LeftWinger

In all honesty, with the expectations of this team this year, making the playoffs will be a successful season. Especially considering the loss of Lidstrom and Stuart and the failure to lure an established top 3 player and top pairing defenseman... A Cup would absolutely rock and shock the world, but making the playoffs would be about the best we can realistically expect from this team...a that would be a winning season.

after the season is over he will be traded to Anaheim...with Filppula and our 1st round pick for Perry and their 1st round pick. to ANA: Filppula, Nyquist, 2013 1st rd pick to DET: Perry, 2013 1st rd pick Yes, this is just a fantasy trade I made up, but it's doable and viable and makes sense for both! Then I wake up and see that Holland re-signed Val to a $6M deal....ugh... (this is all purely fantasy, and only in my head. Do not read any further than that!) ...although I do believe Nyquist will be traded, just not sure when or to who...is he a center?

Helm is in, eh? That would be great! Our questions are being answered. What will happen to the kids when we are healthy...Tatar, gone. Nyquist, gone. As soon as Sammy and or Bertuzzi gets back, Andersson...gone...Colaiacovo back, Lashoff....gone...

ya, 7 points in 6 games sounds better...that's over .500 and if that pace is kept up, we should at least keep the playoff streak alive! (thankfully we don't have to play Columbus anymore....do we?) I don't know about you guys, but I am sure hoping for a Det v. Van 1st round matchup!

Regarding naming the division (although they will probably go with standard Southeast, Central, etc...) I think they should be traditional and name them after great pioneers of the NHL....and I don't mean Norris, Smythe et al. I mean Like Lafleur, Orr, Howe, Gretzky, Richard, Bowman, Brooks.... ...anyone of those I would be fine with. But we will be stuck with Central, Northeast, etc...

I don't think any Eastern Conference team has ANY interest in dealing with the Red Wings considering the realignment. Funny that Columbus felt that way last summer and didn't even field calls from Ken Holland regarding Rick Nash and now they are going to have Nash in the same division anyhow! The only East team that I see dealing with us would be Winnipeg. Now, of course its open season for the West to deal with us and I can think of more than a few players I wouldn't mind seeing on our team, either at the deadline or the draft... Regarding the Rags, it's a classic New York story, pay all these players and lose anyway. It's always fun eliminating the Yankees and it will just as fun when the Wings oust the Rags on more than one occasion starting next year (almost as fun as St. Louis) Someone mentioned Jagr earlier, wonder if Holland has any interest in him at the deadline for a late round pick or a median player... Not to hijack the thread, but how about a trade that brings us Jagr and Morrow?

I don't recall saying that he lowballed Suter....I do wish we had landed him though. His home is in Wisconsin, his wife's home is in Minny, so we know who wears the (non-hockey) pants in that family! Ya, it would have been a rough contract to have for 13 years, would have forced Holland to make some changes in order to re-sign Datsyuk, Howard, Brunner, Smith, etc... We probably would have lost Franzine...damn that Mrs. Suter!

This seems to be a trend with Kessel. He has so much potential and yet he has been traded from Boston and now you say that you hear Toronto is getting tired of him? He has had 4 straight seasons of 30 or more goals, but seems to be struggling (by his standards) a bit this year. Of course Toronto is only outshined by Montreal as places that are the hardest to play for. If you struggle in either of those cities, you may as well pack it in, you are doomed forever more....Does he have the same issue as our whipping boy? That being said, I don't think that Toronto would trade with Detroit (or vice-versa) considering that they will be conference rivals again next season...

Now is the time to keep Kronwall....the time to trade him was at the 2009 draft. Way back then I was suggesting trading Kronwall, Franzine and the rights to Hudler (who was an upcoming RFA) to Tampa for the #2 pick and draft Hedman to be groomed by Lidstrom... would have been a dandy of a deal! He would be our #1 defenseman right now and we wouldn't be looking around at what to do about a top pairing...We would've had Hossa still along with Hedman...and we would STILL have them both and then there would be no lazy Franzine talk either! Ahhh, but hindsight is always a kick in the pants, eh? I would have missed Kronwall, but he was tradable then, now he needs to stay. Funny though, I am still waiting for the first Kronwalled of the season...why do you think he hasn't been hitting like he used to?

Amen! ...and I was told that I was the one always bringing him up! I do it a lot, I admit, but its nice to see that I am certainly not the only one to turn threads into Franzine threads! Here is the final word on my opinion, Brunner on the 3rd line is better than Cleary or Franzine in the top 6...dump Franzine now.

Like I stated earlier, when other players slump in scoring, they still bring their 100% effort and contribute in other ways...Zetterberg and Datsyuk setting up goals, shutting down opposing teams top lines and Abby being what he is a grinder and drawing penalties and throwing his body around...when Franzine slumps, he brings nothing else to the ice....especially effort.

I would take Burrows from Vancouver whenever they are ready. They can have Flip and Franzine...

Maybe I should have said, paying old guys market value But if by paying market value for old guys we don't need, then it means we have less money to outbid for someone we do need...thankfully we won't have that issue with Datsyuk next season...he is either leaving for home or playing here.

I think Tatar has more of a future with Detroit than Nyquist does. Trading Filppula and Nyquist in a package for a scorer makes a lot of sense. But would that be enough?

I have been beating this drum since my buddy dated Dan's sister last year at this time...I seriously hope this is about to happen! Having Him, Smith and McKee all playing together is a huge ego boost for all NCAA defensemen! I STILL want Holland to acquire Welsh from Carolina to put up front! You may or may not realize that I am partial to NCAA players....

It will be great to get Helm back (hated that Holland AGAIN mentioned last night that Helm and Mike Samuelsson could be our deadline acquisition's) in the lineup! Ironic that he is a maybe for Minny this Wednesday since that was the team he came in against this year already. He played great to say the least and so did the Wings that night. Let's hope for the same thing this Wednesday, Helm coming in and the team playing great and knocking the Olsen Twins down a notch...slap *****! edit: I guess they are at least trying to earn their money out there, they are #1 and #2 in scoring....that hurts a bit. Suter is one point better than Kronwall right now...I still wish we had landed at least Suter...

He played that way because he is not on the 2nd line. He is a 3rd liner, period. Last season when Babcock tried and tried to put him in the top 6, he struggled and struggled, then Babs FINALLY put him on Helm's line and he gelled and played much MUCH better. I still do not want him re-signed, but as long as he stays on the 3rd line, I have no complaints about him. Well, not as many at least.

Ya, I liked the uni's last night, except the fact that those weren't real hockey pants, they were slip covers. Mid way through the game you could see them riding up their real pants and the normal color pants were exposed above the knees. That was kind of a cheap way of doing it, but I still liked the look and colors of them. Not may brown/maroon teams in the NHL.

He may not be as streaky, but during his slumps, he not only doesn't score, he floats around the ice and doesn't look like he is trying...other slumping players at least pitch in other ways and are giving it 100% effort during their slumps. IF Franzine isn't scoring he isn't doing anything, so when he has slumps, he is garbage. So basically, 60 games out of the year he is garbage...he wouldn't even score 20 goals this year if it were 80 games long....and he'd only be on a pace for about 35 points....so basically he is junk. Get rid of him. I never thought he was better than what he is....hence the reason I was on the Hossa team... Lest you forget, 3 years ago that icy stretch only solidified the fact that choosing him over Hossa was a mistake and it fueled the fire...dump him.

I am sure that is something Mr. Orr would consider in his Emergency Plan for the city. Create a small area of Detroit for Russian immigrants. We already have Greek Town, Mexican Town, Hamtramck....why not a Russian sect to the city? Belle Isle anyone?

I think both Dekeyser and Sustr will both get long looks from Detroit. With Q's injury, it becomes more important to do so. I think of the two, Danny D is more likely to be a Red Wing than Sustr, but then again Sustr is the type of payer Holland likes and would translate in to the Eastern Conference a bit better. Signing both would be a miracle, and would also mean that White is all but gone as well as one of Colaiacovo and Kindl. Then again, Laser has been playing back down to earth recently and I think isn't exempt from being sent back to GR... Desperate times calls for desperate measures...I would like this team with both of those guys here... Kronwall - Ericsson Smith - Kindl Dekeyser - Sustr Lashoff That isn't a bad look on paper, definitely young and full of energy....and big. We'd have to say goodbye to White, Cola and Huskins for sure, and then when Q came back Lashoff could go back to GR or Q/Kindl would finally be dealt...

I am not so sure I would put Kronwall in there, but replace it with Filppula and also receive their 1st in return, then ya, I would do that.... to WAS: Franzen, Filppula, Nyquist, 2013 1st rd pick. to DET: Ovechkin, 2013 1st rd pick. I would take that trade for sure. Still don't think Washington would though.

One thing that I just couldn't stop thinking about is how nice Franzine would look on a line with the Sedins! I am sure everyone (who watched) heard all the talk about Vancouver needing a center on their team...Hmmmmm, Filppula and Franzine package to Vancouver? Don't know what that would bring back, but Burrows would be a nice start!

Well, what is being lost in this discussion is that finally Dan Cleary has been put back on the 3rd line!

Bert and Sammy are washed up now. Thank Goodness that with this being a half of year of play, it still counts as a full year off their contracts. Bet should be buried on the LTIR and Sammy should get bought out next year. Add Colaiacovo to that buyout and we can have enough roster spots to start this rebuild right away and not have to wait until 2015...