eva unit zero

Here are the options, in order of preference: 1)Winnipeg to Northwest 2)Minnesota to Central 3)Detroit to Northeast 3)Nashville to Southeast 3)Columbus to Southeast 4)Buffalo to Atlantic (if Detroit moves East) 4)Ottawa to Atlantic (if Detroit moves East) 4)Boston to Atlantic (if Detroit moves East) 5)Pittsburgh to Southeast (if Detroit moves East) 5)Philadelphia to Southeast (if Detroit moves East) Alternatively, move Detroit, Columbus, Nashville, and Chicago to the East. Make three six-team divisions and three four-team divisions. Seed the playoffs 1-16, with guaranteed top-8 seed for division winners.

Washington shuffled their centers considerably. However, Laich is a natural center and finished 108th in total faceoffs taken last season - which is a number that puts him spending most of his time in the middle. That said, placing him on the wing allows the Wings to put out the following lineup: Hudler/Datsyuk/Cleary Franzen/Z/Bertuzzi Laich/Filppula/Holmstrom Mursak/Helm/Eaves

Smaller? Let's take a look. Pitkanen (6-3, 213) would be replacing Ericsson (6-4, 218). That's a loss of one inch and five pounds. Not much of a change, especially given that Pitkanen is much more physical. Meech (5-11, 200) replaces Rafalski (5-10, 194), which is a gain of one inch and six pounds. Meech is bigger and more physical. Finally, in the #7 slot, Doug Janik (6-2, 211) replaces Ruslan Salei (6-1, 212), which is a gain of one inch but a loss of one pound. So to bring in the stay-at-home/PK specialist, there's no real change in size. The only difference is that Salei's physical game has seriously deteriorated over the past few years, making Janik the better option for a punishing depth defenseman. So all three replacements are better physical players, who are basically the same size as their counterparts.

I already stated that Kronwall's raise was covered by Lidstrom retiring. Helm is an RFA, Hudler is a UFA. That makes Hudler's a million times more dangerous because the Wings can take Helm to arbitration if they don't get him signed. Helm will get a deal in arbitration that makes him a UFA, so the Wings WILL take him to arbitration if it comes to that. Helm will not be signing an offer sheet, so I don't know what you are concerned about. If Helm makes it to the RFA period in the summer of 2012, Holland f***ed up. Plain and simple.

Laich would be slotted at third-line center most nights; he's a grittier player than Flip and would match up better against third lines, and is as good or better than Flip on faceoffs. Flip would move to wing in a top-two line capacity with Dats or Z, barring injury. If the Wings go one defenseman and one forward, I'm hoping for Pitkanen and Laich. Pitkanen takes on Ericsson's job as the big, physical defenseman but also provides offense as Rafalski did. Meech comes in and takes Rafalski's spot as the quick, offensive-minded playmaking defenseman who runs the PP. Kindl finally takes Salei's job, as he had been positioned to do at the end of last year, but also provides another skilled offensive player. Janik is the new spare, providing a solid stay-at-home type who won't wander off. I'd prefer the Wings go for two defensemen (Pitkanen/Ehrhoff preferably) than one and one, but you get what you get.

Ericsson scored 15 points to Gill's 9. Ericsson also had the opportunity to play with Rafalski all season, who scored 48 points in 63 games. Ericsson has better offensive tools, but he certainly doesn't put them to very good use. If Derek Meech is re-signed, and given a serious look, he would be a definite upgrade on Ericsson offensively. Physically there would be a loss, and Meech's defensive game is average. But he would be a much better value than Ericsson, so if the Wings signed a guy like Bieksa or Pitkanen, Meech's defensive and physical games would be far less important as his offensive skill replacing Rafalski on the PP would be his only potential effect on special teams, pending how Bieksa/Pitkanen/Kindl worked out for the PP and PK units. Going off topic, thinking about the Meech idea makes me like it more and more. Bring in Pitkanen to replace Ericsson, Meech replaces Rafalski, Janik replaces Salei, and sign a top-six all-around forward like Brooks Laich, or even Tomas Kopecky (hey, he had SICK chemistry when Hudler centered him). This allows for Flip to be moved primarily to the wing, with Dats/Z/Laich up the middle and Flip/Homer, Huds/Cleary, and Franzen/Bertuzzi on the wings. A line of Franzen/Laich/Bertuzzi would be the first line on many teams and the second line on most if not all of the rest. Mursak/Helm/Eaves as the fourth line, with Abdelkader and Emmerton as the spares. Alternatively, swapping Eaves/Mursak and Homer provides much more speed to the top line, but Homer ends up in that situation where he's just out of place on a checking line. You could dress Emmerton or Abdelkader in Homer's place, but then you lose that PP presence. Swapping Cleary for Homer might work, but it leaves two of the team's slowest forwards on the same line. Next year, sign Ryan Suter to fill Lidstrom's spot. Homer retires, Bertuzzi and Hudler stick around, for probably a combined total of the same about $4.875 they make now. Helm gets a bump to around $2m on a fairly long deal. Abdelkader gets a small increase for a short deal. Stuart sticks around, again close to $4m, and Kronwall gets close to $6m. Osgood signs one last 1-year deal, pushing him through the 12-13 season and near or possibly past Sawchuk's career win numbers for both the Wings and overall.

Kariya would be a great acquisition... if he could play for more than three consecutive games without a concussion. Selanne won't be a Red Wing. Don't even think it for a second. As for the other FAs... Who are we going to sign next year, Ryan Suter? Matt Carle? John-Michael Liles? After that, for the 2012 class, we're looking at guys like Sheldon Souray, Jeff Finger, and Hal Gill. No option for UFAs next year is better than signing one or two of Pitkanen, Ehrhoff, Bieksa, and Wisniewski.

So Hudler doesn't get a raise beyond his current deal if he hits a completely reasonable target of 60 points? Now you're getting a little silly.

I feel dirty. I never said Stuart should be cut down to that kind of money. Just that he's not nearly the defenseman he's made out to be and that he's on the decline. And if he continues to decline at this rate, he might not BE a top-four defenseman when his contract runs out. But he'll get a deal worth around $4m, from the Wings or someone else, because veterans get paid based on what they've done in the past few years. Stuart was a key part of the Wings' 2008 Cup run. So he'll probably get a good contract.

Perhaps if the Wings were to go with Meech and Janik to replace Salei and Ericsson (Janik is the 7th), and use their cap space on a big name forward like, say, Brad Richards...

Stuart's contract runs out at that point. If the Wings' defense is loaded up and Stuart is no longer a top four player, they will likely let him walk to make room for Smith. That was the nature of my comment.

Ericsson is not worth a cent over $1.5m, and if he gets it he's overpaid. Hal Gill is a horrific comparison. Other than being a big guy and poor skater, they are nothing alike. Gill is solid defensively and is strong physically, but brings no offense and is past his prime. Ericsson is weak defensively, doesn't use his size, but brings top-three and PP QB offensive potential, and he is fairly young. But Ericsson's big problem is that he hasn't shown signs of development, while Gill isn't really regressing much. So Gill is worth notably more because he's much more likely to provide the advertised goods, and to do so every night.

The Wings have millions under the cap to replace Rafalski, and the only returning defensemen signed are Kronwall, Stuart, and Kindl. They WILL be picking someone up to replace Rafalski on the blueline, whether it be a forward signing and a forward trade for a defenseman, or a defenseman signing, or both. And that doesn't even factor in Lidstrom, Ericsson, and Salei. Lids likely returns, Salei is gone, and Ericsson is probably gone given his reported salary demands. So perhaps the Wings pick up two of the UFA defensemen available, say Pitkanen and Ehrhoff, and have a stocked blueline going forth. Lidstrom retires the same year Kronwall's deal expires, so Kronner's raise is covered by Nick's hit, and then a lesser defenseman (Smith?) is signed or brought in to fill the vacancy. Holmstrom also is likely retired at that point, opening up a good chunk of change up front which isn't terribly necessary for raises except for potentially Hudler, but could be used for a new acquisition.

I'm getting visions of a defensive pairing being potentially reunitied... Jiri Fischer and Chris Chelios anyone?

No, being unrealistic is stating that Washington will trade Ovechkin for Hudler. Holland BETTER ******* trade Hudler for Ovechkin if offered. Don't have the cap space? Make it. Waive Bertuzzi. Trade Stuart for a veteran stay-at-home guy and a decent pick. Between those three and the replacing players, the cap should be even or close to. Now we only need to get Washington to bite on an Ovechkin for Hudler deal. Would be even better if Hudler could be brought back as a UFA after Bert and Homer walk. Now back to your regularly scheduled reality.

Did you know that goal scoring is not playmaking? As for being stars in the league, did you know that Scott Gomez scored 7 goals and 38 points this past season in 80 games? He was the first line center in Montreal, and scored one more point and only four more assists than Hudler. How do you explain Gomez, who is a star in the league, having a season that is effectively worse than Hudler's as Gomez played against the weak East, in the weak Northeast, and put up comparable numbers with fewer goals while playing 3 1/2 more minutes at ES and 30 seconds more on the PP.

I only adjusted even strength stats, based on even strength time for Hudler as compared to Dats/Z. Otherwise his assists would have had the higher increase; he scored 17 goals and 12 assists at even strength. As for Flip and Sammy, Hudler played with a mix of Draper/Helm/Maltby/Kopecky/McCarty as much as he played with Flip/Sammy or anyone above them on the depth chart. Hudler being highly effective on the PP doesn't make him a bad player does it? Only Dats and Z outscored him on the PP that season among Wings forwards, and only Z did so this year, even when accounting for Dats' missed games. Hudler, even with his issues, still finished fifth among team forwards in PP points in 2010-11. Interestingly enough, actually, Dan Cleary's 8 PP points beating Todd Bertuzzi's 7 PP points was the only situation where Wings forwards finished in a scoring rank other than their rank based on PP ice time.

Forwards? If you say so. Anyway, Smith won't be on the roster. Especially not as the 7th. Derek Meech or Doug Janik at $550k. LA will match whatever offer is thrown at Doughty unless it's like 10 years, $12m per year. Get Pitkanen instead. 27 years old, big, skilled both ways, physical player. Would cost maybe $5m. Lidstrom also will cost probably closer to $5m. Laich will probably get closer to $3m-$3.5m per year, and if we're signing him I want to see a 3-4 year deal. He's a fairly young, skilled guy but he's in that range where his contract is based on his potential; he'll be a bargain in a year or two, so based on that a two-year deal means he'll make much more in three years, while he would be underpaid on a longer deal. Bogosian is a decent defenseman, but again I would want to see a 3-4 year deal. That puts him developing to about where Kronwall was last year or the year before based on his supposed potential, meaning we get him down for a contract probably around $4m-$4.5m, maybe 5-7 years.

Stuart is so overrated on this board it's sickening. "Stuart's awesome! Second best defenseman on the team! Having a great year!" Stuart had his worst season as a Red Wing last year, both offensively and defensively. By spending the entire season with Lidstrom instead of Kronwall, he had a much more capable defensive partner and was much more lax in that area. Unfortunately, he made many bad offensive decisions and could not make up for his defensive shortfall. Stuart is a worthwhile top four defenseman, but he has declined in performance every season as a Red Wing and he is in his 30s; the Wings having lined up Kronwall, Kindl, Smith, whoever replaces Rafalski, as well as Lidstrom and Ericsson or their replacements; based on that, Stuart is definitely a useful piece, but certainly not a core piece as he'll continue to be the #4 defenseman or lower. Stuart's value to the Wings is comparable to Holmstrom's. He's a useful player, replaceable, and ultimately it comes down to the fact that he is much better as a special teams specialist than at even strength. Stuart is very good on the PK, but there's a huge gap between that performance and his even strength performance.

In 08-09, Hudler posted first-line numbers splitting time between the third and fourth lines. If he had played first-line ice time, based on Dats and Z, his even strength scoring would have added 6 goals and 4 assists to total out at 29g-38a-67pt. That would have put him 39th, 47th, 42nd. Still based on third line cohorts. Crank up the scoring a little bit, maybe 3 goals and 10 assists to represent skill level difference in linemates. That's 32g-48a-85pt, putting him 23rd, 22nd, and 13th. He probably would have been more like 14th or 15th as Dats and Z would have still been higher, but that's just a rough estimate. You figure out the kind of effect YOU think Datsyuk has on Hudler. After all, Hudler couldn't have possibly scored anywhere near 4g-10a-14pt in 11 without Datsyuk according to you, right?

That group of elite playmakers was based purely on their playmaking skill. Overall skill, Hudler would be closest to Gomez, who is a significantly better skater. If Hudler had Gomez' minutes and linemates, we likely wouldn't be having this conversation. If Hudler skated like Gomez, he'd have those minutes and that ice time, and we wouldn't be having this discussion. Give Hudler an opportunity over an extended stretch with skilled offensive players and see what happens. You'll probably be shocked. If he comes anywhere NEAR what he did with Dats this season, his scoring will make Franzen jealous.

Dear. God. No. I'd rather Doug Janik as the PP replacement for Rafalski. McCabe is one of the league's most overrated and overpaid players. The only reason the Rangers went out and got him is because they didn't want to pay half of Redden's cap hit; Redden is better at just about everything but would probably have been claimed for a $3m hit. Pitkanen, Clitsome, Wisniweski, Meech. Based on recent quotes, this doesn't sound too unrealistic a result. Meech knows the system and has a similar skill set to Rafalski, just not quite at the same level. He's good offensively and competent defensively, and very quick. He would be a good addition, and the worst case scenario is that you trade him away or lose him on waivers.

Hudler's contract is low-end second line forward. That's also where his scoring numbers for this season placed him, even when factoring in lower-scoring players who play better overall games. He makes the same salary next year and, having had his unfortunately long re-adjustment period, he should perform better against a more expensive forward crop. Franzen is in the same situation with regards to current play versus pay, and as such will likely be overpaid for most of his contract unless he keeps up his performance enough to compete with the cap raises.

Starting to sound more and more like Smith is going to have every chance to make this team out of camp. The PK part surprised me. I admit, the only time I watch Griffins games is when they play the Marlies because it is on Leafs TV, but is his defense better than he is given credit for? http://www.foxsports...880&feedID=3701 That kind of makes it sound like Chelios actually wants to replace Rafalski with Meech. Which makes sense; Meech is fast, offensively skilled, knows the Wings' system well, and can play a decent defensive game.

Do legit reasons include personal attacks, especially false ones?