LeftWinger

nice daily dose of sarcasm, are you saying that while Brodeur has EARNED his stats that Ozzie has had it easy his entire career?

Whomever accepts $1.0M is the guy I want! Peca, Grier, Betts, Joe UFA, I don't care, lets just get July 30th here and gone so we can move on!

Agree somewhat, but Belfour was not the best of his generation and neither was Esposito. Its about stats, Cups and longevity. Osgood has them all, and if he does finish top 5 ALL TIME in wins, a Hall snub would be a travisty!

Wrong. Abby will get first line minutes all season in GR, preparing him for the NHL the next year. Using your logic, Helm would've been up all last yeat instead of waiting until this year (even though he earned a spot with his play in the 2008 playoffs.) Abdelkader was solid in 2009 playoff, but he didn't show as much as Helm did the previous year, so another year in GR, some spot time up here and another Cup run up here will prepare him well enough for 2010-11.

With Hudler departing, the Wings need to fill 3 forward positions, McGrath, Oulahen & (insert you preferred UFA here) can be those 3, making Maltby the 13th forward. Roster set, lets go! Seriously you'd have your bottom 7 of: Leino - Helm - Joe UFA McGrth - Draper - Oulahen Maltby

So Sawchuk won all those games by himself? As did Broduer and Roy? You are just anti-Osgood! Still hating that they didn't keep Manny? C'Mon! Sure, Sawchuk is in superstar hall of famer, but you cannot deny the numbers, you say wins is a team stat, so it doesn't matter that of ALL TIME goalies that have played 600 or more games he is FOURTH in GAA? Is that a team stat too? 1. Brodeur 2.20 GAA 968 games 2. Hasek 2.20 GAA 735 games 3. Plante 2.38 GAA 837 games 4. OSGOOD 2.43 GAA 664 games what are we talking about here, what makes it a non-team stat? Shut outs? 23rd ALL TIME. Save %? 24th ALL TIME. What else do you need? He has the numbers, even in the 90's Detroit wasn't the BEST defensive team, it was always Dallas and New Jersey ahead of them, so does Brodeur or Belfour deserve to be snubbed to? They are also no Terry Sawchuk's respectively, but they wll surely get in the Hall. You Osgood haters need to get the foots out of your mouths because he has been consistanly the BEST goaltender in this Organization SINCE Sawchuk! And soon, when he passess Sawchuk in career wins, he will be the best. He may not get 103 shutouts, or win a vezina, but the rest of the stats are there... hey, Kolzig, Carey, Theodore and Lindburgh all won Vezina's, will they get in the Hall? Hell, Theodore won a Hart does that put him ahead of Osgood? Or were those two awards just because of "Who He Play Behind?"

Well, he has to make it or pass thru waivers to be sent down. With our need for three more players to complete our forwards corps, why not give them the 4th line and sign a cheap UFA for the third? IMO, McGrath and Oulahen cannot do worse than Maltby/Kopecky on the 4th line last year, plus they are younger, faster and (unlike Maltby) are eager to impress Ilitch and Holland and prove they belong, they won't be just skating (no pun intended) thru camp with a guarnateed spot. This is their chance to make the Wings, until now, the Wings alsways had 1 spot or zero available for these youngsters, no they havfe 3 spots up for grabs (if you count Maltby as the 13th.) Maltby, by virtue of senority and reward, he is guarnateed a roster spot, but there is no reason why these two cannot take his spot on the 4th line pushing him to 13th and eventually retirement next year. Draper can still fly so couple him together with the two kids and theat should be a pretty energenic 4th line, and the third line of Leino, Helm and Joe UFA should be full of piss and vinegar too! All this mkaes for great hockey! The transition is here, the core is set, the kids are coming, this is not your fathers Detroit Red Wings!

The sky is not falling for sure! I am looking forward to having some Griffins up here! If they play well enough, I would have both Oulahen AND McGrath on the fourth line with Draper. They cannot perform any worse than Maltby or Kopecky did! Plus they'll bring youth and speed to our checking line. We need to sign a vetern 3rd liner (Malhortra, Grier, Peca, Joe UFA (take your pick)) keep Abby in GR to get QUALITY first line minutes and experience leading that team, and have lines something like this: Holmstrom - Zetterberg - Datsyuk Cleary - Fipulla - Franzen Leino - Helm - Joe UFA McGrath - Draper - Oulahen Maltby The "D" is set with Meech and Ledba battling for the 7th spot, one will go, one will stay, don't care which... No panic here, youthful enthusiasm, very much looking forward to our little "rebuild" for lack of a better word!

Where is that guy who made the blog saynig that Detroit doesn't draft good? Saying Kronwall is the hardest hitting Swede should soon be replaced by Hedman, but, giving Kron the Conquerer that title is sweet, yet I think he would rank up there with the rest of the nationalities as well (in hitting.) Pretty awesome that Nick and Henrik get #1 and #2. Those of you that think Lidstrom is losing something, I guess the NHL doesn't see it. He'll come back hard next year, win his 7th Norris and re-sign for another 2 years. This guy can play into his late 40's for sure. He'll be 40 in April and he has every bit of 8-10 more years in him skill-wise to play, but he may just wanna call it a day soon. Actually with all due respect to Yzerman, I'd like to Lidstrom play longer than Steve did. Nick averages 10 more games per year thatn Steve did, so if he played, lets say, 5 more years. he would have 22 years and 1720 games played, WAAAAAY more than Stevie! AMF, that would make him #1 in games played by a Red Wing or by anyone in the NHL! If he played into his 49th birthday (yah I know thats stretching it) he would hit 2000 games which is unheard of! If anyone can do it, Lidstrom can. Heck, if Chelios can get where he is (1644) and he wants to play until he is 50? Then Nick can surpass that. Nine more years form Nick is asking a lot, but if he wants to wait until all of his kids are graduated before leaving fr Sweden, he may as well get paid a nice salary while he is waiting!

Here's a question, would you rather have Ward or Stuart? They are pretty much the same players, yet Ward makes less. BTW, he is a UFA next year, wonder if there would be any inerest either way considering Lidstrom, Lilja & Lebda all being UFA's as well? Problem is, Ward is better than a third line paring....

Its just too bad he was Bowman's whipping boy here, I don't understand why either. I wish the Wings would re-aquire him someday, of after this stint in Carolina, he may retire. Gotta love a Wolverine!

No, it won't, and you're stupid if you believe it would. I am sure Joe the Minority will just love paying $200 for him and his family to come watch Mike Grier play for 5 minutes a game. A non-hockey fan still won't be able to follow the play and just because you have 1 minority on your team, that is not gonna change that fact. Now if there werea ***** League, you may generate SOME minority interest, but 1 guy playing 5 minutes or less per game is NOT gonna generate ANY NEW interest in the Detroit Red Wings...

I am still willing to bet MIke Peca winds up here for a year. BUt Malhotra sounds interesting too! Not too impressed by Grier, but he is a big body. OF course the user who posted that having a black man in a WIngs uniform is good PR? WTF are you smoking? How about having a "Good Man" black, white or red? I didn't know Holland was into "Quotas" in order to sell more tickets. If you think by signing Grier that you are gonna stimulate the "black" audience, think again. Do you remember Nathan Robinson? Thank you. It' not like the Red Wings need a facelift or a image makeover in the world (like we did by electing Obama (an USA non-citizen BTW)) and need to appeal to minorities. on the other hand, I wouldn't put it past Buttman to create a "Tiger Woods" (much like the PGA did) and make a black man the face of the NHL. Oh wait, he tried already and that failed, Iginla. It just doesn't work, either you like Hockey or you don't, black or white...

I'd rather have Ward than Lebda or Meech, but that is just me...

that is why you sign him NOW before he has a chance to come up and have a career year. Tell me, it doesn't make sense to re-sign him after a great year in the AHL rather than have to re-sign him after a great year in the NHL? If Justin has a great year in Detroit, he'll cost you more to re-sign him than if he has a great year in the AHL, he won;t cost you as much, if that is not good business, then you need to go be GM for the Hawks. You kill two birds with one stone by keeping him in GR. He gets quality 1st line playing time PLUS when you have to re-sign him (although he will get a raise) it won't cost you as much as it would if he had a great year playing on the third line in Detroit. I wouldn't be surprised if Holland gets Helm and Abby inked before they become RFA or possibly even before the season starts. Helm is already gonna get a nice increase in pay because if his great play in the playoffs the last two seasons, but he'll cost even more after this season if he has the year he is projected to have...

Its nice to see Holland sewing up all these RFA's to be! I still believe Abdelkader will spend the entire season in GR (unless he gets a deal now as well) just because he'll be cheaper to re-sign if he doesn't spend an entire year in Detroit. Nothing personal, just business. Sure wish we could've gotten a hold of Hedman, but our corps look good for years to come. We worry about replacing Lidstrom, obviously you cannot replace the best defensman in the world and in the History of the NHL (well top 3 at least,) so we'll just have to hope we can get someone to step in and be half of waht Lidstrom was. (I don't think its gonna be Kronwall either.) anyhow,great news on Kindl, lets hope he sees some time up this year and playoffs and then becomes full time next year! edit: Am I the only one, or is anyone else ready for the "kids" to play? If they can maybe sign a cheap UFA (Peca or Betts maybe) and then bring up Oulahen and McGrath to fill out the 13 forwards. Sooner or later the "rebuild" is gonna come (lol, like we'd actually have to rebuild ) but you what I mean. I think it would be very fun to watch (if those two can make the team out of camp that is.) Maybe we woouldn't be the favorites every year (for now!) but there would be alot of young hunger on this team not seen since about 1993...

Ok, we all know the Hudler situation, so this topic is about the remaining RFA's and UFA's for this season, and (since there will be a LOT more money available) next season: 2009: RFA: Ryan Oulahen, Evan McGrath UFA: Randall Gelech ...Oulahen has been discussed on this forum a bit, but what about the other two guys, does McGrath have eligiblity left? Is he ready for the NHL, if not here then with someone else. Has Gelech seen his last season in this organization? Can HE be re-signed and still remain in GRR? Now here are some VERY important players for next year! 2010: RFA: Darren Helm, Justin Abdelkader, Derek Meech, Daniel Larsson, Jakub Kindl, Johan Ryno, Sergei Kolosov, Jamie Tardif, Mattias Ritola, Jermey Williams. UFA: Holmstrom, Maltby, Lidstrom, Lilja, Lebda, Kris Newberry, Doug Janik. I think the 2010 crop of Detroit FA's is more pivital to the depth and long term success of this organization than even the 2009 crop in which we've lost so many UFA's and soon one RFA. I know that most fo the RFA list still have GRR eligibility, so re-signing them won't be an issue nor will it effect the Cap. But knowing Helm is gonna be "here" all season, he is bound to get a raise up to about $1 to $1.2M, especially considering his worth to this team come playoff time AND that he is projected a third line center/PK'r. If Abby spends his year "here" as well, he could also get into the $1.2-$1.5M range (which is why itis best to keep him in GRR, so you can res-sign him at $1M (saving some Cap room.)) Other than those two, Meech may or may not even be here, you have to make decisions on Holmstrom and Lidstrom. And what if Hudler comes back next year... edit: Well as I was writing this, it came out that Holland did, in fact, sign Oulahen and McGrath, so that is great news! That just leaves the decision of keeping Ryan in the NHL or risk waiving him... Also what about Gelech's future here?

J-Ho? 35-40 wins? Hypothetical is right, if Osgood get injured, there is no way Howard wins 35-40 games. Loses maybe. Bottom line, Howard = Crap, so if Osgood goes down, you better hope there is a playoff goalie available at the deadline, if not, we're doomed. Red Wings - Osgood + Howard = No playoffs or First round defeat.

soon it'll be read in a Chicago newspaper that their gramma can beat up ours!

I am a little perplexed on the ONE year deals though. Does that make them UFA's next year or is there still am age requirement to become a UFA? If there is, then they will be RFA's and then that would add even more monkey wrench's to the Cap next year. If Oulahen is still around, not only will he have to clear waivers AGAIN, but I would assume that McGrath with be out of options in 2010 and will either have to make the club or clear waivers too...

This is good news! It kinda answers a couple of questions in my recent thread too! So, now does Oulahen get a spot up here or does he get waived, he is out of minor league options...

Here is why Abdelkaer will spend most of his time in GRR this year. RFA. After this season Justin will be a RFA and will NEED to be re-signed, for he is a huge part of our future. Now, with Hudlers departure upcoming, that only gives us 10 forwards on the roster, so we'd have to sign 2 or 3 UFA's (or bring up Oulahen for one of those spots.) Now, this is from a business stanpoint only, and I tend to believe that along with being a great GM, Holland is also a VERY saavy businessman. Lets say Abdelkader comes up and contributes more than expected, lets say he plays as well as or even outplays Helm (who BTW is also an RFA in 2010 and will get a nice raise) then when it comes time to re-sign him he has to get a large raise compared to if he spends most the time in GRR, he would be cheaper on the CAP next year than id he spent the entire season in the NHL. You may even get hm re-signed for $1M or less if he spends most of his time in GRR, to where if he came up here, he could very well get over $1M and maybe bigger offers from other teams. Either way, you have to keep Helm and Abby in our organization, altough there is no avoiding Helms $1M plus raise this season, at least you can avoind Abby's for a couple two or three years if he stays in GRR this year... ...so without Hudler and Abby this year here is what we look like: Cleary - Zetterberg - Datsyuk Leino - Filppula - Franzen Holmstrom - Helm - ??????? Maltby - Draper - ??????? ??????? (Meech maybe) a decision has to be made on Oulahen, if Holland re-signs him, he either gets a spot of has to clear waivers to play in GRR, if Holland doesn't re-sign him, we'll losr him with no compensation because he won't sign anywhere for enough money to get us a compesation pick, so, what do you do? (without Abdelkader we still have $2.5M roughly (before any defensman trades as well.))

They can have Hossa and Kopecky, wish there was somehow we could throw a 1st and a 3rd at Chicago to get Patrick Sharp! (ya ya I know, cap issues, but I'd rather trade someone away to make room for Sharp than Hudler or Hossa.)

Oh Drake! Those figures are nice, but wrong. According the Beatles, "ALL You Need Is Love." INXS gives you "WHAT You Need." And we thought you ran this place professionally! Now wonder the world is in such disarray and in a severe depression!