YoungGuns1340

From what Rags fans say, hes been a big disappointment.

What makes you think Naslund is going to find himself as a permanent fixture on the top line?? First of all, its not about how many points he puts up. Its about how he doesnt backcheck, doesnt play with energy, cant lead a team worth s***, and is on the steady decline. And what on earth makes you think Naslund would come cheap? If Ryan freaking Malone can garner close to 5M on the open market, Naslund will as well. Especially considering this years UFA pool has been one of the shallowest in recent years. Langkow is going to get 5, Rolston wants 4-5, Malone is looking at 4-5. Naslund aint coming any cheaper. As for comparing Cleary with Naslund, what does that have to do with anything? Cleary worked his way up the ladder by working out hard in the off-season and bringing that to the table when he was signed - for cheap. He was working off of a strong performance as a tryout at training camp. Not an impressive season he had 5 years ago on a line that had some of the best chemistry in the past decade. He fits Detroits system. Hits, checks, backchecks, brings energy. Naslund doesnt do that. Like I said, at this point in his career, it would be the Robert Lang experiment all over again. I see no reason why ANYONE would want to add to our team a player like that. We're not desperate for offense. Let someone else pay 5M+ for his pittance of 55 points when he cant even break 60 points while seeing nearly 4 minutes of PP time a game and a whole 3 seconds per on the PK. Sorry, but those sort of stats REEK of Robert Lang..

I dont see how Rolston should even be in the topic of discussion. He wants, and will receive, a multi-year deal. Frankly, the Wings are in no position to offer that to an older guy like Rolston, particularly because it could potentially present a problem in future discussions. If filppula signs a 3 year deal, and Rolston were to sign a 4 year deal with the Wings, I would want to personally kick Holland in the head if a 39 year old Rolston was taking up the space to get a deal done with one of the younger talents. 6 months ago, I wouldve loved to have Rolston in a Wings jersey come July 1st, but at this juncture, Id hate to see the sort of contract Rolston would command handcuff the Wings in future contracts, particularly with Filppula, Cleary, and Franzen who have begun to show that if the ice time is there, they come through. Rolston WILL get a multi-year contract and from whomever it comes, itll definitely be overpaying as hes one of few offensive guns out there on the UFA market. I guess at this point, Ive sort of turned around in my thinking. Prior, I didnt think Sundin would be such a good idea, but at this point, considering the fact that hed be very inclined to take a 1 year contract, and also the fact that we could offer almost anything he wants (6M?), I would definitely welcome him on. As much as Im wary about him taking away valuable ice time from the 2nd line, if it were just for a year, I think what hed bring to the table in leadership, and particularly motivation to repeat (Win it for Mats is even more convincing that win it for Drake) would far outweigh that. Not to mention, the Swedish connection and winning it for a countrymen is as good a reason as any.. Plus throwing out a line of Sundin - Datsyuk - Zetterberg when youre down a goal makes it that much more comforting. Cap-wise, Im not quite sure why people are so hesitant, considering getting Sundin on a one year contract is entirely feasible. Currently, the Wings have 39.523 devoted to 9 forwards, 5 Dmen, and 1 goalie. Jimmy = 800k Flip = 2.5 Cheli = 800k Ericsson = 600k Quincey = 600k Downey = 500k Mac = 500k Helm = 600k Sudin = 6M Total: 52.43 Low Cap estimate = 54M 1.57M cap cushion If the Red Wings were to trade for a Dman around February 1st that was earning 4M a year, he would cost roughly 1.67M. Given that the Cap could reach as high as 56M, the Wings will have plenty of room to sign Sundin and make a Brad Stuart-esque trade deadline acquisition.

Im going to say this as eloquently as I can: Dude, Naslund sucks. Go find a Canucks board and see how Vancouver fans are rejoicing about how Robert Lang Plus is leaving the team. And this is from a team that needs offense more than anyone else in the league. His stats have decreased steadily over the years. And beyond that, his attitude and work ethic are terrible nowadays. He hasnt been able to pass 60 points without Bertuzzi on his line anymore. And "floating", "inconsistent", "terrible leader" are just SOME of the things Nucks fans associate with Naslund nowadays. Hes a shell of his former self and worse than Rolston and Sundin in every conceivable aspect, while likely still tendering the same money as both those guys.

Bottom line: The Wings adding a #4 Dman at the deadline will close about 2/3rds less than it would during free agency, and, as a luxury move, wouldnt cost the world to land. Signing Sundin or Rolston will still allow us to have the sub 2M in cap space that a #4 Dman would likely cost at the deadline. The Wings won the cup by not overpaying for a UFA Dman that would likely handcuff their roster in future years and instead adding them in a thrifty trade. No reason why Detroits depth on D cant come through now until February. The Wings did better than everyone else with the roster they had pre-February.

Rolston and Stuart will not accept 1 year deals. You can absolutely bank on that. Both are coming off good years. Theyll take those stats to the bank on a multi-year contract.

Im calling hardcore bulls*** on this trade rumor. Not Malkin being shopped - Im not surprised about that - and LA is as fine a trading partner as any, but the Pens are NOT going to trade Malkin for ONE YEAR of Mike Cammalleri and Drew Doughty. Thats still not enough. Cammy is a UFA in a year. Hes also worse than Malkin in every imaginable offensive category and no upgrade on defense either. Hes also a head shorter than Malkin and offers nothing in terms of physicality. Drew Doughty is actually a player that LA needs more than Malkin at this point. Theyve got O'Sully, Brown, Kopitar, and Frolov. Thats as good a young offense as you can get. Plus Kopitar and O'Sully will be good enough to be a 1-2 punch for a long time down the middle, and they probably earn combined what Malkin does on their next contracts. LAs LAST need right now is offense. And IF LA trades for Malkin, Trade talks begin and end with Anze Kopitar. Shero is not going to accept that crap for Malkin, no matter how good Doughty might be. The more I think about this trade, its stupid all around. LA and the Penguins are both teams stocked with good young forwards, but are weak on the back end.

Haha. Might as well. You know at one point theyre gonna pull a Niedermayer and want to all play on the same team..Having a 25% chance of them all playing together is better than none!

NHL.com is wrong. Games played is NOT the tie breaker when points are tied. Goals are. Zetterberg is 1st.

Top 10 Forwards "offensively" 1. Ovechkin 2. Crosby 3. Malkin 4. Thornton 5. Lecavalier 6. Datsyuk 7. Kovalchuk 8. Iginla 9. Zetterberg 10. Spezza ..or something like that Top 10 "most complete" forwards 1. Zetterberg 2. Iginla 3. Datsyuk 4. Alfredsson 5. Hossa 6. Lecavalier 7. Thornton 8. Ovechkin 9. Crosby 10. Malkin Honorable Mention: Mike Richards

Why on EARTH do people seem to think Filppula warrants 3M per year?? The only way I want to see Flip making 3M a year is if its on a 5-6 year contract. Otherwise, a 4 year contract shouldnt seem him making anything more than 2.5M. And even thats being generous, and a 3 year contract should offer 2M per year MAX. Alexander Steen - who is the same age as Filppula, has slightly higher offensive production, and also has a strong two way game - signed a 2 year 1.7M deal 3 or 4 months ago. There is NO reason to think Filppula deserves twice that amount of money, especially when Steen means more to his team than Filppula does.

Thats the same size Kronwall was when we drafted him.. As for the draft, BPA is where its always at.

I really dont understand why everyone is so worried about Flip getting an offersheet. Hes not in the same group as Meszaros (although he had an off year this year), Perry, and Bouwmeester, among others. By the way, all the Wings have to do is take him to arbitration if they cant get him signed by July 1st. Last time I checked, he was arbitration eligible. And players cant recieve offersheets if theyre slated for arbitration. Not to mention that gives the Wings extra time to sign him.

Im with you...

Malone is a slight upgrade over Cleary, if at all, and hell be paid at least 50% more than Cleary. Props to Kenny for again doing it right. Anyone else disgusted that a guy like Malone could make 5M+. Thats just wrong.

Its impossible to compare defenseman in other systems to Detroits. Read up on what Kings fans had to say about Stuart through the first half of the season. Thatll give you a good idea. Detroits system offers support better than any other team in the league. Thats why every Dman that comes here plays better than they did anywhere else. That said, I do agree that a big problem would be Smith's skating. Just saying that a good 99% of Dmen we sign are going to look better in Detroit than they do anywhere else. Lilja isnt exactly a great skater either, yet hes, again, had his best years here in Detroit.

How will it decrease his overall value as a player? LA just gave him 3.5M. Now that he played great in Detroit and won a cup, you think theyre going to lowball him? He'll get a hell of a lot more than 2.5M and easily more than 3M anywhere he goes. And Anaheim can take a shot at him too if Niedermayer retires, which from what I heard looks like a good possibility.

Once again, the money to sign Filppula, Zetterberg and Franzen is there REGARDLESS of whether or not we sign Stuart. Holland wouldnt be looking to re-sign Stuart if it jeopardized re-signing those three guys.

Who is going to cost probably as much as Stuart, if not more...I dont care if you play half your season at forward, 69 points is great no matter where youre playing.

GATOR!!!! Im a big Jason Smith fan, but hes fallen off a bit. I definitely wouldnt mind having him to replace Lilja as a #6 PK specialist. What bothers me most is if we have Meech, Quincey, Lebda, Kronwall, Raffi, and Lidstrom as our top 6...that gives us ZERO hitters. And before you go along talking about Kronwall, I mean consistent hitters that can put up 120+ hits a season. Kronwall is good for big hits, but he isnt going to grind away at forwards with hit after hit, and we cant have him focusing on that kind of game with his skill and potential for injury. Smith can bring you hitting, shotblocking, and PKing. I wouldnt mind seeing him here now or at the deadline. Hes only 35, hes a more inclined fighter and is more physical than Lilja is and....the dude was third in the league in blocked shots with 204. Thats nuts. He also had 6 fights this year. Double what Lilja had. I think we could probably land him for 1.5. If we're looking to replace a guy like Drake who would give us that drive and motivation to repeat, it would definitely be Smith. Hes a leader through and through. Great character guy. The only big problem I could see is his skating..

Good contract for Nashville. Its hilarious to look back on all those folks who thought Holland was crazy for giving Kronwall a contract with a cap hit of 3M. At this point, if Kronwall stays at his current pace or gets any better, he'll be discounted for the 4 years.

Well considering there are players in the Hockey Hall of Fame that HAVE NOT EVER played in the NHL, and the fact that it is the HOCKEY hall of fame and not the NHL hockey hall of fame, then yeah, you can be sure they'll take into account his entire career.

You know, now that I think of it. Youre right. My mistake. Floridas likely going to have a high draft pick in 2009.

No way that happens. This isnt Ilya freaking Bryzgalov were talking about here. This is a top 3 player where pure offense is concerned. And Pittsburgh would have A YEAR to trade him. He doesnt become an offical RFA until July 1st, 2009. However, whoever holds his rights can negotiate a deal with him starting July 1st, 2008. Give Shero a year to work out a deal for Malkin and I can guarantee you the sharks will be swimming. The bidding for a 22 year old Hart nominee with a 100 point season already under his belt that can be signed to a decade long contract if they wish will perk any GMs interest that has the space and has the needs. People are vastly underestimating what Malkin brings to the table in a business sense. Adding a guy like Malkin to your roster would bring out the fans just to see the guy play. Believe it or not, the majority of owners motivation for owning a hockey team is not to play a real-life game of EHM, but to make money. And if youre a franchise that cant make your money by perennially making the playoffs, you do it with hype. See, Im of the opposite opinion. If Im Shero, Im giving GMs the chance of a lifetime by putting Malkin on the block. I think the point that a lot of people here are missing is that Shero DOES NOT HAVE TO TRADE MALKIN OR LET HOSSA GO. He CAN have his cake and eat it too. He CAN re-sign Malkin and sign Hossa too. Is his team going to take a hit elsewhere? Yes. But its not going to affect his chances to get into the playoffs. In the Eastern conference, you can blow through the playoffs if you have a high-powered offense and little defense. He may have to cut out the likes of Sykora and Gill, but hell still have the likes of Hossa, Malkin, Staal, Crosby, Whitney, Gonchar, and Fleury to get him through it. That'll do. If Im Shero, and GMs are trying to pull the wool over my eyes, I say fine. Im not trading Malkin. Ill keep him and adjust my team elsewhere. And if thats what Shero has to do, thats what hell do. Its not like hes trying to trade a bloated overpaid veteran here. He has a YEAR to re-sign Malkin where no one else can touch him, not even offer him an offer-sheet. IMO, If Shero trades Malkin, the other GM is gonna be the one getting fleeced. His team just made the NHL finals. Hes not looking to downgrade. If he trades Malkin, itll be for a BETTER return value-wise than Malkin is alone.

1. 2009 is not as deep a draft year as 2008 2. If you trade for Bouwmeester you dont get a pick. Bouwmeester is also a RFA this year. If hes traded to Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh would be subject to offersheets for him. That lessens his value in a hypothetical trade that would likely be post-July 1st. 3. JOKINEN HAS BEEN ON THE BLOCK FOR MONTHS. Go talk to fans of Florida. Martin isnt a fan of Jokinen. And he recently said right after his team didnt make the playoffs that "no one on his roster was safe." 4. Malkin can be signed JULY 1ST. They dont have to wait around to sign him once he can be subjected to offersheets 5. What Malkin could do for a non-excitable Florida fanbase is what a LOT of GMs consider. More fans would come out just to see him than anyone else, and he and Horton could make an unstoppable pair, which would put more money in Huziengas pockets, which is more motivation for trades than anyone on here likes to think. IF anyone on here thinks its not going to take that to get Malkin out of Pittsburgh, check your head. Hes a 22 year old Hart nominee who is on his way to a complete game in every aspect. He could be signed by Florida literally to a 10 year deal where they have the offensive pieces to work around him.