eva unit zero

Z will do it Friday, in the 14-3 win.

If they keep Conklin, Howard gets shopped. Even if they don't keep Conklin, Howard has to outplay Larsson and whoever else the Wings are looking at next fall if he wants to play in Detroit. That's not a "maybe" as Howard has no minor league options left for next season. The problem with keeping Conklin is, that adds Conklin to the list of potentially returning UFAs with Hossa, Franzen, Samuelsson, and Kopecky. Goaltending is going to be heavily sought after this summer. Using my crystal ball, here's what could happen for next season: Holland has to fill six forward spots and one goaltender spot with about 9,150,001. I can see Franzen going elsewhere for more than the Wings can afford to pay him, especially the way Leino has played and the amount of money Holland has to spend. Assuming Hossa stays around for a cap hit of $6m, the Wings would only have about $3.15m to sign 5 forwards and a goaltender. Kopecky will likely sign for about $550k, which leaves $2.6m to fill 4 forwards and a goaltender. Unless the Wings decide to fill the remainder with players at $525k, someone is going to have to be traded to be able to retain players like Hudler, Samuelsson, and Conklin. As has been said repeatedly around here, the player who makes the most sense to trade is Valtteri Filppula, but after the playoffs. Likely he would be traded for a good pick and a good prospect. This would open up $3m in cap space. This means the Wings now have about $6.15m in cap space to sign 4F and 1G, that could be used to sign Hudler to a smaller contract than Flip has, as well as space to retain Ville Leino and two others, including Samuelsson if desired. Hudler would probably cost between $2m and $2.25m, so we'll assume the high end. That leaves about $1m for Leino.and $2.7 remaining cap space to sign a forward and a goaltender. So say the first two lines are DZH and Leino/Hudler/Hossa. The third and fourth lines would start from some combination of Draper, Maltby, Cleary, and Kopecky. This is probably what happens either way unless Holland pulls off a miracle. Option 1) Samuelsson at $1.4m. This would mean that the Wings had $1.3m to use on a forward and a goaltender; unless Conklin takes a pay cut in an offseason he will be looking at a big raise, it won't be him. The $1.3 could pay for the following combinations of prospects also: Howard/Ritola and Helm/Larsson. Howard or Larsson plus an unsigned forward is the third option. The Wings probably lose Conklin here, but are able to get either Howard or Larsson in as the backup and get their next generation of players beginning to transition into the lineup. If Conklin stays around, Howard gets traded, Conklin is the Larsson-priced goaltender who is at very least pushing Osgood for the starting job, assuming Osgood has figured out what's up with his funk, and everyone's happy. Option 2) Samuelsson leaves in free agency. Wings have $2.7m in cap space, and would still need 2F TBD plus 1G. Helm costs about $600k. If Conklin costs more than about $1.5m, then the Wings won't be able to keep him as they would still need to sign or promote one more forward and Option 3) Another thought is to invite 2007-08 Elitserien player of the year Stefan Liv to training camp and give him a second chance as our goaltender of the future, as he was, IMHO, kicked out prematurely due to the hype about Jimmy Howard and the fact he didn't go from star goalie in the Swedish league to a star in the AHL without any adjustment period. Give him a chance to compete with Howard (if he's still around) for the backup spot in training camp and the preseason if Liv isn't signed by another NHL team by then, as he seems to have done pretty well since returning to HV-71. Perhaps the 27-year old can fulfill the potential he was originally scouted at. Regardless, the chances of Conklin returning to the team next season are pretty slim, and depends largely on free agents taking less than they would be worth on the market to play in Detroit so that there is enough cap space to go around, and/or on players being traded and/or let go and replaced by similar players who are significantly cheaper who can fulfill the same role, such as Franzen being replaced by Leino and Filppula being replaced by Helm. Expect to see Osgood combined with a cheap veteran goaltender or one of the prospects in net next season; Howard's chances at the backup job may still be questionable because he hasn't proven himself completely capable. McCollum I don't think will be given a serious look at the backup job unless he outplays Larsson and whoever else is being looked at, because he can still be returned to juniors. Depending on Howard's performance from here out, and therefore Howard's fate, Larsson will either be the Wings' backup next season or will be the starter in Grand Rapids.

I think it could very well work out this way: The Wings pretty much need to trade Brett Lebda by the start of next season due to cap management. I've dealt with this in other threads. So the Wings trade Lebda and if necessary a low pick to Atlanta for Havelid. Havelid takes a spot with Lilja on the third pair for a solid shut-down pairing, and can be replaced by Ericsson next season. Detroit gets a veteran defenseman who is about to be UFA, and Atlanta gets a speedy young defender who is signed for under $1m through next season who has Cup experience, plus the ability to re-sign Havelid in the summer if Havelid wishes to return to Atlanta.

Ok, if you were to go back and tell me during each game who was the Wings' most irreplaceable player for that game, who do you think you would get? Lidstrom, Datsyuk, Hossa, Zetterberg, Hudler, Franzen? Who? I say Lidstrom, and I know I am not the only person on this board who feels that he is the most irreplaceable Red Wing.

Iginla is overrated. People act like he's some kind of hercules when it comes to the physical side of the game, and rank him among the elite offensive players. He is good but not great physically, he has been outperformed offensively by a considerable number of players this season, and then he is a mediocre defensive player. As far as great offensive players who are also physically intimidating, Iginla has to contend with Getzlaf, Richards, Nash, Heatley, Lecavalier, Doan, and Perry of guys close to him in scoring, not to mention Ovechkin and Thornton of guys I've already mentioned who play a similar style. Crosby may not be better than Iginla as a hitter...but he's a better player.

Luongo has twice finished as high as second in Vezina trophy voting, while Osgood has twice finished as high as second in Smythe trophy voting. Luongo has never proven squat in the postseason, while Osgood has once finished as high as second in Vezina voting. Which goalie has really proven more?

You're saying Lidstrom isn't the best player in the world right now? He sure as hell is the best player on the Red Wings, which in and of itself would end this thread if he's not the top player in the world.

Better players than Crosby, in no order: Lidstrom Zetterberg Datsyuk Ovechkin Malkin Thornton Chara Brodeur

It's not Dats, Ovechkin, Crosby, etc. Lidstrom is the best overall player.

If Osgood comes back from his hiatus as the Osgood of 2007-08, it's Osgood all the way and the Wings will probably win the Cup. The Wings have said they are going to rotate goalies for the rest of the year; I think the goalie who plays better from now until the playoffs starts the playoffs, with Osgood having the tiebreaker from experience and past history, meaning if Conklin doesn't SIGNIFICANTLY outplay Osgood from now to the playoffs then Osgood is the playoff goalie.

Sergei Fedorov. Hey, quiet those growls. He's played 33 of Washington's 60 games and scored 6g-17a-23pt, and is +12. Projected over the remaining 22 games, Fedorov would work out to 55GP, 10g-29a-39pt, +20. Projected over a full 82 game season, his numbers work out to 15g-48a-63pt, +30. Stats like that for Fedorov probably put him in the Selke conversation with the way he has played this season and how well Washington has done. I bring this up because he was first star tonight ahead of Alexander Ovechkin when each player had a goal and an assist on the game tonight.

For those questioning how low Helm and Leino are ranked...don't forget that Leino is 25, and Helm is 22, and both started the season in the minors before getting called up during a rash of injuries later in the season. Jan Mursak just turned 21, Justin Abdelkader turns 22 tomorrow, and Dick Axelsson turns 22 in April.

I say no. Here is why. First, I shall compare the goaltenders. Osgood has not played well at all this season...but we know that Osgood will typically stay healthy, and plays his best in clutch situations and in the playoffs. He has proven this repeatedly. Osgood has always provided enough quality goaltending for the team he has played for that he has never missed the playoffs and never had a losing record despite the fact he has played on some horrible rosters. He has twice finished second in Conn Smythe trophy voting. Luongo, OTOH, has had a long history of injuries and has won exactly one playoff series in his NHL career. So while he has outperformed Osgood the past few regular seasons, Luongo has not proven himself in the playoffs, which is where Osgood has always played his best. So while the Wings would probably be better making the trade if the trade were Osgood for Luongo straight up, it's not that big of a difference. When you add Hossa into the deal though? Then it's just crazy.

Fedorov didn't leave for money. Detroit offered a 5 year deal worth $10m per year, then pulled the 5th year. Anaheim offered a 5 year deal worth $40m, the same total value as Detroit's offer AFTER the 5th year had been pulled. Where in this situation is Fedorov following the almighty dollar? I'll give you a hint, he's going to the club that didn't offer him a 5 year deal and then yank it off the table when he went to sign it. Fedorov's contract situation is #2 on the list of classless things done by the organization during the Mike Ilitch ownership, behind the Larry Aurie number "unretiring" which has a firm grasp on the top spot. As far as Lapointe...he followed the almighty dollar alright, but he didn't really decline as a player so much as he was overpaid to begin with. Lapointe had one big season in the final year of his contract in 2000-01 and Boston bought him up, then he started performing just as he had been for five years previous. They got the player they were paying for, they just paid too much. And around ae 35, he started to decline as most players do, and his numbers dropped off.

Chara has better numbers than Kronwall. The +24 difference between the two is the most startling. Kronner was +9 compared to Phaneuf, yet he's -24 compared to Chara. Here are the stats for everyone for some expected Norris contenders, plus how Kronwall's stats compare to the guys who are currently in the Norris race. Green 47GP, 22g-30a-52pt, +26, 48PIM, 24ESP, 27PPP, 1SHP Rafalski 60GP, 8g-42a-50pt, +14, 16PIM, 27ESP, 23PPP, 0SHP Markov 60GP, 7g-40a-47pt, -4, 30PIM, 17ESP, 29PPP, 1SHP Lidstrom 57GP, 12g-32a-44pt, +23, 22PIM, 17ESP, 27PPP, 0SHP Boyle 52GP, 14g-29a-43pt, +15, 38PIM, 21ESP, 21PPP, 1SHP Niedermayer 61GP, 8g-33a-41pt, -10, 58PIM, 14ESP, 25PPP, 2SHP Wideman 59GP, 12g-28a-40pt, +26, 18PIM, 17ESP, 22PPP, 1SHP Blake 55GP, 9g-28a-37pt, +21, 89PIM, 19ESP, 18PPP, 0SHP Kronwall 58GP, 2g-35a-37pt, -2, 36PIM, 21ESP, 16PPP, 0SHP Pronger 61GP, 10g-26a-36pt, -2, 72PIM, 15ESP, 20PPP, 1SHP Chara 60GP, 14g-21a-35pt, +22, 64PIM, 14ESP, 20PPP, 1SHP Phaneuf 59GP, 7g-27a-34pt, -11, 72PIM, 17ESP, 17PPP, 0SHP Weber 59GP, 15g-19a-34pt, +4, 59PIM, 21ESP, 11PPP, 2SHP Keith 54GP, 7g-25a-32pt, +31, 36PIM, 23ESP, 8PPP, 1SHP Stats would suggest that right now, this season, Kronwall is better than Niedermayer, Phaneuf, and Pronger...all of whom are likely to be mentioned in Norris voting this year.

There was another great defenseman we shouldn't forget about named Stewart Jack. And don't forget about Ed Lindsey!

For the Red Wings' PK to be as bad as it is wouldn't affect Nick's +/- in a negative way; power play goals scored do not count for either team for purposes of +/-. The people who vote for the Norris aren't going to just be basing it on stats; because if they do, Niklas Kronwall is a better overall defenseman than Dion Phaneuf, and we all know that's not happening this season.

Axelsson is Boston's best penalty killing forward. He probably doesn't get as significant a raise as I theorized in my example earlier, but Boston currently has him signed for a $2.2m contract and I don't see him signing under $2m per season. Why do you expect them to buy out Sturm? Yes, he's out for the rest of this season, but that doesn't mean he won't be effective when he returns next season. As far as injured Bruins forwards are concerned, don't be shocked if you see a Manny Fernandez trade in the near future as Michael Ryder and his $4m contract are waiting for clearance from team doctors to return to playing. Thomas is probably staying in Boston; but it does depend on what happens with players like Krejci, Kessel, Ryder, Sturm, and Fernandez.

Hudler has played center since his youth at every level except the NHL. So he obviously knows how to take a faceoff. By contrast, Franzen had not played a shift of center until his draft year, when he was converted from wing to center on his Swedish league team because of his size and defensive play. Hudler's faceoff percentage this season is 55%, fourth best among Detroit regulars. Hossa, who has take approximately the same number of faceoffs, is 23%, which is last among Detroit regulars. Are you still sure that Hudler doesn't know how to take a faceoff and therefore should not play center at the NHL level? Hudler is the second best playmaking forward the Wings have. He should be centering Hossa and another scorer on the second line. Leino fits perfectly here. Filppula should be centering the third line, whose primary role should be defensive but which should also be a capable scoring threat. Franzen and Samuelsson fit perfectly with this role. And then a fourth line made up of any three of Cleary, Helm, Kopecky, Draper, and Maltby is a capable checking line with speed, grit, and physical presence.

Hudler is the Wings' fourth best forward; how do you rotate him out with Draper and Maltby while Helm and Kopecky are full-time? Better would be: Dats/Z/Homer Leino/Huds/Hossa Franzen/Filppula/Sammy Cleary/Draper/Kopecky/Helm/Maltby (any 3, Cleary plus 2 others)

Chris Mason? Are they seriously suggesting he's one of the top goalies in the league?

3-point nights every night would be enough for Zetterberg to win it, just for reference.

Boston will have approximately $13,612,000m to sign Phil Kessel, P.J. Axelsson, David Krejci, two depth defensemen, and two goaltenders (hopefully including Thomas) and we'll say $1.1m of that number is committed to signing two league-minimum defensemen. The current combined salary for the four players I named there is $6,933,333. All four have had very good seasons, and will get raises. This would leave approximately $5.5m to take care of the raises for the four players. Assume each player gets an equal portion of the $5.5m; that would put Thomas at $2.375m for his cap hit. Do you think a Vezina contender, perhaps winner, stays around for that deal if another team offers him a contract worth $6m or more per year for a few years?

My top 5 players on each team and overall in the Central? Chicago: 1) Jonathan Toews, F 2) Duncan Keith, D 3) Patrick Kane, F 4) Brian Campbell, D 5) Nikolai Khabibulin, G Columbus 1) Rick Nash, F 2) Steve Mason, G 3) Derick Brassard, F 4) Kristian Huselius, F 5) Jakub Voracek, F Detroit 1) Nicklas Lidstrom, D 2) Henrik Zetterberg, F 3) Pavel Datsyuk, F 4) Marian Hossa, F 5) Brian Rafalski, D Nashville 1) Shea Weber, D 2) Jason Arnott, F 3) J.P. Dumont, F 4) Pekka Rinne, G 5) David Legwand, F St. Louis 1) Brad Boyes, F 2) Andy McDonald, F 3) Patrik Berglund, F 4) Carlo Coliacovo, D 5) Keith Tkachuk, F Overall 1) Nicklas Lidstrom, D 2) Henrik Zetterberg, F 3) Pavel Datsyuk, F 4) Marian Hossa, F 5) Rick Nash, F

If I were coaching, I would us this forward lineup: 1st line: Datsyuk/Zetterberg/Holmstrom 1st line: Leino/Hudler/Hossa 2nd line: Franzen/Filppula/Samuelsson 3rd line: Cleary/Draper/Kopecky Simple, right?