Jacksoni

Surprised by the Larkin move. Interesting. He'll get his shot and sent down when Dats or Helm returns in all likelihood. Hope he makes the most of it. He must be walking on clouds right now, quite an accomplishment.

Z will lead the scoring through assists. His back has been good for a while now, he's in shape and his hands are there already.

Except for the late penalty Cleary looked damn sharp. I think he's having a golden revival. 30+ goals when on the second line?

In my view, he's probably ready, but should stay down 1 year, playing good minutes and bulking up. A callup for 2-3 games a few months in wouldn't hurt as eyecandy. Not much more to add regarding this. Nice find. Me likey.

Great to see that our beloved hero Cleary is in the 2nd lineup, where he hopefully belongs when the season starts.

They won't. In an interview Ken Holland did on september 25th he mentioned that either he gets good Wings minutes or he goes down to AHL for top minutes. I advocated for him staying in AHL atleast a year, but I must admit I think he's ready. Only needs a bit more beef and probably some refined corner & trap skills. If he gets the chance to play in the big league this season I'll watch it live despite living in Sweden.

I'd say december. He's gonna need a few months to get his motor up. The older the longer. But good news to hear he's on schedule.

Cleary on for tonight I think? Should be good entertainment.

If I'm not mistaken the deal off the table per 2013 included Cleary being on the roster for the Red Wings. Looks like he might be on the third line.

Hilarious stuff. Would love to see him on the ice again, making the checkers crazy with his playstyle.

Nicely put. What he said to the tee.

I don't feel overly obliged to defend Cleary's status och capacity but since I suggested him in a trade: *Yes, Cleary is an UFA. But he still wants to play. Doubt he'd say no if packaged. And he can still perform, he's not walking with a cane (I am right now). *The Jets want Mantha. I don't blame them. A little sluggish, but at best a Hossa-type scorer. Sneak in Cleary and/or Smith. I would also have to admit that my last wish as regards to the 15-16 season was a little bit fantasy-ish, so take it with a grain of salt.

By him agreeing to go? The jets waving with a (small) amount of dollar bills?

I'm mostly "done" in regards to Red Wings personnel movement. As one last move, trade Cleary, Mantha & Brendan Smith for Dustin Byfuglien and a 3rd round pick. Put Byfuglien with Green, Lift up DeKeyser to the first pairing with Kronwall. Put Ericsson and Quincey on 3rd "Murder pairing". Wave to me in the conference finals.

A little overpaid. I had predicted him for 4x4 on the arbitration thread. The reason for the lower number is that he haven't produced in the playoffs. And there is a risk he might not. He's a little scrawny and has trouble getting to the slot unless backdooring. Doesn't jive well with being a sniper. Grumpingly decent, I suppose.

I agree with Kip. If it's for Dustin B. Else we wait and see what he does this year.

He will soon. I'm working on a 3-piece article on McGrattan starting from his pee-wee days.

0 games. With some disclaimers: If we in the end of the season with a few games remaining already have missed the playoffs, Larkin will be called up. If 4 or more offensemen are ruled out due to injury, he might make a quick stint depending on how he's doing in GR. Afterthought edit: I think he's gonna be a regular Next season. He will be 'rushed' in a Red Wings sense. And probably have a semi-goon on his line. Just needs to get acclimated 1 year + bulk up. Speed & vision is there.

Also it was clearly noticable that the team had serious "psychological" problems. Strange penalties, arguing with the refs, they just didn't feel right. Especially late in the season (last 3 games) it played a part in them missing the playoffs. I would attribute a major part of this to lack of leadership, be it the captain or more probably mostly the coach. *However* i do feel that they are sharp enough to get a playoff spot if they straighten up and red meatball Kessel goes bezerk with 1 of the 2 top line centers in the league. Theyre not the wings, but i'll keep tabs on their games for sure.

They'd mix up Byfuglien with either Kronwall or Green. But as a purely defensive shutdown pairing, sure why not. I'd trade 4 Teemu's for Dustin B. I know one here in Stockholm I'll throw him in as a waterboy.

Was frustrating to see that Pulkkinen couldn't get time to wind up for the shot. Perhaps put him on the Point on the Power play. He's wasn't fast enough in the games he jumped this last year to fire it orderly. Hopefully Granato can find a nice spot for him on system plays and of course the powerplay this upcoming season. If I was him I'd be training windup speed or less range of motion required 4 solid hours a day.

Ohmy I forgot the Islanders.. Well I'll add them as my "bubbly" but they are given in my opinion.

Eastern Conference teams I predict will be in the playoffs, in no particular order: New York - making it ain't their problem. Winning it is. Montreal - seriously needs a 1st line center. Not winning anything until that is addressed. Tampa Bay - expect to see them in the Conference finals. Capacity to go all the way. Washington Pittsburgh-they will make it. ill bet anyone for some dollars if asked. Florida (yep you read right). Detroit - I predict us dropping in rather late as we have done recently. And one "bubbler" yet unknown team. (Islanders)

And he should eat up their cap space. This dude is elite. Barring injuries and perhaps size considerations the blues were wise to tie him up for 8 years. Congrats to them, he'll be in the top 10 scoring list for a long time. Afterthought edit: Agree with frankgrimes, 8 million is cheapish for him, nice one for the blues.

He's a good scorer and deserves to get paid, a part of the RedWings future. Maybe this will put a fire on Holland's a$$ to clear some cap space. I predict a 4year 4 mill deal, if possible.