Richdg

But Howard=average????

Ok, the first 14 spots are now locked in. Colorado with the 1st. In about 10 days we will get the next 8 picks-through 22. Will we be in there?

If history has shown us anything, it is that during the playoffs, the refs stop calling things. They let the guys play. This means that series get rougher as they move along. If that happens, that is not in our favor. if the games are called tight, that helps us. The Ducks are bigger and more physical, we are smaller and faster. Who is allowed to set the tone is key.

Why would you want Jimmy D to go? he is the one that turned this organization around. Plus he is semi-retired. Our first 4 trips to the SC (1995 through 2002) was all because of Jimmy D.

If I counted correctly, if the draft was today, we are picking 17th. so 17th in the first round, 47th in the second round, 77th in the 3rd round, 107th in the 4th round, and 137th in the 5th round. All of which fit the players I listed almost to a tee. Now if the draft was today, i would pick: 1. mantha 2. McCarron 3. Bell 4. Buckles 5. Hill Think of some possible line combos if they all work out: McKee-Mantha-tatar Nyquist-Buckles-McCarron Hill-Jarnkrok-Bell Sheahan-Andersson-Abdelkader Jurco and Trvdon as the 13th/14th forwards Now, if Holland was ever going to do something basd on my suggestions, it would be now. Pick up and extra pick between our 1st and 2nd pick. use that pick on Bailey. If that was to happen, now look at our potentail lines: McKee-Mantha-Jarnkrok Nyquist-Bailey-McCarron Hill-Buckles-Bell Sheahan-Andersson-Abdelkader Jurco and Trvdon That is a very nice deep forward group. of course, we still have free agency, trades, and 4 drafts after this year before the 17/18 season gets here. But you have 4 LHed shots at LH, 2 RH and 2 LH at C, and 3 of the 4 at RW are RHed. 11 are 6-1 or taller, and there is a ton of skill.

This is a tough series oget a good read on. First, regular season matchups mean nothing. That being said, w played them pretty well. But, we worked really hard to get in.How much is left? The longer this series goes, the less I like it. We are much older-star wise than they are. Another key thing is to watch the refs. Do they put their whistles away like normal? It will be fun. go Wings!

No changes untill changes are needed. Ride the hot hands.

Congrats Nill! Good luck-other than you you face us of course!

Heck even this year he has missed 15% of our total games. Only has played in 40 out of the 47 total games to date. For a full season he is on pace to play 67 games.

Yes he does. There are only 3 ways to get rid of his cap hit: trade him, buy him out, or put him on LTIR if he is hurt. That is it. Cap hit stays for retired players.

LOL, since we like to beat dead horses, NO! Franzen is not a bargin, nor is he a 30 gaol per year guy. Franzen has made it to the 30 goal in a season mark once! In 08/09. That is it. 1 time out of 9 or so years. For his career, Franzen has played 512 regular season games. he has a total of 164 regular season goals. When you do the math, that averages out to 26 goals per 82 games. But Franzen doesn't play 82 games per year. His career high was 80 games his rookie season in 05/06. Prior to this year he played 472 games in 7 seasons. Which is a 68 game per season average. Using 68 games as his average, and multiplying by his career goals per game average, franzen averages 22 goals per season. But Franzen is great in the playoffs! No, that isn't true either. He has been with us for 7 trips to the playoffs. In 5 of those trips he has scored 6 goals or less. In those 5 years he averaged .27 goals per game, which is LOWER than his career goals per game average. What franzen did do was have great PO years in 08 and 09. That was 4 and 5 seasons ago, back when he was 28 and 29 years old. Back when Z and Datsyuk were also having their career years. Now on the plus side, Franzen is signed for 7 more years! For 7 more years he will take up 4 million of cap space. Even if he is retired! I wonder how much everyone is going to like Franzen, Z, and Kronwall in 4 or 5 years when we will be forced to let young stars like (example) Dekeyser walk because our cap is all used up! Just wait for it......

A win tonight and the Stars a Yotes are booking tee times. Let's help them enjoy a nice long summer!

I agree. No one screamed louder about moving some guys for more picks. Heck an extra 2nd and 3rd would be awesome!

5th round and later. Lots of long term prospects left over. Some of the more interesting ones to me are: Tyler Hill 6-6/225 LW Axel Blomqvist 6-6/215 LW Peter Cehlarik 6-2/195 LW Dwyer Tshantz 6-5/215 RW Nick Betz 6-5/210 RW Tomas Torok 6-2/200 LW Cehlarik highlights

review on Harper http://thehockeywriters.com/stephen-harper-the-next-ones-nhl-2013-draft-prospect-profile/

Preview on Buckles http://ojhl.pointstreaksites.com/view/ojhl/news-21/news_70171

Now for the 4th round. Still lots of talent left, but now most of it is at LW. But not all. Here is the list of guys I like: Matt Buckles 6-2/210 C RHed, OJHL player of the year, college bound, plays like Dustin Brown. Zach Glienke 6-3/200 LW college bound Zach Sanford 6-3/190 LW college bound Stephan Harper 6-2/200 LW Scott Oke 6-3/205 LW junior HS tape of Sanford http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8Gj02mrqiM

Cleary and Rychel are almost twins in many aspects. Highly rated coming out, will be drafted high, and be 50 point guys in their best years. No that isn't terrible. But that isn't what we need. We need potential supers. 40 goal per year guys. Now if Rychel falls and we take him in the 3rd round, that would be a good pick. In most years, your top 2 rounds should be top 2 line guys. After that you hope for a surprise but mainly are picking up bottom 2 line guys. This year is deep and you will be able to find top 2 line guys in the 3/4th rounds. some more opinions on McCarron and fasching. http://www.thescoutingreport.org/usa-russia-prospect-recap/

We are talking the same thing, just in a different way. If Ferraro and Callahan make it, it will be as 13/14th forwards mainly to free up cap room. If they are on the team in place of say Miller and eaves, that would be a talent down grade. But, and this will become more common, guys like that will be kepth in the 12/13/14 forward spots and 6/7 D spots to stars can be paid and retained.

Going to go to the game. Time to see some of the new young guys. calle, ned, and sproul. Some have played already and others haven't. Will let you all know my thoughts when i get back.

Yes here is some info on him: http://thehockeywriters.com/2013-nhl-draft-rankings-war-room-april-edition-round-2-31-60/ That site has him 55th overall. http://www.draftsite.com/nhl/player/michael-mccarron/19555/ The second link gives a profile and scouting report for him. Yes, finding highlights for the team USA U-18 players is kind a tough. Not sure why, just isn't mch out there interms of highlight tapes. A few fights,or film of them scoring in a specific game is about all.

I understood the question. From what I have seen, they really need to improve to even be NHL worthy. They both look like career AHL guys. They play hard, which is good, but neither has anything special about them. If they are on our roster in Detroit, I would consider it a downgrade in talent. Now in the cap era we will see more guys stay because they are cheap.

Kujawinski highlights: Ringing the Bell:

Now starts the challenge. In most drafts everything after the first 2 rounds becomes a crap shot at best. But not this year. The strength of this draft is its depth. There are enough players that normally go late 1st and the second round, to fill 2 more rounds. Teams will be able to find top 4 Dmen and 20+ goal scorers through the 4th round. Any combination of the names listed for the first 2 rounds, will produce a very good draft. All are quality players that fit our needs to a tee. But if we draft smartly in the 3rd and 4th rounds, this could be a special draft. So lets talk the 3rd round. Looking once again for big fast scoring forwards. Here are some names I like: Adam Tambellini 6-4/180 LW/C Hudson Fasching 6-2/215 RW Nicholas Baptiste 6-2/200 RW Bogdan Yakimov 6-5/210 C Nick Moutrey 6-2/210 LW/C Ryan Kujawinski 6-2/205 LW/C Myles Bell 6-0/210 RW Some of these guys are risers and others are falling. All have talent and 1 or 2 questions about them. Tambellini highlights:

Here are some Dickinson highlghts: