Son of a Wing

Well aware. The post you quoted was in response to his post referring to Helm, Emmerton, Dats and Zetterberg. He went from discussing players who play defense as well as forward to discussing defensive forwards....

I'm sure Leafs management and their fans would love that. They always can bring back MaCarthur if they don't land Clarkson. Assuming he's still around...

Ok now you're confusing playing as a defenceman and playing defence as a forward....

No that's definitely not a killer squad. Ericsson on the top offensive line? Quincey on the top d-pairing? Lashoff and Cola as a solid pairing? Skating ability does NOT equal a versatile player position-wise. That's pretty ignorant and a simplistic way to see it. There's so many other factors in play. If it was that simple, the fastest players in the league would all play F/D. In reality it's pretty rare.

Not really...Half those guys haven't even played a game in the AHL let alone the NHL. I think you hugely underestimate the difficulty in moving from defence to forward and vice-versa. Not to mention our forward depth is excellent as well. Just a little undersized.

I doubt the Wild could justify giving up much in terms of picks/prospects after what they gave up for Pominville. Reimer is obviously a bit more established but by no means proven. They'll be a good combo and generate some great competition at that position. One of them is bound to elevate their game to upper-tier status in the next few years.

Good trade. Frattin is a bit of a wild card but has good potential. Always liked his scoring ability. Him plus a 2nd is very fair. Never really liked Scrivens.

Great news. Couldn't be happier. Very fair contract for both sides. Well that was reported by several media outlets including Bob Mckenzie as of yesterday. lol

He's an undersized injury prone bottom 6 guy who doesn't kill penalties. Unfortunately not much value in that.

No 64.3mil next year then it's only going to go up as it's tied to revenue and revenue has gone up every year. If revenue increases by just 5% each year then it will reach 90mil in less than 10 years. Don't know where people get the idea of the cap going down after next year... SOURCE - good article from Globe and Mail

No thanks. Mursak is an undersized bottom 6 forward who doesn't kill penalties. Really not much value there. Hence why he wasn't even claimed off waivers. He excels in the AHL because he can play in the top 6 there and use his speed more effectively. Besides Emmerton can play center or wing and kills penalties.

Regardless he is a top 5 forward in the world. He will get minimum 7mil and is very much worth it.

I really don't see what the big problem is...They now have two of the best players in the world locked up for 18mil for the next 8 years. That's a hell of a lot better than Parise/Suter for 15mil. Is it going to be a tight fit next year with the cap at 64mil? Sure. But the cap will go up by 4-5 mil every year. 0% chance Letang would ever leave. They would buyout/waive Paul Martin before even considering that. Letang is a premier offensive defenceman and isn't going anywhere. Not to mention they have some great defensive prospects in their system that are ready to step in Pouliot, Despres, Maatta and Harrington. All on entry-level contracts with Despres already on the roster. As much as I hate Pittsburgh they're going to be just fine.

Oh the irony...

Touché good sir

Haha I take offense to that. It's the U.S that spells words differently. We spell them like the rest of the world. lol Always got to be different. Damn imperial system....

Actually if you're looking for video highlights and more Griffins focused media including player/coach interviews go check out the Griffins Youtube Channel. FULL HIGHLIGHTS

Not the best video but its Jurco's GWG goal. Better than nothing till the full highlights show up.

What exactly are you basing this on?? Not once since the lockout, or even in the last decade, has a bottom 5 team traded a pick at the draft to a contender for depth as you suggest. Not once. Every year GMs claim they would entertain offers. What's the harm? You answered your own question....This will be a very deep draft. The only time since the lockout that a top 5 pick was moved was in 2008 when TOR/NYI/FLA swapped because they knew what players they were targeting and felt they may as well maximize the deal by getting some additional or better late round picks. To summarize this point...If a team feels there's little talent drop-off between when their pick and one a few turns later then why not trade down and grab an additional pick. Red Wings have been doing it for years with late first round picks. It can be done with high picks as well as seen in 2008. Not sure where you get the idea that just because a GM says they will entertain offers for their pick, that translates to a couple later picks and a depth guy. It just doesn't happen. This whole rant is centered around the fact that the lockout/cap floor is causing this or at least a major cause yet I say it again....never has this actually occurred since the lockout. Not once. I think this explains a lot as to just how long you've been really paying attention. Nashville is a cellar dweller every year? Really? They have picked in the top 10 ONCE since the lockout. Hell, they rarely make the top 20. And yes most salary-capped leagues have "cellar-dwellers". Inept management/ownership do have a large role in that.

Yikes you must be serious.... Downie - missed all but 2 games with a major knee injury. O'Brien - couldn't even stick as a regular on the LAST PLACE team in the conference. Kobasew - UFA who garnered a whopping 9 points. I repeat...UFA. In return you're offering 3 young red wing players who seem to all be having breakout years. I don't think you put a speck of logical thought into this and are severely clouded by your obvious desire to add some "enforcement" to the team.

I can't tell if you're trolling me or being serious... Jurco is one of our top 5 forward prospects...Nestrasil....well he can't seem to stick in the AHL. Jarnkrok is currently 6'0 176lbs. As listed on the Griffins site who would have been the most recent to take those measurements.

Nestrasil over Jurco? Really?

Rich if your posts weren't so long and jumbled I might actually read them. lol Some of the big guys I like: Nichushkin 6'4 196 W Zadorov 6'5 230 D Nurse 6'3 190 D Ristolainen 6'3 203 D Mantha 6'4 190 W Gauthier 6'5 210 C Kujawinski 6'2 203 C Hagg 6'2 204 D Santini 6'2 207 D Morin 6'7 200 D McCarron 6'5 227 W Bailey 6'3 194 W Fasching 6'2 213 W Hayden 6'2 220 C McCoshen 6'2 207 D I would be absolutely ecstatic if we could snag two of those guys.

My God get a blog...... Don't quite understand why the Mods keep letting this guy continue to start threads like this. Starts a flamewar everytime. Quite easy to express your opinion of Howard in the many Howard threads.....Defence in one of the many defence threads...... Must hold his own opinion pretty high to post an essay everytime summing up his brilliant rational thoughts. /END RANT

Anybody still criticizing Abdelkader's effectiveness obviously isn't watching the games and is just following point totals. He's never been relied on for points. He creates time and space for his linemates with his forecheck, boardplay and (team leading) hits. This does not always equate to a rocking point total. Bertuzzi doesn't have the legs or the durability to do what Abdelkader does. For the record I do think it will be beneficial to have Bertuzzi in the lineup.