DickieDunn

They're already over the cap when everyone is off LTIR, I don't see how adding a guy who can't stick on a bottom feeder is going to help anything.

Being drafted in the first round by Columbus? That seems to be the kiss of death to any aspirations of being a star player.

Name 20 defensemen who are clearly better than Kronwall and I'll agree they don't have a #1 D. The problem is Ericsson is only adequate at #2 and while Dekeyser might get there, he's not there now. Going back to the 10-11 season, Franzen has 80G, 165 pts in 225 games. Per 82 games, that's 29G 60 pts. Datsyuk has 72/136/208 in 210 games, per 80 he's at 28G 81 pts. Zetterberg has 73/172/245 in 253 games, 24G 79 pts per 82. So you're saying that just a few more goals so Franzen and Datsyuk were averaging 30 instead of 29 and 28 respectively would make a difference? I call BS. Fans are just too obsessed with round numbers. Too many people act like there's a big difference between 29 and 30, but no difference between 30 and 31. Vanek is only a little better per 82 games than Franzen at 31 G and 72 pts. playing a lot bigger role than he probably would here. The difference between Franzen and Jurco is that Franzen is a proven goal scorer while Jurco just has potential. He might score 30 a year, or he might not hit 20 a year on a regular basis.

You said still stinks. That implies that he stunk previously, which is false.

So if 2 teams want him and both are offering a similar package, trade him out of the division. If Anaheim will only give up a 6th and Boston will give up a 4th, take the 4th. Like I said, Quincey is not a guy you worry about coming back to haunt you with his new team. Ott for Andersson, a 4th, and Samuelsson, if I was able to talk to Ott and he said he was willing to sign a reasonable extension. Otherwise I wouldn't give up more than a 3rd if they took back Samuelsson to make the salary work.

Did you really just compare Quincey to Fedorov and Nash? Really? REALLY? If they trade Quincey for a 4th rounder, Holland is doing pretty good. I don't care if it is to a division rival, guys like Quincey aren't guys you try to keep away from certain teams because they might hurt you later.

To me the difference between Canada and the US is that Canada is a collection of great players, where the US players were chosen to play specific roles, at least that was the non a-hole reason given for leaving Ryan off the team. Canada hasn't been as sharp in their games, though, despite looking so dominant on paper. Maybe that's because they figure they don't have to be at the top of their game for the round robin and they'll get up for the elimination stage, which is looking like it'll probably be Switzerland and then USA to get to the medal game. I that's they're thought process, it might bite them in the ass though. Sweden is the top seed because they're the only team that won all their games in regulation. They don't have an easy path though, they're probably going to play Russia or Finland to get to the medal round. FInland showed that they're a pretty good team in their first 3 games, and Russia can still pull their heads out of their asses and be dangerous.

Let's leave the medical advice for Franzen to the doctors who actually examine him. If he is out for the rest of the season, there's no guarantee that he'll be cleared before the compliance buy out window any way, so that won't be an option. If he does retire, the Wings are hit with a cap penalty of just over $1 mil thanks to the Bettman hissy fit recapture rule, which isn't a killer, but the Wings might opt to let him do the Chris Pronger thing instead of buying him out.

Alfredsson is far from useless. Anytime you can add a player who will help your team, even if it's only going to be for a year or two, you do it. His signing, and the Weiss contract, aren't the problem. Weiss's season long groin issues make Weiss a problem, but that's not something you know will happen, and any player might get hurt. The real problem was that Holland made a bad assumption that he'd be able to trade someone when he signed Cleary. That led to no roster space or cap room for Nyquist. I said at the time that I didn't mind CLeary coming back, but the deal shouldn't have been finalized until someone was traded.

You realize that when they signed those contracts nobody expected them to play that long, right? Are you going to answer my question now? How is 2 goals and 8 assists more production worth another $3+ mil a season for the difference between Franzen and Vanek?

Franzen scores 27 or 28 goals and 60 points a year. Vanek has been at 30 and 70 on average the last few years. Please explain why Franzen is a bum at a $4 mil cap hit but Vanek is worth the monster contract he's going to want.

If a player ends the season on ir they need medical clearance to be bought out. /story

They beat the Evil Russians? IDK, if you don't know much about hockey you might buy that hype if you compare it to the Miracle on Ice.

Me too. He's not going to be back next year, and Marchenko can't be a whole lot worse.

And after the Boston GM is done laughing at you, he'll tell you he'll give you a 4th round pick for Quincey.

He was traded to the Flames and he's an almost polar opposite of Kindl. He hits, plays good defense, and blocks a ton of shots.

Milbury is just a moron. Cherry is more calculated in his stupidity.

He'd be missing games if it was the Olympics or not. Now he has 2 weeks to get rest or rehab. So do Franzen and Weiss.

I'd rather see Patrick Kane: New face of my paintball target

They're not missing games to play in the Olympics. They're not getting any more money this season than any other season. The owners still get revenue from 41 home games and a full TV schedule, so they're not losing money. This year, the Wings play their last game April 13th. 2 years ago it was April 7th, the year before that it was April 10th. The 08-09 season ended April 12th. They're not extending the season more than a few days from what it ended the last 3 full non Olympic years.

Except that they're not missing games to go play and the other players aren't doing any extra work. Which doesn't come out of your pocket at all.

I'm pretty sure Mike Ilitch pays his salary. He gets some of that money from fans, but he gets a pretty good chunk from the TV deals and all the ad revenue, too.

So if you had a leisure activity that your boss didn't like, would you stop doing it? Say he told you that he didn't want you to go on a ski trip because you might get hurt. Would you say "sure boss, I'll cancel this trip I've been planning for 4 years because you don't feel comfortable with it?"

I'd think that they could get a 1st and another pick or a decent prospect in exchange for Alfredsson if he decides he wants out.

Dominate? No. Be useful? Possibly.