poel

I can't repeat myself often enough...can't we just stop playing useless plugs like Helm or Andersson? And can't we just bench Nyquist PLEASE!? I can't stand it anymore...he makes terrible mistakes in EVERY important game. How many games we lost because of his stupid giveaways? Since he fell asleep in may 2013 during OT vs Chicago he's learned absolutely nothing. If we beat the Blackhawks in this Game everything is possible, Nyquist was sleeping and just waiting for Bolland to hit him. He ended a promisnig season in an embarassing way and he doesn't even seem to give a damn as he did it over and over again. And to be honest, Tatar isn't much better. His giveaway against Tampa was terrible and he didn't even think a second about doing anything to get the puck back. I wouldn't blame Tatar for the situation we're in, but it drives me crazy to read all of those quotes about Mantha's if in fact half of our forward group is much worse than him or AA aswell. And regarding defense...why is Lashoff playing AHL if he played well alongside Kronwall under Babcock? And why is Ouellet still down there if Babcock years ago said that he's NHL-ready and wanted to keep him with the team? Instead we're playing Green who might be useful on the PP but on the other side couldn't even defend at AHL-level? Not to mention turnover machine Smith or our quickmoving star defenders Quincey and Ericsson. Which those clowns we cannot beat anyone in the playoffs. Play: Mantha, Zetterberg, Abdelkader Larkin, Datsyuk, Jurco Athanasiou, Richards, Pulkkinen Tatar, Sheahan, Glendening DeKeyser, Marchenko Kronwall, Lashoff Ouellet, Sproul PP1: Zetterberg, Datsyuk, Mantha (net front), Kronwall, Pulkkinen PP2: Jurco, Larkin, Abdelkader (net front), Richards, Marchenko I know that this lineup may not win anything, but at least we'd lose in style. And let's not forget that if we wanna keep our playoff streak alive, we'll anyway need to rely on exactly those guys with Pav gone and his caphit still very much with the team. ----- No, This lineup is not 100% serious, but just that fact that that's what I'd like to see shows how much this team is in need of changes and how many decisions made this season or even earlier were just wrong...

Larkin, Datsyuk, Jurco Abdelkader, Zetterberg, Mantha Athanasiou, Richards, Pulkkinen Tatar, Sheahan, Glendening Play our best Centers in the middle, please. I also think that Nyquist deserves to be benched for a while. He's been nothing but terrible. Eurotwins NEED to play on the same PP-unit though: PP1: Kronwall, Pulkkinen, Zetterberg, Datsyuk, Mantha (net front) PP2: DeKeyser, Jurco, Larkin, Richards, Abdelkader (net front)

This team just can't defend without Kronwall. Please end this nightmare by bringing up some guys from GR. Burn those call up's we got left. It can't get worse, really. This defense is nothing but pathetic. Smith and Green just can't defend. They may have a little upside offensively but their overall play is just poor. Ericsson and Quincey are a little better, but also not good enough. I liked them earlier in the season but man do they look weak and slow now. No way you can give them more minutes or play against opponents top units. DeKeyser as good as ever and Marchenko is starting to look better but it's not enough.

I don't know. But even if they asked to play together, I just don't like it. Blashill would better try to find a line combination with his two best players at centre, where they belong. Thinking of something like that if everybody's healthy: Larkin, Datsyuk, Jurco Nyquist, Zetterberg, Abdelkader Tatar, Richards, Pulkkinen Miller, Sheahan, Glendening Blash should really stop playing plugs like Helm. He's never gonna be a top six Forward. Bottom six grinder at best. If they can get Jurco or Mantha to use their bodies and do the physical work for Datsyuk and Larkin that would be perfect. Otherwise there needs to be a trade. Mantha might need some time, but Jurco on the 4th line is a bad joke. Give the guy a chance. If he uses it, we got ourselves the winger we need. If not, they can still trade him. 3vs3, 4vs4, PP and some shifts in the 3rd should do it for Pav and Z. Can't afford to play your best players off position.

His skills are crazy, so he could be able to back up Mrazek at some point. But to me, his inconsistency is a real problem. Surely he's young, but it's been pretty obvious he sometimes just wasn't feeling it. Reminds me a bit of Kari Lehtonen so far. Unique skillset and unbeatable at times but you never know what will come next. To be honest, I was very surprised to read that Davos is planning to give him a shot. They have a history of very good goalies there like Hiller, Berra or Genoni. Just like Andersson they must be optimistic that his issues aren't as serious as I think they are...especially as their projected backup for next season will be Gilles Senn, a 19yo who played just 7 league games over two seasons with the club Can't always take hf for real. They also write that goaltending depth would be a weakness of the organization. I'd strongly disagree. Apart from McCollum and Coreau they're all far away now, but that should surely change within the next 2-4 years. Paterson, Perry and Van Pottelberghe are good assets.

http://www.nhl.com/ice/player.htm?id=8478847&docid=TeamPlayerBio:48605#&navid=nhl-search 2015 4th Round Pick, now returning to Switzerland to play pro hockey for one of europe's best teams that just lost in the semis of european champions league. Not too bad for his age. Talented and big guy. Has been inconsistent though...at least during junior tournaments.

Long way for him to be a part of this controversy, but I wanted to let you know that Joren van Pottelberghe will play for current Swiss Champion Davos next season. He's expected to be the starter and if it goes well, he'll most likely join Grand Rapids after a season or two.

Can't agree. Kindl, Smith, Miller, Glendening were really good I thought.

This Green kid really needs some AHL-time with the Griffins. How can you be so bad? All he did tonight was continously producing giveaways. A pain to watch. Tough to achieve but he even stood out of a very bad team so far.

Other than Andersson, I wasn't impressed at all when watching Van Pottelberghe during international games. I even think that for some games, other goalies would have been better options. Personally, I think that he's overrated because he moved to Sweden early. Has unique skills but gave up far too many goals when I saw him. You'll never know how young goaltenders will develop and his skillset certainly justifies an NHL-draftpick but I don't like that idea that we've just given up a 4th rounder for him. To me, he's too much of a wildcard as of now as he didn't show too much performancewise. But he must have shown Andersson something more in Sweden...otherwise I don't think Kenny would have invested a 4th rounder.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Damien-Brunner/36963060597 Brunner nominated Pavel

Lol, I'm acutally Swiss and even I think that this is not a big deal...for sure not worth to post it here... Fiala is not NHL-ready. Needs at least one more year in Sweden. Pretty sure he'll return. But the Preds also forced Forsberg to early, so you never know... Just moved up in the rankings...probably drafted a bit too early due to his recent success...

So what? I don't care...wrong board. Trying to compare sizes with Jurco's moves? Shootout skills won't turn your franchise into a contender, I'm afraid

As much as I like Holland because what he's done for the Franchise...i have to agree at this point. He made a lot of mistakes over the last years. He's not willing to take risks. Pav and Z will not play forever. He absolutely missed the opportunity to give the youth a chance and add the missing pieces to form a team that can make a push for the cup... Franchise players are not cheap and they're hard to get. Big trades are always a risk. To trust young players by giving them fixed roster spots is also a risk. But just by resigning and overpaying your useless veterans, you probably won't be able to win anything...

Ericsson is pretty much overrated. He might be solid, but he's not producing. Furthermore, he's not fast and not hard enough for a top pair defender. I know that Babs likes him, but he shouldn't really play so many important minutes with Kronwall. Myers is already better than him. His problem is that he's playing for the sabres. He'd bring in exactly what we need and he has the potential to be a franchise player like Kronwall is. If Holland would pick up the phone and offer Murray Ericsson for Myers, that call wouldn't even reach the one minute mark. I'm sure they have absolute no intention to acquire Ericsson, at least not in a trade including Tyler Myers. In trades, you won't get anyone for free. That roster would maybe not make the playoffs, but it would the year after and the years to come. Brouwer would fit our needs and Myers and Kane are potential franchise players. We need to add some toughness, goal scoring and size anyway. Our team isnt't scoring goals and is getting bumped arround like nobody else...because nobody makes our opponents pay for dirty fouls or hard checks. Abdelkader and Kronwall are the only players remaining our opponents are not laughing at...

You're missing the point...if they feel that there's a possibility that Green will resign, they won't be interested to trade him, they would want to trade Orlov or Erskine. They can free up some more cap space by trading Brouwer. He's the most likely to be traded. He doesn't like the Coach and he doesn't like his role in the team. He's a problem. Yes, they have 12 Forwards, but five of them are RW's and they have no quality Centers apart from Backstrom. They're still sitting on their 5 RW's and Brouwer doesn't want to play Center or LW. He got forced to do it, but he didn't want to. He's pissed. This is why they are looking to trade him, and not Green, to get a 2nd Line Center. Kenny may asked for Green, but that doesn't mean that they're shopping him.

Would be nice if it's that easy...of course, he'd need to agree to the deal due to his NTC. But even if he agrees to a deal, that still allows him to test the market...there's no security. I doubt he'd stay and I doubt that he'd be able to stay healthy. And Washington doesn't really need to deal him now...they can wait. They need a 2nd Line Center and we can't really help them with that unless they accept Weiss in return. I don't think they're interested in him...but if they're, I'd prefer to get Brouwer, not Green. I'd expect Ovechkin to play RW and therefore, Brouwer is an even bigger problem as he already is. He wouldn't really solve our defensive problems but as an additional winger he'd allow Babcock to separate Z and Pav and as a big righty and with his scoring ability he would also fit our needs. Well, I think that Kenny is clever enough not to give up our former 1st Rounders, the 2015 1st Rounder, Jurco, Pulkkinen or Mrazek in any deal. But I'm not sure if Buffalo would refuse a package that includes a 2nd Round Pick, Tatar, Nyquist and another of our better offensive prospects...

Before injuries, yeah. Long ago...you're dreaming if you think that Green can still produce anything even close... Green's still a risk and his contract sucks as there's only one year left. Don't you think that we have enough average in our roster? Don't you think we have enough players with injury problems in our roster? I just can't take more of those stupid "Kenny moves". It's enough. Let's do some real trades and bring in players who really help. Myers is a project, but he's already better than Green, especially defensively. Plus he'd add the size we desperately need. Kronwall / Myers would be like a wall. If he's available for a package without a 1st Rounder or Top Prospect, do the deal...he's worth it and fits our needs perfectly.

Why not? Better than fools like Del Zotto or Green... Give Buffalo what they want. They have no interest in Franzen or Weiss. Kenny can find other solutions for those two. Buffalo wants established Wingers with potential or high end offensive prospects. Myers is worth it. He can play a lot better than he actually is. Hard to develop for a young defenseman in this environment... Detroit is no longer a top address for FA's and we're far away from being a contender. Time to react, even if we suck for one or two seasons. Pav and Z won't play forever... - Trade Ericsson away...i have no idea what we'd get for him, but I don't think a 2nd Rounder is too much. - Use the 2nd Rounder and add Tatar, Nyquist and Ferraro to get Myers - As we now need Wingers, get Troy Brouwer and send Weiss back to Washington. Troy isn't the greatest fan of Coach Oates plus they have too many RW's and need Centers - Add some more talent and bring in Evander Kane by flipping over Smith, Franzen, Andersson, McCollum and a future 2nd Rounder - If Alfredsson returns - fine. Otherwise, sign Stempniak as a depth forward. - Give our youth a chance. Even if we suck...as wrote before, I don't care. We need to do something... FORWARDS Tomas Jurco ($0.709m) / Pavel Datsyuk ($7.500m) / Troy Brouwer ($3.667m) Evander Kane ($5.250m) / Henrik Zetterberg ($6.083m) / Anthony Mantha ($0.894m) Teemu Pulkkinen ($0.698m) / Darren Helm ($2.125m) / Lee Stempniak ($2.500m) Justin Abdelkader ($1.800m) / Riley Sheahan ($0.950m) / Danny Cleary ($1.500m) Drew Miller ($1.350m) / Luke Glendening ($0.628m) / DEFENSEMEN Niklas Kronwall ($4.750m) / Tyler Myers ($5.500m) Danny DeKeyser ($1.500m) / Brian Lashoff ($0.725m) Jakub Kindl ($2.400m) / Alexei Marchenko ($0.667m) Kyle Quincey ($4.250m) / GOALTENDERS Jimmy Howard ($5.292m) Jonas Gustavsson ($1.850m) BUYOUTS Carlo Colaiacovo ($0.000m) Jordin Tootoo ($0.000m) BONUS OVERAGE $3,017,500 ------ CAPGEEK.COM TOTALS (follow @capgeek on Twitter) (estimations for 2014-15) SALARY CAP: $69,000,000; CAP PAYROLL: $65,605,833; BONUSES: $1,542,500 CAP SPACE (23-man roster): $3,394,167

Right. But unfortunately that's nothin new and he's not able to learn. I can't remember one single game we won after his line jugglings If he's not willing to stop those ugly things he can pack his bag and go. I'm tired of see the team miscoached like that...

As I wrote, I'm a fan because of his agressive style. I also said before, already after his first game in Wings uniform, that this kid plays bigger than he is. But the thing is that he got the chance to play on our top units and he produced nothin but mistakes. The more icetime he got the more mistakes he made. And not just little things, we talk about huge mistakes that cost us goals, if not games. I agree with you that he should get another chance. But first they need to play this young kid from Grand Rapids. He's nearly perfect in every case. No stupid plays, just little mistakes. No bad shifts. Just one bad pass vs. Florida and I'm sure that's what cost him his place in Pav's line. He played almost perfect from lets say his 2nd or 3rd shift on. Jurco's able to do everything. He's a very fast skater, he shoots the puck well, he makes sick moves, he wins the board battles, he crashes the net, he's strong on the puck und cycles all around the net until he finds his linemates, he distributes the puck and he's even able to make defensive plays against the puck in the own zone.

There's just no reason for this. C'mon Babs, switch Jurco and Tatar. I'm a fan of Tatar but Jurco's far better in every case!

Oh c'mon. What would you do if someone punches you right in your face and then turn away if you want to punch back? Cody Almond is such a cheap *****, just look how he smiles and applauds after they got separated by the refs. Trust me, I'm Swiss. Geneva is just a group of cheap shots. That's the way they win games. Like the Pens for example. It's exactly the same thing. Just take a look at the coach and you know why...

http://www.srf.ch/sport/eishockey/spengler-cup/fedorow-vom-allstar-zum-altstar By the way, Mr.Fedorov is back!!! He's actually playing because of a lot of injuries. He scored a PP-goal against Geneva yesterday at the Spengler Cup in Davos. Said he's in training since 12 weeks. So he's maybe a very good fit for the alumni team.

And this after turning offers from the Wings (2/3 years, 2,5M) down? Ridiculous...