Richdg

Agree. I never thought McKee would make it as a Dman. My hope as always been that he learns LW and turns into our version of Matt Martin. If he can become that type of player, we have a steal.

I agree. I was a huge fan before the draft, and even a bigger fan today. But non of this means anything yet. Untill he plays in the NHL and scores 35+ goals in a season it is all just hope.

When buying at the trade deadline you always overpay. The idea of trading any of our young players that are here or will be next season for a rental is a bad idea. About the only guys that I would give up at the deadline would be Almqvist and Callahan, but that combo isn't going to get you much in return. With Z on LTIR we have the cap room to keep the young guys up and playing them. Do it. I would rather see Jurco, tatar, nyquist, sheahan, pulk, and Callahan up and playing. Lets see what they can/can't do so we have a better idea of what we need heading into the off season. Last, I realize some of you are fans of various Junior teams in Canada. But I hope Vol'dor, Owen Sound, and Barrie get put out of the PO's early. I would love to see Mantha, AA, and nastisauk playing as a line in GR for a few games before their season ends.

Dom, again you didn't read what I said, thus why I asked. There were some who thought getting Grabner would be a good move, better than signing Vanek. I said no because vanek would only cost us money. To get Grabner we would have to give up a package (as an example) like nyquist and oullett, to get him. Which btw I am against. If you would have been reading instead of reacting you would have known this.

Bup, maybe I read you wrong. Not a biggie one way or the other.

Not going to go real deep with this. Just a couple of names to watch, that would be great fits and give us an awesome 3 year run on forwards. 1st round: Mikko Rantanen 6-4/200 LH C. Big Fin is already up in the Finnish pro league. 2nd round: Pavel Zacha 6-4/200 LH LW. Big Czech is also playing in the pro league already. Now, let's close our eyes and see how things would look in say 2022 if the 2013 draft is added to my best guess 2014 and 2015 drafts...... this is where things get really fun. Mantha 6-5/225 LH LW. Should be good for 35 G per year. Nastisauk 6-3/210 RH RW. A grinder that should be able to score 15-20 G per year. We already have those 2 guys. Now the best guesses: Tuch 6-4/225 RH RW. Should be good for 25 G per year. Iverson 6-2/225 RH C. Big fast high energy C that loves to hit and can score. 15 G per year is very possible. Rantanen 6-4/220 LH C. Typical Euro C. Good skater, good puck handler, 2 way game. 20+ G per year is a conservative guess. Zacha 6-4/225 LH LW. Big physical Czech winger. has the ability to score 20 G per year easily. That is a great potential top 6 forward group. Or spread them over 3 lines and add in some smaller skilled speed guys.

Big difference? No. But the fact is for their careers he out scores Weiss, a guy many think is a good player. I do not. I have no delusions as to what type of player Clarkson is-the type we need more of. He is a good sized, tough RHed shooting RW that scores goals and brings toughness to a team. That being said, will he ever be here? Of course not. Will we be glad someday that we signed Weiss? I hope so, but doubt it.

I hope so. But lets also understand there is a BIG difference between Juniors and the NHL. I love the fact we have Mantha, but lets get him playing pro hockey and see what we truly have.

Some here are not going to like the question, but it must be considered. We have 2 guys: Franzen and Zetterberg, both with major health issues, that are signed for 6 and 7 years for a total cap hit of over 10 million per year. Do we buy one out this summer? I have been wanting us to buy out Franzen for years now, but Z's contract is longer and even more money. If either one is done soon, we have major cap issues for a long time. Keep in mind that they get paid not matter what. There is also nothing to keep us from resigning them year to year if they can still play.

Dom, is English your second language? I am asking that seriously and not as a smart ass. Because what I wrote was not even close to what your reaction was.

History is not on their side. Most players, even great one are done at 35. very few play at the highest of levels after 35 in any sport. That does not mean they will go from 70 point guys to 30 points over night.

Buppy, not sure what you are bitching about? Picking up 6 guys that are big, fast, skilled, and most play a strong 2 way game is not a bad thing. You are bitching about 6 potential picks that combined would have a conservative ceiling of 140 goals per year. 6 guys that score 20 or more, with 2 that could reach 30 or more. You do realize that we have 4 guys currently on the roster that MIGHT score 20 this year: Datsyuk, Alfie, Nyquist, and tatar, and none of them will score 30. Of course 2 of them could still be with the team in 5/6 years with these young kids. Not to mention guys like Pulk, jurco, Sheahan, Callahan, and maybe Jarnkrok. That would be 13 forwards. 6 you can consider big, 2 that are average sized, and 5 that are below average. That is called balance my friend.

Let's see. For their careers, Clarkson scores .217 goals per NHL game. Weiss scores .216 per NHL game. Weiss is 30-turns 31 in April. Clarkson is 29 and turns 30 in March. Clarkson's cap hit is a whole 325,000 per year higher than Weiss. The big difference is Clarkson has 6 years left on his deal, Weiss has 4. if Tor called today and offered to do a 1 for 1 trade, I very well might do it. if it was 1 for 1 with Franzen I would do it so fast their heads would spin.

Having a 6-5/255 forward on a checking line that is big, strong, fast, and mean would be a great addition!

Another name: Radovan Bonda. 6-5/210 Rhed LW/RW. He is a distant relative to Petr. BTW Petr's son plays/has commited to MSU. Radovan will be a 1st rounder.

Once the season resumes, I will update again. With Z out the chances of the PO's look really slim. So let's see how things go for the next 10 games. We could enter the lottery this year.

Grabner would require a trade. In other words cost us more than Vanek. Vanek can be sgned as a UFA. To get Grabner we would have to send a nyquist and oullett type combo. Just to repeat: No rentals!

Rest and get well hank. This season is over, so take it easy. Your long term health is far more important than a hockey season.

Well crap. That was a great game and crappy ending..... Well I ate my crow roasted with a touch of rosemary. Washed it down with more than a few drinks. I said before that anything less than a silver would be a let down and it is. The slotting sucked, but what can you do. This game was between the 2 best teams by fair. Canada will destroy the Swedes.

yes it is sad that only 1 RW is in this game........ And he is on the bench. At least it is the right bench! USA! USA! USA!

About 90 mins to go! USA! USA!

Kip, I am stuck at work listening to canned music. marc Anthony is on atm......YUCK!

The Crue? Put on some Nugent man! BTW.... Martin is out for todays game. Faulk is in as the 7th D and Carlsson will be paired with Orpik.

So......After Canada gets whipped in their national sport today, how long will it take them to recover? Today would be a good day to buy stock in Canadian beer company's. Lots of drowning of sorrows later today! GO USA!!!!!!!!

Pumpkin, yes i miss read it. But as you correctly linked, if the Isles have picks in the top 8, the picks get differed to 2015. right now the Isles have the 5th worst record and Taveras is out for the season. So in the end, yes the 2015 picks will go to the Sabres. Andy, is Grabner available via UFA? Don't think so. Also Vanek was hurt right before the olympics started. Not sure on the details, but that could have something to do with his performence and he was also the main guy on Austria's team, which also has something to do with it. But how a player plays in the Olympics has NOTHING to do with how they play in the NHL. To date Vanek has been much much better in the NHL than Grabner has.