YoungGuns1340

I'll second that. He was better than Rafalski in the playoffs, IMO. If that carries through, hes golden.

People need to stop mentioning Fedorov's situation with Detroit being in line with Hossa's situation whatsoever. Fedorov was playing for an organization that went through hell to even get him into the NHL, and then gave him everything he could've dreamed of while he was here. The Pens have had one year of bona fide success and then went on to lose a few key pieces to their playoff run. The only situation that is comparable is Schneider. He was a huge point producer for Detroit, and what he didn't have in game-taking presence a la Hossa, he had in tenure with the wings. Were Wings fans pissed? Yes. Did we go on a booing streak with him, bestowing him withe nicknames like "Schneiderasshole" or "Judas" like Pens fans have? No. The only answer I have is that its a patently young fan group, due to the fact that a pair of youngsters lead the squad and a teenager was their renaissance man. And that translates into a lot of immaturity that other fan bases don't have to such an extent..

They also lost Hagman, who is much better defensively than either or those guys and on par with Avery offensively. Possibly Brunnstrom too. Considering Turco single-handedly won them one game, Avery was not going to push that collective skating squad from 1 lousy win to 4.

The bigger the ego, the further the fall. And Emery fell hard on his face. Bruised egos can be strong motivation. Hopefully we can see a Cleary-esque turnaround in this guy. Hes still really young and not at peak age for a goaltender. He still has plenty of opportunity to be a good starter or 1B if he gets his s*** straightened out.

Zetterberg put up 44 points as a rookie. Filppula put up 17. Zetterberg was on pace to put up 55 points in his second year through 78 games, in an era when 55 points was good enough to make him 46th in points among forwards, and he underwent a sizeable injury/recovery period. Filppula through 78 games, put up 36 points, in an era where 55 points only gets you 71st in points among forwards, and he did all this without a single major injury all year. Basically, in order for Filppula to have had a comparable 2nd year when games played and the old era vs new era of hockey are taken into account, he would've had to have put up 65 points - good enough for 46th overall - nearly 30 points fewer than he actually did. Edit: And not to nitpick...but how do you not know how to spell Zetterberg?

That means nothing. Is that why he signed for an average of $3.75M? Mlive doesn't know all.

.5 and .6 are still mediocre numbers on an offensively-inclined squad. And Filppula did not spend a lot of time on the first line. In case you didn't notice, when he was playing with Hank and Datsyuk, its in a shutdown role. He ranks 6th in TOI in offensive/semi-offensive ice time. If he were even anchoring the 2nd line, he'd be seeing more than barely top 6 ice time not including SHTOI.

I voted Kaberle. But it would be interesting if they went with a guy like Steen..

Good advice. Is it just me or is this becoming more and more of a trend? The only guy I can remember of late having this issue were guys like Lindros and Deadmarsh, but those guys had serious injuries to think about.. Yzerman is right. If its taking you months to decide, chances are you still have enough gas in the tank to keep going. Selanne, Niedermayer, now Sundin and Sakic. Its getting ridiculous.

Yeah I was wondering the same thing. This may not seem like a big deal to us, but I would be psyched if I was named my country's best hockey player..

And Filppulas role was what? An offensive anchor? The role you described for Vermette last year was identical to his role with the Wings this year. 30 points is not great for a third liner. Its great for a 4th liner. 30 points is run of the mill for a third liner, which is basically the role Filppula was playing last year. And Smolinski and Comrie "displacing" Vermette speaks more to Vermette's inabilities (at the time, not now) than depth. Comrie and Smolinski barely hovered about a .5 PPG rate with the Sens. Thats hardly tough competition for a guy that is supposedly clearly the better player than Filppula, who at 23/24 nearly broke 20 goals, 40 points. And again, just to drive the point home, I dont think either players are going to be strong offensive producers throughout their careers..

It has nothing to do with job security. Antoine Vermette has job security if he wants it. He doesn't. If he did, he would've signed for 5 years, 2.5M. And if he wanted money, he would've signed short-term, and then gone big terms in 2 years entering what is the prime of a career for most players. Like he did. And if he would've signed for 5 years/15M, he would've been signed about a few months ago, if not much sooner.

Vermette turned 26 in July. He had 39 points as a 24-25 year old, 33 as a 23-24 year old. As a 23-24 year old, Flip landed 36 points. The likelihood that he tops Vermette's 39 points as a 24-25 year old this year is very real. In that way, Vermette is only better due to his experience/improvement (and lack of offensive depth on the Sens), not so much intrinsic talent. Personally, I don't think either player is ever going to be an offensive dynamo..

They won't let him go just yet. And obviously, it won't be a two-way deal, as theres no way they'd expose him to waivers. If anything, this could be Chelios' most important season with the Wings in the past few years, as we could see 1 - maybe even 2 - young Dmen on the roster and Chelios' mentoring is essential to their progress. At this point I think management is looking a lot more at his bulldog type mentality and leadership than anything. And in that, hes valuable. As it stands, we won't even be at the cap with likely 3 goaltenders at least capable of playing back-up, 10 Dmen capable of playing regular shifts, and (after one of Dmac or Downey) we'll have probably 14 capable regular NHL forwards, if not more. Even after trading 1 or 2 Dmen, that still leaves us with 8 Dmen. The likelihood that we'll need to make a decent-sized deadline addition is pretty much slim to none, and thats the only way in which re-signing Chelios' would be detrimental to the team.

Pretty much. And there is no comparison. If Vermette signed a 5 year contract, it would likely be 5 years/20 million.

Ericsson already signed.

Carney was a shadow. They're better off without him. They did add Zidlicky and Brunette. With how injury prone Demitra was, Brunette might be able to compensate for the offense lost by Demitra's departure. But then theres the loss of Rolston and now Parrish. The Minnesota organization as a whole disgusts me. They have one of the most dedicated fan bases in the entire league yet they seem completely satisfied with mediocrity and shallow playoff appearances. How long before this team decides to make a strong push instead of wallowing amongst the average?

Hes pretty much wanted out since he got there. The only reason he re-signed with them in the first place was because they brought in Demitra, who was/is one of Gabby's best friends. And can you blame the guy? Hes one of, if not the most explosive skater in the NHL yet hes being suffocated by playing in a boring, tight defensive system with no notable guys to center him.

Yes they would. Lilja at the time of signing his contract had bargaining power. Quincey and Meech do not. I would think you would be one to note how comparing RFA and UFA signings is apples and oranges because of that.

Undoubtedly Holland was forward with him when they re-signed him being that Holland had no problem coming out to the media and saying Lilja was an insurance policy if Stuart couldn't get signed. Do you not remember just a season or two ago how Lilja was posturing to ask for a trade because he didn't get enough ice time? He got his cup. He got a good contract for what he is. Now he can get his ice time with another team. Its pointless to trade young talent that is equally as viable at the NHL level as Lilja, yet costs - at most - half the price.

If he plays like he did in April and May, hed land himself a 50-60 goal season. Somehow I can't imagine a guy whos previous best goal total was 12 goals becoming one of the most prolific goal scorers in the new NHL. But then again, I'm taking your statement and running with it.

Something tells me Lilja is on the move. Holland did come straight out an say he was an insurance policy. With the signing of Stuart and the emergence of Kronwall, his hitting won't be as needed and we have other guys that are primed for the time.

What do you mean "next off-season"? For the price that Bouwmeester is going to cost, NO team is going to pay up for him if they aren't sure beyond a shadow of a doubt that they can retain him long-term. Hes not going to be a rental in any way, shape or form. I wouldn't be surprised to see him traded well before the deadline. And frankly, pretty much everyone could use Bouwmeester. Even the Red Wings (Damn Rafalski and his NTC!). And before you say anything, Florida isn't going to get screwed over again. Keenan was reponsible for the Bertuzzi-Loungo deal and JM wanted to ship out Jokinen ASAP, according to reports.

Hes way too obssessed with making hockey a national sport in the U.S. Thats never going to happen. And the way he goes about it - giving little breaks to s***ty unmarketable teams here and there (or the team that carries the ugly "face of the NHL" for that matter) - makes me want to puke.

Hes actually become underrated. I used to hate the guy, buts hes filled out his game a lot under Hitchock and still puts up decent points having never been centered by anything more than a weak number two center. He'd be at the top of my list for "wasted talent". Hes got a ton of it, but you can only do so much when you don't have a half-way decent playmaker to set you up.