FlashyG

I disagree completely. This years Wings responded quicker to that hit than the Wings of the late 90's early 00's with Shanny and Co. Look at when Draper had his face plastered into the dasher by Lemieux. Nobody went after him until the next time Detroit played them at home, over a season later. Slava Koslov was sucker-punched by him in the same series and no Wing said a word to him. We had to wait 2 days for our retaliation to Weber. I think the difference between those 2 teams is that the late 90's Wings were better fighters than today's Wings. Tootoo's pay cheque wont be earned with his fists, or by protecting his teammates, he'll be using his speed, his hitting and his offensive skills to improve the amount of time the Wings spend in the offensive zone. I think it was easily the best move the Wings made this off-season.

So now he inherited the team in 98? He had been the GM for an entire decade at that point and still you wont give him any credit? There was a grand total of 2 players on the 98 team that Holland didn't personally draft as the GM, and the 2 he didn't select himself were selected when he was the Assistant GM. As far as the aura of Bowman goes, why hasn't Chicago had an onslaught of Draft success since Bowman got there? Using your ridiculously short time span to evaluate a GM's draft success, Chicago hasn't faired any better than Detroit. They've had 2 players drafted since 2008 that have made the NHL, Marcus Kruger and Dylan Olsen and their current prospect pool is ranked behind Detroits. Bowman was never a GM that built through the draft, he would trade all his picks for roster players like he used to do. Bowman is the greatest coach in the history of the game but he's not even close to as good of a GM, never was. Holland however is unquestionably a Hall of Fame caliber GM. (probably a pretty s***ty coach however)

Money had nothing to do with Suter and Parise signing with Minnesota over the Wings. If the Wings played in Minnesota or if Suter and Parise's Wives were from Michigan, they'd be Red Wings today. The only way Nyquist, Mursak or Tatar should be on the roster is if they can out-perform the "old crappy used to be's" to earn their spot. I'm betting at best only 1 of them is good enough to do so at this point in their career possibly 2.

He's shortening his list???? If he really wants to be traded that list should be 29 teams long. Its like he's trying to find a back door back onto the Blue Jackets opening night roster.

Darren Helm - 9g 17a, 26 pts Jordin Tootoo - 6g 24a, 30 pts

He draws more penalties than he takes and he provides more offence than every single player in our bottom 6. Add that to his ability to hit and I think this has been our best signing this off-season.

You've got to be kidding, trolling or mistaken as to who Rick Nash is. Nash outscored only 2 forwards on Canada's entire team despite getting more ice-time than all but Crosby. He also had the 3rd worst +/- of all Canadian forwards for the Olympics. Toews was Canada's best forward and Nash wasn't even in the discussion. Kovalchuk has put up 98 pts and over 50 goals while playing with a similar level of talent to Nash. Nash hasn't topped 80 in his career and topped 40 goals only once. He is also signed to a much better cap hit than Nash. Kovalchuk would be the best offensive player on our team if we could swing that deal. Nash would be 4th depending on who we traded to get him.

I'd rather take some of these packages and offer them to New Jersey for Kovalchuk. If they feel they need his contract to get to the cap floor I'd try and work the Jackets into a 3 way deal with the Wings getting Kovy, the Devils Nash and his contract and Columbus a mixture of players/picks/prospects from both teams.

After resigning both Abby and Quincey we will have roughly 12 million left to spend

Not a chance on earth would I make that deal. Filppula put up more pts than Nash on his own last season, in fewer minutes, while Franzen put up only 3 fewer than Nash. Yet somehow Nash gets paid more than both of them combined. I wouldn't trade Filppula for Nash straight up.

I'm not sure I'd want to pay him to sit in the pressbox, and I don't see him cracking the Wings Roster. If we're going to get someone who can fight, he better have some other skills as well.

I can't stand him either but his name is spelled - McGuire not McGwire like the baseball player. That whole panel has an anti-russian bias so don't expect any compliments on Semin's game.

Considering what Hudler is likely to get on the market, Franzen is a better bargain than Hudler. I have no problem with Hudler's scoring ability or even his compete level, its his lack of speed that makes me wish he were replaced. I'm also not sure why you highlighted "decent" teammates since its extremely unlikely he'll be playing with anyone better than Zetterberg and Filppula. They were the highest scoring line in the NHL last year.

How about we forget about this trade proposal for now and look to maybe add Iginla next season as a UFA for a lower cap hit. Calgary can keep Bouwmeester though.

I know we'd have to give to get, but has anyone in the history of the game ever been swapped for 3 roster players, and 2 first round picks? Especially for a 33 year old who has only 1 year left on his deal and a defenceman that is offered up in every trade proposal involving the Flames because he's been nothing but a disappointment?

That is a terrible trade for the Wings. We trade a 25-30 goal scorer with one of the best value contracts in the league, our highest draft pick of the past 20 years and the rights to a 25-40pt defenceman. We get back a 33 yr old former superstar who will produce slightly more than Franzen for almost twice the caphit, and a defenceman who has not played a single playoff game in his 9 years in the NHL, who produces no more than the player we are giving up for him despite receiving a paycheck worth more than double, and then you want us to add draft picks on top of that? I like Iginla but that kind of package is more suited for landing Malkin, Ovechkin or Crosby than it is for Iggy.

Hudler's biggest drawback is that you have to time him with a sundial rather than a stopwatch.

I really believe the problem is with us, not with Franzen. For some reason when he signed his new deal fans developed unrealistic expectations for him and they don't match-up with what he's capable of or what the team actually expects of him. Franzen is not going to be a 50 goal scorer, he's a consistent 25-30 goal guy who will put up around 50-60 pts. The idea that he's lazy is a fan thing, the players call him "Mule" for a reason. Even Babcock who got annoyed with his play near the end of this year seems to speak only positively about him. Other than guys on entry level contracts it would be near impossible to find a player who produces more for the amount he gets paid.

If he was way more than a 75 pt guy he should have shown it by now. Not too many players reach a new level at 29 years old. He may not have had an all-star centering his line, but he's gone through enough centers that by now we would have seen the elite Nash everyone keeps hoping for. He doesn't suck, but he's closer to a Franzen than a Crosby.

Columbus had a higher payroll than the Wings this season, the excuses people make for Rick Nash are legendary. If it was just a case of the talent around him I'd have expected him to lead team Canada in scoring in the 2010 Olympics. He managed to outscore only 2 forwards, and had the 3rd worst +/- of all forwards as well. The argument about playing on a bad team works both ways, he won't be able to rack up assists, but he'll get more ice-time than he would on a better team so his production should even out. He's a 60-75 pt guy who get's paid as if he's one of the elite players in the league. There isn't a player or prospect on the roster I'd want to trade, if we have to take on his ridiculous contract.

Am I the only one who wouldn't pay a guy who's never played more than 33 games in a season 4 million a season? I mean he was very good in his 60 some-odd games he's played but there have been a ton of goalies who have had a great season only to fall apart the next. If they move Luongo and he falls apart that fan-base will go crazy.

According to Babcock's interview with FSD after the season ended Smith and Nyquist both have to earn their spots in camp. Regardless though, Smith already has 2 years of seasoning in Grand Rapids, while Nyquist has 1. Schultz was promised an NHL spot before even putting on a jersey.

Personally I thought it was a bit insulting to Smith, Nyquist and all the other rookies in Detroit's system to guarantee this guy a spot on the team when they all had to pay their dues in Grand Rapids. Smith especially since they played together at Wisc., with Smith being the better player and higher draft pick.

Its an Eklund rumor so its probably not accurate but if he's right, Kovalchuk is in play.

This...When I search his name the 2nd result is "Justin Schultz Leafs"