Rice

You probably would have called it a mistake if Holland hadn't traded for a "big gritty forward" too.

The Cross trade was useless, yes, but Holland admittedly was trying to pull something bigger off at that deadline and couldn't get anything done due to cap constraints. The Williams/Calder move was good. Williams was useless and was on the books for another season. Calder wasn't. It saved the Wings cap space for this season. As for the Bertuzzi trade, I'm sure all the grit slappies were salivating at the deal. Everyone accused Holland of having no balls for not making a trade like that one and he finally did. Matthias then breaks out and Bertuzzi was a bust. Kind of a lose-lose for Holland. If he doesn't acquire the mystical power forward everyone was looking for, he has no balls. Since Bertuzzi was a bust for Detroit and Matthias conveniently broke out the following season, Holland made a bad trade.

I know Hasek wasn't a deadline acquisition; neither was Krupp. Krupp was signed as a UFA. I was talking about the trade climate in the NHL, not necessarily the trade deadline. I suppose Franzen is expendable as his particular skill-set is more abundant than, say, Zetterberg's. However, that doesn't mean he's going to be traded. It's important to have talent from within the system and Franzen's on an inexpensive deal. Where do you get the idea Franzen is supposed to be a "top forward"? His role this year is shut-down center and he's filling it pretty well.

Oh, wow. You got me there! Chris Chelios, Dominik Hasek, Mathieu Schneider. You're in the armchair with three Bud Lights; Holland's in the front office with three Cup rings (I know he wasn't GM for all of them so don't bother saying it). Or do you really think you'd be a better GM than Holland?

He's also emerging as a great shut-down center with decent offensive potential. I don't know why you think he can be "easily replaced." You have no idea what the NHL trade climate is like. Holland does.

Prepare for some foot-in-mouth. Bell was traded to San Jose and was involved in the hit and run over labor day weekend there. Sorry.

I could understand Samuelsson or Hudler, but why the hell would you want to trade Franzen?

All TFP does is rehash credible news sources' work. Nothing new here. If Holland can't land Hossa or Sundin, which is the most likely scenario, I'm betting he goes for a guy who is off the radar that is signed for a few more years.

Detroit and Carolina (likely) won't trade with each other because of the bad blood between Illitch and Karmanos. Remember the Fedorov offer sheet? It sucks too, because the two teams would be good trading partners.

Schneider is not a better defenseman than Rafalski.

Is that a joke?

I don't think the 'Canes will be dealing with Detroit any time soon.

Here are pictures: Horrible injury. Hopefully he's okay.

We lost a regular season game to the Ducks on a horrible call? Yeah, let's gut the best team in the league. Great idea.

Yeah, it wouldn't be too hard to work out a deal to send a combined $12 million cap hit to one team.

There is absolutely no chance Lang comes back here. Don't worry.

I'm pretty sure Babcock tried it for a game last year. Didn't work out too well.

He's a decent 5/6 defenseman but he's kind of redundant here. He's a great skater and that's about it. He's weak along the boards due to his size and can't do much offensively. I'd rather have a bruiser in his spot.

I'm betting Holland either goes for a blockbuster (Sundin or Hossa) or a second-tier guy who is signed for a few years. I doubt he's going for an older rental like Blake.

...or it could be that he's on a God-awful team. You guys would all love Tucker if he were here. He's gritty, he can hit hard, and he'd be a pretty solid second line guy. He wouldn't be just a rental either as he has a few more years on his contract. We have a glut of defensemen so Quincey is expendable and if you want to get something of value you have to give something of value. He's like a meaner version of Cleary...perfect for a series against the Ducks.

Clarke via TSN: The Wings aren't as good as the 80's Oilers. Wow, thanks for that incredible insight, Bob! Why is winning by one goal a bad thing? A win is a win is a win and the Wings are obviously the class of the league.

Hopefully both but if I had to pick one it would be a defenseman.

They could use a veteran puck-mover. Rivet is their leading scorer on defense with 26 points.

Jokinen is a guy I wouldn't have a problem trading Filppula for.

Konstantinov was drafted as a center if I'm not mistaken.