eva unit zero

Right now. Tell me what Maltby does better than Kopecky. Offense? no. Defense? No. Hitting? No sir. Fighting? Maltby hasn't fought in like five years. So please, PLEASE tell me what Maltby does better than Kopecky. Otherwise, you can start using Maltby as your example for a useless fourth-liner since Kopecky actually got play on higher lines at points and didn't look out of place when he did.

Honestly, anyone complaining about votes for Kopecky needs to think a second. I personally voted for Hudler, but Kopecky is the only NHL caliber player on that list (or among Wings regulars last season) who can and will throw down the gloves on any shift, and he wasn't even the worst forward of the 12 regulars the Wings played. You'd think he'd have been more popular on this board. As I have said before...Kopecky will surprise a lot of you as a Hawk with the kind of performance he puts out because he actually will get ice time in Chicago.

Tallon certainly had a solution; hell, I had a solution. The question at hand is...does Stan Bowman have a solution?

Man, if only we had drafted Guillaume Latendresse instead of Abdelkader in that spot like everyone on this board wanted! /sarcasm

I would rather have Hudler center the second line than Sundin. Sundin 5 years ago, sure. Sundin now? No thank you. As I have been saying for a long time now, Hudler centering Franzen and maybe Cleary would be SICK. The opposing team would be just as concerned about him and Cleary as they would about Franzen offensively, and the line is capable of whatever kind of offensive system you want. Replacing Hudler with Sundin means weaker playmaking and reduces the line's versatility by reducing the center's playmaking capability as well as putting three players who generally score their goals from below the circles and inside the dots on the same line. That allows the defensemen to put less effort into their defensive scheme because there is a good chance that one defenseman will often be able to protect against two forwards in a zone defense.

Ok, here's total ES ice time and g-a-pt for a two players. All stats are even strength only playoff stats from this season. Jiri Hudler- 23GP, 244:45 ES TOI, 2g-4a-6pt Pavel Datsyuk- 16GP, 250:28ES TOI, 0g-5a-5pt Is that a clearer picture for you? Fewer minutes than Datsyuk at ES, more goals, and more points. Would have probably been more goals than he scored, and more assists than Datsyuk too, had he had any even strength linemates capable of finishing. Instead, he had to create the opportunity and then finish it himself- as he was basically the only offensive threat on his line most shifts. But hopefully this will help dispel the myth that Hudler performed poorly in the postseason because his numbers dipped slightly, when the truth is that he simply WASN'T ON THE ICE. Check his ice time...it dips from the regular season to the playoffs. Combine that with the fact that the Wings were playing more defensively and saw fewer power plays during the playoffs, and the chances Hudler was going to maintain his scoring pace were slim.

In the playoffs he played on Helm's line at least half the time at even strength this year and last. So either Hudler was or Helm wasn't. Yes, Hudler played some PP time. But Hudler was also 7th in forward scoring at even strength among Wings forwards, but only 10th among forwards in ice time. Comparison (Rank among forwards; ES points/ES ice time): Zetterberg 1st/1st Cleary 2nd/4th Franzen 3rd/2nd Filppula 4th/3rd Hossa 5th/5th Samuelsson 6th/6th Hudler 7th/10th Helm 8th/7th Datsyuk 9th/8th Holmstrom 10th/9th Abdelkader 11th/13th Leino 12th/15th Draper 13th/14th Maltby 14th/11th Kopecky 14th/12th Some notable things in this list: Hudler outscored Datsyuk and Holmstrom despite playing less time. He was only one point behind Samuelsson despite playing considerably less at even strength. And Hudler played considerably less than Helm at even strength also.

Because it's ok to point out that Helm scored less because he was on the 4th line...but if you point out that Hudler was on the 4th line "he's a product of the system" because he small. Hmm.

Neither does Lebda. What's your point?

Disagree. Just because you don't like Chelios doesn't mean he doesn't put out effort. I mean...of all the players to say this kind of thing about...you pick CHELIOS? That's like saying "I don't think Darren Helm should be on the roster; he's too slow." Chelios is one of the hardest working players in the league. Yes he's slow. No, he's not Norris caliber anymore. That doesn't mean he stopped working hard. If being slow means you aren't working hard, well then, Holmstrom hasn't worked a shift in his life.

I voted Hudler, with an honorable mention to Kopecky. They are the only two players on the list yet to enter their primes, Hudler already showing ridiculous potential and Kopecky still with the potential to be a solid all-around second liner (although unlikely to fill that role on the Wings) while the other players are basically all 30+ and anywhere from just past their peak and starting down the mountain to having reached the valley and set up camp. None of the older players' primary functions could not be replaced for less or simply removed from the roster. The loss of Hossa's offense could be replaced by Hudler playing the same amount of time as well as a bounce back from Zetterberg and improvements from Franzen, Cleary and Filppula; his PK duties would be taken on by one of the many solid defensive forwards on the team such as Helm, Franzen, or Cleary. Chelios is simply removable. Conklin can be replaced by Howard for less without significant difference. Samuelsson's offense could be covered by Leino. Meanwhile, Hudler is young and highly skilled offensively, which is something the Wings need to keep a hold of rather than losing both Hudler and Hossa. So he's probably the most important free agent from the Wings who Holland actually could have signed after July 1st. Kopecky is gone now, but due to the team's depth he will likely bring the Hawks more than he was ever going to bring the Wings, so for him that's a good move.

...says the Holmstrom fan?

How do you figure that the cap space is spread out? It would be $150k per year.

The big difference is that Hudler with a broken arm is still a better puckhandler than Sammy and would have better ice vision than Sammy even if he were blindfolded. Those are two KEY elements of manning the point. The reason Sammy and Williams were such failures is that despite their shots, which Hudler equals, they were not nearly the puckhandler Huds is nor did they have the hockey sense. They also were nowhere near the playmaker Hudler is. It's worth a try at very least; Hudler is the only forward who is worth trying on the point who is on the roster, assuming he returns.

Yet another reason the Wings need Hudler back. Hudler ran the right point for a couple years in Grand Rapids and it was SICK.

Draper is the best faceoff man on the team, and one of the best in the league. However, it's getting to the point where that's ALL he is. His speed is nowhere near what it once was. To make the point; Jiri Hudler slid in the draft because he was slow for a guy his size. Kris Draper used to be one of the fastest guys in the league. Now Hudler and Draper are close to the same speed, due to Draper's decline and Huder's improvement. I know many here will ignore Hudler's improvement, but it did happen. Anyway, Draper is an above average skater who is above average defensively and excellent on faceoffs, can play center and both wings, has good experience and works very hard. He's still worth his cap hit or close to it as far as the open market, even if the Wings would be better off spending that money elsewhere. Draper will likely retire at the end of his contract, and by that time Maltby and Holmstrom will likely have retired as well. I don't expect any of them to sign a new deal; all three will retire at the end of their current deal or before.

Honestly, if Hudler ends up not coming back... I am perfectly fine with not being able to sign a free agent on top of what we have, and here's why: Datsyuk/Zetterberg/Holmstrom Franzen/Filppula/Leino Cleary/Helm/Abdelkader Maltby/Draper/Oulahen/Newbury? If we find out that we have no Hudler, then we let Maltby, Oulahen and Newbury fight over the wing spots on the fourth line, with one of them as the spare forward. If Hudler is back, then it's probably a 21-man lineup, and Oulahen may or may not still be in the organization.

I voted other. For a tie between Chris Neil and Dwayne Roloson. Chris Neil for four years at $2m per year is a RIDICULOUS overpayment...given that he'll contribute enough over the life of his contract to justify maybe $2m, I don't see how he gets that contract. And Roloson getting that deal from the Isles is just ridiculous, given they could have signed Joey MacDonald for probably $1m or less and MacDonald outplayed Roloson last season playing for the Isles with DiPietro's absence. So either you have a $2.5m backup goalie in Roloson, or DiPietro gets injured AGAIN. MacDonald proved more than capable of taking over in that instance, so why sign Rollie the Goalie for more than twice what Joey Mac would make when Roloson is on the downswing and MacDonald is getting better? EDIT: With New York's signing of Biron, Roloson will begin the season as a $2.5m backup goaltender assuming that Dipietro is still injured, and either he or Biron will likely be traded if Dipietro is healthy to start the year, assuming that New York can find a trade partner. If not, Roloson is waived and is a $2.5m goaltender playing in the minors.

A good luxury tax system: Teams can re-sign players that they drafted and/or have been within their organization for five-plus complete seasons who are under the age of 28, and the player's entire raise, up to 50%, can count as luxury tax if the team exceeds the salary cap. Players acquired by trade or free agency and signed to a contract with less than that tenure, and all players over 28, would count 100% against the cap. Teams would pay 100% of the salary they exceeded the cap by, and it would be divided evenly amongst bottom-half revenue teams who were also in the bottom half of payroll. The cap floor would be lowered to be $15m below the cap rather than $10m below the cap.

Leino is projected as the 13th or 14th forward.

I just want to say this right now. Do not be stunned if Filppula's numbers do not increase considerably next season. Samuelsson's power play spot will go to Ericsson and/or Stuart. Hossa and Hudler are gone from the power play also, which leaves two forward spots to be meshed in with Z, Dats, Homer, and Franzen. You can count on Cleary getting one of them. Depending on whether Hudler ends up taking his arbitration award or agreeing to a contract, which is not considered likely but still certainly possible, he would be on the PP ahead of Flip. Leino also may be on the PP ahead of Filppula depending on the units Babcock is putting together. So it's possible Filppula doesn't see a significant increase in PP time. He will likely see very little increase in ES time if any. The only difference last season between his time and Z or Dats was that he played slightly less at ES, and the PP time. So Flip will not see much increase unless Z and Dats also see it, meaning the Wings are moving away from rolling four lines. That said, Zetterberg should be back somewhere between 85-95 points next season with about 45 goals, regardless of whether he is playing with Datsyuk at even strength. This will largely be because his line won't be the only option to play against the opposing team's top line, which will be a major factor in why the Wings will be able to increase offensive output from players who were expected to produce more last year. Assuming Dats and Z are split, and Flip centers the third line, Flip will be used primarily as a shutdown center and that role will allow the Wings to run lines one and two as offense-first lines rather than running line two as the shutdown line as they did last year. This is another reason Filppula's offensive numbers will likely not increase and may even regress.

There's no other non-physical, swift skating defenseman who has mediocre puck skills and is a defensive liability that we could sign so cheaply? Hell, we already have a defenseman who is virtually the same player for $170k less than Lebda. Lebda is not only not irreplaceable...he is EXTREMELY replaceable.

Lilja is more likely to be traded than Meech. Why? Because they would be trading a defenseman for cap space. Meech uses less cap space than the league minimum salary. Lilja uses nearly three times as much. Meech is young and improving, as well as capable of playing forward if necessary. That said, Lebda is more likely to be traded than Lilja. Lilja is the team's best shot blocker and one of the best PKers on the team. Which means Lebda is the most likely defenseman to be dealt. Meech and Lebda are very similar players and Lebda has been stagnating while Meech has been improving. Meech is cheaper and younger, and more versatile.

And MLive can predict the future? s*** man, thanks for the tip! I'm gonna go ask MLive which horses to bet on in next years Derby!

Holland plans on trading a defenseman from last season's roster. The most likely defenseman to be traded is one of Lebda or Lilja. If Lebda is dealt, the Wings have just shy of $2.5m in cap space. If Lilja is dealt, the Wings have just over $3m. The Wings certainly can still afford to sign Hudler or a replacement for him. The problem, of course, is whether Holland and Babcock really want Hudler back. If they don't want to bring Hudler back, then it's pointless to try and figure out how the Wings could sign him because it wouldn't happen even if they had $10m in cap space for one open spot for the next twenty years. But if they really are trying to bring Hudler back, it's simply a matter of getting the right deal done.