DannyD

Holy ***************

Of course Z hits Abby in the face...

Goose-Z-Abby Tats-Dats-Jurco Sheahan-Helm-Nesty Miller-Glendening-Andersson I wanna see what that 2nd line would look like. Three guys with fantastic hands. Sheahan needs to shoot more, he has a good shot. Kronner!

4-3 OT Hank, Jurco, Smith, Goose. In that order.

I love Tatar but he's gotta get it through his head that he isn't Datsyuk.

We have too many passers and not enough guys with accurate shots. I'm expecting to see Mantha and Pulks on the team before the end of the season.

3-2 Wings. Z, Goose, Sheahan

We've gotta start getting more pucks in the net. If we keep struggling in the goal department I could see Mantha called up before January. (Give him some time to heal and get back in shape in the AHL.) I'm rolling this lineup a few days just to see what happens see if we can spark a few goals. Z-Pav-Mantha Goose-Weiss-Franzen Tatar-Sheahan-Jurco Callahan-Helm-Abby If Mantha isn't ready put Tats on the top line, call up Pulks. We could use his shot.

I don't know if I mind Helmer on the 1st line but I think I would rather see something like this... Z-D-Sheahan Franzen-Weiss-Goose Tatar-Helm-Jurco Miller-Glendening-Abby Sheahan has shown he has really good hands in front of the net and isn't afraid to go to the dirty areas to score goals. He can also use his big body to protect the puck and take some punishment away from Datsyuk and Z. Franzen and Goose played well last year when paired together. I'd like to start them off on the same line and see if they can't find some of the chemistry again. That third line... talk about energy! Two guys with fantastic hands and a speed demon in Helm who can lock it down defensively and really stretch the ice.

Why can't I? No one thought Pavel or Z were gonna be #1 guys when they were drafted. It's not like I'm saying he could be #1 next year or even the year after that, but I think he could make that leap eventually. Everything I've read says he could be a dynamic two way player.

If AA can keep up the pace he is on he might be fighting for that #1C spot in a few years or at very least a #2C. It sounds like he has really been working on his faceoffs and two way play. The kid is electric. I would LOVE to see Tatar-AA-Jurco. That line could do some major damage in a couple years.

I'm seeing a ton of really good things about AA so far in camp. Yup AA is practicing face offs instead off drills with the wingers. I read he won every faceoff against Turgeon and Ehn. LOTS of high praise for AA everywhere you look. Some other things that stood out to me.. Jiri Fischer on Pulks... "He came into camp last year "ripped." In better shape than anyone." More: "A smaller version of Brett Hull, can score like Jari Kurri." He expects Pulks to come in and challenge for a spot on the Wings roster during camp this year. http://youtu.be/jfWYdTRxKrI

Except it's not going to be the same roster per say. Yes mostly the same on paper, but we ended the season without Big E, Weiss, Hank and 1/2 of Pav. We started the season without Sheahan, Jurco, Nyquist, Glendening and Helm. The team we ended up with "on paper" of... Z-D-Aflie Goose-Weiss-Franzen Tatar-Sheahan-Jurco Abby-Helm-Glendening/Miller Kronwall-Smith Big E-Dekeyser Quincey-Ouellet/Kindl/Lashoff Barely even played together as a unit at the same time! So even though we didn't go out and overpay for a bunch of unproven or old guys we will still see change.

We aren't Cup contenders right now. Signing Niskanen or Boyle wouldn't have changed that at all. They would've helped, but they wouldn't have put us over the top. So yes, I would love to still see us make the playoffs even if we do lose in the 1st round, but give me Pav on two legs...not just one, a healthy Z, and healthy Big E in that series and things might've been a little different. We might not have won but I don't think we would've lost 4-1. Not to mention our kids are getting valuable playoff experience. Sure as hell beats missing the playoffs all together. So what if we get a pick 3-4 picks lower than what we would've had? We aren't tanking. It's not going to happen. Pardon me if I have realistic expectations.

Ah. I'm not sure if Marchenko was at camp last year or not, but that would make sense. I'm imagining a future line with AA and Helm and drooling over the speed...

So let me get this straight. Just because we missed out on signing ONE DMAN you want to tank the whole season? Holy overreaction Batman! So we had a NEGATIVE record heading into December. Before Pav and Z missed 40 games. Before Big E missed 30 and had an extremely underachieving Weiss. And we still made the playoffs? Oh god we must've played HORRIBLE to still get into the playoffs the rest of the season despite not having Pav, Z, Big E, Franzen etc... Don't forget guys like Sheahan and Jurco didn't even get called up until half way through the season. Goose didn't get called up until late November. And injuries are to blame for ANY time Glenny and Miller might have spent in the top 6 last season. Lest we all forget we had multiple games with Andersson being our #1C because Pav, Z, Weiss, and Helm were ALL out.

Really excited to hear about Larkin, AA and Mantha from camp. I feel like AA has been forgotten about among people on here because of Mantha hype. AA had 49 goals and 46 assists in 66 games.. He had 12 points in 11 playoff games as well. Something interesting I noticed. Marchenko is the only one of the NHL level D prospects invited to camp. No Ouellete, Sproul, Bäckman, or Jensen. Anyone have any idea why?

You. I like you. +1,000,000 We are building for the future while still being competitive. Mantha, Sheahan, Goose, Tats, Jurco, Ouellete, Sproul, Marchenko, Smith, Dekeyser, Larkin, AA2, Pulks, Mrazek. Those are the guys who are gonna win us our next championship. Those are the guys that will lure in the top UFA's that want to win a cup. The future is so bright but people refuse to see anything but OMG WE SIGNED QUINCEY. WORST DMAN EVER. At least he didn't miss any games to injury last year. Probably like the only guy on the team to play all 82. Look at how many games we lost to injury/late callups last year! Pavel only played 45 games. Z played 45. Big E played 48. Weiss 26. Franzen 54. Helm 42. Goose 57, Sheahan 42. Not a single one of the top 4 C's on our roster played more than 45 games! It's hard to believe we can be struck with that much bad luck again this year. I can't see any way in which we are a worse team this year than last year.

Who says Ouellet won't get a shot to play? There is still one open spot. They even started Ouellet in the playoffs instead of Kindl. Sproul isn't ready. It wouldn't be fair to him to bring him up just to see him struggle and have the fans jump all over him like they do Smith.

Weiss didn't pass, Alfie didn't pass. Datsyuk resigned, Kronwall resigned. What do you want? We can't sign everyone. There are 29 other teams that are trying to get better just like we are. Do you want us to overpay someone just to say we signed them then to be stuck with a horrible cap hit for someone who isn't worth it 4-5 years down the road when we need to resign a bunch of our young guys? We are building for the next 8-12 years not the next 2. People can't get that through their heads.

It's not like Holland hasn't tried to get help on the blueline. We were spurned by several guys this offseason and the Suter situation is well documented. We have 5 guys in the AHL who could all play in the NHL in the next two years, granted they won't all play for us. It takes time to "give the team a new identity." You can't do that over night in the salary cap era unless you get a guy like Crosby in the draft. The identity is starting to change with Goose, Tats, Sheahan, Jurco all coming up. I'd be surprised if we didn't end up seeing one of the young Dmen play at least 35-40 games this season. The change is happening, but it just isn't going to happen overnight.

Andrej Meszaros? Had 22 points in 52 game least season. Big guy 6-2 223lbs. Could be an option.

Anyone with any insight in D Jamie McBain? I don't really know much about him other than he shoots R and had 30 and 27 point seasons not too long ago with Carolina.

Looks like we'll have lots of money to sign Tatar and Dekeyser now. For real though, we are gonna have a ton of cap space.

I figure the kid could teach Quincey a thing or two.