eva unit zero

7 hours from Toronto to Grand Rapids, FOLLOWED by a game at the Joe the next day.

For now, it's a good cap hit for Luongo. Five to seven years down the road, he's probably paid too much. I don't see him coming anywhere near the end of this deal...and the league should definitely be investigating this deal. Pretty much, the league should be investigating any deal with a declining structure that is more than 7 years long and is signed when a player is 30 or over. Think about it; once a player hits 30, he's only got a few years left in most cases. The league has put in place that any deal signed after the player reaches 35 affects the cap for the entire length of the deal no matter what; so they should realistically investigate anything that fits the conditions I described as players over 30 signing long deals are unlikely to play the entire length. Neither Hossa nor Luongo will play their entire contract. Franzen and Zetterberg may retire before the end, but there is at least a chance both could play past the ends of their deals. Rick Dipietro could play out his deal, or he might retire due to injury. If Luongo's deal isn't investigated, it's proof the League offices have no clue what they are doing with regard to contract investigations.

The Yahoo list is based on fantasy hockey...which means things like goals and PIM are your things of big importance. Nowhere does the Yahoo list claim to be an accurate ranking of the players for real life, which is good because it's not.

What lineup would I hate for the Wings to play against? Hmm...how about: Ovechkin/Thornton/Iginla Nash/Getzlaf/Jokinen Smyth/E.Staal/Cole Frolov/Kopitar/Brown Chara/Wideman Bouwmeester/Keith Weber/Pronger

Lidstrom. He should have been the top spot.

Ok...a couple questions about how some players are ranked. Kiprusoff: Reg season; 2.84 GAA, .903 Sv%, 29.3 shots/60 min Playoffs: 3.52 GAA, 8.84 Sv%, 30.5 shots/60 min Turco: Reg season; 2.81 GAA, .898 Sv%, 27.6 shots/60 min Playoffs: No playoff stats Vokoun: Reg season; 2.49 GAA, .926 Sv%, 33.5 shots/60 min Playoffs: No playoff stats Nabokov: Reg season; 2.44 GAA, .910 Sv%, 27.1 shots/60 min Playoffs: 2.82 GAA, 8.90 Sv%, 25.8 shots/60 min Vokoun's team was pretty horrible as evidenced by the fact that they allowed so many shots and were one of the worst offensive teams in the league. But Vokoun carried them almost to the playoffs; they only missed the playoffs due to head to head games vs Montreal, which is the third tiebreaker in playoff seeding. I mean, since making the playoffs seems to be the only reason you would have ranked him so low, why not just scratch him, Miller, and Turco from the list and add in Chris Mason, Nikolai Khabibulin, and Semyon Varlamov since their teams made the playoffs and they were the best goalies on the team.

Nicklas Lidstrom. If you have a group of players, and Lidstrom's name is included, you can automatically rank Lidstrom as the best overall player based on current ability. He is simply the best player in the world. There's no other way to put it.

But then he would have to acknowledge Osgood carrying the Isles and the fact that Snow did NOT take his job but rather, the team stepped up when he went down because they had been relying on him so much.

Reading. Natural spring water or purified drinking water?

Actually, let's hear your argument as to how Schneider is even close to Howe.

All-time? I can think of four offhand. 1) Mark Howe 2) Brian Leetch 3) Phil Housley 4) Gary Suter. Could pass Schneider on the All-Time list: Brian Rafalski, Paul Martin, Keith Ballard, Tom Gilbert

I suppose it's actually a two-man move thinking about it and comparing it to my earlier posts. The only difference is that the moves I posted allowed for a 22-man roster. Still, if the Wings' brass wants a 22-man roster, then that deal doesn't work.

The top 15 goalies in the NHL are: 1) Martin Brodeur 2) Niklas Backstrom 3) Henrik Lundqvist 4) Roberto Luongo 5) Tomas Vokoun 6) Ryan Miller 7) Chris Osgood 8) Tim Thomas 9) Pekka Rinne 10) Steve Mason 11) Jonas Hiller 12) Evgeni Nabokov 13) Ilya Bryzgalov 14) Marc-Andre Fleury 15) Cam Ward

You know who Kipper should be ranked one spot ahead of on the list? Me. Not that he has played a few seasons in a row like ass or anything.

How was I flat wrong? You started with the same overage I did, and moved THREE PLAYERS off the roster; Hudler, Eaves, and Lebda. You moved Hudler off and got down to $970k over, then dumped the combined $1.15m of Lebda and Eaves to get under with a 21-man roster that uses Meech as a spare swingman, with $180k of cap space. My suggestions so far have only involved moving one or two players, and what moves could be made. I have also held back suggestions that did not allow for a 22-man roster as the Wings seem to be in preference of that for this season, and suggestions that did not involve players who had NTCs and did not make enough to clear the overage on their own. Maybe later I'll come up with some three-man deals that could be made to clear the overage and the resulting 13/7/2 roster.

Offhand, my top ten classiest in the league, in no order: Datsyuk Zetterberg Lidstrom Marleau Savard Richards Demitra St.Louis Toews Gionta

One, I haven't played an EA sports game in over five years. Two, the Wings, with Hudler, Lilja, Bertuzzi, Williams, Eaves, Helm, Leino, etc. included are $3.845m over the cap and have 24 players on the roster. If you take away just Hudler, bringing it to 13 forwards, the Wings are still $970k over the cap with 13/8/2. If Lilja spends half the season (41 games) on LTIR and Lebda is traded when he gets back, before the Wings play game 42, then the Wings will see a total of $950kcut from that number. So Lilja would have to miss more than half the season for moving just Hudler to work. If you were GM, would you rely on a player being injured and not being able to come back; or furthermore hold him out in favor of far worse players; just to trade Hudler instead of someone else? I sure as hell wouldn't. I would trade Stuart because he is the most expendable player who definitely and without a doubt clears the cap overage we are currently facing. If Lilja goes IR, he might be back after the minimum 10 games. That's only $152,439 in cap relief, which brings the overage down to $3.693m. Stuart, Franzen, Rafalski, Zetterberg, Datsyuk, and Lidstrom are the guys who make more than that. So, trade who? Even if Eaves or Helm goes to Grand Rapids to make it 13 forwards, it's still $3.1-$3.2m and you've added no new names to the list. Who would you trade? I pick Stuart, bring up Delmore until Lilja is off LTIR, and I'm done.

Ok, make your decision then. With the 13/8/2 on the Wings roster with Hudler and Lilja included and Eaves moved to Grand Rapids, the Wings are about $3.35m over the cap with 23 players. So the Wings can trade the following players to clear up the cap overage in one player: Lidstrom, Datsyuk, Zetterberg, Rafalski, Franzen, Stuart So who of that group would you rather trade than Stuart? Not Lids, Dats, Zetterberg, or Franzen for sure. Some might say Rafalski. But Rafalski, like Stuart, has an NTC. He's also more important to the team. So of course the team would rather trade Stuart first if possible. Or they can trade any of the following combinations of a forward and a defenseman who on their own would not clear the cap overage and provide enough cap room to put Eaves on the roster so the Wings have a 13/7/2 final roster. I am not going to include Derek Meech here as he makes less than the league minimum, and he can play both forward and defense. I will not include Cleary or Draper because like Stuart they have NTCs. I will also not include anyone signed this offseason. So which pair of players do you want to see moved instead of Stuart? Filppula and Lilja (4.25) Hudler and Lilja (4.125m) Holmstrom and Kronwall ($5.25m) Maltby and Kronwall ($3.883) Well, Kronwall is a better defenseman than Stuart so I know I would rather trade Stuart than Kronwall if I were forced to trade one. And I would rather have Lilja to step into Stuart's role and have both Filppula and Hudler up front than lose one of them and Lilja and keep Stuart in his spot with a third D pairing of some combo of Lebda/Delmore/Meech.

Holland would never waive Hudler. He'd trade him inside the division for a 7th round pick before he waived him. If all that happens is Hudler returns, and either Helm or Eaves is sent down in response, then the Wings are between $3.15 and $3.25 over the cap with 13 forwards, 8 defensemen, and 2 goalies. This is including Lilja, who may be on LTIR. If so, the Wings would be at or just below $2m over the cap, with 13-7-2. So they could drop any of the top four defensemen and replace them with Delmore or Kindl, or a cheap ($500k-$750k) stay-at-home defenseman in return in the trade and make the cap. They also could trade Hudler, Cleary, Filppula, Franzen, Zetterberg, or Datsyuk, replace them with Helm/Eaves. It's all about perspective. What makes the Wings a better team? Ericsson could probably step right into Stuart's spot and not miss a beat. If Lilja is around, then the 3rd pair is Lilja and either Lebda or Meech. Or perhaps Lilja plays with Kronwall, and Ericsson plays opposite Lebda/Meech. It allows the Wings a deeper forward corps with more forwards capable of scoring, with most likely three lines that will have good to very good scoring numbers. The best option, as he is the most expendable of the top four defensemen and has the least bearing on the future of the team of any of the players who could potentially clear up the cap overage, forward or defense. The Wings do need to improve their defensive play, but by adding to one of the top-two forward lines a highly skilled playmaker with a good shot and plays above-average defense, it allows the team more time of possession than if the team has someone who isn't a skilled playmaker, and doesn't have a terribly accurate shot, but plays solid defense. The former is going to be turning the puck over less, and even if he isn't stopping as many chances against the team when the opposing team has the puck, his increased possession of the puck will reduce the chances the opposition has. It's the classic line; the best defense is a good offense. If the puck is always in the other end, Osgood and Howard won't need to worry about stopping shots on goal. Of course, the puck won't always be in the other end, but having Hudler on one of the top two lines is better than many of the options from last season who played there. Especially if he continues to improve his skating, strength, and defensive play as he has been. And that is why the topic of trading Stuart has come back up; whether he has a NTC or not, if Hudler is back on the Wings' roster, then the Wings need to clear some cap space and trading him should be looked at as the first option. Perhaps Stuart to Dallas for Jeff Woywitka and a 3rd to partially cover the loss of franchise defenseman Sergei Zubov. Stuart would probably thrive in that situation, as he'd get a lot of PP and PK time and would probably play on the top pairing and get significant minutes.

Because Hudler was not granted a transfer card by the IIHF and therefore cannot play or practice with Dynamo. Assuming this puts Hudler back on the Wings' roster, then the Wings have fourteen forwards (counting Bertuzzi, Williams, and Eaves of new signings plus Helm, Leino, and all returnees), eight defensemen (including Lilja), and two goaltenders. If we assume Lilja is going to be on LTIR, then the Wings would be about $2.6m over the cap at that point. 14 forwards, 7 defensemen, 2 goalies. One of Eaves/Helm/Leino probably goes to Grand Rapids. I bet on Eaves and his $500k; that makes it $2.1m over the cap. So the question is, what players are potentially tradeable that can clear up that kind of space? We'll start with forwards. Hudler is the obvious one to mention. Filppula and Holmstrom are the only others that make that much or more. On defense? You're looking at Rafalski, Stuart, and Kronwall. Filppula, Hudler, and Kronwall are all young, skilled players who can make up the core of a winning team for a long time. Holmstrom has solid chemistry with Dats and Z but is getting older and declining. Rafalski and Stuart have NTCs. Who do you trade out of that group? As great of a #4 as Stuart makes, I'd pick him to trade if he were willing to waive his NTC.

Interesting. Holland did say he wanted to trade a defenseman... Perhaps Brad Stuart is the defenseman who ends up moved? Assuming Stuart is traded for pick or prospect, Lilja is on LTIR, and Lebda/Meech/Delmore are the 5th/6th/7th defensemen, with Maltby and Eaves as 13th and 14th forwards, then the Wings have about $650k in cap space with Hudler. Move Eaves to GR, and the Wings have more than $1m with Hudler on the roster. Lines though? Datsyuk/Zetterberg/Holmstrom Franzen/Hudler/Bertuzzi Cleary/Filppula/Williams Helm/Draper/Leino I know I'll get ripped on for that...but the idea of Hudler and his playmaking ability between big bodies Franzen and Bertuzzi really works in my mind.

Robitaille came seven points short of doubling Gretzky's point total when they played together in 1992-93. Robitaille set records for goals (63) and points (125) by a left winger that year; Ovechkin has since broken the goals record but Robitaille still holds the points record. Such a terrible player who benefitted from Gretzky as a King, huh. Given that his best year was when Gretzky missed half the season, right? Robitaille was a great player. He had the opportunity to play with other great players, but he himself was a great player. He was not an elite level player except perhaps for a couple of seasons, but he was a great player for a long time. He was nearly a point per game despite playing on the lower lines in Pittsburgh and was a 40-goal per-game pace in his time there. He returned to LA and played four years there, and over the four years was nearly a point per game player for the whole time, and was better than a point per game twice, topping out at 88 points. He scored 35+ goals three times in those four seasons, and played 57 games in the other. No, Robitaille isn't in the discussion for the best left winger ever; neither is Shanahan, nor are Kariya, Tkachuk, Leclair, or Goulet, or Kevin Stevens, or anyone who excelled in the past 30 years for any period of time. That discussion is pretty much Lindsay vs Hull and will remain so for a few more years until Ovechkin proves whether he belongs in it. I'd say Ovechkin probably breaks into that discussion soon.

Well that's a whole different story.

Well I hope it would be a blowout; most of the 2002 Wings are still playing or just retired. The 1972 Canadians are all in their sixties or approaching them. It would probably be a blowout if the 2009 Wings played 1972 Canada right now also. Even Maltby might score a goal.

In 1958, 1959, 1962, and 1963 Andy Bathgate was named to either the First Team or the Second Team, with Gordie Howe on the other. In 1960 and 1961, Bernie Geoffrion was named with Howe. So Andy Bathgate took two of the First Team selections in that six years, with Geoffrion taking one and Howe taking three. Howe took three Second Team selections, with Bathgate named twice and Geoffrion named once. In other words, Bathgate was considered on par or close to Howe's level for that period of time, and was consistently a great player at a similar level for a significant period beyond that. Bathgate also had a nagging knee injury which he suffered in juniors and which continued to bother him throughout his career; he played his entire career with a steel plate in his left knee.