eva unit zero

You can tell from all the times sundin has won a Conn Smythe and played in the finals. Wait, neither of those has ever happened? But you said Sundin makes the team dominant. Hossa's team has played more than seven games twice; Hossa scored ten or more points point times. Sundin's team has played more than 7 games six times...yet he has hit ten points twice as well. Oh, and he's ten years older with no advantage in performance and will cost a similar price, if not more. Hossa please.

Hossa...for JUST Filppula?

Jason Allison is out of the league because he is slow, not because he can't play. Assuming he's done, he might be the only guy in league history whose last season was close to a point per game, and he actively pursued a contract the next year with no takers.

Just so you know, Chris Osgood has been sub-.900 exactly twice in his career. He's also never used oversized gear; the gear he uses now is the same size as his gear from his rookie season. Also, Roy was over .900 a few times before Hasek won a Vezina. That said, I have maintained for years that most goalies nowadays are good enough to have been top-ten netminders had they played in the 80s. The equipment is only part of it.

He would be signing for less than a million with the Wings, for three years. There is enough room where Bruunstrom replacing another forward wouldn't make a difference in whether we could retain Hossa.

So why do we want to acquire a defenseman who has higher trade value but worse actual performance just to replace Nik for when we trade him off? Sounds like we're making unneccessary deals that would increase our cost. For example...the Wings could probably get Sundin for Hudler, Meech, and a first. Why turn that into Hudler, Kindl, and two firsts? EDIT: I just realized that my potential trade for Hossa and my potential trade for Sundin didn't have any overlap. Hmmm...

Let's take a look at this. The Cap has been raising by about 3m per season steadily. The cap figure is 54m for next season. So we'll go assuming a 09-10 cap figure of 55.5; this would be half of what the increase has been to date. So here's some projections based on that figure. This is the Wings' contract situation for next season: FORWARDS Datsyuk $6.7m Zetterberg $2.65m Holmstrom $2.25m Draper $1.583m Samuelsson $1.2m Hudler $1.015m Franzen $942k Maltby $883k Kopecky $500k Ellis $475k Filppula RFA Cleary UFA Drake UFA Downey UFA Hartigan UFA DEFENSEMEN Lidstrom $7.45m Rafalski $6m Kronwall $3m Lebda $650k Meech $483k Quincey RFA Chelios UFA Lilja UFA GOALTENDERS Osgood $1.417m Howard RFA Hasek UFA That's 10-5-1 at a price of $37,190,000. This leaves just shy of $17m to finish out the roster if the Wings spend to the cap. Now let's fill in some numbers. Cleary should be getting $2.25m, Filppula should be seeing maybe $1.5m, Drake and Downey will either resign or be replaced for less than $600k...so we'll use that for their roster spots. Chelios and Lilja can be marked down for $1.25m. Howard will likely be up next year at a maximum cost of $900k, so we'll use that. We've just bumped the payroll to $45,640,000 and filled the roster out to 14-7-2. So we still have 9m to play with for next season. Looking to the 09-10 season, we'll say Z gets bumped to 7m even, a raise of $4.35m. Samuelsson, Hudler, Franzen, Kopecky, and Ellis are free agents after next season. So let's mark them down for 1.5m, 1.45m, 1m, 650k, and 550k for a total of 4.95m, a bump of 818k from their current salaries. Payroll is now at $50,820,000. We have 3.18m free if you assume that the cap is at 54m in 09-10. So let's look at a Hossa deal. He'll likely cost at most 7m to sign, so we need to shave off about 2.32m in 09-10 salary from my example just to fit him under the 54m cap. The Thrashers would want a couple of roster players, so this can be done in one deal. Filppula and Samuelsson would combine for $3m. So if the Wings can trade Flip/Sammy plus a pick/prospect for Hossa and as part of the deal sign Hossa to a deal of 7m or less, there is NO reason not to do it. Bring on Hossa!

Assuming Nick misses three weeks from today, he will miss eight games. That projects him to 68 points at his current pace over the 74 games he'd play. Sergei Gonchar is the only defenseman scoring well enough to pass him; Gonchar over 82 games is on pace to score 71 points. Nick still will almost certainly win the Norris. There are no defensemen out there who are anywhere near his defensive game that ALSO have matched his offensive output this season. The closest to that is Rafalski...and he plays with Nick Lidstrom. Redden is the only defenseman other than those two with more than 30 points and better than a +10, and Raffi is way ahead of Redden in both categories.

And who exactly do you suggest to replace Kronner? You know, a two-way No.1-caliber defenseman with good physical presence and a $3m price tag. Here's a list of defensemen under 26 with a cap hit between $2.5m and 3.5m for next season. I've put them in order of age, and then salary, because in this case those would correspond closely with trade value. Barker, Cam, D, 21, Chi, 2.736m Matt Carle, D, SJ, 22, 3.438m Brent Seabrook, D, Chi, 22, 3.5m Tyutin, Fedor, D, 23, NYR, 2.844m Allen, Bryan, D, 26, Fla, 2.9m Niklas Kronwall, D, Det, 26, 3m So let's see...Hudler/Kronwall/1st for Sundin, and then probably Kindl/1st to get one of these guys to replace Kronwall. If you assume the guy replacing Kronner is an even swap on the ice, then you are trading, Hudler/Kindl/2 1sts for JUST SUNDIN for JUST A MONTH OR TWO. No ******* way do I make that deal. Because even if you consider Hudler useless like some posters, you're still giving up two first round picks and a top prospect for a rental who guarantees NOTHING. The Wings should not trade Kronwall, and should trade only one of Filppula/Hudler/Kindl/Ericsson if they trade for anything.

The US National team had been finishing close to the Russians for years, though. Saying that the Miracle On Ice was the greatest upset ever is like saying that Ohio State's 2002 championship victory is one of the greatest upsets because they hadn't won one in a while and Miami had been the dominant program through the late 90s. The Soviet Union hockey team was good. Alexander Karelin was UNTOUCHABLE. No points against in six years means he was more dominant than Roger Federer, Tiger Woods, or Wayne Gretzky in their primes. Think about that for a second; what kind of performance it took to outdo those guys in their best years. Now consider that in their best years, none of the three was the best player on a given day every single day. Karelin was. And not only was he always the best, he was so far above his opponents that it was always a mismatch. The Soviet Union team won a lot of golds, but they didn't always win gold. the 1972 Olympics, and the 76 and 77 World Championships saw the Soviets finish outside of first. Karelin, OTOH, was undefeated in 13 years. That would mean Gold in every tournament since 1967 for the Soviets, by comparison.

He's been traded away and came back to LA three times already...what's one more REALLY?

If Atlanta trades Hossa, they are looking at Kovalchuk, Kozlov, and White as their top three forwards expected to return next season. Recchi is a possibility as well. Holik is likely gone, as is Rucchin. So Atlanta would likely be looking to acquire a solid young forward and another serviceable forward capable of playing both ways. That to me sounds like Filppula/Samuelsson. If Recchi returns, that would give the Thrash a top-two lines consisting of: Kovalchuk/White/Recchi Kozlov/Filppula/Samuelsson That's a pair of lines with solid play going both ways. Dupuis, Perrin, and Thorburn provide a serviceable third line capable of scoring the odd goal and providing gritty defense. That combination kind of reminds me of the Grind Line circa 1999, actually.

So the rumor is the Wings can get Hossa by only giving up ONE of Flip/Huds/Kronner/Kindl/Ericsson? SO ******* SOLD.

1 min penalties during regular season OT No. Make it 10mins OT. carry-over suspensions Do they mean carry-over from regular season to playoffs, or from season to season? Because both already happen, and should. high-sticking penalties and whether it should remain an automatic four-minute penalty for drawing blood I could go either way on this. Removing it allows for discretion in what warrants a four minute penalty, and likely blood would usually be called that way anyway. instigator I think it should go, it's unneccessary. retaining salary in trades Absolutely should be allowed. The growing trend of NCAA players leaving school early to sign with NHL teams The only way to prevent this is to put an age limit on the entire league; if you limit who can come from the NCAA, then many of those players who would have left school early now don't even attend. the status of the IIHF-NHL player transfer agreement Get a fair agreement in place; probably should involve some sort of scaled compensation to account for star players and such. examining the NHL Players' Association's idea of an 84-game schedule Go for it. moving the start of free agency to July 6 or July 7 instead of July 1 when it's a national holiday in Canada Meh. Whatever. the idea that players who are traded near the trade deadline cannot re-join his old team for a minimum of one year It sounds nice, but I would be more in favor of a compensatory pick situation; if the trading team reacquires the player, they have to give a conditional pick (1st round to 3rd round) to the team losing him. whether hand passes should be disallowed in the defensive zone Hand passes should be allowed in the defensive zone. whether breaking a stick on a player should be an automatic slashing penalty It probably should be a slashing penalty, but I don't really like 'automatic' penalty for something that ice conditions around the league Should always be improved from year to year... The size of goalie equipment and bigger nets Smaller gear. Same size nets. five shooters instead of three during shootouts Sure. whether a player that was still in the penalty box at the end of overtime should be ineligible for the shootout Make him shoot last. I am also in favor of removing the exception to the icing rule for shorthanded teams. Why should a penalized team get an advantage?

I've been saying since before the season that Meech is probably more talented than Lebda, but Lebda would get more playing time because he was on the roster last year and knows the system. I wouldn't be surprised to see Meech above Lebda on the depth chart by the end of 2008-09.

I love how people on this board look at a player's current play level and assume that it is the maximum level they will attain, regardless of age or experience. Kopecky has all the tools necessary to develop into a decent second liner. Just because he's not there NOW doesn't mean he'll never reach that level. That's one thing the Wings have an absolute wealth of; forward prospects who will likely not be elite players, but stand a good chance of being top-six type forwards. I can think of about eight or nine guys under 25 in the Wings' system who project as first or second line forwards.

I would trade: Hudler or Filppula Kindl or Ericsson Howard or Larsson Up to three first round picks Hudler or Flip would be replaced in the top six by Lecavalier, who is slightly older but much better. Kindl/Ericsson and Howard/Larsson would be a difficult pill to swallow, but the fact that I could link each player to another with similar projected skill level means would could absorb the hit if it meant adding another top-level forward. I would not trade: Datsyuk Zetterberg Lidstrom Kronwall Dats and Z are top level forwards on par with Lecavalier in ability and contract, so there is no reason to make a straight swap, and certainly no reason to give up Dats+ or Z+. Lidstrom is the best player in the world, but as he's nearing the end of his career the Lightning would probably want more coming back. I wouldn't do a straight swap, so no thanks to any Lidstrom deal. Kronwall is the future core of our defense, and is coming into his own as a top-level two-way blueliner. The only question would be whether the Wings could afford Hank, Dats, Vinny, and Nick under the cap without lining them up with nothing but scrubs.

Sammy has 9-22-31, +13 in 57 games. Fedorov has 8-19-27, -4 in 47 games. Major differences? Fedorov has been used in a more defensive role with players generally lacking offensive talent. Samuelsson has been used in an almost exclusively offensive role with linemates whose offensive talent exceeds his own. And Fedorov still has a better GPG, APG, and PPG. So Fedorov is posting better numbers with no help, while playing better defensive hockey than Sammy.

I would be fine with Kindl as an Anders Eriksson...Eriksson was a top-four defenseman on a Cup-winning team with a dominant defense...AS A ROOKIE.

Fedorov is a top six scorer. But then again, I may not be using the same meaning other posters use when I say top six forward; in that I mean a guy who is one of the top 180 offensively skilled forwards in the NHL. You know...since there are 30 teams, there would be 180 top-six forwards, and the primary statistic in determining who is a top six forward is points per game, as the primary role of the top two lines is offense. Guess what? The following current or former Wings are top-six forwards based on PPG, with players who have played less than 20 games excluded from rankings. I have included the player's PPG rank. FIRST LINERS: 4. Henrik Zetterberg, DET 13. Pavel Datsyuk, DET 26. Jason Williams, CHI 32. Ray Whitney, CAR 82. Robert Lang, CHI 87. Tomas Holmstrom, DET SECOND LINERS: 94. Daniel Cleary, DET 106. Mike Knuble, PHI 115. Brendan Shanahan, NYR 126. Sergei Fedorov, CBJ 134. Jiri Hudler, DET 137. Sean Avery, NYR 143. Mikael Samuelsson, DET 160. Slava Kozlov, ATL 161. Mike Sillinger, NYI BOTTOM-SIX/SPARE FORWARDS 186.Valtteri Filppula, DET 202. Tomas Fleischmann, WSH 254. Johan Franzen, DET 255. Kyle Calder, LA 272. Kris Draper, DET 276. Boyd Devereaux, TOR 313. Mathieu Dandenault, MTL 348. Matt Ellis, DET 352. Tomas Kopecky, DET 362. Kirk Maltby, DET 368. Martin Lapointe, CHI 398. Dallas Drake, DET 418. Aaron Downey, DET Take a good long look at that list. Based on offense, the Wings have three first liners, three second liners, and eight forwards who, based on their offense, do not belong on a top-two line. Interestingly, and expectedly, Hudler is in the 'top-six' group while Filppula is not. That doesn't mean Hudler is a better player than Flip, just that he is a better offensive forward. But taking that into consideration, Fedorov ranks higher than Huds, Flip, or Sammy. He's also better defensively than any of them, and is a proven playoff performer. Anyone who would claim 'Fedorov can't help the Wings; we need a top six forward' clearly doesn't understand the term 'top-six forward' as Fedorov is SOLIDLY entrenched in that status.

Hmm. I seem to recall in another thread someone saying Campbell and Connolly weren't available when I mentioned them as possible trade targets. Now here's a rumor which includes bot has being shopped.... Hmm...

The Wings' top four right now includes Lidstrom, Chris Chelios, Andreas Lilja, and Brett Lebda. The only Leafs have three defensemen who would be the second best healthy defenseman on the Wings right now if we traded a pick for them, and three more who could break into that top four ahead of Lebs or Lilja. With core players Rafalski, Kronwall, and Cleary out...the Wings' skaters are probably not much better-if at all-than what the Leafs have.

To put this into perspective: Over the last nine games, Hudler has scored 0-2-2, -2. Those subpar numbers have led to most people begging for this non-goal scoring, non-physical, defensive liability to be traded. Now, let's compare him to Filppula, who everyone says is a future star and must not be traded. Filppula in the last nine games has scored 0-1-1, -3. Flip also has consistently been playing on a top line with offensive players above his own caliber, while Hudler has been relegated to the third line with guys who are much worse offensively than he is, and has been playing quite a bit less than Flip at ES and on the PP. If you're gonna throw Hudler under the bus, you have to throw Flip there as well because he has not been any better at either end of the ice recently.

Fedorov has 27 points in 46 games, just so you know. That's much closer to 30 points in HALF a season than it is to 30 points in a full season. Fedorov's average points per game in his last seven years in Detroit: .893, or 73 points in 82 games. Fedorov's production outside of Detroit before this season: .686, or 56 points in 82 games. Fedorov's production this season: .587, or 48 points in 82 games. While he's not posting the numbers he used to, they are still pretty good numbers. Considering that he has played a lot of defense recently and has been playing second and third line with underskilled linemates, it's an exaggeration to say he isn't even close to the same player he was. He's not at the same level...but he's still pretty good.

And it's official... The top ranked team in the NCAA is.... Chad Kolarik!