eva unit zero

What harold meant was "Zetterberg not having two or three Selke wins is pretty ridiculous given the fact that his primary use is as a shutdown center against the opposing team's top line, and he executes that role better than any other player in the league"

Sergei Fedorov is 40 years old, Jaromir Jagr is 38. Both are not only still playing, but played at the 2010 Olympics, and may well play at the 2014 Olympics also. Kovalchuk likely won't be one of the world's elite forwards at 44, but that does not mean he will not be a good hockey player if he chooses to play that long, which he certainly may be capable of.

Fedorov was a top-line talent through the end of his career. His offensive numbers started to decrease in the last couple seasons, but that was due primarily to a decrease in ice time and a change in use (he was being used more as a second line shut-down center even though he was his team's top center) and his defense was still elite. One wonders if Fedorov might take the third line position Modano was being interviewed for...

Boucher>Leighton Boucher is a more established goalie who has had much more playoff success and was at least as good as Leighton in the playoffs last season. Boucher had a worse record, but two of his losses were in relief of games Leighton botched but Philly ended up almost winning due to Boucher holding Chicago down. Unfortunately Lavs loved Leighton a little too much, and wouldn't put Bouch back in until Leighton was killing the team against the Hawks.

The Hawks do not have to sign him to trade him. He is a RESTRICTED Free Agent, meaning that even without an active contract, they still retain his rights. If you want a recent example, I have a few. The Hawks traded RFA Colin Fraser to Edmonton for a pick. The Hawks traded RFA Ben Eager to Atlanta as part of the Dustin Byfuglien deal. The Hawks traded RFA Andrew Ladd to Atlanta. Those players were a combined $2.855m on last year's cap, and likely will cost around $4m on this year's cap when combined. Eager ($965k last year) is yet to sign, Fraser is at $825k (up from $700k last year) and Ladd ($1.55m last year) is yet to sign. Chicago can replace Eager and Fraser with scrubs, and Ladd was a decent third liner but not worth any more than the Hawks offered to keep him, and realistically that was probably overpayment for his role. Better to trade unsigned depth RFAs for prospects and picks than to overpay them and trade away key players. Niemi is a good goalie, but he's not worth more than $2m-$2.5m at the absolute most; if he gets that kind of award he should be dealt and a guy like Turco signed for a $1m-$1.5m, 2-year deal. It would be Turco/Crawford for two seasons, Turco as the mentor and Crawford as the budding young goaltender. In two years, revisit the situation. Hannu Toivonen is also in the mix, and might even usurp Crawford. Perhaps the Hawks even trade Niemi and start the year with a tandem of Crawford/Toivonen competing for the job. Two mid-20s goalies who have been touted as future All-Stars competing for a starting position behind a solid defense like Chicago's? $1.35m for the two of them or $3.5m for just Niemi?

Yes, but things have changed since then. Teams that have their starter and backup locked up: Ana, Bos, Buf, Cgy, Car, Col, Cbs, Dal, Det, Edm, Fla, LA, Min, NJ, NYI, NYR, Ott, Phi, Phx, Pit, StL, SJ, TB, Tor, Van, Wsh Teams with an RFA in negotiations for the starting position: Chi, Mtl Teams with an RFA in negotiations for the backup position: Atl Teams which need to sign a backup: Nsh When Turco rejected Philly's offer, there were many more goaltending options out there. But Tampa, San Jose, Philly, Atlanta, and others made signings that filled spots Turco might have been able to sign up for. Now he's left with playing backup to Pekka Rinne in Nashville, signing for a cheap deal with Atlanta to be Mason's backup, being "Plan B" if Niemi and Price cost too much, respectively, for Chicago and Montreal, or signing a cheap deal with another team to compete for the backup spot; perhaps Calgary, Carolina, Anaheim or Phoenix. Or maybe he can still get that deal from Philly.

Except that if we're committing that kind if cash to another defenseman, he sure as hell better not be the #7 defenseman.

You're not going to be able to spend the league minimum and sign a better defenseman than Derek Meech.

Average sv%? Vokoun has been one of the league's best goaltenders for nearly a decade and nobody gives him credit. Vokoun has better playoff numbers than Luongo on worse teams, his save percentage has been .918 or better six of the past seven seasons. Luongo only four in the last seven. Vokoun has hit .919, .920, .925, and .926 in the past four seasons compared to Luongo's .913, .917, .920, and .921. But as far as Panthers tenure? Vokoun is .919, .925, .926 in save percentage. Luongo's save percentages were .920, .915, .918, .931, .914. So Vokoun has outperformed Luongo both in direct competition and in comparison of their time with Florida. Vokoun also has singlehandedly carried his team to the playoffs in the past, something Luongo was never able to do. The two goalies have comparable career statistics, so given the fact that Vokoun has been the better goalie recently and the two have equal careers, any top-goalies list which includes Luongo must include Vokoun.

Overrated season. Not awesome. He was average among starters, but a great couple of weeks earned him the Calder and a Vezina nomination.

Janik is a good one-tool defenseman to have as a #7. Meech isn't as physical or as defensively capable, but he's better all-around, and a better player overall. The fact that he can be plugged into a defensive or offensive role on defense makes him a better choice than Janik, let alone the fact that he is a better puck mover and sees the ice better.

In no real order, the ten best goalies in the NHL are: Ryan Miller Tomas Vokoun (UNDERRATED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) Martin Brodeur Henrik Lundqvist Miikka Kiprusoff Cam Ward Niklas Backstrom (UNDERRATED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) Pekka Rinne Ilya Bryzgalov Roberto Luongo Howard, Halak, etc. are on the cusp of this list, but haven't really shown enough. Kind of like how Steve Mason won the Calder and was nominated for the Vezina based on a bunch of hype from a great month, even though Rinne was the better rookie goalie and had the better rookie season. Mason, btw, was one of the league's worst starters last season and might have been the 8th or 9th best goalie in the Central division last season. So basing your top ten list on a great playoff or a few hot months is not a good idea if you have no other sample of the player's performance.

If it came down to the two of them in a close playoff for the 7 spot, I would probably trade Kindl for a high pick and longer-term defense prospect. However, that rides on someone other than Kindl, Ericsson, and Meech being in the competition for the 5-6-7 spots. I don't see Janik 'counting' as far as Kindl and Ericsson are concerned, and he's the only other defenseman under contract who really would have a shot at one of those spots. Honestly I don't see Janik being in that competition at all, due to the fact that he's an easy pass through waivers while the other three are not. But right now, as it stands, both Meech and Kindl are on the roster and will stay there. Kindl, Meech, or Ericsson in the 7th spot? That's the question.

Been reading my posts recently?

This season is Kindl's last chance to make the roster. Ultimately if he has difficulty making the top 7, UFA or no, I think he will be traded. Much like Howard vs. Cloutier last year. If Howard couldn't show he was at least competetive with Cloutier, he would have been sent packing.

Burish wasn't even in the bottom 6. He was not good enough. Madden has already been replaced. Fraser and Eager were competing for the #12 spot all year - Eager won for the playoffs; the only reason both played as many games as they did in the regular season is that Bolland missed half the season. Fraser played 3 postseason games because of injuries. Bickell, Dowell, or any number of minimum wagers could do as well or better than Fraser and Eager for much less than they cost. Ladd is the only player on that list who hasn't effectively been replaced by a 'proven' player. Marcus Kruger or Chris DiDomenico might be able to serve as Ladd's replacement. The Hawks are not in nearly as dire straits as one would think just because they traded away a couple of their bigger name forwards, and the rights to some spare parts. Ladd, Eager, and Fraser weren't even signed, so the Hawks got something for nothing there. Stalberg should be able to provide much of if not all of the offense lost in the Versteeg trade. Kopecky getting more time in an offensive role should improve his offensive output (see the second half of last season for Kopecky in an offensive role) which will also help reduce the loss. All in all, the Hawks' "cap disaster" has been managed quite well.

Rafalski was expected to retire at the end of this contract, and has even indirectly implied such. He wanted the NTC so he could be close to home most of the season. His deal expires in 2012. Lidstrom is on a year-to-year basis, and might be gone at any time. Stuart and Kronwall are UFA in 2012 also, and Ericsson and Meech are UFA after this season. Kindl likely won't be traded. But Ericsson has no better potential than Meech, is not as good defensively, is a much worse skater, and is the same age. His only advantage is his size, which he doesn't use. E is no more part of the future than Meech is. Or rather, Meech is no less part of the future. With more offensively skilled, quick-skating guys like Kronwall, Kindl, and Smith in the system, Ericsson needs to round out his game and provide something, other than a hard shot and decent puck skills, that will get him ice time if he wants to be in Detroit for much longer. If he can't develop a solid physical presence he'll be out of town before Nick is.

I think it's more likely they deal Niemi than Sharp. The Hawks have 10 forwards, 6 defensemen, and 1 goalie locked up with just over $3.9m in cap space; assuming you send Huet down and use Crawford as backup. They need to sign Hendry, likely around $800k. That leaves just over $3m for Niemi and 2-3 forwards. John Scott can play both forward and defense, so they could potentially ride with a 21-man roster and Scott as the only spare. So If Niemi gets more than $2m, then it gets difficult. But it's still not a situation where they have to trade Sharp. One question I do have that might help in this situation; Hawks replace Huet with Crawford, save $4.825m. That will likely happen But another situation that I could see happening, assuming the Hawks wouldn't get in trouble for it, would be the following: Hawks buy out Brian Campbell's contract, pay him $4,761,917 per season for the next twelve years and face the same as a cap hit, saving $2,380,958 off their cap for the next six. That's perfectly acceptable. But what if they then sign him to a cheap deal, like $750k? I could see them getting into trouble, but at the same time, there is precedent; the Ottawa Senators and Daniel Alfredsson. Ottawa is currently paying a buyout of $700k on Alfredsson which ends after the 11-12 season. Yet he never missed a season with the Senators. If only I were Chicago's GM.

Despite what the article says, I again say Meech only needs to crack top-seven. If the Wings sign a UFA, then they have their current top four, plus Ericsson, Kindl, Meech, and UFA-guy. You can assume the UFA is at least going to be good enough to be top-six, otherwise there's no reason to sign him, right? So Ericsson, Kindl, and Meech are competing for the last two spots. And even in that situation, as I said before, Meech would basically have to play his way out of the top seven top be traded, rather than secure a spot in it, because it doesn't make sense for the Wings to keep Ericsson and Kindl rotating in the #6 spot playing partial seasons and minimal minutes per game, when one could be traded to a team needing an NHL ready young d-man for picks/prospects and Meech could still serve as one of if not the best #7 defenseman in the NHL. Yes he's older and doesn't have the top-pair potential that Kindl has... but if Kindl can't make the top six either, he'll get MUCH more than Meech in a trade just from his youth and potential, even if Meech is playing better.

As far as Byfuglien's absence, he was on a different line that Toews for most of the finals, and Toews' line was pretty effective. I wouldn't be surprised to see the Hawks carry the Kopecky/Toews/Hossa line over into next season and put Stalberg or Brouwer on the left side with Sharp and Kane for the second unit. Kopecky is easily the most suited Hawk to replace Byfuglien's role. The KTH line did very well when together, so it seems like even Q could make that connection to start the season.

I really don't want to see Osgood retire... kind of the same feelings as Stevie. But at the same time, seeing #30 get raised and Ozzie get inducted into the HHOF would be pretty sweet. And yes, #30 will be raised. Ozzie was gone for a few seasons and nobody else was allowed to wear it. Larry Aurie's #6 is 'recognized' and so is Vladimir Konstantinov's '16' as far as numbers which cannot be worn. But Osgood played almost his entire career as a Wing, backstopped the team to two Cups and three Finals, owns almost every Wings goaltending record, and when most hockey fans nowadays think of "Detroit goaltending" the first guy to pop up in their heads is Chris Osgood. Kind of like Grant Fuhr (EDM), Dominik Hasek (BUF), Patrick Roy (MTL, COL), Olaf Kolzig (WSH). As far as the HHOF... Few goalies during Osgood's career have matched the kind of success and performance he has had. And I don't think anyone would argue against their induction.

Nashville has a good roster, and many of the same pieces as last year, plus one of the league's top goalies. The big question there is chemistry, and how the new pieces will fit in. They made a couple big moves and more than a couple minor moves... how will all of that mesh together? If it works out well, they could be a much more difficult team than they seem.

Meech is in the top 7 right now. The only thing that gets him traded is a UFA signing for the third pairing. And even that, as I said before, is unlikely to get him traded as it results in Kindl vs. Ericsson for the last top-six spot. The most likely situation for the Wings to trade Meech is if the Wings do NOT sign a UFA, and Janik outplays Meech by a considerable amount. Why, you ask? Janik has little trade value, but can pass through waivers without much difficulty, despite being non-exempt. Meech has trade value, but will not make it through waivers. So it's not a matter of Ericsson or Kindl playing themselves below the #6 spot; it's a matter of Meech playing himself below the #7 spot. Furthermore, Meech has all the tools and ability, if he puts it together, to grab the #5 spot. All of the "Meech will be traded" stuff is more based on the Quincey situation and the fact Meech has been the 7th guy the past couple seasons. Thing is, Lebda and likely Lilja are gone, so two guys who were being used ahead of him are out. Kindl is guaranteed a shot, but hasn't shown himself any better than Meech RIGHT NOW. Ericsson has been horribly inconsistent, and could be the best or worst of the three RIGHT NOW. If there are no signings, it's likely a revolving door between the three unless one claims a spot well ahead of the others. Currently, the Wings have 12-7-2 signed, with about $3.275m in cap space to sign Helm and Abdelkader. So that shouldn't be an issue. Using this roster, I would set up the following lines: With DZH: Datsyuk/Zetterberg/Holmstrom Hudler/Filppula/Franzen Cleary/Abdelkader/Bertuzzi Miller/Helm/Eaves Draper/Ritola Lidstrom/Ericsson Kronwall/Rafalski Kindl/Stuart Meech Howard Osgood Without DZH #1: Hudler/Zetterberg/Franzen Cleary/Datsyuk/Holmstrom Bertuzzi/Filppula/Eaves Miller/Helm/Abdelkader Without DZH #2: Hudler/Zetterberg/Franzen Filppula/Datsyuk/Holmstrom Cleary/Abdelkader/Bertuzzi Miller/Helm/Eaves

2002,2003,2004 First All-Star team. 2003 Lester B. Pearson award. 1117gp, 395g-474a-869pt Naslund in the HHOF is not as far-fetched as you might think, but it's certainly not a lock. Best at his position three years consecutively with a Hart nomination and Pearson win is a pretty damn good argument in favor. Those in favor of Bure and Lindros would have to include Naslund on their ballots, as Naslund is as accomplished if not moreso.

Hmm... The NBA started shooting itself in the foot about the time Bettman left. Maybe it's not such a coincidence. Just sayin...