Richdg

If I understand correctly, Thomas only effects their cap. No actual money is being paid. As for DP, it makes sense. he was a good young g, they signed him, and he got hurt.....again. It happens. yes he will get bought out in the off season, if they have any sense at all. he is going to get the money anyway, so might as well get it over with and take the chance to get out from under his cap hit. But let's not laugh to loudly. We have 3 guys signed into their 40's that will be paying 14 million for, regardless if they are playing or not.

The team is a mess and trying to figure it out as fans is driving us nuts. yes injuries are an issue. But even if we were healthy, would we really be much better? I don't think so. Would we be as good as the Ducks? B hawks? vancouver? Sharks? maybe Blues? maybe? Kings? maybe. All of those teams are heading north and we are heading south. Watching the game last night, during the second intermission interview with babs, something hit me. His words and his team don't match. he said when asked "we need to get the puck in deep, get our forecheck going, and put pressure on the BJ's D". For us old timer hockey fans, that is something we all udnerstnad very well: Dump and Chase hockey. Most of us played it, watched it, coached it all of our lives. But the RW's are not, and haven't been in a long long time, a dump and chase team. We are a puck possesion team. we don't ever want to give the puck away, we want to keep it and skate around with it, waiting for the other team to make a mistake and then attack. Now I bring this up, because I have wondered for sometime, if babs and holland are truely on the same page. Going back to last spring after we lost in the first round, babs said "clearly we are going in the wrong direction" when talking about the last 3 PO runs. There were some rumbling this past FA period that TooToo was signed to keep babs happy, not really a guy that Holland wanted. Now I have no idea if that was really the case or not. But i am starting to wonder more if they truely see things the same way. i think they both understand that each is one of the best in the business at what they do. So i don't think anything is going to change, unless Holland retires. I know, just some crazy talk again......

My guess, just opening a spot for Franzen to come off of IR in the next couple of days. Besides, Mursak has done nothing with us. Wasn't even that great at GR.

No Weber isn't a #1. But he would be better than all but Kronwall and maybe E, out of our current rotation. Also, he is only 24. 5-11/200 RH shot, good for 30ish points per year over a full 82 game season. A clear upgrade over White our only other RH Dman. pair him up with a strong stay at home LH Dman and it would be a good second pair. Lashoff/Weber or Ericsson/Weber. Yes getting a true #1 D or top flight C would be great. But lets be honest, our whole roster needs to be rebuilt.

Lets just pretend for a minute. datsyuk finishes his contract and then retires. What do we get? Nothing. is this team, as it is presntly constructed going to win a SC before then? No. If you set the emotion aside, hard to do, the smart thing is to move him and get 2-3 guys just breaking into the league, that will be here for the enxt 10 years. It is the emotional attachment to former greats that dooms every dynansty. Pick your sport, dosn't matter. Cowboys and Steeler in the 70's 49ers in the 80's, islanders in the late 70's, Oilers in the 80, lakers and celtics in the 80's, on and on and on. yes it is hard to move guys that did so much for your organization. They got you those championships. But if they are not going to be part of the next one, the smart move is to move them. But far to often the heart over rules the brain, and that is when teams fall apart.

Do teams use a 2-3 system, yes all the time. For those to young to remember-seems like most on this board, we used the left wing lock for years under Bowman. The LW lined up along the blueline as a 3rd D. This was when we were tops in scoring year after year. Bowman got the idea from overseas. In Europe the C stays high. Which is why so many european C's are not big time goal scorers. In Europe the C position is a passing and defensive position. They stay up high. It is the RW/LW's that do all the scoring in most European leagues. Now as Ave proposed no team plays 3 D and 2 forwards. TBH there just are not that many good D out there, otherwise everyone would have them.

So? Its my fault Holland overpaid for a guy and singed him untill 40 something and the devils got a steal? Now he is having a second great year and is going to get paid. Is Clarkson a btter player? hell yes. Would clarkson at 6 million per be abetter deal than Franzen? yes. BTW we just lost the the BJ's again, and your boy is where? Oh ya sitting on IR becasue he is already broken down, lacks heart, and almost finished. But all is fine in RW land. keeping believing that these are good deals. or that franzen is a good player.

3 penalties in the 1st period last game got him benched. Now it wasn't all on him. 1 pen was on him, second a weak call-but the is the state of the game, and the 3rd was a pen he had to take coming back on a breakway after whites stick broke.

Clearly (not Cleary) asked for a breakdown on our roster from 95 through 02. That is what i did. Unless i misread something, which is possible after drinking all night...... RW's are going to kill my liver!

Oh boy.... home grown: yzerman, Federov, Kozlov, Nicky, Vladdy, McCarty, lapointe, Ward, Pushor, Z, datsyuk, Hommer, premiau, Kocur (but was also a UFA pickup), I am sure there are a couple of more. Trades UFA's: pappa bear, lironov, Murphy, Ramsey, Rouse, vernon, hasek, Coffey, Shanny, Grimson, Draper, maltby, later Hull, Robie, lang, and sevral others. yes i went a little past 02.

Of course we will never know. Most of us fans and the talking heads in the media were not expecting a SC or even a deep PO run. I figured we would finish between 6 and 10 oin the WC, with the team we had. Now with a few less players available, we are going to be lucky to make it to the PO's. Not a bid difference one way or the other to me. My fear is, Holland will right off whatever failures we have as a team to the injuries and not make big changes because of it.

Go back and watch the game vs the LAK and say that. he is the only reason we won that game and didn't lose 8-0.

Let me get this straight. Our top forward line Z, Fil, and brunner turn the puck over, start a 3 on 2, lashoff gets caught pinching on a forward, and this is Howards fault? Scoring only 2 goals in a game is Howards fault? Letting all our talent leave over the last couple of years and not replacing them is Howards fault? I suppose 0 for the road on the PP is his fault as well?

Goalie coach for the Muskegon Lumberjacks in the USHL. Cool. I knock the D over for you. But you better score early, only good for 1 or 2 shifts now......lol

Don't miss any of the game. Could be out again soon........ So sad to say......

There are guys out there that can help us, both today and for the next 5-8 years. It is up to Holland to go get them. Would O'reilly help? yes. name your price Colorado. 22 year old soon to be star C's don't grow on trees and we are in need. would Yannick weber help? hell yes. 25 year old puck moving RH Dman sitting on the Habs bench. Both would be instant upgrades to our team, and are very young. There is no reason not to expect Weber to be playing at a high level for the next 7 years. O"reilly for another 10 years. Of course there are others mentioned in rumors and some that are not. as for what we have to pay, basicly anyone not named Z, Smith, or Howard or anyone playing in juniors can be moved. yes that would include Datsyuk. again, has to be the right deal. Holland can't afford to be shy anymore. yes some gambles have to be taken, just not sure he will this late in his career.

Again, Kornwall can't be traded. he has a FULL NTC through the 2016 season. Plus he has an ugly contract like franzen, Signed untill he is 40 something.......

Don't care how we do it, just win. That is all that matters right now. Wins and points.

That and we would do better IMHO at LW than at D. Perfect protection for those small skilled euro forwards i talked about. Then add McCarron in this year draft to play RW on another line and we are all set! the new bash brothers!!!!!!!

LOL.... The Ducks have 24 million to spend for next season, and only 4 or 5 holes to fill. they are sitting pretty. Even if they have to pay 8 million per for each of G and P, they can afford to do it. Plus and this is big, they are able to offer both aan 8 year contract, where as all other teams can only offer a 7 year deal. If G and/or P leave he Ducks it is only because they choose to and don't want to play there. they can get more by resigning then they can get from any other team.

In todays game your tough guys have to be able to add 10-15 goals to ever dress. Even Porbert in his prime scored 1 out of 4 games. Hell he had 29 goals one year when he carried the team while yzerman was out. I love a good hockey fight, but guys like grimson never did much for me. That was all he could do. back in 95 when we were forced to play him vs the devils it was just sad...... he couldn't do anything vs them, becasue he couldn't skate. Give me the proberts, shanny, and mccarty types. 150 Pims and can score/skate.

The best way to move Franzen is for us to retain some of his cap hit. Which can be done. the he becaomes worth a low 1st/high 2nd round pick, which I would do. The best options for moving Fil is to teams in the east. the Rangers need C's badly, and the Canes are also rumored to be looking. The sens if they stay in it may also be interested in making a move. Its hard to get a good read on what the RW's are thinking with Fil. If he is oart of the long term plan, then why didn't we resign him last year? the only answer is, if the management isn't sure about him. With his play this year, their fears have come to pass, and he could be moved. If we could move Franzen for a low 1st, Fil for a 2nd, and Q for a 3rd, I would be happy as a pig in mud. This years draft is the deepest since 2003. Every draft site is talking about its dpth and quality, could be 90-100 player deep. 6 picks in the first 90 for us would completely reload us. Now it will take 2-3 years to fully happen, but you have to start somewhere, and this year is the best one for the next 3.

I have come to beleive over the years, that pro coaches should never be in the same place over 10 years. After that length of time their message tends to get stale and players tune out. That may have happened in Buf. At least that is the feeling from some of the things I have read. But some of the guys complaining the loudest are some of the guys not performingie Miller. he is not the G he was 3 years ago. father timeis starting to catch up with him-still very good but not great anymore. For team like Buf the relies on the G that is not a good thing. Might be wishfull thinking, but let's hope for a fire sale. There are a few guys there that could help us over the next 5 years.

NO!!!!!! Don't not trade away picks for this years draft! It is loaded! Pick up more picks for this eyars draft. Add young talent. There are several guys in this years draft that could walk onto the team right now and be in our top 3 players. Do not give that up! Add in the ages of datsyuk and Z, we have to find the next cornerstone(s) for the next 12-15 years. The only place that is possible is the draft. You can get good players via trade for the next 5-8 years, but not the next 15.

It was made very clear by the media that Jimmy D was transfering all the power to Holland for a couple of years before Holland became GM. Now if the media was wrong-wouldn't be the first time, I could be. But that was the public image being put out there. In fact Holland was the one out doing the scouting and negotiating with the Whalers-again per the media. It may have been at Jimmy D's direction, that is true. Bowman was also heavily involved in this. After the SC sweep he called for a guy like Shanny to be picked up.