DickieDunn

Glendening has been up over Callahan because every forward who has missed a bunch of time except Alfredsson have been centers, or wings who can play center when needed. If they needed a 4th line winger, I'm sure Callahan would have have his chance. The Wings are loaded with guys who project to be solid to good NHL players. Up front they're lacking top center depth though. If Jarnkrok doesn't develop into a top line guy, they'll have to find one in trade or free agency. Jurco could easily be a 25-30 goal guy, Mantha will either be a stud goal scorer or complete bust, depending on how bad he wants it. Sheahan could have a Dan Cleary type career where he's a 40 point guy capable of playing on any line. Pulk could be a 25+ goal a year sniper. Callahan is one of those guys who will do whatever it takes to win, I think he's going to be a hell of a checking line winger. Glendening is probably going to be an ok 4th line guy/reserve forward. Ferraro has speed and works hard, so he should have a decent pro career, but he's probably going to top out as a 4th line energy player. The other guys are farther out, but I'm not ready to write Frk or Tvrdon off quite yet, and Athanasiou is looking like a potential stud with good size and excellent speed. At the very least he should be a high end checking line guy. Janmark has picked up his scoring pace in Sweden, too, and there are a few other guys with a decent chance of being NHL players. Defense is even more loaded. Sproul and Ouellet are potential top pairing guys. Backman and Marchenko project as solid to good second pairing guys, and Jensen could be a second pair guy too. I'm not high on Almquist, I think his size is going to limit him far too much at the NHL level, unless he finds a team that wants to use him as a PP specialist with limited even strength minutes. McKee, McNulty, De Haas, Nedomlel, and Wheaton are all big bodied guys who could be decent 3rd pairing guys. Add all that to the younger guys who have established themselves and the Wings look like they should continue to be in top half of the NHL for a long time.

I'd rather be able to keep both Callahan and Sheahan next year.

Player comes back, lines change. Where a guy plays, who sits, and who gets shuffled to a new line is all part of the conversation.

mlive.com, freep.com, detnews.com. Most blogs I've seen are just people regurgitating the stuff from legit news sources (like George Malik) or throwing out personal thoughts and rumors.

You can add as many players as you can fit under the cap. For the playoffs, there is no cap I think

They have 9 spots locked up, leaving 5 forward spots open. I would be surprised if Sheahan and Callahan are not on the team next year. I'd be even more surprised if at least one free agent wasn't signed, whether that's Alfredsson, one of the other current Wings, or someone from outside the organization, and I expect 2 free agent signings up front. Andersson will probably stick on the roster, but he could be beaten out. Jurco could make a push, especially if they only sign one free agent. That puts Ferraro and Glendening firmly on the bubble, probably pushed out, and I don't think either will be claimed if they are waived. Zetterberg-Datsyuk-UFA Franzen-Weiss-Nyquist Tatar-Helm-UFA/Jurco/Abdelkader/??? Miller-???-Abdelkader/??? Sheahan, Callahan, Andersson, Ferraro, Glendening fighting it out for the 4th line center, 2 reserve spots, and maybe a 3rd or 4th line wing position.

So say it that way, or just ask who is that. Don't post an anti-nickname diatribe where you make crap up.

Can you find anything dumber to throw a hissy fit about? Just because you haven't heard the nickname doesn't mean others haven't been using it. I've seen him called that since he was drafted. I think Dirty Harry is going to be a fine agitator in the NHL. Just don't expect a ton of offense or 10 fights a year.

Or they're scouting teams in their conference for future games.

Cheeseburger in Paradise-- Jimmy Buffet

Gonzo. Kate Upton or Kiera Knightly

Filppula Hudler Helm Abdelkader Dekeyser Lashoff and a bunch of others have come in and played over vets when they showed they were ready. For the most part once a fut proves, it he sticks. They will not, however, leave a spot open to give a kid a tryout, then send him down and have to find a plug later if he can't handle it. One, it can be bad for the kid's confidence and development, and two it's generally more expensive to fill a hole mid season than it is in the off season. The disconnect is when fans think a kid is ready and when the coaches think he's ready. People wanted both Ericsson and Smith up earlier than they were and both struggled when they were full time NHL players a year later.

They might accept a d prospect. Ouellet and a 2nd or Kindl. Maybe they'd want Tootoo as well

Kate Upton or Adriana Lima. Hmmmm, yes please.

Yeah, it's true. Just like vet o-linemen in the NFL know how to get away with holding all the time, and if you have the rep as a top lineman you get away with more.

They didn't pass on Ryan, the Sens had more to offer Hemsky is an injury prone version of Nyquist, and in another year or two I think Nyquist will be better. I do not want Hemsky. I'm not in favor of moving Abdelkader either. They need more size up front, trading him isn't going to fix that.

I don't want to trade for a rental unless they talk to him first and are pretty certain that he's going to sign an extension here.

Or is it just fantasy? Caught in a landslide, no escape from reality. Open your eyes, look up to the skies and see. I'm just a poor boy, I need no sympathy, because I'm easy come, easy go a little high, little low. Anyway the wind blows, doesn't really matter to me, to me

Weiss hasn't been healthy all year, other than maybe a short stretch shortly before he went on IR this last time. He hurt his groin in preseason, re-aggravated the injury, then had the sports hernia. It's short sighted and stupid to judge him based on that when he has a history of good production in Florida. As someone who has had a groin injury, I know how tricky they can be. You think you're feeling ok, then you push it just a little more, and you hurt it again. They will NOT buy him out or waive him, and I doubt they'd use the buy out even if they could. Would you go to your boss and tell him that you screwed up and it's going to cost him several million dollars paying for something he's not going to get any value at all for? I sure as hell wouldn't unless I was ready to retire. There are only 2 candidates for the compliance buy out, Tootoo (probable) and Franzen (not likely but possible).

$$$$$$$$$ Eaves saves $925k, Samuelsson saves $100k I missed it, what did Mary say?

The kids have a lot of talent, but kids by nature tend to be inconsistent. Part of that is a lack of experience of what it takes, part of it is that they tend to become frustrated easier, and part is a general lack of maturity. That's why we're seeing up and down efforts right now. They'll all get their chance. Then you have Bertuzzi and Cleary. Bertuzzi looks like he's playing out the string, Cleary has the heart but not the body. Give Bertuzzi Cleary's effort and you have a pretty good player, but the way they are now they're just two broken pieces. Cleary should be send down, or just plain decide to retire, but I doubt either of those happens. Bertuzzi and Samuelsson should also be sent down, but because of the 35+ rule I don't think it's possible because they wouldn't clear out the cap space to replace them.

wow, nice soccer skills from Abdelkader

If the Wings are still struggling near the deadline I talk to Alfredsson about being traded to a contender. I'm also calling around to anyone who has a big scoring winger and offering Nyquist or Tatar, plus a young d-man. If i'm not looking good for the playoffs, I'm also going to be offering any of my UFA guys for whatever I can get, even if it's just a 7th rounder or conditional pick. I'm not planning on having Betuzzi, Samuelsson, Cleary, Eaves, or Quincey back anyway, might as well trade them.

Is he a right handed shot with a thick body? No, so Babcock wouldn't have him on the PP. I understand that having a right shot on the point is nice, but talent is more important. Kronwall, Kindl, and Smith for sure shoould be on the points of the 2 units, and Alfredsson should be playing lower along the half boards or the slot instead of the point.

I'm all for having neither. I don't care how good he is offensively, he can't get it done defensively against bigger players.