rick zombo

Really like the idea of Knuble in GR, working with Sheahan and Andersson - two young, big, two-way forwards. Should be nothing but a win for the organization, from a prospect development perspective. Great for Knuble too!!

My prediction? All these "missing the payoffs/predictions/winning the central" threads will be merged in 5...4....3....2.........

I predict the end of a playoff streak and a top 14 draft pick for the first time since (what feels like) 1845.

Ottawa are doing 14-and-under free, half priced merch, and $1 popcorn on opening night. Better than a kick in the nutz, I suppose.

The Wings need a #2 D-man more than they need Franzen, Tatar, etc. And they need a guy who can play in a solid, minute-eating, shut-down role. I think the back end has enough puck-movers and point producers. Flip won’t be traded when he’s a UFA at year’s end unless it’s to a top contender (and a top contender would not trade away a #2 D-man). All I know is that the Forward group has enough depth to absorb a trade if it means shoring up the D. This: Kronwall - Legit #2 shut-down guy Smith - Ericsson White - Quincey Carlo/Kindl Looks waaaay better than this: Kronwall - Ericsson Smith - Quincey White - Carlo Kindl But yeah, I’d say TFP is just raking old coals here.

I Yup. But I’d rather see Sheahan continue to play big minutes in the top six in GR than 6 minutes a night in Detroit. Bring up Andersson for that 4th line center spot. At least he’s a big body, and very good defensively.

f*** this. Move Abby up to center the third line, and call Sheahan or Andersson up to center line 4.

To free up cap space in order to add a #1 or #2 D-man. That's all really. That, and the term of Franzen's contract is depressing.

<blockquote class='ipsBlockquote'data-author="Buppy" data-cid="2339155" data-time="1357866993"><p> <em class='bbc'><strong class='bbc'>BUYOUTS</strong><br /> Johan Franzen (-$0.139m) / Mikael Samuelsson ($3.000m)<br /> <strong class='bbc'>------</strong></em><br /> <br /> Teams have two <em class='bbc'>amnesty</em> buyouts, which do not count towards the cap. Those could be used on Bert and Sammy. (Since those are both 35+ contracts, buying them out without amnesty wouldn't make any sense, since it wouldn't save anything on the cap.)<br /> <br /> Teams have an unlimited number of ordinary course buyouts, which do count toward the cap. Assuming we couldn't make any trades, and Eaves came back ready to play, buying out Mule, Cola, Eaves, and Emmy would cost around $1.1M in cap next year. Saves around $2M over your roster.</p></blockquote> Look at that roster. It's 300,000 OVER the cap WITHOUT including any of those guys. Even if you were able to get rid of Bert, Carlo, Em-dog, etc without buying them out, you'd be 300,000 OVER the cap. If you had to buy them out, then that's 300,000 + 1.1M or whatever OVER the cap.

<blockquote class='ipsBlockquote'data-author="dirtydangles" data-cid="2339145" data-time="1357864925"><p> Let me know if I'm wrong but the amnesty buyouts don't count against the cap. We get two. I'm sure someone would take Franzen on in a weaker team. Buyout Bert, Sammy. Eaves goes on IR. Emmerton and Colo could be traded with their low cap hits. This would easily fit under the cap and you could sign another forward or keep emmerton. </p></blockquote> Well, I bought out Franzen, and Sammy. And yes, they don't count against the cap. Basically, I imagined, in your world that Kenny was able to buy out Franzen and Sammy, then somehow pawn Carlo, Bert, Emmerton, ect off on other teams. The roster I posted (your roster) does not include cap hits for any of these guys. Howard, Flip, Nyquist, and Smith are all FAs and will get raises. So, no, this roster can not easily fit under the cap. It can't even difficultly fit under the cap.

I've taken this roster and monified it for salary, just for discussion's sake (note - this is not MY preferred line-up, just a tidier version of Dirty's): CAPGEEK.COM USER GENERATED ROSTER My Custom Lineup FORWARDS Henrik Zetterberg ($6.083m) / Pavel Datsyuk ($6.700m) / Corey Perry ($5.750m) Nyquist Gustav ($1.200m) / Calle Jarnkrok ($0.900m) / Valterri Filpulla ($4.000m) Tomas Tatar ($0.840m) / Darren Helm ($2.125m) / Damien Brunner ($1.500m) Drew Miller ($0.838m) / Justin Abdelkader ($1.800m) / Jordin Tootoo ($1.900m) Jan Mursak ($0.550m) / (NaN) DEFENSEMEN Niklas Kronwall ($4.750m) / Kyle Quincey ($3.775m) Jonathan Ericsson ($3.250m) / Ian White ($3.000m) Brendan Smith ($1.200m) / Jakub Kindl ($1.000m) Alex Edler ($5.500m) / GOALTENDERS Jimmy Howard ($3.800m) Jonas Gustavsson ($1.500m) BUYOUTS Johan Franzen (-$0.139m) / Mikael Samuelsson ($3.000m) ------ CAPGEEK.COM TOTALS (follow @capgeek on Twitter) (these totals are compiled with the bonus cushion) SALARY CAP: $64,000,000; CAP PAYROLL: $64,821,629; BONUSES: $495,000 CAP SPACE (22-man roster):- $326,629 Not only does this not fit under the cap, but that's the smallest group of Wings forwards I've ever seen. Plus there is only room to buy out Franzen and Sammy. How does one just "get rid" of Bert, Emmerton, Eaves, Cackavo, etc? Like I said, fantasy time is over, UNLESS someone could fit a Corey Perry and Edler type under next year's cap. Realistcally, that is.

I suggest that those of you lobbying for a top 6 forward and top 4 defencemen try using cap geek with a cap of 64M to try and assemble a line-up that includes raises for Howard, Filpulla, Smith, and Nyquist and see how you can twist the numbers. I've tried, and the results were two embarassing to post. In short, if a top 4 D-man commands 3-4M and a top 6 forward goes somewhere in the 4M range, it's almost impossible to fit this under the cap. It's actually possible that next year's team ends up being worse than this one, not better.

Nicely put. I guess, other than fan-boy longing for something new and exciting, the only real arguement for Nyquist and Tatar making the team is that they are in game shape right now, and might provide some wheels coming right out of the gate. Guys like Bert, Sammy, and Cleary will need a few games to hit stride. And every game will be a dog fight, every win crucial. On a side note, Sheahan's on a massive tear in GR.

He's not bumping him "out of Detroit". Let's face it. This season is an ugly wart on the NHL's ass. Leave Nyquist in GR and let him tear it up with Tatar, Sheahan, Andersson, and yes, Ferraro. If you look at the larger picture of player development, it's good for these guys to be winning in the AHL, and they are. Much like the 2005/06 when Hudler and Filpulla were there. I can eat this "season". But Nyquist better be here full time next year. It's not like we're losing Nyquist. He's just not in the plans for this joke of a season.

Emmerton should get the C.

Hopefully not Jim Nill.

He must not have displayed the proper levels of "pugnacity, testosterone, truculence, and belligerence" My guess is, Burke wanted to do one thing with the team, the owners wanted to do something else, he told them to f**k off, and then they fired him. Maybe he can get work writing storyboards for Cherry's Coaches Corner.

Hence my edit. Which was done 3 hours before your reply.

Does anyone not think it's weird that Holland calls Smith on Sunday,pulls him from the Griffins game that day, and tells him to come to Detroit. Yet Datsyuk won't get on a plane until the deal's ratified? Is he playing during this time in Russia. If so, how much would it suck if he got injured? Edit: I know taking a cruise to Detroit from Grand Rapids is not like Flying across three continents. But if It's portant enough to pull Smith in from GRs even though he's helping them win (which is good for The Wings) why on earth is Datsyuk staying in Russia for the extra few days? Where are Brunner and Zetterberg?

<blockquote class='ipsBlockquote'data-author="Tim.D" data-cid="2338584" data-time="1357678216"><p> Per Bob McKenzie: Each team plays: 4 games vs. two Divisional opponents (8); 5 games vs. two divisional opponents (10); 3 games vs 10 Conference rivals (30).</p></blockquote> Lemme guess. Detroit will get Chicago and St. Louis 5 times each? Ahhhh parity.

ErrrMERRRGERD SINDEY CRURSSBY!!!!!!!!!!!

Which would be awesome. My prediction though is that he clones himslef: so he can sign with Edmonton AND Minnesota

4 Stanley Cups for a guy that Scotty Bowman figured had nothing. This man was the poster-boy for willpower and hard work.

I think GMs like Holland should be rewarded for being cap compliant right now. Something needs to be done to give responsible GMs some leverage over the crappy ones. It really sucks that some of these teams that have signed players to HORRIBLE contracts are going to be given a "get out of jail free" card.

I honestly have no idea. I look at the Oilers maybe? With Eberle, Schultz, and Hall tearing it up in Oklahoma, along with the Nuge coming off the WJs. Some say the Pens? Discuss...... Edit: I guess I should add that I'm only talking about which team has had the most important active players during the lockout, not which teams are better on paper.