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More to the point regarding this, one thing that hurt Hudler early on was that Modano is used to playing a high speed run-and-gun game, and is still adapting to our system. Modano is also used to carrying a line that would typically have a defensive safeguard and a secondary skilled forward with some physical presence; Langenbrunner, Guerin, and Morrow are good examples. Hudler's skills don't work for a run-and-gun game, but are very good for puck possession; this is a big part of why he didn't mesh with Mo but clicked big time with Dats.

Which one of Miller or Draper has ever been legit second line material at any point in their career? I'll give you a hint: it's neither. And neither of those two are second liners now, nor is Abdelkader. Eaves and Helm are good third liners who could play on a second line, but aren't up to that level of play. Even Modano really didn't show he was still a top-six forward this season before he went down, and last season his performance was on the borderline between second and third line. Are you planning on sitting one of Zetterberg, Datsyuk, Franzen, Filppula, Hudler, Cleary, Bertuzzi, or Holmstrom?

Absolute win for the Blues. Johnson is a good all-around defenseman, but absolutely does not have Shattenkirk's offensive ability. Jackman, Coliacovo, and Polak still provide a physical presence, which is something Shattenkirk also brings back, but not quite to Johnson's level. Shattenkirk provides something the Blues needed, which was another effective offensive presence on the blueline, and he is better overall than Johnson. So at minimum the Blues break even on defense. Which means they traded McClement and a first for Stewart and a second. McClement was the Blues' best defensive and PK forward, but his absence will not make a significant difference in those departments. Stewart, on the other hand, is a big 23 year-old power forward with good scoring numbers. Ultimately, the only area the Blues didn't come out ahead (D for D, F for F, pick for pick) is the pick swap, and that's because it was a first for a second. Even then, Colorado is tied for 25th overall, and has just gotten worse. St. Louis is 21st overall, so the conditional 1st would take effect and Colorado would receive the 2012 pick instead. St. Louis just dumped off Brewer and Johnson, and added Shattenkirk and Stewart. The Blues have to re-sign Oshie, Berglund, Sobotka, and D'Agostini his offseason and then Stewart, Perron, Boyes, Coliacovo, and Jackman the following offseason. So they have plenty of room to maneuver and improve their team through the free agent market this summer, and will likely be a playoff team next year.

Hudler has never skated a regular shift with Datsyuk. Or Cleary (until early this season). Or Modano (see Cleary). Or Zetterberg. Or Holmstrom, Franzen, or Bertuzzi. The only top-six level forwards on this team, and there are many, who Hudler has played regular shifts with before this season is Filppula. Hudler has typically been banished to the third and fourth lines because he doesn't fit Babcock's "idea" of what a top-six forward "should be" in that he's not big, strong, and fast. Never mind the fact that he has enough talent to play on many teams' first lines and is capable of playing all three positions. Never mind that while he's not a Selke winner, he is decent defensively' this would be much more noticeable if he played for a team with defensively s***ty forwards like, say, Toronto.

Despite the fact we had better defensemen sitting in Grand Rapids in Derek Meech and Kyle Quincey. Hell, Ericsson played three strong seasons and Kindl two in Grand Rapids before Lebda left. There was no excuse for his being present on the team; between those four everything Lebda could possibly provide was accounted for, and all four were and are better players.

Hudler turned the corner and started playing first-line hockey on December 27th. Datsyuk was injured December 22nd and came back on February 6th. That's a 17-game span where Hudler was tearing it up while Datsyuk was injured. Yet Datsyuk gets credit for it?

This deal was a second piece attached to the Kaberle trade. The Peverley deal was made to clear cap space for Kaberle. So they ultimately have to be viewed together. To Boston: F Rich Peverley D Tomas Kaberle D Boris Valabik From Boston: F Blake Wheeler F Joe Colborne 2011 1st pick conditional 2nd round pick Laying it out for what each player cost, you can put it like this to compare the before/after: Tomas Kaberle - Mark Stuart, 2011 1st, conditional 2nd Rich Peverley - Blake Wheeler Boris Valabik - Joe Colborne Kaberle is a genuine #1 defenseman, and one of the league's top PP QBs. Stuart was Boston's #6, and completely replaceable. For the right now, Peverley is an all-around upgrade over Wheeler. Valabik is a huge defenseman with excellent potential, but he has spent a few years in the minors due to lack of development. Colburne is a 6'5" center who is not terribly dissimilar from Tomas Kopecky in his skill set, and his AHL performance carries that out.

Boston's final results: Blake Wheeler, Mark Stuart, Joe Colburne, 2011 1st, and conditional 2011 2nd for Tomas Kaberle, Rich Peverley, Boris Valabik. Huge win on defense, improved offense up front. Peverley doesn't bring Wheeler's size or physical game but is better defensively. Kaberle is a legit #1 defenseman and one of the best PP QBs out there, while Stuart was Boston's #6. Colburne and the two picks are a loss, but that loss can be offset if Valabik's potential can be realized.

Hudler's skill set and playing style is a bad fit with Modano's. Hudler wasn't performing well at that point, and neither was Modano, and the fact that the two of them were on a line together only exacerbated that.

Hudler has been rolling like this since December.

Having Filppula center Z is ridiculous. Z plays the center better than he plays the wing, and Z is better on faceoffs than Flip. Putting Hudler-Modano-Cleary back together is not a good idea; Hudler and Modano are about as incompatible as any two of our forwards, something I have already spoken to in detail. A few different line options could be as follows. The lines are set up not as LW/C/RW, but with the center in the middle, the "net presence" on the right side (usually also the right winger) and the scoring winger (or in a couple of instances, playmaker) on the left side. Franzen/Zetterberg/Bertuzzi Hudler/Datsyuk/Cleary Modano/Filppula/Holmstrom Franzen/Zetterberg/Cleary Hudler/Datsyuk/Holmstrom Modano/Filppula/Bertuzzi Zetterberg/Datsyuk/Holmstrom Franzen/Hudler/Cleary Modano/Filppula/Bertuzzi Zetterberg/Datsyuk/Holmstrom Hudler/Filppula/Franzen Cleary/Modano/Bertuzzi Filppula/Zetterberg/Franzen Hudler/Datsyuk/Cleary Bertuzzi/Modano/Holmstrom The fourth line in all of these cases would be some amalgam of Abdelkader/Draper/Eaves/Helm/Miller.

There's a youth movement on the team, so it must be the oldest guy, right?

Ericsson shouldn't get more than $1.25m. He's been playing well recently, but he's been inconsistent this year. His last few weeks have been $2m level, but not his whole year.

Lidstrom has been a very good captain, but using 2008 to justify his leadership is not a very good indication. It's much along the lines of the 1990 Messier example. Being able to win a Cup in your first or second year as captain, having just taken over a team that was already a Cup winner/contender, is not a reasonable sample of leadership. Nor is any single year, for that matter. Bourque may not have won the Cup with the Bruins, but he led them to 2 Cup finals and two more conference finals without the support of huge spending. The Wings were also not huge spenders until the mid 90s when Bowman was brought in, and Ilitch committed to doing whatever was necessary to ice not just a successful team, but the most successful team.

If, of all defensemen currently signed to NHL contracts, he's in the top 180, then he's an NHL-caliber top-six defenseman. Math is easy.

It would be more awesome if he walks out on the ice and tears open his shirt, revealing the winged wheel. Then he takes to the air and goes up to his box.

There are 135 forwards with higher cap hits than Hudler. He's currently 171st in scoring, ranked in with players who have averaged 2-3 minutes more per game. Hudler is also on a serious roll; since Dec. 27th he's been scoring at a rate for a 70-point season. If that were to continue for the rest of the year he would finish between 45-50 points despite scoring only 6 in his first 30 games. Your comment about Hudler being overpaid is a few weeks too late.

Kindl is also the 7th defenseman, while Ericsson was playing regularly. This is why I said at the end of last season that I expected our defense to be Lidstrom/Rafalski, Kronwall/Stuart, and Ericsson/Kindl with Meech as #7 to start the year; because you don't get better if you sit on your ass. Had that happened, Kindl likely would be playing much better than he is now due to consistent play time and increased confidence.

I would take Alex Auld ninety percent of the time given the choice of these four. Then eight percent would be Jose Theodore, hoping he can somehow recapture his elite-level play at a bargain-basement price. Finally, two percent would be Conklin, who has proven two things at the NHL level. First, he is a solid backup goaltender. Second, he will only ever be a solid backup goaltender. And finally, no thank you to Jason Labarbera.

I think he was referring to Bourque, Gilmour, and Linden. None of whom I claimed were among the best ever; just better than Gretzky or Messier.

And which players do you give up to get him? Filppula and Kronwall? Hudler and Cleary? You do realize his cap hit is $5.7m for this season and the Wings have no space, right?

There were six regulars on the 1994 Rangers who were regulars on the 1990 Oilers. The 1994 Rangers also had several key players who were Rangers when the Oilers won, such as Conn Smythe winner Brian Leetch and goaltender Mike Richter. By comparison, the 1988 Oilers had nine players who were also regulars on the 1984 Oilers. Messier's leadership in 1994 extended no further than saying "Hey guys, we did this before, right?" and then Richter and Leetch led the team with solid performance and one great moment from Messier. His leadership in 1990 is exaggerated because it's "look, wow, the Oilers won the Cup without Gretzky! Messier is TEH LEADER!!" when the Oilers wouldn't have even won their division if Ranford hadn't closed and locked the goal.

Too much. A good comparison is Filppula's contract. Summer 2008 he was signed five years at a $3m cap hit, and he was 24. He is just now coming around to live up to that cap hit, and that is between three years of development, cap increases, and league-wide contract inflation. Byfuglien likely won't have the same luxury of the constant cap increase or the average defenseman's contract being higher, and he is also older than Flip was. He's not likely to ever live up to this deal.

Some players not mentioned who captained teams during the same era as Gretzky and Messier who were better captains are Ray Bourque, Joe Nieuwendyk, Scott Stevens, Denis Potvin, Doug Gilmour, Trevor Linden, Ron Francis.

Maybe you should check out some of the bottom pairing defensemen from other, weaker teams to get a realistic idea of what "NHL caliber" is.