Richdg

6 or 7 years is fine. Mrasek is what 20? 21? Gus is here 1 or 2 more years. The Mrasek as the backup playing 30ish games for 2 years, then he can push for the starting job. That is nearly 6 years time right there. keep in mind the first 2-3 years mrasek is up, he is cheap.

LOL. The D is not the issue, the O is. Not only is it not scoring it is turning the puck over. For example last night. The 4th goal was a TO on a blind pass by Filppula that was supposed to go to Zetterberg. TO=Goal. The 5th goal was a TO by lazy Franzen at our blueline that once again ended up in the back of the net. heck the 3rd goal was half on Smith out of position and half on Emmerton-it was his guy that scored the goal. 3 goals that forwards were very much involved with. But then again, you don't win when you only score 2 goals. we outshot the Flames 2 to 1. But yet lost 5-2. We are still getting our shots, but no goals. If the D wasn't getting the puck to the forwards, we wouldn't be getting the shots. heck, during the boradcast last night, Ken and Mick were talking about how everyone has figured out brunners shooting style, and is jamming him up now. That is a forward issue. But this is also a GM issue. Right now today, we only have enough talent for 1 good forward line. That is it. Everyone else is past their prime, never in the prime, or may someday find their prime. From 1998 through last year, every trip to the finals we scored 250+ goals per year. heading into last nights game, we were scoring at a 214 goal over 82 game pace. Went from over 3 goals per game down to 2.6 goals per game. That is all on the forwards and their talent/lack there of.

I have no idea what datsyuk is going to do. Leave or stay, up to him. But a few thoughts. Why did Stuart leave? Family. Where is datsyuk's family? Russia. if any of you have ever had to work out of town for anything more than a month, you know how much you miss your family. All the money in the world doesn't make up for missing first steps, first words, first day of school, first dates, teaching your kids on a daily basis of how to be good people. In the end, his family will be the deciding factor. Can they wait 1, 2, 3 more years? None of us know the answer to that question. Now, regardless of what he is going to do, there is one other person that better know, and know real soon what datsyuk is going to do: Holland. The next 18 months are going to be very important to the RW's for the next decade. He had better have agood plan. He sure didn't seem to have much of one when Nick left.

The 2nd is our best period for scoring this year. 3rd is very low however........ OT here we come.......

Not really. Nyquist and pick (2nd) would get it done. he is having a done year as has the whole damn team. he is a recent 30 goal scorer though. Change of teams would do him wonders.

The BJ's want to cut payroll, which is why he is rumored to be available. They have chnaged GM's and we will be in different divisions next year. thus increasing the % we could do a deal.

2-2 after 2. We need this one badly..... Go Red Wings!

All sources are unreliable. That is why these are called rumors. But the point is, Stafford, Dubinsky, and yes Kulemin are rumored to be availabe. Hornqvist was my idea as I stated in the begining.

NHL=No hitting league.....

My thoughts: good hit. as the writer on yahoo sports mentioned, Zucker was watching his pass and not watching what was coming. Perry hit him with his back side, and it is not his fault he is 4 inches taller.

Some moves or lack there of are clearly frustrating. But we are not the ones at practice, the film room, etc...... I don't understand Cleary getting the time he gets. No he isn't the player he once was. But no one works harder, so it is a mixed bag......

So a LW that is bigger, 2 years younger, and has already proven he can score 30 goals in a season isn't as good as Filppula who has yet to score more than 23 goals in a season. Ok got it. Forgot cheaper as well........

more..... http://www.mynhltraderumors.com/2013/03/10/garrioch-rumor-roundup-no-talks-with-iginla-perry-to-test-open-market-scouting-cbj-det-and-cal-la/

more..... http://www.mynhltraderumors.com/tag/columbus-blue-jackets/ RW's with Stafford and thought on Dubinsky being available.

Now back to the topic at hand. To improve this team, we need better players. It really is that simple. Our D is pretty good, with more talent on the way. It is and remains Forwards that are the problem. Now we can't go out and pick up 12 new forwards. ok Z and datsyuk are fine-when not completely exhausted, so 10 new forwards. During our Cup runs we were a team that scored 250+ goals per year, or over 3 goals per game. Now we are on a pace for 214 goals over a 82 game season, or a 2.6 goals per game pace. That is a big drop. Now can we pick up 4, 5, 6 new forwards? no. 2 or 3? Yes. Of the 4 guys I targeted, 3 of them have hit the 30 goals in a season mark. Only 3 players on our team or in our system have the ability to do that going forward, and even a couple of them are iffy, due to age. In fact, going forward the only player I would count on for 30 goals a year is Brunner and he is a UFA. ok...... http://hockeytraderumors.com/kekalainen-isnt-trading-yet-give-time/#more-24986

Oh yes, the good old stand by....... Some video game.

How is the trick, I said that. Also none of them is a UFA for a year or 2, when we have more money available. not true at all. he is bigger, younger, stronger, and has already scored 30 goals in a season, something Filppula has never done. he is also cheaper on the cap. 2.8 million vs 3 million and Fil will get 4.5 to 5 this off season.Kulemin has 1 more year left on his contract.

Drum roll....... WE GOT BEAT IN THE FIRST ROUND BECAUSE,........... WE COULDN'T SCORE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Most of those guys are in fact the problem. we don't score enough to win. Period. End of Story. We also had great scoring form our D the last 20 years. BTW here are the teams that scored fewer than 200 goals last year: Flames, Avs, BJ's, Panthers, isles, Kings, and Wild. Kings of course are the exception to every rule.

No. Your top 2 lines should score 180+ goals. If they only get 120, you are going to be LUCKY to score 200 goals in a season. Less than 3 goals per game. that equals sub .500 record.

CAPGEEK.COM USER GENERATED ROSTER My Custom Lineup FORWARDS Nikolai Kulemin ($2.800m) / Pavel Datsyuk ($6.700m) / Damien Brunner ($3.000m) Johan Franzen ($3.955m) / Henrik Zetterberg ($6.083m) / Patric Hornqvist ($3.500m) Justin Abdelkader ($1.800m) / Brandon Dubinsky ($4.200m) / Drew Stafford ($4.000m) Riley Sheahan ($0.900m) / Darren Helm ($2.125m) / Jordin Tootoo ($1.900m) Cory Emmerton ($0.533m) / Patrick Eaves ($1.200m) DEFENSEMEN Niklas Kronwall ($4.750m) / Jonathan Ericsson ($3.250m) Brendan Smith ($1.000m) / Jakub Kindl ($1.050m) Brian Lashoff ($0.725m) / Kyle Quincey ($3.775m) Kent Huskins ($1.000m) / GOALTENDERS Jimmy Howard ($4.500m) Jonas Gustavsson ($1.500m) OTHER Buyout: Mikael Samuelsson ($0.000m) Buyout: Todd Bertuzzi ($0.000m) RETAINED SALARY TRANSACTIONS (0.039% of upper limit) Carlo Colaiacovo ($0.025m—1.0%) ------ CAPGEEK.COM TOTALS (follow @capgeek on Twitter) (these totals are compiled with the bonus cushion) SALARY CAP: $64,300,000; CAP PAYROLL: $64,271,212; BONUSES: $160,000 CAP SPACE (24-man roster): $188,788 The other move I would try to do is to flip Quincey for a cheaper RH shooting Dman. Weber with the Habs comes to mind. Fayne with the devils is another. after the 2013/14 season, we only have a couple of UFA's: datsyuk, Ericsson, eaves, and maybe Gus? Most of which we can fill internally. So is Hornqvist atm. Both will be back soon. The BJ's are rumored to be trying to dump all their big salaries. Dubinsky, Umberger, etc.... are all rumored to be on the block.

If we can get all 4, yes do it. Now I am talking between now and the start of next season. Remember we are heading to the east-much bigger and more physical teams. We need to get bigger all around. A team full of 5-10/180 forwards will get creamed over the course of a season. Hornqvist is the one guy that there are no current rumors about. But the Preds have roster/cap issues. yes they have 15 million to spend, but they also only have 14 or 15 guys on their roster for next year. can they afford to spend 4 million on Hornqvist and still field a team? Not much room for improvement if they do. with us leaving their division, it will open up the chance for trades. I willtry to do the capgeek forward lines/salary thing later.

Add in the fact that Nyquist is not a shooter! he is a play maker/pass first guy.

Again.....D really isn't our problem. the real problem is our forwards not scoring. We have had tons of puck time in the other teams zone and no goals. yes a couple of RH'd shots would be nice for our D, but those can be picked up along the way. For us to get a true #1 top level D man, it will take a datsyuk type move. Plus those guys make 8-10 million per year, which we can only afford if we gut our team. even then it still doesn't help our number 1 need: Scoring forwards!

I am not someone who believes that tatar or Nyquist is our future. tatar has played well, but what we have seen is his max. That being said, he should still be here. Bringing up Nyquist is ok with me. Not sure why we would be switching them, with so many other stiffs on the team. The only way this makes sense is: trades. they are giving both a taste and have something in mind. One or both getting moved. Otherwise this makes no sense.

I still see McKee as a LW. You forgot DeHaas.