YoungGuns1340

But even better with a guy like Datsyuk to set you up.

Hossa does. Stuart's doesn't kick in until the end of the 2nd year of his contract is up. Draper, Rafalski, and Cleary all have NTCs as well.

A few weeks ago, I think Neil could've been a possibility, but now with Helm and Leino having gotten their chance to prove that this team has depth out the ass up front, I don't think the Wings will get in a bidding war for any player in particular - and Neil's services would demand that. The only thing I can see, at this point, is a gritty Drake type who costs us next to nothing. And its probably gonna be random. Something like Dan Hinote for a 6th round pick or something.

True. He does. But you could just consider keeping Chelios around as our "deadline depth acquisition." Especially with this inane idea that Jason Smith would someone be anything more than a locker room presence on this team - and this is coming from a Smith fan.

Why? We have 9 NHL capable Dmen, 7 of which are playoff tested. If we add a guy that comes on the cheap, he won't be better than anyone in the top 6. And if we add a guy who is better than some of the guys in our top 6, he'll cost too much for it to be worth it. I'd rather keep our 2nd round pick, as even Dmen who cost a 2nd round pick aren't likely to be better than any of our top 5.

Possibly. But we don't really know what he can do in the playoffs. Trust me - I'm definitely a member of the "we never know what he'll do in the playoffs until hes given a chance" camp - but hes not exactly the greatest insurance policy.

Holland won't trade Filppula before the playoffs for the hell of it. The only way hes traded is if the Wings get an offer they can't refuse. Otherwise, theres nothing we're going to add thats significant enough to require us to move salary, and we definitely aren't going to be getting anything more valuable than Filppula would be in the playoffs via a pick, prospect, or tertiary player trade. I'm not a huge Filppula fan, but that has everything to do with his salary in relation to his production and performance. Salary notwithstanding, hes exactly the type of guy you cant have too many of going into the playoffs. I can't see the Wings realistically making a move to add another goalie or Dman, despite those being our primary and secondary weaknesses. At best, we'll add a 4th line veteran, and I wouldn't be surprised if its a name thats not even on the radar right now. But with that said, I'm going to live in a fantastical state of denial, and hope that we'll somehow find an upgrade in net.

Yup. He can reject it.

First of all, icing the best team possible is better than potential returns. You don't judge who to trade based on trade value when one player is significantly better than the other. I suppose we should keep Samuelsson then, and trade Zetterberg, because he'd get much better in return. Second of all, Hudler at $3M means hes a Red Wing. The Wings don't let him go for $3M. It would be nice if you tried using some logic. PS. I love how you think Filppula would only garner a 2nd round pick when Hal Gill got a 2nd and a 5th as a PK specialist making over $2M.

First of all, Franzen has no playmaking skill. If he did, he'd have more assists, and we probably wouldn't even be having this debate. Second of all, I love how you seem to think Helm might somehow be in Hudler's league, just because hes similar in size. That pretty much sums up the thinking on this board. Despite the fact that Hudler produces at a top line rate, Helm can probably catch up to him in offensive talent. The emphasis on Franzen vs. Hudler's size has become the single most overdone and overrated differentiation between the two guys.

I'm not opposed to trading Val, but he makes 3M, not 3.5M. The smarter choice would be to trade Stuart, who makes 750k more. The Wings didn't miss Stuart before the playoffs, and didnt miss him after. Its very possible that the way Stuart played in the playoffs is the best we'll ever see of him.

Agreed. I don't understand the illogic around here. It makes me question if people are focusing more on their beer burping contests or the actual game at hand. If you watch the game without any biases, its apparent that Hudler is a great offensive player. This is whats not rocket science.

If you honestly believe that, then you're dumb as a brick.

Let me know when St. Louis can be productive with 13.5 minutes a game.

How so? Florida is a playoff team right now, and LA is making their own little push. Adding Hudler would only make them better teams, which would push them higher in the standings. Its not like we're getting 09 picks here.

Take him to arbitration. And Boston is in a similar position with Kessel, Krejci, and Thomas all needing to be signed. Someone will make an offer to Kessel or Krejci before Hudler.

No one is saying that can't happen. And a GM would be smart to throw 4M at Hudler - the Wings can't match that and Hudler would be worth it with 2nd line minutes. But there are two things to consider there: 1) the Wings can take Hudler to arbitration, just as they did with Flip. Players slated for arbitration can't be given offer sheets, and GMs can negotiate with their protected RFAs until their arbitration date, which is set in the favorable month of August. 2) Hudler would be smart to sign a short-term deal, as regardless of where he is next year, hes likely to see more minutes with better linemates. Even in Detroit, the Wings will have to cut someone up front to make room for Hudler/Hossa. And as we've seen with the better RFAs, those offer-sheets usally come in the form of long-term deals.

Hudler, at best, will never be more than the 3rd best forward on this team - Hank and Datsyuk will be here throughout Hudler's peak and prime. Moreover, this is an analysis based on Detroit retaining Hossa and X player, the argument being for Hudler to be that X player. If Hossa and Hudler are the "chosen two", youre basically looking at Hudler being paired up with Hossa next year. Considering Hudler's playmaking/passing skills, there isn't a more ideal coupling than Hossa and Hudler. With the focus on the Eurotwins being primary, and the primary target on the 2nd line being Hossa, Hudler would flourish, and his value/production ratio if Hudler were to sign a reasonable 1-2 year deal at 2.5-3M per would be absolutely phenomenal, which is precisely the sort of thing the Wings need until Lidstrom's salary comes off the books. To quell your fears about size and grit, GMR, just think: Hudler @ 2.8M + Neil @ 1.2M > Franzen @ 4M

Marty St. Louis was also waived in his early career cause he was too small. Same with Steve Sullivan -waived because he was "too small." Yet both these guys will go down as having twice the careers that Franzen ever did. Ironically, both also had decent production at a young age, but still not even as good as Hudler. Such is the irony of small players in the NHL. Maybe we should learn a little lesson from history. Heres some graphic evidence of what I mean: Hudler is 25. At 24/25, St. Louis put up 18 points in 56 games, and spent a fair amount of time in the AHL that year. At 25/26, St. Louis put up 40 points in 78 games - 5 points fewer than Hudler has now in 23 more games being 1 year older than Hudler is now. At 26/27, St. Louis put up 35 points in 53 games - 10 points fewer than Hudler has now in 2 fewer games, despite being 2 years older at the time. It wasn't until St. Louis was 27/28 that he put up 70 points in 82 games. Hudler is currently on pace for 67 points in an 82 game span. So essentially, Hudler is where St. Louis was 3 years sooner. During St. Louis 70 point campaign, he was seeing 19:31 in ice time nonetheless. At Hudler's scoring rate this year, with the ice time St. Louis was getting when he scored 70 points, Hudler would ended this season with 97 points. And this may be my all time favorite statistic: Martin St. Louis scored 94 points in 2003-2004, enough to win him the Art Ross that year. At the time, St. Louis played 1689 minutes, meaning he scored at a rate of one point per every 17.9 minutes. Hudlers scoring rate? 1 point per every 16.4 minutes. Had Hudler been in St. Louis shoes, playing 19:31 per game in Tampa, he could've hypothetically put up 102 points- as a 25 year old, no less. Not as a 29 year old in the midst of his prime. Now, I'm not saying we should bank on hypotheticals. But what I am saying is St. Louis spent the majority of his years being written off because hes small, which seems to be the thing that people cant get past on this board when discussing Hudler. Like it or not, Hudler has loads of offensive talent that could put him in the elite category if given the chance, just as the case was with St. Louis, once he finally got his chance. St. Louis went undrafted and was signed and then waived by the Calgary Flames. I wonder if the Flames would like St. Louis on their team now? But I'm sure the Wings will find out how that feels if/when they let Hudler go to a team that gives him 16-18 minutes a game and 85 points on the season. Oh, and one more thing. Because I know the "well theres no way to know if he'll still put up good numbers with more minutes" argument is going to come up. With his current ice time, Hudler scores at a rate of 67 points per season. In games with 15+ minutes, Hudler scores at a rate of 70 points per season. In games with 16+ minutes, Hudler scores at a rate of 73 points per season.

f*** Mason. He should be out tonight, to make up for the way he scammed out of punishment for not going to the Young Stars game. Stupid double-standard.

He would still be a nobody if he were retained by the Wings. Quincey gets more PP time than any of Kronwall, Datsyuk, Zetterberg, and Hossa. Im not trying to take anything away from Quincey - I liked him when he was here - but he'd be lucky to see ANY PP time on this team, or most teams. He certainly wouldn't be a first PP unit fixture on almost any other team in the league. Hes literally in the most ideal position he could be in across the league.

Franzen doesn't have anywhere near the skill that Hudler does. As Samuelsson said last night, after mentioning the big three, "Hudler is right up there." Franzen has a nice shot and can stand in front of the net. But Hudler's shot is just as good, yet he can make passes and distribute the puck second to only Datsyuk. The thing that people forget is that the Red Wings have been running on all cylinders for years having only Homer as the true net front presence. Whats been their MO is to have guys like Hudler on the roster, not a trio of garbage goal scorers. They'd be just fine retaining Homer and Cleary for that role, and then bringing along a guy like Abdelkader in that same mold for the future. And this argument isn't even touching on the contracts each respective player will pursue. Franzen is 30 with only 1.5 good seasons under his belt. He isn't going to get any better than he is now, considering he plays with great linemates, on a great PP, and gets good ice time. Hudler, on the other hand, could have better regular linemates, more ice time, and at 25, has yet to reach his peak. It wouldn't make sense for Hudler to go for a long-term contract right now. What would make sense for Hudler is to make the Red Wings an offer they can't refuse by offering to play for less money for a year or two. I've ran the numbers, and the Wings are going to have to cut one of Hudler, Filppula, or Franzen lose. If Franzen asks for 4, Filppula's making 3, and Hudler accepts 2.5 for a year or two, then hes essentially forcing the Wings to sign him at that value and move someone else. That only ensures Hudler a greater role on the team and more ice time, which he's likely to make use of. 70 or 80 points is not out of the realm of reality for a guy like Hudler once he gets a regular 2nd line role, and if he posts a 60 point season, followed by a 70-80 point season, someone will come calling with a 5M offer for a 26/27 year old who has shown great development and maintained his skill, despite his size. No, signing Hudler to a 1 or 2 year deal doesn't solidify our future as much as a longer deal would, but considering this is based n the assumption that Hossa stays for 6M a year, then the Wings shouldnt be too concerned about retaining half their forward unit for years to come.

Haha "Someone pass Carey a towel" *crash* "Aww come on. You know not to throw it glove side. Throw it into his chest, build up his confidence." Haha ******* hilarious.

With the Eurotwins united, Stuart and Kronwall separated, and the youngsters in Helm and Leino really running and gunning out there, its hard to want these guys back. But when they do, I wouldn't be against scratching Malts and Kopecky and keeping Helm and Leino up if we can. At the very least, scratch Kopecky and keep Helm in the regular rotation. Helm had 5 hits tonight. And keep Kronwall with Lidstrom when Stuart returns.

Haha....the Larry chant. Priceless.