norrisnick

What 2nd liner does? Meaning if he played on the 2nd line (where he should be) he STILL wouldn't be the opposition's top defensive assignment.

Why? So you can have your hopes and dreams dashed again? At least if there isn't a roster spot open you can't be teased with the misguided hope of Kenny actually signing a meathead. A guy who'll net 20-30 goals is far more valuable than a guy who gets in 20-30 fights.

It still doesn't matter because any acquiring team will need to have that same $6M in cap space. Sure the new team won't have to actually pay as much money (a good thing) but that's not really an issue the Wings have to worry about. They've got cash to burn and it's not like Kenny is in the habit of trading away old players...

There's a big difference between a group of only forwards making big money and paying a group of forwards and defensemen big money. That is Tampa's biggest problem. All their money is tied into offensive forwards whereas we'll have money tied up in a pair of very good two-way defensemen and a pair of very good two-way forwards.

The seasons over there are only about 50 games long and I believe the RSL starts before some of the others. Plus I'm sure swapping leagues isn't a seamless transition so he's sure to miss games in the process. Hudler had 6 points in 11 games after putting up 46 in 30 games in the Czech league (he finished 9th in league scoring and everyone in front of him played 20+ more games) at 18/19 years of age. Pavel had 26 in 42. The difference in scoring pace is negligible. But if it makes you feel better the year before Pavel (at 21/22 years of age) had 4 points in 15 games, and Pavel didn't spend the bulk of that season in the Czech leagues...

No one has signed ANYONE to an offer sheet. Including Vanek, Lundqvist, and Penner.

So it would seem he's gonna retire without signing the papers. My guess is his agent freaked at the thought of losing several hundred K with the stroke of a pen. If Scott doesn't sign the chance of getting the money still exists. Unless of course I'm wrong and the agent gets the cut from what was initially agreed to and not what the player ends up getting paid.

With only the slight little problem that Shanny hasn't been a power forward for a while now. Neither has Bertuzzi for that matter, but I give Todd the edge in ability to rekindle old magic considering he's not nearly as, well... old.

I'm not sure Scott is a golfer. He's into mountain climing and running around in the woods of British Columbia. I doubt he'd get bored post hockey. If anything this retirement might prove hockey has becoming boring to him. There is nothing left for him to accomplish.

If they sign official retirement papers they have to stay retired for a year or be let back in by the other general managers (maybe the board of governors but the point remains).

$4.5M.

Depends on whether he signs the papers and/or the Ducks still have room. If he signed the papers you honestly expect the other 29 GMs to do Burkie the favor of allowing him to bring back Niedermayer?

Without question. The one and only advantage Schneider holds over Rafalski is his shot. Brian skates, passes, defends, etc... better. Oh and I guess Mathieu is better at crosschecking, slashing, and stupid interference penalties.

He was destroying the Czech league like no teenager since Jagr had done so he moved up to the RSL to finish the year out. And his numbers were pretty good for a kid in Russia (on par with Pavel at around 23 years of age). As for the thread, this very same story came out last summer when it was mentioned that Hudler and Kopecky got interesting offers to head back to Europe. It took $550K to keep Hudler here. Unless Holland is braindead he'll keep Jiri because I'm not sure if anyone noticed or not but our entire 2nd line is gone. Jiri will play and he will produce (he'll pot 30+ goals this season or next).

It still doesn't matter because the only thing that matters is the cap hit. Ilitch has a ton of cash to burn.

Screw seemingly unstoppable...

Brendan Smith Joakim Andersson

A couple of his hits and fights I've seen. Could just be a factor of his size, but if he weren't also strong he'd have a much harder time staying on his feet. So since Matt is smaller and a guy that has never struck me as being strong (apart from his shot) I guess I'm hoping that Kindl is stronger. Cuz if not, he really needs to bulk up.

There is nothing Kindl could learn from Schneider that he couldn't learn from Lidstrom. Plus Schneider has some nasty habits I wouldn't wish on any up-and-comer. I'll put it bluntly in stating that I haven't been a Schneider fan for a while now. I didn't want to re-sign him after the lockout and I don't want to re-sign him now. He's got an absolute cannon, and I think that is glossing over several of his more unsavory characteristics (turnovers, stupid penalties, not being able to cover his man in his own zone, etc...). Kindl's got a great shot, he's bigger, faster, and stronger than Schneider. I'm sure he'll make many of the same mistakes as Schneider, but he's young. He'll learn from his mistakes. They won't be deeply ingrained actions of a guy who's been around the block a couple dozen times.

No, Schneider would be a career minus player fully exposed as the one-dimensional blueliner he is. Three times in his life has Schneider ever gotten even a single vote for Norris consideration. Not so coincidentally enough those occured in '07, '06, and '04. What do you suppose the common denominator of those three seasons is?

Schneider's greatest asset and trickiest thing to replace is his PP play. Kindl is a PP stud. Let him eat some of those minutes being babysat by Lidstrom on the point and bring in someone less expensive than Schneider to replace (or more accurately improve upon) the more important issue which would be 5on5 defensive play.

Kindl. They'd both make mistakes and take dumb penalties, but with Jakub I could at least have the comfort that as a kid he'd learn from them.

Scenario time! Bear with me as I set up these WILD hypotheticals... Wings have another season atop the West. Win a couple/few rounds (hell we can take home the silver for all I care). All with Nick firmly in place playing 80+ games, 28+minutes, scoring 60-70+ points, and being a +30 or so with comparable figures in the playoffs. Then Nick again cleans up at the awards banquet (Norris, 1st Team All Star, top 10 in Hart voting, top 5 in Byng voting, etc...). Now imagine you're Kenny Holland and Nick's agent calls you up for a repeat of the last contract he signed. 2 years $7.6M/yr (which not so coincidentally is the same contract he signed before that). Are you going to tell him that all you're willing to offer is $3M for one season? And if he doesn't take it you'll start planning the # retirement festivities? Sorry, for the editing... You've just described a solid 99.3% of the chatter on the internets. You and I have maybe 47 meaningful posts between us.

Rot? He'd rot up with the Wings. He's down with the Griffins so he can play. And playing is exactly what he needs to be doing at this point. Last season was the first time he's cracked 40 games played.

Define best.