YoungGuns1340

Yeah. It looks like Higgins will be the main guy going back. Which is a shame, because Flip and Higgins are very similar players, with Higgins having gotten much more ice time over his short career with the Habs..

I WANT EVERY PERSON NAMED IN THIS THREAD TO BE A RED WING AND I WANT TO ROTATE GAMES PLAYING WITH 15 FORWARDS AND 9 DEFENSEMAN EVERY OTHER NIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I agree. The last thing the Wings should be doing is trading Kronwall. Regardless of how injury prone he is, hes been very effective as his progress continues over the course of each season and, like you said, hed leave a big hole if traded. Plus his contract is on par with the market these days, if not a little better. I wouldnt be opposed to trading our young forwards either in a trade for Hossa. Thats just a no brainer. Its been too long since the Wings had any sort of sniper-type winger (Hull?), and even then Hossa is more than that. He plays a mature game with good awareness of the defensive zone, which is naturally the type of play that Babcock seemingly requires. Five years of Hossa wouldnt leave the Wings stinging from that trade at all..

He definitely plays with an edge. Hes a gritty Dman, but I wouldnt call him all out physical. And he wont be winning any Lady Byngs any time soon. After all, he is the one that gave the cheapshot crosscheck to Zetterberg's back that caused all the problems he had last year.

This is only hearsay, but I heard a Kings fan say Lombardi and Holland had talked, and while Holland isnt guaranteed to land Blake, he is all but guaranteed to get one of Stuart or Blake. Don't shoot the messenger. But at least its good news thats pretty believable. My guess is Quincey is a fixture in either deal. The Kings want young Dmen/defensive prospects...

Campbell is NOT what we need. The guy is not nearly as reliable as he should be defensively. Sure hes got Mathieu Schneider type offensive skill, but its rare that he uses the body (that hit is much more an exception than a rule) and his D just isnt there. Hed be a liability, IMO, and his offensive game is way too similar to Kronwall/Raffi/Lids to justify getting him. If we get another offensive Dman, he needs to have a physical edge. Not to mention he wants 6M in the off season... As for Kotalik...god no.

IMO, weve got a big time problem with our #4s.....We have none. Our #4 Dman is Lilja...and our #4 forward is Cleary. Both of those guys are best suited as #5-6 players at their respective positions. Conversely, we have too many #5 Dmen, and half our forwards should be #7-8 forwards.

Not a dire need? Do you know what Lebda, Meech, Chelios, and Lilja all have in common? Being bottom pairing defenseman. Theres not one guy in the bunch who could be a legit #4 or better, and when you have 4 guys in your bottom 4 who should only be in your bottom 2, then yes, defense is a dire need. Especially when not a single one of those four guys is a physical powerhouse, nor a PP anchor... Hell, even with Kronnic in our lineup, weve still lacked that #4 Dman all season, and itll be our downfall if we dont get that addressed.

Haha, I know right? Like Engblom is suddenly some genius...I wish I got paid to sit in front of a camera and state the obvious.. In reality though, we cant have a defense like Anaheim does. Why? Because in the real world, the cap doesnt fit three defenseman making 5.75+ million per year.

What else is new? We havent had a true sniper on this team since we had Hull. Im sick of this fancy footing arounding good secondary scoring. Id rather have two guys on the second line that can score 25-35 goals per season, than 4 guys in the 5-8 postions who are looking at 10-12 goals a year (Franzen, Hudler, Flip, Sammy..) I know everybody thinks Flip and Hudler are the 2nd coming of Hank and Dats, but I just dont see it. I really wish Holland would jump at the chance to land the dominant goal scoring winger in Hossa. In all reality, I dont ever see either of Hudler or Flip ever coming close to what Hossa is or will be over the next 5 years...

Prospal is my guess..

...until the refs hand Anaheim the game on a silver platter.

As much as Im loathe to jump on the bandwagon, and as much as I think there are better options out there, its getting harder not to acknowledge the fact that Fedorov does a damn good job manning the point even in his age nowadays, and he helps out the defense tremendously. He would be the perfect replacement for Sammy, should other resources be exhausted..

I think hes still too inconsistent. Im hard on the guy, Ill admit, but thats because every once in a while you see him make the huge hit, the pretty pass, the perfect shot, and you think, where is this game in and game out? Somehow I DONT feel like it should be too much to ask to see this guy make 1-2 big hits per game and finish of a season with 20/25 goals and 40/45 points. Hes got all the tools. Id like to see him use them more...

Why should we be ashamed? Cause he decides to play like he can a couple times a month he should be untradeable? The guys going on 28. He should figure out what hes capable of and stick with it by now..

Woah. There. Buddy. The only glasses that need to be taken off are the ones that are making you think youre the only one who sees a problem with our secondary scoring. The folks who dont think we need it are in the majority. Why do you think there are so many Hossa/Sundin/Prospal trade proposals floating around on this board...?

I dont know. Theyve lost to a bottom feeder. Theyve lost to a bottom feeder whos also their historic rival. Theyve lost to their biggest current rival. And now theyre losing to a middle of the road team. You think ONE of those occasions woulve woken them up from their horrible play. Cleary and Kronwalls absence shouldnt affect them this much. Its the effort thats just not there. And thats the worst part..

Our defense issues need to be addressed big time. Lebda, Lilja, Meech, Cheios = 4 #6 Dmen. Thats gotta change.

Amen. At the very least, thisll get Holland to realize that we need to do soemthing about our depth/scoring/defense. Were staring down a 4 game losing streak..

I dont know...Hudler has been in the dog house lately and we all know hes probably Babcock's least favorite player. If Hudler and a pick is enough to get Prospal, I say that deal is as good as done. Also, luckily for Detroit, I hear that LA is looking to get D prospects in return for their rentals. At this point, I think Detroit's biggest competition for Blake is San Jose, so maybe Detroit could land him with Quincey, a 1st, and a conditional..

In case you or anyone else is wondering, Spector called B.S. on that Blake to Anaheim rumor, as I suspected. Made no sense in the first place..

Knowing Holland, well end up getting some player that has rarely and/or never been connected to the Wings in trade rumors. What do you folks think of Trent Hunter? Seems to me, the issue of Cleary re-signing is going to be weighing on Holland's mind at the deadline, and trading for Hunter might be a good way of giving the Wings a backup option if Cleary decides to test the market. Not to mention, Hunter could admirably replace Johan Franzen as well. Hes a scrappy guy with a big body and a great work ethic - exactly the type of guy you want in the playoffs. Hes not scoring a lot of goals this year, but hes already put up 20+ goals twice in his short career. Id personally like to see the Wings make a pitch for him if they lose out on more offensive guys like Prospal, Comrie, etc (I dont think Sundin and Hossa are in the picture). I hear the Isles are looking for young Dmen and/or D prospects. Maybe Quincey and a 4th for Hunter, should there be a bidding war...

Are you on crack? You want to replace Lilja and Kronwall with Quincey and Stuart? Sure, lets decimate our PP by replacing Kronner with Stuart and then have a rookie Dman with next to zero shot blocking and PKing abilities replace our biggest and most effective shot blocker on the squad. Why dont we just give Anaheim the cup now? Kronwall and a 2nd is WAy to much for Stuart, Sammy, Lilja and a 3rd screws over our depth, and bringing up Quincey should be a last resort. Not to mention, this draft is supposed to be one of the deepest drafts in years (3-4 rounds deep). You dont just go around throwing out 2nd and 3rd round picks for the crap that you want in return.

Why do you think Dumont is available again? Did I miss something or did the Preds just sign him to a 4 year extension for fun?

Cleary also hadnt impressed anyone for his first 7 years in the NHL, had severe attitude problems and was known for his lazy work ethic, and underperformed to the point where he HAD to come in on a professional tryout. Youre right. They arent similar situations. Bell still has a job..