YoungGuns1340

It was reported by Spectors that Lidstrom could ask for up to 8M. Personally, I REALLY hope he takes a hometown discount. Not saying he should play for 4M or less, but something with a cap hit of 6.5M would be nice. Maybe 7, then 6? I realize thats pretty low, but the guys recieved top dollar for so long now that it would be nice if he recognized that guys like Hank, who has been better than Lids so far this season, should get their due.

At this point, Draper.

I hope its sub 2M

I can understand not wanting to give up prospects...but really nobody can say that Nazzy would be a bad addition. The guys got offensive skill regardless of his production. Hes no Sammy. If he puts up 65 points, its a letdown for this guy. Frankly, youre talking out of your ass if you dont think having Nazzy would give us a dominant powerplay, probably the best in the league consistently. If we lose out on other options, I would definitely welcome Naslund.

...yeah, because berating somebody for saying Crosby isnt the best player so far THIS season, and then going on to cite awards won LAST season is CLEARLY the key to life and justification to call somebody else a moron.

Kopecky has about as much potential of being a powerforward as Kirk Maltby does landing the Rocket Richard.

Um, appreciating Langkow is one thing. Not being a homer and saying that he has a good chance to be a 40-50 goal scorer this year is another.

I dunno. He really never stopped for the 2 months he was playing with Datsyuk. Sure hell probably have an off night, but theres no telling whether or not hell come right back with a 4 pointer. You just never know. Theres not a lot stopping a guy with an incredible work ethic and incredible talent, outside of injuries.

I dont see why people think Lang was such a bad trade. We arent paying for what we gave up, and he was basically the only reason we made it to the 2nd round of the playoffs once he came here. If anything, it should be a neutral. Nothing spectacular, but nothing to ruin the organization. He still showed up in the playoffs and helped us win those games more or less..

Id say St. Louis and Chicago have as much of a shot as Detroit does, barring serious injury. Then again, those teams are riding a serious high by getting off to a good start for the Blues, and beating the Wings twice for the Hawks. Both teams are putting a lot of weight on the young guys (Keith, Seabrook, Toews, Kane, Stempniak, Boyes, etc) and I could easily see them losing confidence or getting discouraged if they go through a little rough patch. Either way, Ottawa was crap at the beginning of the season last year, and Detroit didnt look to hot either, so well have to wait and see how things actually pan out.

Langkows a good call. And for 100 point getters....Paul Stastny should definitely be on that list.

Williams was as boring a player as it gets. Good for shoot-outs, and beyond that he brought nothing better to the team. He brings NO intangibles to this team and nothing that it doesnt already have. Like somebody else said, addition by subtraction. No matter how well he plays for Chicago, he was crap while he was here. End of story.

Theyre getting it done, so it doesnt matter. Even if they were playing a run and gun game, theyd still get stellar goaltending from Backstrom and Harding. They should be a top contender this year, barring injury, but then again, when you rely so much on a system as opposed to raw talent, teams eventually figure out the formula to beating it, which would explain their lack of success in the post-season.

No reason Kopecky deserves a spot over Ellis. No reason. Ellis did some great work over the summer, because he skating has become exponentially better. He deserves a regular spot, even if it is the 4th line and 4 minutes a game.

He actually doesnt technically have a team since hes not under contract to the Ducks. Either way, no reason hed want to come here. Unless its about a paycheck that the Ducks cant give.

He already has this year. Just like he did when he put up 24 goals. i hope nobody expects a 30 goal season from him, but I could see at least 18 goals this year.

Does anyone else think? What kind of egocentric question is that? Franzen being back in the lineup will be a good thing, but particularly so if we can send down Kopecky in the process. I would really like to see the 2nd and 3rd lines feature Draper, Cleary, Franzen, Sammy, Filppula, and Hudler. Leave Maltby, Ellis and Drake on the bottom line and the top line intact. If Franzen is the one to join the Junior Euro Twins, then yeah I definitely think hell jumpstart them. Kopay is really bringing that line down.

Im gonna say Hank with the Hattrick, putting him at 9 goals in 9 games, and he adds an extra assist.

I completely agree with you Lou. Drake is fairly invisible on the ice. Ive seen better hits laid on by Datsyuk and Maltby than I have by Drake. Hes masked his completely unremarkable play by throwing down. If hes got the cage on, hes basically Kopecky v 2.0. Weve got enough one dimensional and/or useless players in the lineup as it is. Might as well play Downey who seems to know where to pick his spots.

Lindros? Carter? O'Neill? Friesen??? ...Are you guys actually serious??? This team has MORE than its fair share of guys that *might* put up 20 goals in a season. At this point, Id take Sammy and/or Franzen over any of those guys. You keep on tossing out 500k here, 650k there, and it starts to add up. Like somebody else said, RYDER, DOAN, and FORSBERG are the only names mentioned in this thread that are of any worth. You know what youre getting with those guys and theyre all bona fide top 6 talent. Anything outside of guys like that is a complete waste of roster and cap space.

I think it was about 2 years ago, the Wings were heavily rumored to be interested in landing Nik Antropov. At the time, Antropov was pretty young, but I remember EVERYONE, including myslef, thinking WTF do they want with another underachieving Russian. Well, now Antropov has 6 goals, 11 points and is far and away leading the league in +/- with a +10. All this got me to wondering...it seems we really underestimate the Wings Brass in how much they really do know. At the end of the day, its easy to be a critic when value isnt apparent, but those guys really know times over what any of us know, and are some of the best in the league. Just thought Id show a little appreciation..

Never done this before, but here goes Friday: Buffalo Carolina Chicago Vancouver Saturday: NY Rangers Chicago Buffalo Ottawa NY Islanders Carolina Pittsburgh Tampa Bay Dallas Minnesota Detroit Calgary San Jose Sunday: Columbus Colorado

Yeah this is true, but the Wings werent going to bet the farm on this guy. Its just interesting that they were on to him when nobody else thought anything of him. I dont expect him to be at the top of the scoring race, but a 25g, 50pt season could be expected, and he has elevated his physicality as well. Either way, its really just one example.

I agree. Rafalskis offensive is all there, and it seems hes tightening his defense up every game. I think hell only get better on the back end, and hes already as good back there as Schneider was. You cant underestimate the transition hes having to make.

Same here. The first period they were asleep, but the last 2 periods were good old-fashioned hockey periods.