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Of the goalies you mentioned in those five points, Rinne is the only goaltender who doesn't play for Boston who currently has a better save percentage than Conklin this season. Rinne is also a rookie, and there's no guarantee that he duplicates his performance from this season. I included those teams because it's POSSIBLE that they could end up with Conklin or someone like him as their starter next year. You chose to read it as meaning all of those teams would get into a bidding war that would make Ty Conklin the highest-paid goaltender or something like that; basically not at all what I meant. I meant that those teams COULD end up looking at him or someone like him. The first list will definitely be looking at goalies like Conklin, and that's why he won't be a Wing.

I'm telling you, give Hudler a chance to center Franzen and Hossa. That's one of the ten best lines in the league right there.

The impression I get is that Hedberg is out ASAP. Atlanta is on the "could be" list, as Pavelec has not been too impressive in his NHL time this season and I could seen them picking up Conklin for a 1a/1b type of role to start the year if they want to give Pavelec that much PT. Thomas and Fernandez are both UFAs. Thomas is going to be the hottest commodity among goalies this summer; are you sure he stays in Boston? There's no guarantee Boston gets to keep EITHER goaltender, depending on the timing of the signing. If they haven't signed one or both of them before open season, then I see it like this: If Thomas goes elsewhere on the first day of free agency, then Fernandez is much more likely to stay. But if Fernandez is the first to sign elsewhere, Boston's chances of keeping either are questionable. The fact that they are both UFAs having good seasons put Boston on the list. Turco has been very inconsistent this season, and has been declining for years. I could see Dallas signing Conklin to a 1a/1b tandem role with Turco and Turco blowing it simply because he's been losing his game recently. But again, Dallas was on the "could" list, not the "needs a starter" list. Ellis is at best no better than Conklin, except he's more inconsistent. Rinne is a backup who could be better than Conklin in a few years, but if he's backing up Ellis he isn't now. You are seriously asking about goaltending-challenged Nashville but not about Washington, which has a legit starter signed through next season and would only be looking if they needed to clear his considerable cap space by acquiring a much cheaper but starter-capable goaltender to take his place. I didn't say every team on that list would have a new starter; just that all of them were in a situation where they would be interested in a guy like Conklin on the FA market.

It's quite possible he could hit 500 late next season if he stays healthy; he's at 478 right now and his 6g in 33 games pace, he could finish this season with 482; this would be 4g in 22 games. That would require him to score 18 more to hit the mark. He would have to increase his goal-scoring pace next season by about 20% to hit 18 by season's end, but it's definitely doable within the next season. If he were to score at a higher pace in Washington's final 22 games than he has so far, then it's obviously even more realistic a goal. If he scores an average of a goal per game over the rest of the season, then he can retire a 500-goal man at the end of the playoffs. Not to mention he would have 38 goals on the season and at least 55 points, assuming he were to go 22 games without an assist despite playing with shoot-first players in Ovechkin, Semin, and Green.

Of roster players the team has who are UFA in the summer, Tomas Kopecky and Chris Chelios are the only players who are less important to the team than Conklin. Conklin will almost certainly garner his first starter position this offseason, at a salary the Wings cannot afford to come close to without sacrificing the cap space they would need for Hossa/Franzen/Hudler. Teams definitely looking for a starter of Conklin's level or better: Colorado, Ottawa, Toronto Colorado currently has nobody better than Conklin and would probably love to take him from Detroit because he would come cheaply for a guy of his talent given Detroit's cap concerns and his "career-backup" resume that might make teams opt first for comparable-talent guys like Martin Biron or Manny Legace who have been starters Teams that could be looking for a starter of Conklin's level or better: Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Edmonton, Minnesota, Nashville, Philadelphia, Washington Now that's a pretty long list. The chances that one of the teams I have mentioned, or another, signs Conklin is far greater than the chances he opts to stay in Detroit for a fraction of what most of those teams would be offering if it comes to him on their list. Detroit won't be able to pay Conklin more than $1.5-2m at the absolute MAXIMUM, even if he play every minute to backstop the team to a four-sweep Cup victory this spring. So regardless of what happens as far as the playoff starter, the Wings basically have three options next fall: Option 1) Osgood as the starter, backed up by Howard. I know this just excites everybody here a ton. Option 2) Osgood as the starter, with another sub-$750k backup signed as a UFA. Howard is waived or traded before the season starts. Option 3) Osgood as the starter, backed up by Larsson out of training camp. Howard is waived or traded before the season starts.

Rafalski knew there was a delayed penalty and didn't expect any Wild players to be busting their butts at top speed to get the puck when they were about to get a power play in 3 seconds. So Rafalski skated to get the puck, but didn't burn high octane like Bouchard.

The one simple mistake that was made was Rafalski not simply grabbing the puck. There is no reason Bouchard should have beaten Rafalski to that puck, I don't care if there is a delayed penalty.

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A team that is desperate for a mid-level two-way forward capable of playing the second line primarily as a defensive player and playmaker, someone who can kill penalties effectively as well as play the occasional power play, could use Fisher if they got him for fair value without killing their cap. Nashville might be a candidate for this. As far as Fisher...sound like anyone on the Wings who we've been arguing over this season?

In 1996-97, Osgood's numbers (47GP, 23-13-9, 2.30 and .910, 6SO) were almost as far ahead of Vernon's (33GP, 13-11-8, 2.43 and .899) as Conklin's (30GP, 21-7-1, 2.32 and .915, 6SO) are ahead of Osgood's (31GP, 18-5-7, 3.29 and .879, 0SO) The differences I notice? Osgood and Conklin are facing almost exactly the same number of shots this season in almost exactly the same amount of time played. In 96-97, Osgood faced 6% more shots per game played in 14 more games, Osgood played the majority of the season with neither goalie injured, and he posted much better numbers and a much better record. DESPITE all that, Vernon was the playoff starter. How exactly is anything being argued in Osgood's favor right now the same argument that was made in 96-97? If anything, Osgood was more deserving in 97 than Conklin is now, given the season he had in 95-96 and then the one he had in 96-97, for the Wings to go with Vernon ultimately worked out (though Yzerman should have been the Smythe winner) Osgood deserved the playoff start in 97.

The Sens absolutely won this trade. Campoli is worth the San Jose 1st on his own. So that part is even. Comrie is a better player than McAmmond, and the Sens might actually get their second line producing by adding Comrie. Furthermore, Comrie is much more likely to stick around next season than McAmmond is. The only way the Isles win this deal is if McAmmond stays in NYI and returns to his past form, and Comrie leaves Ottawa. And even then Campoli would have to fail to reach his first-pairing potential which he has been showing the past few seasons. Ottawa now has two solid scoring lines and an improved defense. I'm certain that, given what they gave up to get that pick, they intend to at least try and keep Comrie around. If Ottawa makes the playoffs, Murray probably stays around too. EDIT: The quick question is, I didn't get a chance to watch any NYI games this year...does anyone know if Comrie and Hilbert were playing together like they did in college?

I made an error; I was using the Yahoo game log, which had yet to include tonight's game. Post is updated.

I would have rather given up Lebda than Quincey and kept both Meech and Quincey. Meech is at least Lebda's equal in everything except playoff experience, which is such a HUGE need to have Lebda over Meech/Quincey on our defense with the other guys we have.

Hudler has: 10 points in the last 10 games. (More than Zetterberg) 9 points in the last 8 games. 8 points in the last 7 games. 6 points in the last five games. 3 goals in the last 4 games. Are you sure Filppula should be on the PP over Hudler? In the last ten games, if you consider ice time, he's considerably outscored Hossa and Zetterberg, and is at least comparable if not outperforming the incredibly hot Datsyuk. But yeah, Filppula, whose assists that have come mostly from Hossa's performance should put Filppula above Hudler on the PP. As far as Franzen, he's been scoring at least as well as Filppula and is far better at creating offense or creating havoc in front of the net. Filppula is ok on the PP, but the top six forwards we have on the units are all much better choices because they are all significantly more offensively skilled at this point; Datsyuk, Hudler, Zetterberg, and Hossa are all better passers/playmakers. Flip is a better playmaker than Franzen and Homer. Zetterberg, Hossa, Datsyuk, Franzen, Holmstrom, and Hudler all have better shots and use them better. Franzen and Holmstrom, and possibly more are better at camping out and screening the goaltender. So every single forward on the top two PP units does at least two of the three main PP duties of a forward better than Flip. Someone please explain how Flip should be on the PP based on this information?

Hudler's goal drought was 21 games. Flip's has, so far, only gone on 15 games and has been much better in other areas, albeit that could be credited to the fact he has been playing primarily on Hossa's line and Hossa has been a monster. But here are some raw numbers regarding those droughts. Filppula during slump in 2008-09: 15GP, 0-10-10, +5, 4PIM, 2PPA, 21SOG, 0% Filppula during 2008-09 aside from slump: 44GP, 6-14-20, +6, 28PIM, 61SOG, 9.8% Hudler during slump in 2007-08: 21GP, 0-5-5, -3, 6PIM, 4PPA, 22SOG, 0% Hudler during 2007-08 aside from slump: 60GP, 13-24-37, +8, 20PIM, 3PPG, 8PPA, 2GW, 109SOG, 11.9% As you can see, Flip is still posting quite a few assists and solid +/- numbers playing with Hossa and Franzen...granted, Hossa and Franzen have scored a few goals that have been individual efforts which have earned assists and pluses for Flip. Now, let's look at what the stats would be like if the two had maintained their pace from the 'non-slump' section through the slump games. Hudler 2007-08: 81GP, 18-32-50, +11, 28PIM, 4PPG, 11PPA, 3GW, 147SOG, 12.2% Filppula 2008-09 59GP, 8-19-27, +13, 38PIM, 82SOG, 9.8% And if Flip had played Hudler's 81 GP: 81GP, 11-26-37, +18, 52PIM, 113SOG, 9.7% There are probably several factors involved, such as the fact that Filppula has been playing on the PP recently, but if you base his production off the time not considered a 'slump' during this season, he actually has slightly more goals but slightly fewer points. I think Filppula's offense is a secondary concern and his primary role should be shutting down opposing offensive forwards, and that he belongs on the third line until he can start consistently creating offensive chances of his own accord, which is something he does not typically do, but I don't know how many here agree with me.

I have been saying it since TRAINING CAMP. If DZH is the first line, then the second line should be Hossa on the right side, centered by HUDLER, with Franzen or Cleary on the left side. That has been made even more obvious when Rex and Hossa have actually had the opportunity to play together. Now everybody, honestly tell me. Franzen/Hudler/Hossa or Cleary/Hudler/Hossa. How many teams in the NHL is that better than the current first line? At least half. Possibly as many as 25. Anyone disagree with the assessment of 15-25? And that still leaves Cleary/Filppula/Samuelsson or Franzen/Filppula/Samuelsson as the third line, which is probably a better fit for Flip ANYWAY. FFS had sick chemistry during the postseason last year, but Cleary probably would be better used on the third line.

Back when they were in college, and early in their NHL careers, Comrie was better than Calgary's Mike Cammalleri. Not sure what's up with his production this season, but Comrie has a few 50+ point seasons playing on the second line on weak teams so it's not like the guy can't produce points.

Conklin started 4 of them. And there were 18 other skaters playing like the Wings of last season rather than the Wings of this season, with the huge difference in defense and controlling the game. Which is the entire point many of us have made about how the defense has played differently for Conks than Ozzie.

Anyone who thinks Crosby won't be asked to be on team Canada is delusional. Anyone who thinks Crosby is the best player on his team is also delusional. Anyone who thinks Crosby is one of the five best players in the league? You guessed it. Delusional.

So, TheOwl, I pose to you a multiple-part question then. If Osgood does start that game, and he plays a great game and wins it, and allows 2 or fewer goals...does it mean the end of your Osgood bashing? Or, by the same token, of Conklin starts the game, and gives up 3+ goals on fewer than 25-30 shots, including a couple that he should have stopped, and due to his bad play the Wings lose or score a ton to come away with the win...do you then react as you have been to Osgood's few games that have fit that description? Does Conklin lose his status as the 'anointed' goaltender on LGW? And what happens if neither of those things happens? Tell me, TheOwl...if the Wings win, and Osgood plays well and makes solid saves, but due to ridiculous defensive mistakes the Wings allow 3 goals Osgood had zero chance on (such as a 2 on 0 breakaway while the Sharks are shorthanded), is he guaranteed out as starter?

You could always have a hockey movie starring Hamrlik where Hamrlik transforms into a tractor-trailer...

Who wants to bet that it's Canadiens players caught having *** sex?

The thing is, the second goal could be argued as a direct result of Conklin's rebound. Had it been Osgood in net, we'd have had 40 posts arguing whether that was the reason. Conklin played the shot correctly by redirecting it to where his defenseman should have been able to easily clear it; that's basic goaltending right there. The problem is that his defense allowed the incoming Predator to put it into the back of the net rather than picking it up and clearing it out of the zone like they should have.

I'm hoping for Hudler to sign a 6-year extension at $2m per year soon by the deadline, and then score 1.5 points per game after the deadline which includes production that puts Nick at 25+ points from now until the end of the season. Work for everyone?

Kopecky will sign with the Wings for the league minimum. He is better than anyone the Wings could realistically hope to sign for the same salary from another team this offseason with the intent of replacing him. It is probably more likely that Kopecky returns than Hossa does.