HenryMalredo

Yeah, there are very few power forwards left in the game. A guy like Iginla, who is a big-time scorer, yet plays a tough game, is one of the few that are around. Overall, a power forward is big game scorer, who also plays with a physical element. Guys like McKay and Corson were grinders with a better scoring touch, not enough game-changing talent or scoring ability to be true power forwards.

Of course Winter would try to influence Hossa to take a larger contract in order to increase his take. But overall, the agent has to negotiate in his client's interests. Winter has been around long enough to know that if he goes against Hossa's wishes (if Hossa is interested in taking a discount), while he may get a bigger take in the short-term, he risks losing a client and hurting his reputation.

Corson, McKay, and Hunter were never really true power forwards. They were tough, grinding forwards who could chip in offensively, but they weren't the big time scorers that guys like Cam Neely were.

It's too bad, the Rangers were looking like they could be a threat a couple years ago, before those big contracts to Gomez and Drury. Say what you want about Jagr's leadership skills, but those Rangers teams he led were some of the better Rangers teams we've seen in a while.

Nice that McCarty's coming back..............but hopefully its to the Griffins. Unfortunately, his NHL days are over.

Sammy is good for his price. He's the type of depth player you need in the Cap system. Rather have the Wings dump Maltby and Kopecky.

I doubt Bouwmeester becomes a free agent. If Florida can't resign him, they'll deal him to somebody that will ink him to a long term deal. Players rarely end up as free agents before or during their prime.

Downey sat on the bench during the playoffs, McCarty was nothing more than a nice story, Drake was a battler in the postseason, but he didn't enforce anything. Being physical and being an enforcer are two different things. They may not fight, but the Wings have two guys in GR in Helm and Abdelkader that will be hungry and battle for the puck if they are called up for the playoffs (and I hope they are). They would bring more of what the team needs.

I know many people on these boards would love to see it happen, but Chris Osgood is not going to go into the HHOF. The major reason is that outside of the Red Wings fanbase, he is considered a pretty average goaltender. Read most pre-season reviews of the Red Wings, and goaltending has always been considered Detroit's main weakness since Osgood has been on the team. And while its nice that Osgood was starter during two Stanley Cup runs and warmed the bench for another one, that really won't help him much. Glenn Anderson took a long time to get into the Hall and Claude Lemieux will most likely never get in, even though their both two of the greatest players ever in the postseason. Another point against Osgood is that he has rarely been able to establish himself as the permanent starter for the Wings. Brodeur and Roy were generally always the established starters for their teams. Osgood has often lost his starting job, or been forced to split time due to inconsistency. While it be nice to have Osgood in the hall, it honestly isn't gonna happen.

Its a shame. Avery really should of shouldn't talk to the media unless he's willing to utter one of the 10 or 11 cliches that are spouted by NHL players.

I've never liked this idea. Its great to encourage players to step up, but there needs to be consistency in leadership.

1. Stats alone aren't enough to make a case. This is the Hockey Hall of Fame, not the baseball Hall of Fame. The HHOF looks a lot more at other things besides stats. It took Glenn Anderson forever to get into the Hall, and Dino Ciccarelli isn't in, despite the fact that both have good stats. 2. Osgood does not have a great reputation among anyone else besides Wings fans. If you read any pre-season reports on the Wings during Osgood's tenure, most label Osgood as a liability. I know many of Osgood's fans feel that their is almost some media-wide conspiracy to disrespect Osgood, but the fact is, he doesn't get this respect because he is not highly thought of outside of Detroit. 3. For a large portion of his career, Osgood has not been the outright starter for his team. He has often lost his job, almost lost his, or the team has had to bring in other goalies as they did not feel he could get it done. 4. Osgood's place on Wings all time stats lists are also often used to make a case for him. Its not a very good case as the Wings do not have a history of having strong goaltenders. When you've been with the Wings as long as Osgood has, you're gonna retire with some goaltending records when the competition is so thin.

No. Has had trouble throughout his career keeping the starting job and doesn't have a great reputation throughout the hockey media. The Cups are nice, but won't be enough. Borderline guys like Kevin Lowe and Claude Lemieux have a lot of Cups, but neither will see the inside of the HHOF unless they buy a ticket.

I am a little surprised at how many people felt it was guaranteed that Ozzie would be able to continue his play from the playoffs. Ozzie is a solid goalie and has put in a good career with Detroit, but he is not an elite goalie and he is certainly not a future hall of famer. He has always been maddeningly inconsistent. Sometimes he has an all-star caliber level of play, but sometimes he cannot be counted on, and he has always had a very tenuous hold on the starting job during his time in Detroit. This is not a post to call for the ousting of Ozzie as starter (Conklin and the guys in GR are the only options, so it is unlikely), but just to remind people to be realistic about the situation. Honestly, based on Ozzie's history, its just as equally likely that Ozzie heats up and backstops the Wings to the Stanley Cup, or he ends up sitting on the bench behind Conklin.

If you're talking about the possibility of putting Leino on the 4th line, I'd agree. But guys like Helm and Abdelkader, while they do have some offensive skills, are mostly gonna be used as grinders, and could certainly be more useful than McCarty or Draper at this point in time.

I don't see what the big deal is. Its not like McCarty and Downey are gone from the team. If they are needed, they are around. Lets face it, they're liabilities more often than not.

I don't see why Chelios' name even enters teh conversation. A great player and a future HHoFer, who's played a long time with the Wings, but he was rarely an impact player during his time with Detroit.

Quincey was low on the depth chart and out of options. If not this year, than he'd be gone next year.

So, they made a mistake, but Def Leppard > Kid Rock . . . . by far

Whats an enforcer gonna do in situations like that? You got a guy like Pronger, who's gonna throw cheap shots, but he's a star and doesn't often drop the gloves. He's not gonna waste his time with some border-line NHL enforcer, and he's not gonna be scared.

There's nothing the NHLPA can do about it. They can complain to the player and his agent, or try to push them to go for a better contract, but they can't do much besides that.

Sundin has been a top player his whole career. Kariya has been a second-liner since he left Anaheim.

Minnesota rarely seems to spend money on players, yet, If I remember correctly (please correct me if I'm wrong) they bring in the fans. If, so, I bet the Wild is one of the more profitable NHL teams.

Iginla is up there with Zetterberg, Datsyuk, Lecavlier, Crosby, Malkin, Ovechkin, etc, as one of the best players in the league. On the topic of overrated, Shane Doan, by far. Solid second line player with some grit, but no power forward like Iginla.

I hope for the sake of logic and reason that this comment was sarcastic.