LeftWinger

Tootoo should be playing, but Babcock doesn't like to play him because he can't kill penalties. Although the team seems to play better with him. I think its time for Holland to knock Babcock off his pedestal and tell him that he needs to ice the best team, not play his vets because they earned it via seniority... Bench Bert, never play Sammy again and only play Cleary on the 4th line or when there is not a better option. The best players should be on the ice in critical times. Dekeyser is top 2 on this team if not your best, so he and Kronner should have been the ones on the ice at the end, if not Danny, then Smith. To put Sammy out there just because he is right handed is asinine. Playing Sammy on the PP along with Cleary is just stupid. When the kids are out there, they are the ones generating things, making things exciting. How does it make them feel when Babcock tells them to take a seat because they don't have enough "time" in the NHL to be out there? And yes, he does do that. Just because Tootoo isn't the best two way player, he isn't good enough? I know Babcock has a great win loss record, but in recent years the losses have been catching up to the wins and he seems to keep going to the same well over and over again. Time and time again, Sammy has proven that you cannot rely on him to come in a replace an injured player effectively. It's time to stop trying with him. and for the fragility of this team, YES Ericsson AND Franzen have a history of it. Along with puss-in-boots Helm. Helm is the biggest baby on the team and will miss a game for a hang nail, yes it's true. Franzen's long term problem means that he should not step back on the ice until he is 100% clear or just retire. Ericsson has yet to play an entire season due to his injury issues. Even Dats has been a little more injury prone the last few years, but with age, that is going to happen. He is showing out indefinitely, so they need to go ahead and put him on LTIR so they can call up someone instead of inserting Sammy in the lineup...again, that is a coaching/GM decision and it's time for Holland to start telling Babcock what is what....or get rid of him.

Babcock needs a clue... Trying to tie the game and he has Sammy on the ice... Sammy gets a shot and promptly hits the defenseman, gets the puck back with 2 seconds to go and he holds it and passes it instead of try another shot...I guess it just would have been blocked anyhow. I think with the way Sheahan played tonight, he should have been out there, but no, Babcock has to have his useless vets out there. I seriously question Babcock. He seems to have just told all of us fans to screw off and not try to change anything up to get a win. Heck, when is the last time we scored a PP goal?

I really do not think he is faking it. This explains a lot of things if he is still having issues from the 2008 concussion. I don't like him too much, but hate to see this happen to him. I cannot imagine having issues like this affecting everyday life, but it does happen and it does seem that this could be the problem. The hit itself recently didn't look that bad, but it definitely triggered something that caused him to not want to take any chances on the ice until he knows if he is healthy or not. Unfortunately if a 2008 injury is still hanging on, it may spell the end of his career. Health is far more important than the game. I am not sure of the CBA rules, but he should probably retire if it won't cost the Wings too much. If he cannot retire, the Wings may as well use the last buyout on him and let him get healthy enough to have a functional life. If he tries to come back, one big hit and he could be scrambled eggs... I know I have been very hard on him and wanted him off this team, but not this way, if he is forced to retire I will be very sad to see him leave the game. I am not one to wish career ending injuries on anyone...Get well enough Franzen to have a healthy life, you don't owe us anything. God Bless!

I believe they go in house next season, and with the way Sheahan has be impressing, he will definitely be here. Unfortunately for Franzen, if he cannot get his head straight, he will have to hang them up. Detroit will either buy him out or he will just retire. Which ever cost the Wings the least. They will replace his roster spot with either re-signing Alfie or a top paid UFA. EIther way, the team should have all of Sheahan, Ferraro, Nyquist, Tatar, Callahan, Almquist and Mrazek on it next season. Especially if this team misses the playoffs. They need to rebuild their core just like they did in the early 90's. Jurco, Oulette, Sproul, Marchenko and Patterson/Coreau will all make stops in the NHL next season due to injury call ups... It's been fun, but goodbye to Cleary, Bertuzzi, Samuelsson, Eaves, Quincey and Gustavsson. If Franzen gets his head cleared, he may reclaim that top line spot with Pav and Z, but if he is still havig issues from 2008, I really think he is going to go along the lines of Fish and retire from a condition that just prevents him from continuing his career. Not the way I want him to go, I'd rather trade him, and I definitely do not wish a career ending injury on anyone, even as much as I dislike him, BUT if this is an lingering injury from the 2008 severe concussion he had, it really does explains a ton!

Jack Johnson for Kyle Quincey....get it done!

two "A" level prospects AND a pick? Holland will not be in those sweepstakes..."A" level prospects with some NHL experience and a pick...so the "A" level prospects from us would be Nyquist and Tatar or Jurco. Are those guys worth trading for Girardi? Maybe ONE of them, but not TWO and a pick. I think Girardi goes for a pick in the end or he just walks. Nobody is going to overpay that much for a pending UFA, not unless he is a sign and trade. Still I don't see Holland giving up Nyquist, Tatar and a pick for him... oh well.

He actually has a lessor contract than I thought...$7.8M is not that bad. Is it expensive? Yea, but it really isn't that bad. I would take Weber on this team. He does not have a NMC/NTC, I am just not sure how much of a molesting they would give us for a return! I am sure the price would be very steep! I am sure they would want no part of Q or K, and I am not trading Dekeyser. But man, Weber would look good in red and white (Wings that is, I know he is wearing Red/White for Canada) and he is locked up long term...VERY long term, plus I think Nashville might have to retain some of that salary...dunno. It's a pipe dream, but I sure would like him on the Wings. Funny thing is, as of the off season, with no UFA's coming back, acquiring Weber without subtracting roster players still leaves us with $13M in cap space to sign our RFA's. Trading a roster player or two would free up even more cap space, so salary wouldn't be an issue, the only issue is what Nashville would want in return...

I'd rather have Ryan Smyth in front of the goalie, given his age, I still think he would be better than Cleary. But, that isn't gonna happen...

I understand that, but again, I just went with the non-exempt players and made 0 trades/ufa signings... Tootoo is still under contract, maybe he will be waived again, but I just went with the guys who can start the season in GR with no consequences. Jurco, Glendening and Ouellet....all of whom will most definitely see NHL icetime next season...

Jurco still has exemptions to start in GR. The guys I listed are all out of exemptions... off season 2015 see's Jurco, Jarnkrok AND Pulkkinen out of exemptions too!

Hey pumpkin, I hear ya there! I would love to have a real top line right winger and a real top defender...too bad this off season doesn't have its version of Suter/Parise... what would it take to get Weber out of Nashville?

I hear you... if Holland just went with all in house next season our roster would look like this: Zetterberg - Datsyuk - Tatar Franzen - Weiss - Abdelkader Miller - Helm - Nyquist Sheahan - Andersson - Ferraro Callahan/Tootoo Kronwall - Dekeyser Ericsson - Smith Lashoff - Kindl Almquist Howard Mrazek

bump again... I love the idea of Girardi and Edler. That would make our blueline even more special. Girardi is a UFA in the off season, so he could be had for a draft pick at the deadline or just try to outbid for him in July. Edler would need to be traded for and I think it would take more than Franzen to acquire him. Someone above said they thought that Sheahan, Ferraro, Almquist and Callahan are all out of waiver exemptions this off season, they are correct. So decisions need to be made when it comes to those four for sure. Maybe if you trade Franzen and Almquist for Edler and a pick, it could get done. So now, we have the other 3 to worry about, along with trying to find Datsyuk a #1 right winger. I know Holland would probably shy away from filling his roster full of rookies, but it is quite a possibility. Nyquist has to pass thru waivers, so he will be on the roster. Tatar the same, so he will be on the roster. Others that are out of Waiver exemptions: Emmerton (obvious,) Willie Coetzee, Trevor Parkes, Gleason Fournier, Andrej Nestrasil and Louis-Marc Aubry. I am not sure these guys futures with the Wings organization, but again some decisions need to be made. Could any of these guys be packaged with a roster player to bring us Edler or Girardi? I noticed on the last episode of 24/7 that they showed Ken Holland watching a Phoenix Coyotes game, is/was he still scouting Yandle? Who knows...also to note that the guys listed above are (with the exception of Aubry) are RFA's come July 1st, 2014. I believe the Wings need that #1 right winger...could it be Mantha? He may get some serious looks next training camp. Also, I believe we need a top defender to play with Kronwall. If the wings got Girardi and Edler, that would mean that Quincey was either part of one of those deals or just let go UFA in July and most likely Kindl or Lashoff is traded. I like Laser, but he is very replaceable. I wouldn't mind our D corps to look like this: Edler - Dekeyser Kronwall - Girardi Ericsson - Smith Ouellet/Lashoff (it will probably be Almquist though since Ouellet has exemptions left) When it comes to goalie, it's pretty apparent that Mrazek will and should back up Howard next season. Gus has been good, but his health is still an issue and Mrazek will be a nice cap hit, so it should be a no brainer to have: Howard Mrazek ...leaving Coreau and Patterson to be the GR goalies. Must say goodbye to McCollum... at the forward position, you have to let all your UFA's go, unless Alfie returns for similar money, if he doesn't retire. You obviously re-sign Tatar and Glendening (he has expemtions so he will start in GR.) From there the decisions need to be made with you non-exempt players. With all UFA's gone, you roster looks like this: Zetterberg - Datsyuk - OPEN Franzen - Weiss - Abdelkader Miller - Helm - Nyquist Tatar - Andersson - OPEN OPEN/OPEN ...do you fill those open spots with all rookies? Espcially considering that even after this year, Nyquist and Tatar are still kids. Even Andersson can be considered a kid still. Or do you make a deal at the deadline or draft, or sign a UFA?

...uh ya, because we as Americans are forced to cheer for the likes of Patrick Kane and Ryan Kelser...neither of which compare to Cindy, but puke none-the-less...

just listened to the producers interview, I have to say I would love to watch a 24/7 on the Draft. Follow 5 or 6 teams scouts and be a part of behind the doors discussions and be at the table on draft day would be SO interesting to someone like me who would love to hear the names of players Holland wanted or didn't want at the draft... after watching 24/7 and listening to the raw candid discussions, I can imagine what the discussion was at last years draft table... Babcock: What? Mantha is still f****** available? Are you f****** kidding me? Holland: I can'tf****** believe it, I am going to f****** pick Mantha. Our f****** low ass pick and we score a kid like Anthony Mantha....un-*******-believable!

ya, because recently, Franzen hasn't done anything in the playoffs... ...regarding Cleary, he does seem to be a team leader in the room, and we know how important that can be, but he is wasting a roster spot, so after the season, he needs to retire and get one of those player development jobs or maybe even some kind of coaching position...

oops, my bad on the Tatar....

I still think Franzen would be a nice fit in Vancouver... I want to see if he gets to play with the twins in the Olympics and see if he in fact has good chemistry with them. Then IF we were looking to trade, he could go to Vancouver. I know I have mentioned this before, but he would be a tradable asset if we were to become sellers...or if we needed a change, which I think we all know, we do!

I think we found our future sniper in Mantha, so I think sucking for a year is worth getting McDavid. Besides, we'd have to do a whole lot of sucking to make it to the lottery and even then, we'd have to be lucky enough to get our card drawn...it looks as though Edmonton is well on their way to getting a great chance at yet another 1st overall...do you think they would trade it? They have to be tired of drafting this high and still stinking... I brought up in a thread about possibly acquiring Taylor Hall from them, but what about Yakupov? He has seemed to not worked out in Edmonton either (of course a lot of those kids aren't) do you think he would be good enough to flank Datsyuk for the next three years? If we became buyers, I would love to make a deal with Edmonton for a young kid who isn't working out for them and maybe get Smyth for a Cup run...at what cost? Not even going to attempt to list names...

Maybe I am a bit biased (oh well) but I think all of Abdelkader, Dekeyser, Nyquist and Tatar should have made their respected teams...

I didn't see a thread for this years tournament, so I thought I'd make one for all WJ talk. So far Canada beat Germany 6-2. Mantha had the Hattie and Patterson got the win in goal. Right now USA is up 2-0 on Czech Republic. I am intrigued by Hudson Fasching, whom I hoped the Wings would have snagged up, but they didn't take him. Instead opted for Pope. Also Steve Santini who the Wingd missed out on. Always routing for USA, but will be fun watching all our prospects and future NHL stars!

I love how everyone comes in here and berates the OP by saying things like, it'll never happen, get real, he has a NMC, and everything else they can sling at him to attempt to belittle or make fun of him. All while the thread is IF we become sellers, hypothetically if the Wings miss the playoffs, what kind of return would you expect for Alfie. If you don't feel like playing along, then don't leave your negative comment, just don't comment at all...thanks. oh, and the NMC...Alfie signed here to win a Cup, if the Wings miss the playoffs and a favorite came calling for Alfie's availability, don't think for a minute that he wouldn't waive his clause to get that chance at a Cup. He'd be gone before you could spell Howe...

IF we became sellers and IF Alfie wanted to move to win a Cup, I would take Morrow and a 2nd if Boston were to offer that in return. to BOS : Daniel Alfredsson, Kyle Quincey to DET : 2nd 2014, 3rd (conditional 2014 or 2015 on whether Boston wins the East) & Joe Morrow.

...listed day to day. I think its time to stop waiting for this guy to be healthy. He will never be. http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20140101/SPORTS0103/301010060/1361/Daniel-Alfredsson-in--Darren-Helm-out-for-Red-Wings-in-Winter-Classic

Edmonton is a conundrum, all that young talent still bottom dwellers...blockbuster: who do you trade today in a package deal for Taylor Hall?