needs to be re-signed, so you're looking at Richards at $7.8 million, Lidstrom at $7.45 million, Datsyuk at $6.7 million, Rafalski at $6 million, and Zetterberg at around $7 million. That's $35 million on five players, leaving $20 million to spend on seventeen more guys. Wasn't going to happen.

Where does it say the Jackets wouldn't have traded Fedorov to Detroit? The Jackets did want a significantly better deal from Detroit, which would've been too much.

Richards' salary instantly removed him from the list of possibilities. The word is Atlanta was asking for Filppula, Ericsson, a top prospect (Kindl, Smith, Howard), and a first. No thanks. Two things about Nagy: he was hurt at the time of the deadline (neck injury) and the fact that no one traded for him makes me suspicious. This guy was useless for Dallas last year.

Hmm. No.

CuJo 17. I'm thinking a name change is in order but I'm having a hard time thinking of anything. Suggestions? I'm usually playing NHL 08 or Call of Duty 4.

He's been really good all year. These freak injuries are going to make or break his career.

Nah, I think that goes to Yzerman, Fedorov, and Lidstrom for Lindros. Not joking.

Link. Good for the Wings, because Boyes is younger and on pace to score more goals than Cleary (prior to Cleary's injury). I'm guessing Cleary re-signs for something in the neighborhood of $2.5-3 million.

I wonder what LeftWinger has to say about this.

I made a similar topic a few months ago, here's the link. I think this is the most we'll ever know about how close the Wings were to getting Luongo:

Eastern Conference. Central Division.

Wow, six combined goals and both goalies pulled in the first period.

Just saw the hit on NHL Network. Ouch. It was definitely a clean hit, just a case of bad luck for Smyth. I don't understand why that partition isn't padded.

The fact of the matter is defensemen play thirty minutes a night. Forwards don't. It doesn't matter if they could play thirty minutes a night; they don't. Lidstrom is as good defensively as Crosby is offensively. Lidstrom's offense blows Crosby's defense out of the water.

Plus, I'll take a defenseman that can play thirty minutes a game over a forward that plays around twenty minutes any day of the week. Defensemen are more important than forwards.

The funniest thing about this entire panic is how hypocritical it makes people sound. When the Wings are winning, it's brushed off as regular season success that has no bearing on the playoffs. When the Wings are losing in the same "meaningless" regular season, they are doomed for a first round exit. How does that work?