FlashyG

I think that's true with some fans, but many fans and I think management didn't expect his numbers to improve from what he had given in the years previous to his extension. He's always been a 25-30 goal scorer with 50-60 pts. If they thought he was going to be a 35-40 goal scorer and a 75-80pt player they'd have paid him a lot more money, and they'd be talking about buying him out right now. Holland thinks the idea of buying out Franzen is "crazy" so I think they are quite happy with his play.

Fighting is slowly being phased out of the game, by the time McKee is ready for NHL duties he better have developed another facet to his game or he'll never even get a shot. There will probably be no enforcers left by then.

Definitely not as far as term is concerned but if we could get another player for less than 4 million a season who puts up 50-60 pts a year and 25-30 goals I'd personally drive to the airport to pick him up.

It depends on what you want to add. If you're just looking for depth than you can trade the "fat" but if we want a top line forward or a top pairing defenceman, its going to cost us some very good prospects going the other way. I think Nyquist would be the more intriguing player with his AHL performance and his play in the NHL playoffs but Tatar had a strong Calder Cup run and played well in his short NHL stint...he might be a target as well. Our Defensive prospects could be the piece that gets added to the deal to make it work, but I think most teams would want someone who has at least shown he can play in the NHL before they'd give up a top line player.

We played through more injuries the last 2 seasons than I would have thought possible, and very few of them were to guys like Datsyuk and Zetterberg. Being older doesn't really make you more succeptible to injury. It does cause you to slow down, but these guys are still professional athletes in top physical condition and they're only in their early 30's. The Wings will also have far less travel, a division with more weak teams in it and in a conference that has a more wide open offensive style to it that suits their game. I expect them to have a very good debut back in the Eastern Conference.

Without trying to come up with any actual names I'd assume that would get you a very good middle 6 forward or a 2nd pairing defenceman. Its not enough for a top pairing Defender or for a top line forward, that would likely cost us another good prospect like Sproul, Mrazek, Jarnkrok or Ouelette or our 1st round pick.

With Wheeler being a RFA I doubt the rights to a UFA Filppula would be all that enticing. I doubt they are willing to trade his rights at all unless its in exchange for one or more good prospects or a high draft pick. He may not be available at all. I think Flips rights could possibly be swapped with Florida for Weiss' rights but even that is probably a long shot. I don't know if Florida has given up on signing him yet, and if they don't want Weiss I can't see them wanting Flip instead. Chances are the only thing you're going to get for a UFA's rights is a draft pick in the 4th round or later. On topic - Canadiens to buyout Kaberle - Flyers also buyout Briere - Leafs to buyout Komisarek

I'm not a big fan of bringing Cleary back either and I actually like Tootoo, but if we're comparing the 2 players Cleary is a far bigger asset to the team than Jordin. As bad as Cleary was in the regular season he was one of our best players in the playoffs. I don't want him back if its at the expense of someone like Tatar, Nyquist or Brunner but if its only on a 1 year deal and as a bottom 6 forward I can live with Cleary coming back.

That is the Ilya Kovalchuk rule coming into affect. Any long term contract (5 Years or more) that extends past the players 40th birthday, will have its cap hit adjusted. You can read about it here, it actually uses Chara's contract as one of the examples.

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So are Andersson and Helm. So were many others who aren't with the team anymore. Being liked doesn't get you ice-time over better players. Emmerton is 5th on the teams depth chart of centers, and the gap is closing between him Sheahan and Ferraro. Both of them are good penalty killers, and are better on draws, Emmerton better show something quickly this upcoming season or he'll be playing elsewhere very soon.

Just because you were a starter doesn't mean you always will be. He would have been the 4th line center this season with Andersson in Grand Rapids. When Helm couldn't go Andersson was brought in and he quickly passed Emmerton on the depth chart (as evidenced by his time on ice vs Emmerton's). When Helm is back he'll either be the 3rd line center or the 4th line center, with Andersson taking the other spot. I know you like Emmerton but he's the odd guy out at center, playing only when Helm or Andersson go down. He may even be waived if they need a roster spot as he's the most expendable forward we have.

Zetterberg will be the 2nd line center. Helm and Andersson the 3rd and 4th with Emmerton as a healthy scratch/injury fill in.

Holland has already said several times that Nyquist and Tatar will be in the NHL next season. They are out of waiver options and are unlikely to be healthy scratches night in and night out. Its possible that some of our veterans might be however...if there is enough roster space to keep them.

Hopefully its high enough resolution. but glad you like it.

Woke up this morning to Datsyuk in the lead by over 1%. The angry comments from Blues fans were a wonderful start to what is hopefully a Calder Cup winning day.

The lead is down to less than 2 % and Blues fans are going crazy and spamming the TSN webmaster that the vote is rigged.

Its not a script that will vote for you but if you are using Google Chrome you can use this tool to refresh the page automatically every 10-12 seconds, then you just have to keep clicking the vote button when it does.

I feel like Philly should be forced to use a compliance buyout on Pronger or not be allowed to keep him on LTIR. There is no chance he will ever play again, and their ability keep him on LTIR is allowing them to drive up FA prices every offseason.

The gap is closing...Down to around 20%. You can vote multiple times you just have to wait 10 seconds. Commenters are going Crazy that Datsyuk is coming back, lets make them lose their collective mind by putting Datsyuk into the finals vs himself.

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If you click on the link at the top for "Semi-Finals" you can see the results...Datsyuk is getting killed in this one and I doubt even his other goal will be able to stop Allen.

Datsyuk is getting smoked in his first semi-final vs Jake Allen its 70/30 in Allen's favor. Get voting