YoungGuns1340

1) Since hes a UFA, theyll probably want to get something for him while his value is pretty high 2) He wont be that cheap after this season with the way hes played this year 3) They cut some payroll, which might facilitate their sale to Oren Koules 4) The lower they fall in the standings (not much more is possible), the easier it is for them to garner more chances at the 1st pick lottery.

Babs has got a great point. Its really a shame that Lidstrom doesnt have a Hart trophy to his name. Itd be interesting to see what Detroits offense would look like without a guy like Nick. He runs those outlet passes and runs the PPQB like nobody else in hockey. ..and whoever said making the playoffs shouldnt be the deciding factor these days makes a great point.

Sorry but Homer is more valuable to this team than Cleary is or ever was. And what does Homer make? I cant think of one good reason why Cleary should get paid more than Homer, other than cap inflation. Theres absolutely no reason Cleary should be looking towards 3.9M, let alone 3. 2.5-2.8 should be acceptable for a guy who A) was a career underperfomer until he played under Babs and 2) hasnt ever even scored 25 goals or amassed more than 50 points in one season. Those arent 4 million dollar stats if youre 30 years old..

If we added Prospal at the deadline, that would be adding depth.

Theres absolutely no reason to stand pat at the deadline and NOT add a 2nd line scoring winner. We lost the playoffs last year due to key injuries. Theres no way we lose our best chance at the cup because Zetterberg and Homer both go down in the playoffs. This is our year, and as such, we should use that 5M cap space we have.

Prospal wont cost the moon. Hed definitely be a good pickup.

Hopefully they do drop off and we can get Naslund. As much as people don´t like that idea around here, its looking more and more like a good idea the way possible UFAs are being re-signed (Dumont, possibly Vrbata) and others are looking like theyre either not going to waive their NTCs or their prices will be through the roof (Hossa, Sundin). The more teams that drop out of the playoff picture, the more options we have at the deadline..

The only way I wouldnt mind seeing Brad Stuart is if we already traded for Marian Hossa and couldnt afford to give up something big for a defenseman. I wouldnt trade more than a 2nd/3rd rounder OR (not both) Derek Meech for Brad Stuart with the way hes played this year..

Haha. By all means, let another team bite on that contract. I dont care how good Forsberg is, thats way too much cap space tied up in a guy who might not even be healthy when you need him most..

Hes already been rumored to be available at a price and from all accounts that Ive heard, they dont expect him to re-sign with the team after this season, which makes sense given the trouble they had in re-signing him in the first place..I dont think they expect Cammy to be in their future plans. I wouldnt be surprised to see them trade him for another young player who is similarly re-signed and has a few more years left to be an RFA, unlike Cammy.

If the Wings add Blake, I could see them getting a name like Radim Vrbata and Vaclav Prospal, or possibly a guy like Holik or Vyborny if they think they only want some more depth scoring. With the way Holik has played so far this season, I wouldnt mind seeing him on the 3rd/4th line instead of Drake.. Of the longer-term options, for some reason I could see Detroit making a pitch for Cammalleri.

Finally someone with some common sense..LA can tell the media what theyre expecting back. That doesnt mean theyre gonna get it...especially now that 1) Blake may be injured past the deadline and 2) he has a NTC AND only wants to contend for the cup

I just read a rumor on Spectors that said Detroit, along with 2 other teams, is in the front-running for Hossa. IDEALLY, we could get both Blake and Hossa, which is far-fetched of course, but with Blake going down it might now be possible. I can imagine that a lot of playoff teams who have interest in Blake want to trade for him and have him step in and contribute immediately to the team. Almost every team in the entire league is battling for playoff positioning while the Wings have the #1 seed all but locked up. With that in mind, other teams might not want to take a chance on having to wait for Blake should he take longer to return than expected, but for the Wings, thats really a non-issue. We don't need him immediately. Not to mention, given that he wants to come to the Wings (according to Cheli), maybe a cheap deal could be had which would allow us to turn around and offer up something decent in the bidding war for Hossa, although even still I think thats unlikely. Realistically, an injured Rob Blake and a healthy Vaclav Prospal would probably be the best bang for our buck.

I love Max's skill no doubt, but I think his questionable desire to win would be a dangerous thing to add to such a hardworking team as the Wings. But as for Phaneuf, Regher, etc going up against Max, hah, well theyd have to catch him first. Hed win a foot race with Niedermayer, let alone outskate big defenseman like the above mentioned ones. Id probably value his speed even more than his stick handling skills..

I dont give a s*** how much energy he brings. I dont think hes ever manned up in a fight. I mean, has the guy once ever waited for another player to actually drop the gloves before pounding on him? In case you hadn't notice, the ENTIRE Detroit organization is built on character and class. Either Detroit waits til a veteran's play has mellowed out to the point where he isnt making grossly dirty plays game in and game out (Chelios and Bert come to mind here...), or they sign enforcers who have a certain level of respect for other players (McCarty, Downey). Tootoo has no respect for anyone else in the leauge, save for maybe his teammates. And Im not even sure thats the case either. Its not like he had respect for his girlfriend, so Im pretty sure its just in his blood to be an *******.. And on top of that, he always looks like hes about to cry. Boll, McGrattan, Carcillo, Niel, Nichol, etc. These guys all have a dirty side, but at least its in the minority when it comes to their game. Id much rather see one of these guys on the Wings than Tootoo. Yeah it would be nice to have a guy who could dish out some retribution, for example, on the Pronger-Holmstrom hit. But I really prefer not having to defend a scumbag play from a player wearing a Wings jersey every time we need some "energy".

Why are we comparing rosters now? Of course Anaheim looks like cup favorites now. They already made their deadline acquisitions. Detroit hasn't. Ill reserve my judgement til the deadline has passed..

Detroit wouldn't have offered a 10th round pick for Shelley if they would've had it...

No. Forsberg wants to return to Philly. The Preds had a hell of a lot better of a shot at the cup than Philly did last year, and STILL Forsberg didnt want to be traded. Hes been practically on one on one contact with Philly since the off-season last year, and hes NOT just looking to be a playoff rental. He wants to have a home again, thats his goal, and he wants to sign for more than just a year WITH Philly. This isnt a Rob Blake situation.

If they can't catch us they can't hit us? How fast of a team do you think Detroit is? We have been owned by people who have hit us in the past. There is absolutely no way to play a hockey game avoiding all sorts of hits thrown your way. As for your "simple" theory to improve our goal scoring, you just want everyone to live up to their potential? Do you know how many teams problems would be solved if all their players scored as much as they could? As for Babcock, don't you worry about him. Hes on the right track to a Jack Adams and hes been very smart to switch lines up. He gave himself options for the playoffs. A top 1st line of Datsyuk-Hank-Homer that has sick chemistry, or a "top" line of Flip-Datsyuk-Cleary for away games when Detroit has the first change and teams target the DZH line.

Of those listed, I could see Detroit looking at Jagr and Ryder also as options. If Detroit gets Blake, Id like to see them add Ryder to the lineup as well since he could be had for so cheap. Its always nice to have one more guy that can put the puck in the net if you need him to..

If Forsberg returns, HE WILL SIGN WITH THE FLYERS. Please give up any hope of him going to Detroit. IF Forbserg returns, theres talk of Philly trading Knuble, and apparently he would come pretty cheap. I can see Detroit going that route a lot more than I can see them going the Hossa/Sundin/Prospal/Dumont route. If we could get our hands on Knuble, Id lke to see Sammy traded. These are some of the moves that come to mind: To Det: Sundin/Hossa To ATL/TOR: Hudler, Kindl/Ericsson/Quincey, 1st, 2nd/3rd To Det: Blake To LA: 1st rounder + 2 prospects/1 prospect and Quincey/Sammy To Det: Knuble To PHI: Meech, 2nd To Det: Dumont To Nash: 1st rounder, Quincey/Sammy/Abdelkader, 5th rounder To Det: Propsal To CBJ: 1st rounder, Quincey/Sammy/Abdelkader To Det: Foote To CBJ: 2nd rounder, 4th rounder, Quincey To Det: Vrbata To PHX: Quincey, 2nd rounder, 5th rounder To Det: Ryder To MTL: 2nd, Meech/Quincey To Det: Gratton/Lapointe To TBL/Chi: 3rd rounder To Det: Orpik/Gill/Carney To Pit/Tor/Min: 2nd rounder To Det: Fedorov/Afinogenov/Jagr To CBJ/BUF: No clue what their value is right now Another option that I think might be flying under the radar right now is Camalleri. I think they pretty much expect him to book it after this season, and Id heard they might package him with some deadline bait to land a big return.

Forsberg is in the Flyers back pocket. IF he comes back to the NHL, itll be to the Flyers. And IF he comes back to the Flyers, then I hope Detroit can pick up Knuble IF they lose out on the Sundin/Hossa/Dumont sweepstakes.

Um, well if he doesnt know hes wrong, why would he think he doesnt understand it? And really, in effect, Selanne will get paid for HIS season, which will be, what? about 25 games long? I mean, if Selanne says he wants 2M to play 25 games, then theyll sign him to a contract that is around 6M, which would then be prorated to around 2M (which is an estimate, im not bothering to do the math). Its not like if he asks for 2M, hes going to mean he wants 2M on the contract, and thus only recieve 700k or so of it. Hell ask for whatever he wants in his pocket, not what he would theoretically get for a full season (that is, assuming the Ducks can pay it). Both camps already know the contract will be prorated...

Good thing we already have that paperwork on file for Zetterberg and Datsyuk. Some players just need the right situation. Zetterberg took a while to come around, Datsyuk took even longer, Cleary performed phenomenally when he had been a nothing prior, even without much experience. I mean, if you look at Hossas playoff records with the teams he played on, those teams were all big time chokers (along with Detroit). Ottawa has been one of the worst in that department in the past decade, and NOBODY showed up for Atlanta. Its not like hes been dead weight on some huge scoring lines over the years. On top of that, the entire ¨Hossa disappears in the playoffs¨thing is totally blown out of proportion. Sure hes had some off years (most players have), but in 02 he had 10 points in 12 games, and in 03 he had 16 points in 18 games. And in 04, 4 points in 7 games. No those numbers arent stellar, but you never know when a player is going to have a big game or not. Who knows - if in 04 he had played an 8th game and had a 3 point night, all of a sudden hes got 7 points in 8 games, which makes his record look that much better. I just dont buy that a player who has that much talent will just never prove his worth in the playoffs. If playoff records proved all, people would be clamoring to add Kubina and Pisani to their rosters at the deadline. Ultimately, IMO, what wins the Cup is the team that has the best chemistry, and if its just not there for a team, theyre not gonna win it all. Thats probably ultimately why Id prefer Hossa over Sundin. Sundin is a Maple Leaf through and through and Im just not sure hed be able to gel entirely with our lineup. Hossa, on the other hand, doesnt particularly have a solid identity as a thrasher. In fact, Im willing to bet he has still has untapped potential that would come out if he were to find chemistry with the right players. For some reason, I think Detroit would be a great home for him in that regard, and I think Datsyuk centering him would be magic. Thats not to say he doesnt fit in in Atlanta, I just think Datsyuk could make Hossa a 50 goal scorer, and would make Detroits PP next to unstoppable. And against a penalty-prone Ducks team, thats a great thing to have..

Im warming up to Blake, too, now that his game has gotten back almost to his Colorado days. Hes been pretty physical lately and has been picking his spots nicely. As for what wed have to give up, the beauty of landing Blake is his NTC and the fact that hes basically already stated that hes going to re-sign with LA in the off-season. So no team is going to bet the farm on a guy that they know theyre only getting for a couple months. Not to mention, Blake has made it clear he wants to be traded so he can win a cup. In my mind, that limits the teams quite a bit and if Im Blake, im not even sure Id waive my NTC to go to San Jose if the cup is the one thing on my mind, given their offensive woes. Of all teams, Id probably be thinking Ottawa, Detroit and Anaheim, but Anaheim is definitely out of the picture and Ottawas #1 concern seems to be another top 6 forward. Now, Im NOT saying Detroit is going to be the only one with access to Blake, but I am guessing that LA isnt going to get the player/1st/prospect deal that theyre dogging for with Blake so intent on being trading for a last chance at the cup.