DannyD

I actually prefer Jurco to Tatar. At this point obviously Tatar is better but everyone is always complaining about wanting to get bigger as a team. Jurco is a bigger guy with amazing hands plus he has shown he isn't afraid of throwing his body around not to mention the fact that he should continue to put some weight and get bigger and harder to get off the puck. Some people don't want to trade Helm and I understand that but if you want a guy who has put up 40 goals you are gonna have to give something up. We know Sheahan will be on the roster next year unless he is traded because he is out of options, he should be the 3rd line center with Jurco and Alfie or Pulk. Babcock also loves Glendening. I think he has earned the right to be in that 4th line role next year. That game against the Blackhawks cemented that for me. Andersson might be able to sneak through waivers or play wing on the 4th line. Again, Sheahan is a guy that makes the team bigger. As much as I love Helm he doesn't bring much scoring wise. Sure he went through a short spurt early this year but we haven't seen much of anything scoring wise after that. Maybe Helm, Tatar and a 2nd. I would be fine giving that up for two years of Kesler, if not more. I think we could really use his help especially with injuries to our top 3 C's right now. If we make it to the playoffs a line of Z-Pav-Kesler with Kronwall-Erhoff would be something that we could definitely work with and advance with.

So Pav is out Tuesday and Weiss had a setback. Without our three top centers. Man, I hate thinking about selling the farm for someone but I feel like we might be more in on Kesler now. I'd do Helm, Tatar, 1st for Kesler. Kindl, one of Oullet/Sproul/Jensen, pick for Erhoff. IF we could make it to the playoffs and have Pav and Z back we could go... Z/Pav/Kesler Nyquist/Weiss/Franzen Jurco/Sheahan/Alfie Miller/Glendening/Abby Kronwall/Erhoff Big E/Dekeyser Smith/Lashoff

For someone who doesn't follow the evil Penguins what would that be equivalent too for Detroit? 1st, 3rd, Smith and Tatar?

I'm going to the game as well. One of the suppliers at my dads job is meeting us there with tickets. Not sure where the seats are. I know all food/beer is included though.

Missed the game tonight due to work. Can anyone fill me in? Preferably how'd the kids and Datsyuk look? I'm going to the game Saturday so I was really excited to see Pasha suit up tonight.

I hadn't seen that. Hopefully he stays on with the team in some capacity. Would be awesome to someday have Yzerman, Lids, Z, Draper, etc.. all in the FO.

ABBY!!!

More center depth? We already have too many centers. If we acquire another one we need to send at least 1 or 2 back. Pav Z Sheahan Helm Glendening Weiss Andersson We could have two full lines of nothing BUT centers. Not mentioning that Franzen plays C sometimes.

I agree with you. I definitely wouldn't trade Nyquist, Tatar or Jurco for a rental. That's our problem though. We don't have the cap space to bring in any big time guy unless we somehow got them to take back someone like Bert which doesn't seem very realistic. We are more fitted to stick with the guys we have until FA hits. We can get some guys off the books and free up cap space to make a move then. I do like the talent we have coming up and we develop talent very well. In say 4 years our team could look like this granted Z will be getting ready to head back to Sweden to retire. Nyquist - Z - Mantha Tatar - Sheahan - Jurco Abby - Helm - Callahan? ? - Glendening - ? Dekeyser - Big E Smith - Ouellet Sproul - Jensen/Marenchenko Still leaves room in case guys like Jarnkrok, Pulkinnen, Athanasiou, Frk never crack the big leagues. Or trade assets. I don't want to trade away a potential star in Nyquist, Tatar, Jurco, Mantha for a rental or a defenseman who might get us in the playoffs but knocked out in the 2nd round. These guys are the future of our team. I would rather end the playoff streak this year to benefit us in the long term rather than selling the farm.

That's awesome. Should further his development playing with all the Swedes. Very happy for him.

In no way am I saying Nyquist is a shut down defensive forward or Tatar is horrible defensively. Tatar has gotten a lot better defensively and he works really hard. Both of the guys are learning so much from Z and it shows in their game. Personally I feel like Nyquist is the better all around player at this point. I think they will both be staples in the top 6 once Z and Pav are gone, if not before then as long as they aren't traded obviously. I don't think we need to trade either of them though. I would do a package of Smith or Ouellet, Jurco and a 1st, for a Dman but I'm weary of trading away young assets because I don't think we are a championship team this season anyway.

If we could create a package of any of these 4 and bring back a top 4 Dman I would be okay with it. Jurco, Oullete, Quincey, Kindl, 1st, Anderrson. No way do I want to give up Tatar or Goose. We barely score enough goals as it is. We don't need to trade away guys who have all but proven they can score 20+ goals a season. Also, I have no idea why people would rather give up Goose over Tatar. Goose is the superior player, imo. More responsible defensively, has put up 2 less points than Tatar but in 16 less games. I don't wanna lose either but if I absolutely had to choose give me Goose.

I'm gonna go with Wings 3-2. (Goose, Tatarsauce, Alfie)

Khan said last night it's an unspecified knee injury. My best guess would be some sort of MCL/ACL sprain. A grade 1 MCL sprain has a typical recovery time of 4-6 weeks. Which would put Pasha back right before the Olympics if thats what it is. Just a guess.

Datsyuk - Out Zetterberg - Out Weiss - Out Franzen - Out Emmerton - Out All guys who have played center for us this season. Olympic break couldn't come any sooner. If the kids can pull it off tonight it would a big boost for their confidence and maybe Holland will finally cut the dead weight in the offseason and put some of the young guys on the main roster.

Caps are rumored to want to move Mike Green. Could be a RH shot for us at the point. Bertuzzi + Kindl for Green?

With the way Glendening is playing I don't know how they send him down. He may not put up points but he is a great 4th line C and good on the PK. I'd go something like this... Zetterberg-Datsyuk-Abelkader Franzen-Weiss-Alfie Nyquist-Helm-Tatar Miller-Glendening-Eaves Assuming Weiss plays better coming out of the break. Best third line in the league. Plus it allows us to put the Euro Twins back together. Leaves Andy without a spot but maybe he could pass through waivers.

That makes much more sense. I actually really like the lineups tonight minus of course cleary. Top 3 lines all have a good scoring threat in Z Tats and Alfie. 4-2 Wings (Goose, Eaves, Alfie, Tats)

I don't know where you are getting that the lines are being split up. Allfie is in, Bert out. All other lines have been reported the same by Khan. Goose-Z-Abby Jurco-Sheahan-Tatar Clearly-Helm-Alfie Miller-Glendening-Eaves