YoungGuns1340

We know. He had one good season and then couldnt coach a team with Wayne Gretzky, Jari Kurri, and Luc Robitaille all in their prime out of a paper bag. I mean 93-94 was just brutal.

No way does Meech get up on the 2nd pair. If anyone does, its Ericsson. Hes our best of the bunch, Detroit is going to carry 8 Dmen, and for all the folks who shun any idea that (gasp!) any of our young defenseman will ever be traded because theyd all be on the 2nd unit on other teams, heres what Holland has to say about that:

This is an awesome situation for Melrose to be in. Basically if finishes higher than dead last in the Eastern Conference, hes improved the team.

He'd take a paycut to come to Detroit. He said in his career before he was an NHL regular that it was his dream to play for the Red Wings. EDIT: I'm not saying that he should come here, just likely that he'll hit the UFA market as the Sabres are one of the cheapest organizations in the NHL and hesitate to throw any money at a UFA ready player.

I'm not taking it personally. I just think its funny that you take one little run of the mill comment and took it as if it were god's word. And youre exactly right that we'll wait and see. Thats exactly what this organization is founded on.

And Holland's first preference goes to players with one year contracts. Something that Rolston isn't going to sign after a good year in his mid-late thirties.

Haha. Good one. You think the Wings are going to bring in a rookie goaltender when they have 1, potentially 2 Hall of Fame goaltenders that can still play at a high rate and are similarly playing for peanuts? Give me a break. Osgood and Hasek were both stellar in their 2006-2007 campaigns. Osgood played incredibly well as back-up and Hasek took us three rounds deep. So now all of a suddent they were supposed to throw Howard into action when both those goalies were wanting to come back for another year and when we had our best chance to win the cup in years? Read between the lines. Youre an idiot. Holland and Babcock ALWAYS make comments about their young guys, and their veterans that are low on the depth chart. Filppula, Hudler, Kopecky, Ericsson, Downey, Drake, Chelios etc. How many comments has Holland made over the years similar to "we'll see where they are at training camp." or "we need to see if our young players are ready" or "we'd like to see him take on a bigger role, but its really up to him whether or not he plays to his potential." What you think you are "reading" between the lines is nothing more than an organization founded on merit. There are no hand-outs in this organization. There is no rush to "see what the kids can do." They have always and forever taken their time with young kids and because of that, the Red Wings are always a team that is characterized by experience, smarts, and maturity. They're not about to change that. Oh and, by the way....I suppose since Johnathan Ericsson is pushing 25 years old and still hasn't cracked the regular lineup....he'll NEVER BE READY. NEVER. NEVER I SAY. You know its not like.....goaltenders...take longer to develop...than other type of player...no....its not that.

I'm guessing Howard is the backup and if the Wings need to make a necessary acquisition after training camp (he'd have to really disappoint) or mid-season, then they'll do so. There are almost always options in net throughout the year if all youre looking for is a vet backup with a so-so reputation.

Please. Get off your high horse. Half the time you post about hair-brained ideas and when you get one thing right you want everyone to bow down and kiss your ass. First of all, call me when Franzen has more than a good half season at the age of 28. Secondly, ONE person in this thread said Weber wasnt worth it. Everyone else is in agreeance that hes a great defenseman. He had a rough year this year, but he was comparable - and some would argue better than - Phaneuf last year when Weber played his first full season and Phaneuf hit somewhat of a wall by his standards. As for the contract, no it is not a good contract. Is the money right? Yes. Is the term right? Absolutely not. And thats what the kicker is. In three years, Weber will again be an RFA which means they'll have to negotiate his price all over again. He will be 26 year old and will likely have put up a series of 10-15 goal seasons with 45-55 points. Add that to the fact that hell be young, subject to offer sheets, big at 6'3, 220, and plays a strong defensive and very physical game, and youre looking at a guy who will be more valuable than Brian Campbell, who is asking for 7-8M on a $56M cap. Imagine what a Dman who is worth twice what Campbell is re-upping when his teams cap is potentially near $75M. He will easily demand 7M at that time. So, if the Preds were to throw him an overpaying contract now, theyd likely save money in the end and be sure of retaining Weber past 2011. If you consider offering Weber 4.5 for 3 years, and 7M at 4 years, thats a contract average of 5.925. If they were to offer him 5.5 over 6 or 7 years now, then it would be a good contract. Vastly overpaying in the first few years? Of course. But in the end you save 400k over 6 or 7 years, which in the equates to millions saved. I wouldve though it would be clearly obvious for GMs at this point in the new CBA, that offer overpaying contracts on long-terms is CLEARLY the way to go. Look at Datsyuks contract. Whereas it initially looked overpaying, its now a great contract - and it will remain a great contract for its duration - as the cap continues to rise.

http://tsn.ca/nhl/ Ray Emery bought out, Unrestricted Free Agent

Being waived is the first step to being bought out. The Sens will buy him out and then someone will sign him to around 1M or so, probably for only 1-2 years. The more I think about it, the more I really wouldnt mind him being signed to a one year deal around 800k. If he falls into line under the leadership of guys like Babs and Cheli, he could become a huge asset. And if he doesnt, then hes got a tradeable and/or waivable contract. Kenny did say he was looking for players looking to sign one year deals...I guess it all depends on whether or not Emerys ego is hurt by being waived, bought out, and essentially unwanted.

Ive heard different rumors. One is that the Wild are lowballing. The other is that the Wild have offered him 2 or 3 different contracts and he hasnt counter-offered at all. Speculation says he doesnt want to return with the Wild and is demanding a number hes knows they wont give. Todd White was his best friend and center on the Wild and he was pissed when White got traded away, and then griped about how his line couldnt form any chemistry during the year, and Lemaire didnt do anything to experiment. I think he'll lower his offer to be on a contending team or a promise to be paired up with a talented center. He'll probably take something like a 3 year deal with a cap hit of 4-4.5M. Hes 35 or 36 right now, so I could see his numbers being structured like so: 1st year: 5.5M 2nd year: 4.5 3rd year: 3M for a cap hit of around 4M

Avery is far from a nobody. He was one of the Rags best players in the playoffs, and he was on pace for about 48 points and 22 goals had he not gotten injured, which wouldve put him at two nearly 50 pt season in a row. Hes a talented player who doesnt get the credit because everyone hates him so much. If his ego ever got downsized a bit, hed be a great asset to any team.

Like I said earlier, I can see why management brought back Lilja if they think theyre gonna lose Stuart. If they dont, were seriously soft on the back-end. As much as we rag on Lilja, he did lead our team in hits last year with 135 or so. HOWEVER, what I HATE about this re-signing, is that it basically means management has given up on looking to free agency or the trade route to address our serious need for a #4 defenseman. On this team, Kronwall, Lidstrom, and rafalski are all 1st pairing Dmen. Then you have 4 or 5 guys who are all bottom pairing Dmen. Theres no middle ground on this team. That issue needs to be addressed. And what personally pisses me off, is that Kronwall thrives with a solid linemate. When you see him with Lilja or Lebda or even Chelios, Kronwall is ALWAYS trying to compensate for his linemate. The best thing about Kronwall playing with Stuart was that he trusted Stuart and knew Stuart was capable of playing in the position that he was. You could see it in how Kronwall jumped into the play more, went for the big hit more often, and especially simplified his defensive game positionally. IMO, losing Stuart and not filling his spot is essentially losing 1.5 2nd pairing Dmen, because Kronwall will not perform the way he did when hes got to deal with youngsters or pairmates who skate with cement in their boots.

Or hes thinking that hes going to be screwed over if he re-signs Flip, Franzen and Hank all before July 1st, 2009, and has serious tagging room issues to deal with, a la Anaheim.

If Montreal and New York are his top destinations, why hasnt he signed with one of them yet. And if New York signs Sundin, what are they going to do with their defense? Ice Mark Staal for 60 minutes per game? Edit: Actually, now that I look at it New York does have a lot of space, but their entire lineup is a mess. The only decent offensive assets they have right now are Gomez, Drury, and Dubinsky. And their defense is even in worse condition. Why would Sundin want to re-sign with a team that is going to have to pull 3-4 big names out of free agency to build a legit contender?

But there are reasons to posture with Stuart...

Hed be claimed off waivers. If he really lost his spot, he'd be traded. Hes cheap and valuable enough that hed have some takers.

The reason Im thinking why he wants Lilja back - and I brought this issue up earlier but hoped that if we didnt re-sign Stuart wed go after a UFA instead of Lilja - is that if we dont re-sign Lilja and lose Stuart, thats a TON of hits lost. Lilja led our team in hits, and while Kronwall makes big hits, hes not really good for 120+ hits a year as he picks his spots. We cant have a back end where our biggest hitters are only good for 60-70 hits a year. And the best hitter we have amongst "the young three" is Quincey, who unfortunately seems like the odd man out. The worst thing is, that means Holland is re-signing Lilja under the guise of him being our "physical reinforcement" on the back end. Thats so disgustingly pathetic. Too bad Orpik is overrated and going to be overpaid. Although hes kind of a weak #4 in my eyes, he could pull it off and provide the physicality that we need much better than Lilja could in both regards.

Holland isnt just worried about cap space for next year. If that were the case, hed be going after anyone willing to sign a one year contract and would be willing to spend nearly 11-13M this off-season. The fact that hes only willing to offer a one year deal for 3-4M pretty much ensures that he expects Franzen + Filppula + Zetterberg to cost around 11M (good news for the Wings. It would be a bargain if we got all 3 for 11M) and that theyll be signed either now or early in the season. Because Franzen and Hank will likely to be re-signed before the seaosn even starts, that means we need to essentially have their cap space avaiable this year because of the tagging rule.

If Holland is never willing to pay his #4 Dmen more than Kronwall, then well never get one unless one of our youngsters turns into one. As the cap goes up, GMs will have more money and will be more silly in how they spend it. Youre looking at a market that in 2 years could see your average Dman making 4.5-5M and your best making 9.

Ok so...This is Hollands plan according to the article: *Re-sign Lilja *Add an old guy up front *Move a Dman or two *Not budge on his offer to Stuart *Not offer anything more than 3-4M on a one year contract to someone.

What are you smoking? Lilja is in his 30s. Hes a career bottom pairing Dman. Hes not going to get any better. You know what youre getting with him. And its AT BEST a #5 Dmen. And for the record, Kronwall-Lilja got its chance, and it was nothing special. Kronwall should get a legit #4 Dman to pair up with. Its clear that he performs best when this is the case. I'm so sick of this team dicking around with the #4 spot. Either sign a legit #4 or let the kids duke it out while giving Kronwall increased ice time. The only time we ever addressed it was with Stuart. And look what happened. We won the cup. It was arguably our best D pairing in the playoffs and is likely what put us over the edge. Kronwall thrived with a guy like Stuart by his side. It doesnt seem like Holland and co. are even investigating the possibilities of whats on the open market or what could be had via trade. I know Im getting a little excited over this, Im just sick of the merry-go-round we constantly have in our bottom 3. Not to mention the time it takes away from Ericsson especially. Hes what, 25 years old and has yet to get into the lineup while cleary belonging there?

The Habs were the most overrated team going into the playoffs in the East. Boston took them to 7 games. Thats enough of a story.

Yup, he would. Probably the best fit on the entire UFA market, among defenseman, forwards, and goaltenders. Hes a great skater, speedy, has a hell of a shot, is a character guy, and is good defensively. Hes really the sniper weve been missing. Ive wanted him in a Wings jersey since he played for Boston.