Richdg

Are you Ms. Franzen or what? You realize he is on a 16 g over 82 game pace right? Do you watch him play? he does nothing! Even the one thing he is supposed to do: shot and score he isn't doing. he doesn't hit, he doesn't skate. But your blind man/woman love is refreshing........ Just for a point of reference. Clarkson is on a 37 G over 82 game pace.

BTW, just came accross a guess for the cost to sign Clarkson this summer. 4.5 million. Only .5 million more than Franzen. Who is overpaid now?

think this through for a second. Lets pretend Datsyuk wants to play 1 more year and make 7 million for it. The RW's have another player they like that wants to sign for 6-7 million for multiple years. But the wings only have 7 million to spend. In this case datsyuk has no bargining power at all. To the point he would have to play for someone else. As an agent, your client is always the best and is planning on playing for as long as possible. Any time there is the slightest hint of something else, your client loses his power and thus money/contracts. Now I have no idea what is going to happen. I hope datsyuk stays and plays for another 5 + years. This is something that MI and KH need to find out asap. If he is going home, we need to know so we can plan accordingly. same if he stays.

yes-as a forward. our D looks pretty good right now. Would fill Hommers role nicely. Speaking for myself of course, and what they want in trade.

beg to disagree here. McCollum is not terrible. he has been very good at GR. yes Mrazek has been better, but it is pretty close. 2.34 GAA for mrazek and 2.83 for McCollum. He is also only 23, which is very young for a goalie. Howards best year in GR was 2.54. Just as a reference. Howard also didn't stay with the RW untill he was 25/26. So 2 years older than McCollum is currently. he is an asset that can be moved.

Goal scorers go into hot and cold streaks all the time. That is expected and not an issue. It is the fact that Franzen DOES NOTHING when he isn't scoring. sammy who I am not a fan of keeps working, while in a slump. he skates, checks a little and plays D. Franzen doesn't. he just kinda floats arond the ice. 1 or 2 strides here float float float, then 1 or 2 strides somewhere else. The really bad part is, Franzen is already 33. He has 7 years left on his contract after this one. His cap hit is 3.95 million every year of his contract. Even if he retires we take the hit. So, and this would be funny if it wasn't so harmfull-we could be hurt by his contract after he RETIRES! Paying for 0 goals per year. 0 points per year. 0 minutes per year. The idea that franzen will still be playing in the NHL in 7+ years is down right laughable. At the rate he is going, he is going to be lucky to have a job in 3 years. The money is gone, nothing can be done about that. But we can do something about the cap hit. Also, yes he is the problem with our O. The fact that babcocl feels he ahs to play cleary and abby with datsyuk, over franzen speaks volumns.

Like I said: RUMORS but scary rumors at that.....

Becasue after all, agents NEVER Lie....... I mean, what would the bargining position be? Hi, I am here to negotiate datsyuk's next contract. We want 5 years and 35 million dollars. But pavel wants to return home in 1 year. Or 2 or 3....... How do you think that will play? BTW Scott Boras is on line 2, he has the best closer in baseball over the last 3 years ready to sign a new deal for the Tigers.

He would be my first choice. Everyone is going to bid on Perry if he makes it. let them do it, and we focus on Clarkson. He should be cheaper as well.

Like I said, just rumors. The part about "other GM's know about datsyuk going home" Is the real scary part.

I am hoping they will take franzen to do the same.....

This is insane. Perry is one of the best power forwards in the game. Proven 40 G scorer, big and physical, and only 27. BTW if he hits UFA this summer, he can be had for NOTHING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Why would we want a player like this...........

Ok.... Villie lenino, Kopecsky, Roest, Meach, Roittla (spelling), Lebda, legace, etc........ point is, not every backup can become a star. Some players are in fact best when used in limited roles. For the Tiger fans out there, there was once a raging debate over marcus Thames. if he could hit 25 HR's in 300 AB's, then he should be able to hit 40 HR in 600 AB's. right? Well no. Some type of thing happens in every sport. Just because a guy is a great face off man doesn't mean he should play every 3rd shift. hell we all loved Hommer. But he was also a liability in 5 on 5's. great in front of the net, but when he had to skate around, not so much. Now why do I think both tatar and Nyquist are 40 point per year guys? simple. i have watched them for years. both have a few things they are good at, and several things they are not. Nyquist is a much better passer. I see him as a 15 goal 25 A man on average for his career. That is pretty good for a 3rd line guy. tatar is a much better shooter. He is more a 25 G 15 A player. Agian very usefull on a 3rd line. It is when compared to Datsyuk and Zetterberg that they fail. neither is as big as those 2, who are undersized as it is, nor are they as fast, nor do they have the skill. But then again, very few do. Datsyuk and Zetterberg are players that make everyone around them better. The same is not true for Tatar and Nyquist. But back to the point of this thread: Power Forwards. if we had a couple of good ones to work with datsyuk and tatar, and with Nyquist and Zetterberg, and with brunner and Filppula, now we are building 3 good solid deep lines again. The last thing you want is for everyone to be the same-unless you find 9 mario lemueix's laying around.

Let's be clear and not put words in my mouth or anyone elses. I thought our D would be fine. They have/had size, speed, and talent. How they develop would be key. As a group they are doing a great job-faster than I expected which is a good thing! The only real negative is they are all LHed. I would love to swap 2 out for RHers, but good RH Dmen are hard to find. Now i did not expect all of them to make it this far this fast. That is true. But let's not spend to much time complaining about things that are positives. we have enough negatives on the team to b!tch about! LOL

It is but one stat and 1 stat only. It is not worth 5 pages on thread to discuss. yes it is over used. But it is also a way to help measure defense first players. If you are on a checking line, or a defensive pair, how do we know if those 5 are keeping the puck out of the net? +/- is but one means of many to do that.

If he doesn't sign with us, i will be stunned. He has campoed with the RW, grew up here, loves the RW, and last year when deciding what to do, he told the RW's advise to return for 1 more year. I wouldn't be surprised to learn that he has a winged wheel tattoo somehwere......LOL

The really nice part is, once we sign dekeyser, would could be 12 deep on the blueline: Kronwall, Ericsson, Quincey, Kindl, Lashoff, Smith, Nicastro, dekeyser, Oullett, Sproul, De Haas, and marchenko. i didn't even mention McKee in this group-still hoping he moves to LW where his toughness would be better used and less of a liability. But 12 deep is really cool!

Its solid yes. The minutes argument is as old as time itself. if a guy can produce with low minutes he should produce with more. but it doesn't always happen. On the 3rd line you are not playing against other teams #1 line very often. Which can have a negative impact. also with tatar lack of size can he take more of a pounding and still produce? No one knows. Thats why i asked the question, can his production continue? To soon to know one way or the other. The best part of tatar so far is his energy. Much better than other more highly paid vets.

How did he do? any stats or reviews?

I am all for taking time to make a deal. As things have developed the need on D has really dropped of. Our top 6 are playing well, finally. They have always had talent, now they are putting it together, which is great and was hoped for. Now we need to help our the forward corps. G is set, D looks pretty good, but we cant score. You don't win many games scoring just 1 or 2 goals. We have play mkers and passers. need guys to crash the net, work the corners, and that can shoot. The hard part is, those are the most valuable players in the NHL. Kinda like power hitters and strike out pitchers in baseball. But we have a month untill the trade deadline. lets hope a few more teams drop out-not us, and more becomes available.

Trying to judge a potentil trade based on bits of information is bad. Since we don't know thw who's, trying to judge a trade that never happened can't be done. It also takes time to evaluate correctly. if 3 years from now O'Rielly is putting up 75+ point seasons, like I beleive he will and we had a chance to get him, it will look a lot worse. You don't get good players without giving up value. that is the way it works. On the plus side, in 2 years he will be a UFA. So if he becomes what i beleive he will, we can always sign him then. granted it will cost even more at that time.

Then why are you here? If sitting in 6th or 7th place is fine with you, then sit down, be quite and sing kum by ya. All is perfect in RW land. 5 years and counting..... BTW if you would bother to look I have been very consistant in my thoughts. I thought the D would be fine over the long haul-needed time to develop it is/has, and that the O was going to be an issue regardless of the injuries. I also said tatar and Nyqist are 40 pont per year guys, which guess what. Tatar has 7 points in 14 games. That would be 41 points over 82 games. Now can he maintain that level now that the league has seen him and he is part of their gameplan every game. Will be interesting to find out.

How many games does a team win scoring only 1 goal? That is our problem. not our tender or D.

LOl.....sometime we should talk about what "winning" a fight means. hanging on and never really hitting a guy, ok. I love Datsyuk, but please. He did what he should've done. hang on, dog the punches, and when Perry got tired and off balance, take him to the ground.

Our D is fine. 6 good ones without Huskins: Kronwall, Ericsson, Smith, Quincey, lashoff, and Kindl. More on the way: Dekeyser, Nicastro, Sproul, Oullett, De Haas, and marchenko. That is 12, all under 30 but Kronwall, all 6-1+ other than Kronwall. 3 of them are RH: Nicastro, Sproul, and marchenko. D is the deepest position in the organization. We don't need a broken down guy like mike k.