YoungGuns1340

I have a feeling the Habs are going to go into a rebuilding phase of sorts. I really wouldnt be surprised to see Lecavalier tell Feaster that he doesnt want to re-sign, in which case Montreal will probably do all that it takes to get Lecavalier. If you look at their roster, they signed a lot of stop gaps - Kostopolous, Smolinski, Brisebois now, and Ryder only got a one year contract. Montreal could be on the right track in 2 years if thats their plan - theyd have Lecavalier and Koivu as an awesome 1-2 punch, Hammer and Markov headling their D-core, and a more experienced Latendresse, Higgins, Kostitsyn, Komisarek, and Lapierre...maybe even both Kostitsyn brothers, in which case likely a great deal of chemistry. Not to mention the up and coming Price. If Montreal can shed Kovalev and get Lecavalier in the next 1-2 years (which is probably his most likely destination) then they are golden.

Markov thinks hes worth 4-5M. No thanks.

Meech never played much when he was called up - maybe 5 minutes a game at most on his luckiest day - but from what I saw of him he seems a pretty steady Dman who can hold his own. Hell be good for a #7, although I like Quincey better.

yeah....5 years ago...Still made the playoffs every year since

ANOTHER center? Cleary, Franzen, Draper, Flip, Hank, and Datsyuk are all natural centers. At this point, the only guy that Detroit will probably have in the top 6 that ISNT a center is Homer. If we got Weiss, not only would our top-6 be completely unbalanced, it would feature 5/6 centers.

At least Tampa Bay had 20,000....Still, not much compared to Detroits 1,000,000.

Cheechoo, like Zetterberg are exceptions to the rule. If Hank and Cheech's contracts were used as a standard, the best player in the league would be lucky to get over 5M. If you want to use a comparable contract, what about Bertuzzi. 4M per for What? 3 goals in 15 games?? What about Blake who got 4M over 5 years after one big season of 40 goals. Prior to that, he had never even scored as many goals in a season over his entire career as Penner did in his only full season. Lang? 4M per, for being possibly the worst forward on the Red Wings squad and not even topping 20 goals. Tkachuk? 4M. Hartnell? 4.2M Can people not see how long-term deals work in the new NHL? You pay up in the first few years in anticipation that your deal will be a bargain in the end. If Penner scores 40 goals at any point in his contract, thats a least 1 year of being underpaid at 4.3M. Its definitely not a stretch to say that Penner could hit that a few times in the next 5 years. I am willing to bet that by the time Bertuzzis contract is up, Penner will be worth 4.3M

No perry no getzlaf, only Horcoff and Hemsky. Sucks for Penner, eh? If Penner can score 29 goals while being inconsistant, watch out for him.

Dont get me wrong, I think an enforcer would solve some of Detroits problems, but I dont think things like this.

...and yet you are completely missing the point. Brian Burke has only had the "Penner for 4M or no Penner at all" ultimatum on his plate for 7 days. Burke could have had Penner....AND it wouldnt have cost him 4.3M. Offer sheets are intrinsically overpaying.

If you want to get technical, Dallas actually physically travels the most in the Western Conference - which includes going to the other divisions 2 times a piece, but DETROIT is actually the team that travels the most in terms of time zones.

Please. This is Burke were talking about. I wouldnt be surprised if Burke told Niedermayer to keep tight-lipped about his retirement decision in order to attract more UFA players, knowing full well that Niedermayer was going to retire even before the UFA season started. It is curious to begin with that he was rumored to be leaning towards retirement, then comes right out and says hes going to retire, and then all of a sudden takes it back. Bulls***, if you ask me. Everyone knows that the combination of Niedermayer and Pronger - 2 of the best 3 Dmen in the league - makes that team go. And after Niedermayer won the Conne Smythe, hes name is now inextricably tied to Stanley Cups. I dont care if Pronger and Jiggy are still there, boasting of having Niedermayer captaining that team is an amazing draw for Burke. ..And, secondly, do you honestly think that Burke would go right after Schneider on DAY ONE of free agency if he didnt know Niedermayer was retiring?? Schneider was the FIRST top-tier UFA Dman to be signed. Its not like Rafalski and Hamrlik started getting snapped up and Burke panicked and went after Schneider...And if he were going to make an insurance signing, theres no way it wouldve been one of the most expensive Dman signings of the summer, which is exactly what Schneider was.

Please tell me youre kidding. Even if we had Bob Probert in his prime back on the Wings, any physical player in his right mind would risk a fight with Probert to get Zetterberg off the ice for however long. The majority of players that will take shots at guys like Zetterberg and Datsyuk arent going to be scared of a fight or two.

Just saw this on HFBoards.....Per TEAM 1040 in Vancouver: 99.9% Chance Scott Niedermayer is retiring

They have 48.25 WITH Niedermayer on the roster and 11 Forwards. Unless Selanne is willing to play for only 2M and Burke wants to have ZERO cap space left, then Selanne could be an option. If Scott, doesnt come back, then theyve got 42M, and theyd only have 6 Dmen signed, and 11 forwards. The interesting thing is, Anaheim ownership didnt want Burke to spend over 42M in the first place, so Itll be interesting to see if Burke's hands are tied and all he can do is sign a depth Dman to replace Niedermayer if he doesnt come back and a depth forward to replace Penner/Selanne. At this point, it wouldnt be shocking to see Burke forced into a position where he has to bring up Ryan AND sign one of the low-stock UFA Dmen left.

Thats basically a Bert for Penner deal...ouch

If Zetterberg isnt healthy this season, the Wings really are screwed. He better be able to play the majority of the season, or Hollands gonna have to bust out the first rounders and get ready to pay up for something that can at least replace half of what Zetterberg brings to this team.

I agree with the ratings. The Vintage is the best, and the Johnny Canuck jersey is pretty damn cool too. I really hope Vancouver ditches the cartoony orca. That thing sucks ass. The NHL needs more classic-looking jerseys, and the other too are just that. I REALLY hope they go back to the retro one...probably the most creative logo in the league.

I think an ECHL backup is a little harsh, but I definitely get the point. Giguere really needs good shutdown defenseman to be successful, in order to face as many shots as he can from the perimeter, and Pronger, Beauchemin, Niedermayer, and even O'Donnell to an extent are great shutdown Dmen, even if they are glorified more for their point production. I dont think anybody can name a starter in the NHL - or maybe even a backup for that matter - that is less flexible than Giguere. I mean, the guy is a wall, but under the system he plays and with the defenders he plays with, he benefits a ton. Itll be interesting to see how well he does given that Schneider has weak shutdown skills and Beauchemin or ODonnell will probably suffer having to play with Schneider after spending so much time with Niedermayer..

That dude looks more like a child pornographer than a hockey blogger ahh sorry about that..

Flyers fan....hence the non-stop "Selanne to Philly" rumors.

I dont think they are in bad shape. Theres no doubt that they could end up in the s***ter, but not likely.

Sorry, but Shanahan blew in the playoffs. Being centered by Datsyuk will have anybody scoring goals. And plus he blew in the playoffs.

It really is true, Detroit needs a North American somebody. Its not a Euro-bashing thing, its an identification thing. Zetterberg is my favorite player right now, but if he were North American, I would probably like him even more because there isnt that language/cultural barrier that really comes across in the media. On the ice, I couldnt care less, but off the ice is almost always as important. Even a guy like Sean Avery would do a ton for this club - hes a loud mouth AND hes dating Elisha Cuthbert. We need more guys like that here.

Hed be more valuable to the stars if he was playing up front. Their offense is brutal..