eva unit zero

Lebda has been outplayed by Meech all season. It's not terribly different from most of their respective careers within the organization; Meech has been the better player for pretty much the whole. Lebda might be a good 3rd-pairing defenseman on a non-playoff team. But he doesn't belong in a Wings uniform with the defensive depth we have, even with the injuries. The Wings' top six healthy defensemen are: Lidstrom, Rafalski, Stuart, Kindl, Meech, Janik. Beyond that, we have Any Elmore with veteran experience. And even though he brings no D, he is STILL better than Lebda in his own end.

I have wanted Drew Miller on the Wings since he was playing in Anaheim's top six a couple of seasons back. Great all-around skill, just needs opportunity.

I may never drink 7up again due to the trauma...

He signed his first contract with Detroit in May 2008 at the age of 24. However, as he was over 20, he would have had to have played 59 or fewer professional games while signed to an NHL contract to remain waiver exempt past his first season with an NHL contract. As he played 70 total in 2008-09, this exceeded the 60 game limit and removed his waiver-exempt status for 2009-10.

The question was who is gone with EVERYONE healthy. Helm was moved down because he is waiver exempt and the goal seemed to be to keep as many players as possible. The only way to get under the cap by dropping two forwards, assuming no Lilja, is to remove any two of Abdelkader, Maltby, and Leino. Abs/May and Abs/Miller doesn't cover the overage the Wings would have. Abs/May/Miller would, but only two of them would not.

You sure?

With everyone healthy and back of players who have served as regular roster players this season or those who would have been if healthy, the Wings will have 16 forwards, 8 defensemen, and 2 goaltenders for a total of 26 players. Those 26 players add up to a payroll that is $2.844m over the cap. The Wings would probably like to drop two or three forwards and one defensemen to get under the cap. On defense, it seems most likely that Lebda would go, as the top four is not moving, Ericsson is staying, and Lilja's stay at home presence, shot blocking and PK abilities far outweigh Lebda's lack of any positive contribution. Lebda costs more than Meech for, at best, equal performance. This leaves two or three forwards who cost a total of $2.194m who have to be removed. Abdelkader likely goes down, as he is waiver-exempt. $1.344m left to remove. Helm is also waiver-exempt, and makes $599k, so if he is also sent down it leaves $745k to cut from the roster. Who is the final cut? Bertuzzi and Williams make $1.5m and they, plus everyone above them, will not be cut. This leaves Leino and Maltby as options. Possibly even both, with Helm or Abdelkader staying up.

Did Axelsson suffer a near-fatal car crash that caused him to go through extended rehab just to be able to walk again, let alone skate or compete for an NHL job? Grigs did.

Briere to St. Louis for Conklin. Put your money on it.

If you are thinking "two-way contracts mean they can go back and forth from the minors without waivers" you are sadly mistaken. One-way or two-way deals only determine a player's minor league paycheck.

Canada - Niedermayer USA - Rolston Russia - Zubov Sweden - Lidstrom Slovakia - Chara Czech Republic - Elias Finland - S.Koivu

Nobody should be worried about this, anyway. At this rate, by the time the Olympics roll around there won't be many healthy Wings looking at Olympic chances anyway. Think about it. Who do the Wings have who could potentially be named to play for their country? Sweden: Zetterberg, Franzen, Holmstrom, Lidstrom, Kronwall, Lilja, Ericsson. Canada: Cleary, Osgood Russia: Datsyuk United States: Rafalski Finland: Filppula, Leino Six of those thirteen players are injured. Two more are not likely to make the final cut. This leaves us with five probable Olympians: Z, Dats, Homer, Lidstrom, Rafalski. We can bump that number to six of fourteen if you want to include Hudler.

And Mike Babcock once scored over 130 points in 36 games as a defenseman... in the BHL.

How about this one I just made? I can't imagine anyone having a problem here.

What's so unfortunate?

I should rephrase; I used the term "unconditional waivers" which sort of confuses things. A team can designate a player for unconditional release, at which point the player must be offered on waivers to all other teams. If no team claims him, the team may then terminate his contract. I am not certain whether players in this situation must be paid, but it is definitely an option for teams who need to clear up a lot of cap space from a certain player or two, and the contracts make the players basically impossible to trade.

If a player is placed on unconditional waivers and all teams pass him by, the player's contract can then be terminated. As I understand it, the team must still pay the player all guaranteed monies (bonuses not included) but it is not the same as a buyout. A recent example is Brendan Shanahan, who re-signed with New Jersey and then had his deal termed after the coach, GM, and player agreed that Shanahan's role on the team would not be what any of the three were looking for.

Watch a slow motion replay. The shot actually grazes Osgood's left shoulder a couple inches from his neck. Had it cleared his shoulder or been to his left, it misses the net completely. The graze caused the puck to lose momentum, and it still went in just under the crossbar.

If he is placed on unconditional waivers, and every team passes, then Carolina can terminate his contract and make him a UFA. At that point, ditch Lebda and sign Ward? Damn right. Canes won't term him though.

Lebda's level of play since the beginning of his career has been that of an emergency callup from the AHL when a team is missing a couple defensemen. He's not NHL caliber and never has been. Lebda would not have played a single NHL game in his life if he played in the late 70s and early 80s. So let's compare Lebda vs. Holland in the AHL. Holland was consistently one of the AHL's top goalies, and in a 30-team NHL might have a regular backup job. Holland was named to the postseason all-star team in the AHL, while Lebda was never any better than the #3 defenseman in Grand Rapids - Derek Meech being one of the defensemen who was ahead of him on the depth chart, and has outplayed him almost every season since. So while Babcock may not have been as good as Lebda (despite Babcock, a defenseman, scoring 132 points in 36 games for the Whitley Warriors in 1987-88) Ken Holland was a better hockey player than Lebda. Beyond that, the fact that Lebda's performance has declined since joining the leagueshould give Holland and Babcock an idea that perhaps, given the defensive prospects coming up, Lebda should not return next year. Lebda only was given a spot on the Wings because Kronwall was injured in preseason and missed 55 games because of it. Jiri Fischer also missed considerable time that year due to his heart condition. A healthy Wings lineup that season sees Lebda in the minors all year, and likely no Jason Woolley. And before the "well Ken Holland isn't a better player than Lebda NOW" card comes up, I have a response. Steve Yzerman isn't better than Jiri Hudler or Val Filppula right now. Neither are Babcock or Holland.

Bertuzzi has looked like s*** for the majority of the season. He makes poor decisions regarding passing vs shooting, he has not been terribly physical, and his defense is atrocious. He has had a couple of good games, but it's unlikely to last because even in the last two he still was having many of the same issues.

Stuart was trying to cycle down to the side boards despite tight coverage; Hudler was cycling to take over at the point. Except Stuart coughed up the puck when he tried to pinch. Hudler hit the Pens player almost immediately, knocking the puck loose, but Jiri was not in a position to pick up the loose puck as it was moving towards center ice. Talbot picked up the loose puck in the neutral zone and skated down the left side, with a 2-on-1. Had Stuart not tried to pinch when he had no room, the puck never leaves the offensive zone on that play.

I'd rather Lebda was traded, waived, sent to Grand Rapids, sent to play in some Japanese league, whatever. Just so long as I don't have to watch him play or hear his name. So this idea fails, regardless of how accurate it might be.

For those arguing 'captain selection logic' you should read the following. Yzerman was named captain because he was the team's leader on the ice, as well as the fact that he was the best player and the team and one of the best in the league, and the Wings were built around his playing style and abilities; this in a way allowed him to lead by example. Lidstrom was named captain as the team's on-ice leader, as well as the fact that he was the best player in the world and the team was built based on Lidstrom's playing style and abilities. Again, this allowed Lids to lead by example. So we can therefore logically assume that the next captain will be the team's on-ice leader, as well as someone who leads the team by example through playing style and level of play. Based on that, Henrik Zetterberg is it. Nobody else really fits that description. Not Datsyuk, not Filppula, not Kronwall, not Stuart, not Franzen, not Hudler when he returns. Zetterberg is the clear choice.

Hudler was one of the few forwards we had who would go into the 'dirty' areas no matter what. Yes, he's small and a euro, but he still went into the corners and drove the net. A lot of the Wings' forwards last year, this year, and even previously don't or didn't do that as much or as well as Hudler. Yes, he is not the best at winning battles in the corners. But he didn't shy away. And he wasn't uncoachable; his defense improved greatly since entering the league and he went from the mindset of a guy who was used to carrying the play and setting everything up by himself to the Wings' style of puck possession through smart passing and cycling. Uncoachable my ******* ass.