FlashyG

Jim Develanno has absolutely rebuilt a team...When he started with the Wings they were one of the worst teams in hockey and they have never looked back. That's not the point though as Holland isn't going to be fired regardless of how this season goes. Even if their playoff streak ends, it will be because of an insane rash of injuries combined with a shortened season not because of personnel. Even with all these guys out the Wings remain in a playoff spot while their farm team is having its best season in years. They also have more high end prospects than they have had in the history of the franchise. The only way there would be a change at the General Manager position would be if Holland was promoted and Nill was given the GM job.

His point totals are irrelevant as far as I'm concerned. He leads the team in hits, has been our 2nd best faceoff man, has drawn more penalties than he's taken, has more takeaways than giveaways and has only been on the ice for 5 GA at even strength. One of my favorite stats about him though is that his line starts more shifts than any other line on the team inside the Wings end, and 100% of his shifts have ended in the opposition end.

That's not his job. He's a 4th line center, his job is to throw hits, forecheck, provide energy, take face-offs, kill penalties and most importantly keep the puck out of our net. A little more scoring touch would be nice while he's filling in for Helm, and especially when he's taking a spot in the top 6 but its not really fair to judge the kid as anything but a 4th line center. When Helm is back in the line-up I think you'll see a far more effective Abdelkader.

You guys should take a look at the stat sheet sometime. Quincey leads the team in blocked shots, and since the first 3 games of the season has been +10. Overall he is top 20 among all defence in the NHL in +/- and he leads our entire team in the stat. Kronwall has amazingly managed to be on the ice for more goals against than anyone on the team not just at even strength but also while shorthanded and while on the PP. He may have the most points of our defenceman but he's also one of only 2 defenceman on the roster who are - players, the other being Lashoff. Even in tonights game he was directly responsible for 2 goals, including the overtime goal. If anything White should be getting more ice-time, his pairing with Ericsson tonight was by far the best tandem on the ice

Plus I believe Ferraro got injured in their last game...Not sure how serious, but he was helped off the ice.

I respect Cleary for what he's given this team over the years but I'm at the point now where I'd trade him for a couple of LA's Ice-girls. some pictures of LA's Ice-Girls.

You could be right when it comes to the NCAA, I don't have much knowledge when it comes to US college recruiting. There is a big difference between what NFL teams like Green Bay did and what you were doing though, The Packers drafted Rodgers then put him on their depth chart and estimated he'd be a starter in a couple years. They didn't have him on their depth chart as their future quarterback 5 years earlier when he was playing quarterback in high school, nor did they while he was starring at Cal. Teams project when someone might retire, and will often plan to fill that spot via the draft, but while they may have several prospects in mind to take that spot they wouldn't bother slotting them into their projected line-ups until they know if he's even available to them in the draft. Speculating what an entire roster will look like 5 years from now is futile because you have no idea how those players will develop, how many of them will even still be on the team, how high or low the cap will be, what prospects will be available at your draft positions, or what trades you'll be offered etc.

It seems to me that the biggest "mistake" they made might have been cultivating a fan base that suffers from a massive sense of entitlement and lacks the ability to be grateful for the embarrassment of riches we've been provided. That's just my opinion though.

If there was anyone on the Oilers I'd want to explore a trade for it would be Linus Omark. He would cost next to nothing as he's not even on their active roster, and he was fantastic on a line with Zetterberg and Brunner in Switzerland.

Corporations and households aren't sports franchises so that comparison is as ridiculous as the idea of trading Pavel Datsyuk. Strategic Planning does not include making a fantasy roster out of guys that aren't even professional athletes yet. You can't possibly believe NCAA teams are projecting who will be on their team 5 years in advance, That would mean scouting athletes as young as 13-14 years old. Long term strategic planning for a pro sports team would involve planning around those signed into the year in question so the Wings 2018 Roster would have only 3 players on it, Zetterberg, Franzen and Kronwall. Outside of that it would be blank and it would be filled in as we got closer to 2018. The Illitch family might have a 20 year plan for the team's finances, but there is no GM who has a roster plan for 20 years involving players who are toddlers or not even born yet. As I said...its a lesson in futitily. The cap also has no bearing on the plan that far ahead as it will change drastically between now and then...cap projections would be done year to year as would all roster decisions. I know you said make a trade for O'Reilly, but Colorado isn't going to trade him unless he comes out and publicly says he'll never play for them again. Its also a bad idea because we'll have to sign him if we trade for him and his demands are over 5 million a year on a multi year deal. I didn't say Datsyuk could not be traded...I said he should not and will not be traded. The Wings are not the Oilers and they aren't so far into debt that they need to trade their best player for cash to keep the team afloat. They show loyalty to those that have been loyal to them. Your final paragraph is among the most ridiculous things I've ever read...you propose that the best way to get an infusion of talent to win another cup with Datsyuk on the roster is to trade Datsyuk for said talent.

Datsyuk should not and will not be traded.. Samuelsson should not and will not be on the first line... Franzen's contract is too long, but its not a bad contract, you will not find many players who will produce the #'s he will for a lesser cap hit, the ones you do find will not be traded... The Wings will not be getting any RFA's, any offer we make will be matched and Colorado won't trade O'Reilly unless they have no hope at all of re-signing him NHL 13 isn't real life or a real life representation of how hockey management works.... Projecting the roster as far ahead as 2018 is a lesson in futility.

To be eligible your 26th birthday has to be after September of the NHL season of your rookie year. Brunner turned 26 in March so he is not eligible for the Calder. Its too bad though as he would be one of the front runners for it.

I think the odds are definitely in his favor. Lots of great Junior players fail at the pro level, but not many who put up those kind of numbers do. His numbers are better than Staal or Doughty's and trail only Ryan Ellis' who has turned into a fine defenceman for the Predators. I don't think there is much question about whether he'll be an NHL defenceman, the question is whether he'll be a #1 defenceman or the kind of guy who logs minutes on a 2nd or 3rd pairing. Either way I think we'll see him on the Wings blueline within the next couple of years.

Of course the Kings were the better team today....They have been resting since Thursday, while the Wings played one of the fastest teams in the league less than 24 hours before taking on the Kings. If the situation had been reversed the Wings probably would have blown out the Kings, especially with Quick playing like he did. So far this season Howard is 6-4-1 with a GAA of 2.78 and a SV% of .906 with 0 shutouts Quick is 3-4-2 with a GAA of 2.70 a SV% of .891 with 0 shutouts. Howard has also faced 90 more shots than Quick. Is Quick average too now?

Sproul is having a ridiculously good season this year. 36 GP - 18G - 34A - 52P He leads the OHL in scoring by a defenceman despite playing in almost 20 fewer games than the guy in 2nd place. He's already 6'4 and 200lbs at 20 years old...I can't wait to see how he does with the Griffins/Wings.

How do you think the website "downgoesbrown" got its name? He's maybe not the most prolific diver, but he's clearly the best. If you make any contact that could potentially knock him down, he'll hit the ice and he gets the call almost every time. Remember these

You forgot what he is most prolific at though....Diving. He's fighting with Ribiero for the title of "king of the flop".

Rick Nash IMO. At least this year he no longer has the luxury of blaming his line mates should he fail to live up to his contract.

Personally I don't think it matters if the hit is clean or dirty nobody should "have" to answer the bell. He's now our #1 defenceman. Its better for the team that he not take himself out of games for 5 minutes at a time by dropping the gloves. If he wants to answer the bell, great, most of us love a good fight, but that decision is up to the player himself.

As much as I hate Bettman from a fan's perspective I think the Owners love him. He's delivered on everything he's promised them and even another lockout won't bother them as long as in the end they get to keep a larger piece of the pie. I think the smartest thing Fehr did with his proposal was to include a large amount of revenue sharing into the deal. By doing that he can potentially create a wedge between the teams with big payrolls and those hovering near the floor. That kind of dissension will do more damage to Bettman's reign at the top than anything the media or we as fans can do to him.

It doesn't really matter who the players hire to represent them. Ultimately a lock-out hurts the players financially more than it does the owners. They can play hardball now but once they go a few months without getting paid their regular salaries they will end up accepting another league friendly deal.

Cleary's no trade has expired, but It doesn't really matter, coming off his injury he doesn't hold much value in a trade. A trade will most certainly be coming, but it won't be one of any significance. Joey MacDonald was promised he'd be moved to a team where he has a shot at playing in the NHL. They may throw a guy like Mursak or Emmerton into the deal if it lands them a pick back or perhaps a defensive prospect.

I voted for Lidstrom but Shanny had an unbelievable regular season and was equally deserving a that years MVP. Yzerman was the heart of the team and a strong case can be made for him as well.

Murray's physical play is great, but I'd prefer a right handed shooting defenceman. As it stands we only have White, and he's far from a shutdown guy. If we can't get a RH shut down guy via trade then I'd try to swap some of our Bottom 6 guys into another top 6 guy and use the freed up roster spots to sign a UFA who can fill the defensive need for a season or 2.

After the trade proposal you just threw out there I think you should be forever banned from calling someone stupid. Bouwmeester for Emmerton and the chance to sniff Holland's taint would be an overpayment. Are we that desperate for defence that we'd completely destroy our offence for a slightly better skating Quincey who would instantly be the highest paid player on the team?