DickieDunn

I saw something that had the Wings #1 in cap hit lost to injuries this year.

Matthias is just another 4th liner who isn't as good as he was projected to be. Florida can keep him.

3 days is enough. At that point another day or two isn't going to matter, and more than a week is overkill. It's not like he woke up the day after he was having headaches and said "I feel good, put me in." He was doing everything in practice that he needed to do for those 3 days.

Coaches are more focused on today. GMs tend to take a longer view* and put more consideration into the future that coaches. Both want to win. *Unless you're Paul Holmgren, then you make whatever move pops into your head at that exact second.

Free agency is going to be weak, but I'm ok with letting the younger guys develop on D. Kindl probably isn't going to get a lot better, but there's still a chance and even if he doesn't he's pretty damn good for a 3rd pairing guy. Smith still has some upside and can easily still end up as a 2nd pairing guy. If he can cut down on the derp plays, Kronwall-Dekeyser, Smith-Ericsson can be a pretty good top 4. Lashoff is a pretty solid #7. The 6 spot is the one up for grabs. Do they let a kid come in? I think Marchenko can handle that next year. If they don't agree, they should sign a vet stay home guy to a one year deal, no more. The other option would be to trade Kindl or Smith as part of a package to bring someone in. I'm not sure who is going to be available, but if they can move Kindl and a D prospect to get someone like Edler or another good d-man it's a good deal. They don't have room for all the kids anyway, so they might as well use them to fill needs now. Up front they need size in the top 6. I don't think Jurco will be up full time, so he's not the answer. I think the best solution is to move Nyquist or Tatar and get a guy, either give up a little extra to get him, or make a move with a team looking to cut some salary. I like them both, but the Wings are loaded with skilled forwards 6'0" and under, and the one scoring player who's bigger doesn't really play a real physical game. I think they're going to sign at least one, probably two, free agent forwards to play on the top 3 lines. Whether that's re-signing guys (please nobody but Alfredsson) or bringing guys in. If they only sign one, I think you're going to see Jurco up.

That would work salary cap wise if you want to go with 6 D. He's not coming here, Wings don't need that kind of player. They either need a D upgrade (shipping Quincey or Kindl out) or a scoring winger with some size. Parentau is neither.

Is that why Eaves blew his coverage on one of the goals? And Abdelkader is average defensively. Also, when you have the puck as much as the kid line did, you're being a lot more effective in keeping the other team off the board than you are chasing them around your end playing defense. I'm not one of the people who thinks that anyone who doesn't score 20 goals is a waste of a roster space, but this isn't the Grind Line out there. They shouldn't be taking that many shifts at even strength, especially not at the expense of the line that scored 2 of your goals and generated 11 of your 30 shots on goal. Tie goes to the vet, and Cleary and Bert are thick guys. They've gotten the cheese and are going hard, blah blah blah. I've always defended Babcock, but come on coach, come up with some new cliches.

Vets are guys who have been in the league for awhile, not guys who are over 30. Abdelkader ahsn't earned that much ice time. Glendening, Miller, and Eaves shouldn't have played as much at he expense of the kid line. Cleary sure as hell shouldn't have been on the ice that much. Not only that, but the "well they're not rookies and earned their ice time" flies in the face of what Babcock said. That line was the best. I didn't expect them to play 18 minutes, but they sure as hell should have been second in terms of TOI.

TOI:Totat/PP/PK Alfredsson 19:44/4:07/0 Franzen 16:45/4:07/0:14 Helm 20:10/0/3:47 Cleary 15:48/0/2:34 Abdelkader 16:53/4:23/0 Nyquist 16:23/3:44/0 Tatar 14:08/3:14/0 Sheahan 13:48/3:14/0 Jurco 12:17/3:21/0 Glendening 14:29 /0/3:49 Miller 15:16/04:04 Eaves 12:01/2:00/0:44 Cleary played almost 2 1/2 minutes more at even strength. Miller played more at ES. Abdelkader has no business playing that much on the PP. If the best players play, Tatar, Sheahan, and Jurco should have had at least a couple more minutes

I don't see it. He's basically another Weiss, only not as good in his own end. He's not a bad player, but not what they need. Legwand isn't really it either.

Maybe Franzen plays? Give me a break. I get it, he doesn't play hard every game. He still scores around 25 goals a year. You don't just bench that. That's ignoring that because of cap and roster reason, they can't keep Jurco, Glendening, and Sheahn up if everyone is healthy.

If you're up 30 days or play 10 games you have to clear again. He probably won't be claimed though, and if he is it saves the Wings some cap space later.

Check the box score. The kids didn't play all that much.

Because the best players usually end up at center where they can control the play more, if they're not d-men or goalies. But the best prospects aren't centers. Jarnkrok is the only center we have right now that projects to be more than a 3rd line guy. Mantha, Jurco, Sproul, Ouellet, Backman, Marchenko, Mrazek, Athanasiou, Pulkkinen are all looking like top 6 wingers/top 4D, or in Mrazek's case a potential starting goalie. After Jarnkrok, Sehahan is their best center, and despite his production lately, he projects to be more of a 3rd line defensive guy. A few weeks of higher than normal offensive play doesn't make up for a few years of below average production at ND and in GR. Glendening is possibly the closest to NHL ready, but he's a 4th line grinder. Ferraro has speed and works hard, but he's taken a step back offensively this year. Andersson is big, but he's about as hard as a marshmallow and doesn't have the hands to play an offensive game. Big, soft, defensive centers aren't in high demand. Janmark is the only other center who has any chance at being a top 6 guy, and he's a few years away and might end up at wing.

So does playing against people who will spend a couple hundred bucks to buy cards. BTW, did you notice that you can do different things to the buildings at the corners of the boards?

No, I don't believe him. It's not just age or size, because Nyquist is playing a ton. I seriously wonder if he has something personal against Czechs. Tatar should absolutely be playing more than he is, certainly more than Cleary. Hudler was always the first one into the doghouse too. The kid line was the best line against Florida, but the other 2 scoring lines played more. If you want to limit the line as a whole, fine, run Tatar out in Cleary's space a few shifts.

Fixed. If he kept hitting like that he'd be in Shanny's office pretty quickly. The Florida game had more to do with missing their 2 best players and leaders than anything else I think, along with Gustavsson remembering he's just a #2 goalie and not a good one like he was pretending to be earlier in the season.

That doesn't mean he's healthy and just resting now.

Yes, because injuries never linger longer than they were thought to. We don't even know what's wrong with him.

OK, I thought he had to clear. Regardless, he's high on the list to be sent down as soon as a center is back.

Pretty sure Glendening does have to go through waivers. He cleared earlier.

If they're still hurt, they won't play in the Olympics. If they're not hurt, they might as well play. They know who signs their checks.

I don't think that would be enough. 4/5 D, 2nd line winger, border line NHL prospect who is small, a 4th line center, and a 1st.

On one hand., Weber is really the only star they have. On the other, he could bring a lot back, and if they get the right prospects it could work out pretty well for them Kindl, a D prospect, and a young forward. I'd do it. Great player, not getting traded.

They're not playing because they're hurt, not to avoid injury. Zetterberg has a history of back problems, and I can't see Datsyuk not playing if he could. They have a lot of people to choose from as to who sits. Hopefully Cleary