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Shanahan was covering for "I want to be the guy and not an afterthought, and with these guys here that isn't going to happen." If his statement was true, he would have stayed and taken on a secondary role; not left. It's like saying "Chris Osgood asked Ken Holland to trade for Hasek because he was sick of the pressure, and wanted out. And then he came back because he realized how good he had it." Ridiculous.

Shanahan left as he was going to see a reduced role the following season after having scored 40 goals. It's a somewhat logical decision on his part. Fedorov was more or less kicked out. While it's true he left via free agency, he was basically told by the organization putting an offer on the table and then reducing the term before he could actually accept. The Wings basically pulled a "Down low, too slow!" on him. Not cool. Hudler's situation can't really be called bolting because he signed with a European league during an arbitration process, and the Wings retained his NHL rights and a contract was decided. Hudler's move wasn't far off from Shanahan's; he had just scored 57 points and still wasn't likely to see better than third line ice time soon. While the move didn't work out in his favor, the idea of leaving a bottom-six spot in the NHL to be a star player in the KHL, and then return a year later thrust into the top-six has worked for other players. Marty Lapointe simply left because he was vastly overpaid by another team. Tomas Kopecky left a fourth-line role in Detroit for a top-six role on a Cup contender in Chicago.

Bower and Dryden no. Smith and Fuhr yes. However, would you rank Bower ahead of Plante, Hall, or Sawchuk during his career? The PHWA didn't. Bower rarely received serious consideration for postseason All-Star teams. And before you say "Chris Osgood was average in that respect also." Hmm. Osgood had three guys ahead of him who are in the "Best goalie ever" conversation. So did Bower. But Osgood played in a 24-30 team league to Bower's 6 team league. Meaning Osgood was also competing with another 20-26 goalies for the remaining votes. Using the same three-place voting system. Osgood was one of the top four or five goalies of his era. In most past eras (with far fewer teams and players), this is about how many goalies are inducted. Especially someone as successful as Osgood has been.

If the Preds want a scoring forward and a replacement (top-four) defenseman, Weber probably isn't going to come to Detroit. But if you build a deal based on those specifications from Red Wing assets, then aside from recently signed players, players over 35, and Dats/Z, the following is what you're looking at: Scoring forward- Johan Franzen, Jiri Hudler, or Daniel Cleary Defenseman- Niklas Kronwall or Brad Stuart I don't expect the Wings to trade either of Kronwall or Cleary. Which brings us to a deal involving Brad Stuart and one of Johan Franzen or Jiri Hudler. Hudler is a UFA at season's end, and doesn't have Franzen's resume, which means he carries less value. If the Predators weren't in just as much need of Franzen's finishing abilities as Hudler's playmaking capabilities, I'd call it a reason for Hudler to have more value. But the Franzen/Stuart combination is certainly the most likely in this setting. However, that's two 30+ players for an elite defenseman just hitting his prime; one questions if Nashville would take that deal.

Wang basically forced Snow into the Dipietro contract. There's a reason Neil Smith was fired a month and a half after he was hired.

Asking how good his team in front of him is? Fine, why don't we take this question full-on. Why the f*** is Ken Dryden in the Hall of Fame? Not a lot of goalies make HOF careers without great teams for the majority. I can think of two in the past 30 years I would vote for. Dominik Hasek and Curtis Joseph. Joseph, of course, can be argued against. Hasek didn't win a Cup without a stacked team, and he failed in the 2008 playoffs and had to be bailed out by a certain Chris Osgood. If Osgood had retired at the end of the 2008 playoff run, I think his chances would be lower but Wings fans would be more in favor. See: Going out on a high note.

He was no better for most of his career than Osgood was for his. Bower simply faced less competition. He was an average goalie in a time full of hall-of-fame goaltenders. Edmonton wasn't designed to play defense. But the Oil had defensively capable players. And more importantly, they had the puck. Regardless of how bad your players are in the defensive end, it doesn't matter if they have the puck. I brought up Edmonton because the Oilers ended the Islanders dynasty. Dur. Neither should be raised. It's stupid.

Only LGW would consider the following facts: Nabokov signs in Detroit, but has to pass through waivers. The Islanders needed a goaltender; with Dipietro injured and Roloson traded, Snow was left with prospects at varying levels of development. Snow claimed Nabokov on waivers. Nabokov refused to report. Snow instead picks up Al Montoya. LGW Conclusion: Garth Snow the biggest idiot in GM history. Real life: Garth Snow made a smart move, and was vilified by LGW because of it.

It's funny that you pick Bower and Fuhr. Bower was named the best goalie in the league once early in his career, which Chris Osgood nearly was in 1996. Otherwise, Bower was an average goalie in a six-team league. Sawchuk, Hall, and Plante all played most or all of their team's games. Bower never did. The only time he won the Vezina; what is now the Jennings, was as Sawchuk's backup. Fuhr was always considered very good, because he was always winning. But was he even the best goalie in Edmonton? Andy Moog went to the All-Star game as an Oiler and after leaving Edmonton. Bill Ranford won a Cup with the Oilers. People argue against Osgood for having played on a great team, when it's Fuhr who truly should be looked at with those eyes. Billy Smith was a good goaltender. On a dynasty-level team. If you replace the players in Edmonton with average NHL players, how many more championships does that team win? And do they need Smith or can they do it if they get a new goalie? The Grind Line was not a key component of four Cups. It was a key component of two Cups. A better banner would be a Russian Five banner. Fewer Cups, but more importance. And while we're at it, why not raise a banner for the Lebda/Lilja pairing that led to our current trend of not playing defense?

Arbitration is based on comparisons to other players in the league at the same level and what they are making, as well as things like age, etc. The highest paid defenseman is Campbell at just over $7m. Lidstrom, Chara, and Boyle are all top-end defensemen in the $6m-$7m range. Weber is the youngest here, and with the most future. However, it will also be a short contract, leading to a higher future salary and potential loss on the UFA market. Meaning that Weber has variables working both for him and against him in a market with constantly rising salaries. His cap hit will likely be somewhere around $7m to $7.5m.

Only a limited amount of research was done methinks; as the article mentions that Holland re-signed "youngster" Joey MacDonald, who is a 31 year-old journeyman backup. There is also no mention of Daniel Larsson or Petr Mrazek, as the article makes it seem as if Pearce and McCollum are the organization's goaltending future, sink or swim. For Kris Draper, the article effectively states "In the future, Kris Draper's role will be filled by the guys who pushed him out of the lineup because they are better at being Kris Draper than Kris Draper is." Finally, the article is sort of two-faced. It can't seem to decide whether it is dealing with long-term replacement or here and now. Ian White won't ever be Brian Rafalski good, but Brendan Smith might. So what exactly is the article about? Maybe I'm being so critical of it because I used to be a copy editor, but it just doesn't seem to be anything more than a "the Wings have some players. Oh, and they have some prospects. They might play these guys." I'm starting to think that maybe blueadams wrote the article.

The NHL on ESPN on the early 90s was a matter of "it's the only national network" so what you see is what you get. Hockey was never a priority for ESPN, and never will be. It is more to the NHL's interest that Versus develops into a major competitor for ESPN, because that would produce better media deals for the NHL as the (current) main client of Versus.

It's also almost the last name of a very famous Brit who wants his MTV.

I didn't say White would match Rafalski's offense. I in fact said the opposite. I said it was a win for Holland on the fact that White was one of the best options available to fill the offensive hole, and brings his own advantages over what Rafalski brought. The current formula works as you have stated. However, the cap increased at a rate much quicker than expected by the league, so teams are actually spending more now than before the lockout. The cap formula will likely be changed, and the cap for 2011-12 will be lower than 2010-11. Depending on how much they lower it, it wouldn't be surprising to see a reduction/buyout situation similar to what happened in 2005. Although I would expect only the cap hit to be reduced. As for Emmerton and Mursak, both are projected as top-six forwards. They certainly can reach that level. Maybe not this year or next, but in five years? Eight years?

Bergeneheim will probably not play ahead of Kopecky. Kopecky scored 42 points last season and is expected to put up even bigger numbers for the Panthers. He can't do that on a checking line. Meanwhile, Bergenheim is best suited to a checking line. So this lineup makes only a modicum of sense.

Assuming the offseason is over with Draper's retirement, then here is my analysis. From last year's roster, we have the following changes: Mike Modano - retired; replaced by Cory Emmerton Kris Draper - retired; replaced by Jan Mursak Brian Rafalski - retired; replaced by Ian White Jonathan Ericsson - re-signed Ruslan Salei - UFA; replaced by Mike Commodore Chris Osgood - retired; replaced by Ty Conklin Modano was not playing in the top 12 at the end of the season. And the way he had been playing all year was no significant improvement over what Emmerton is likely to bring. Win. Draper missed part of the season, and was effective offensively when he first came back, but ultimately he was a spare part alongside Modano, rotating in occasionally. Mursak brings the speedy grinding game Draper built a career on, his only loss is the faceoffs. Mursak also has offensive capability if Babcock wants to add speed to the scoring lines. Win. Rafalski had become somewhat injury prone and was not the slick skater he used to be, which was affecting his defensive game. But his overall game, due largely to his offensive prowess, placed him still as one of the league's better defensemen and a legit #1 defenseman on most teams. White brings the kind of skating Rafalski used to have and is an aggressive player and effective shot blocker, but his offensive game is basically a 'B' version of Rafalski. There weren't many options that could have been called a win, so while this is an overall downgrade in performance I am going to call this a Win due to the fact that White was perhaps the best option available to replace Rafalski. Salei had basically played himself out of the lineup by the end of the season, and only played during the playoffs because he was a veteran and Kindl was a rookie. Commodore is a definite upgrade in physical game and defensive game, and that's what matters for the role required. Win. Osgood had definitely been playing better after a couple of off seasons. Unfortunately, there has to be a "when healthy" in there for this past season. A healthy Osgood is better than some starters and just about every backup, but a healthy Ozzie isn't available. Win. There's not much Holland could have done better this offseason, so it's hard for me to grade him down. You can make the argument that he has a lot of cap space so he should have signed someone; but the CBA expires next summer and Holland likely wants to save cap space because the cap will probably be lowered. So re-signing Ericsson, the addition of two young Wing forwards who could be top-sixers in a few years, upgrading the third pair, signing a very solid backup, and replacing Rafalski with the best possible option available. That to me gets Holland an A-; the Ericsson contract should have been dealt with sooner, and no sign of any attempt to get a top offensive d-man before.

What is your reasoning behind Osgood not making the Hall? Because Osgood's achievements and performance are in the same area as these guys, who are in the Hall: Billy Smith, Gerry Cheevers, Lorne "Gump" Worsley, Grant Fuhr, Johnny Bower. Chris Osgood gets into the Hall. He's not Roy, he's not Hasek. But he is Hall material. EDIT: And what makes you think they would put up a "Grind Line" banner? Why wouldn't it include Kocur? How about a "Bruise Brothers" banner?

Wrong. Thomas McCollum was already signed for this season.

Calder had been, to that point, a huge crapfest that season. Then suddenly for a few weeks, after he is - as you mentioned - on a line with Hudler, he has the best stretch of hockey in his life. The next two seasons he played for Los Angeles, scoring 20 points in 65 games, and 27 in 74 the year after. That led him to one final year in the NHL with Anaheim, posting 2 points in 14 games. So since that 14 in 19 stretch, Calder has scored a TOTAL of 49 points. Williams scored more than that in 2008-09 alone. He scored 36 in 43 his first full season after the trade, missing some time with injury but still scoring at nearly a point per game. He saw about a minute more of ice time. The simple fact is, Williams was still a good scorer, he was just recovering when he was traded. Calder had a hot streak because he was playing with good teammates, but his career was basically over. He's spent the last two years shuttling between the AHL and ECHL, and even some time last year in the KHL.

Leino playing center only accents Buffalo's need for Hudler...

Calder was a minimal factor. Using 50-50 hindsight, keeping Williams would have been just as helpful to the team if not moreso, and better in the long run as Calder's career disintegrated shortly after.

Osgood not in the same class as Larry Aurie? Osgood was better at his position than Aurie was at his.

As teams are only allowed two A's per game, I wouldn't be shocked to see Homer wearing one a few times this season, as it's likely his last year. But his "wonderful" command of the language kind of prevents him from communicating with officials, which is kind of necessary for the job.

I think Ozzie is not given credit for a simple fact. The Wings wouldn't have kept him around for so long, or brought him back, if he wasn't a top end goalie. They would have gone out and gotten a Belfour if he was such an upgrade. Ultimately, Hasek became available for such a low price (Kozlov for Hasek? Sure.) So that's a trade you make, especially with a backup as solid as Legace was proving to be. Holland also expected to be able to trade Osgood, which obviously didn't happen. But he didn't go out and trade for Belfour; he traded for Hasek. You can argue that Belfour had two Vezinas and that defeats what Osgood did. But Osgood went to the Cup Finals three times as a starter, winning twice. He was a key player in all three runs. According to an article I read the other day, he has the fourth-highest winning percentage of all "qualified" goaltenders; plus a playoff winning percentage that embarrasses a great number of HOFers who played on greater teams. He has one of the highest career win totals in both regular season and playoffs. Whether you like his save percentage or not, he brought home the wins. And no, it wasn't a "His team was stacked like pancakes at IHOP" situation. Osgood won in Detroit. He won in New York. He won in St. Louis. He was a winner. If a 32 year-old Osgood were in net for Vancouver this year instead of 32 year-old Luongo, they would have won the Cup.

Because Pronger doesn't want him not on the team?