Heaton

Good deal, we need to keep guys like Lilja around. The kicker of the attitude about this signing is funny, if Holland lets Lilja go and we let Quincey take his spot or some other veteran FA and plays the exact same way, people would sing their praises. It's a grass is greener type of situation, if the kids were able to do everything Lilja does at his level or higher, he wouldn't be re-signed. After Lilja's 3 seasons, some team would've gave him at least a 2m contract, he's not a great defensemen or even a very good defensemen. There's no love fest, there's just the realization that Lilja isn't as bad as some people make him out to be.

Kenny can start putting numbers on paper tomorrow for Franzen and Zetterberg. I'd guess Zetterberg gets signed before training camp and Franzen later in the year.

I'm sure Jesper would've been as well if it went that far again.

He traded for and tried to sign Bertuzzi.

If management isn't sold on Howard for this year for some reason I'd take Emery, I think he's the best most affordable goalie out there.

That's Ericsson.

The only guys I'd want off that are Clarkson and Neil. Carcillo is too much of a basket case, Babcock would put up for his act for about 1 shift.

Go get some A1, the Coyotes will make the playoffs next year.

Grand Rapids needs defensemen too.

Chelios is not an every day defensemen anymore and that's even more painfully obvious how Holland keeps saying that he'll have to talk to Chelios' role on the team to see if he's cool with it (which he is, he's already stated that). So Chelios is automatically the #7 defensemen. To me, that means that Lebda will probably stay as the #5 and Lilja will either be the #4 or #6 based on whether or not Stuart is re-signed. If that's the case, I wouldn't be shocked to see Meech in an extended role, Holland does seem to really like him. Why is it that Quincey goes from being one of the first call ups to an afterthought? Personally, I don't think he's developed as the Wings brass thought he would in the AHL and perhaps it's to the point where they feel he may not even be worth it. To give the generic conversation stopper type of answer, I don't think I'm inclined to really question the way the Wings decide to bring up these defensemen, I'm fine with believing in their plan and since it's seem to work with the a lot of the others. It's a lame, generic opinion but with the way the Wings have infused Filppula, Hudler, Kronwall, Kopecky, Helm ect... into the lineup I don't see a disaster waiting to happen if we're not steadfast in getting these young guys as much icetime as possible right now. As for the #4 defensemen circus, it's easier said than done. Holland has said he has a plan for what each position is worth, do we want to re-sign Stuart for 4m? 4.5m? Is he better than Kronwall? Because it sends the wrong message when we're signing our #4 guy for more than our #3 guy is making. There's more important players to worry about after this upcoming season so as many have mentioned there's no benefit in spending valuable cap space and then perhaps not having the money to re-sign someone else. It's frustrating for sure, but is there really a reason to worry? I don't believe so.

Based on the past two seasons the odds of Lilja starting off on the 2nd pairing is pretty slim.

I know that for the fans the season is just a mere formality and the thought process is what does it hurt to give these kids the icetime that Lilja or Chelios would get to give them the experience and look needed to see what they have but I think for a team like Detroit that's the wrong idea. The Red Wings thrive on consistency and the ability to try and play the same way every game. It's a good idea in theory to just rotate rookies in the lineup because of how much of a machine the Wings usually are but I think the process of going game in and game out of the type of lineup that gives them the best chance to win every game. Sure giving Quincey 10 minutes a game for about 20 games isn't going to kill anything but I think the method the Wings use to bring along players is pretty damn good. All these kids have to do is beat out Lilja, Chelios or Meech and the spot is theirs. Keeping a guy like Lilja around is beneficial to the stability of the team, if it wasn't going to be Lilja it was going to be someone else. The Wings weren't going to carry 3 green defensemen just because there's a logjam there, they'll use the same process that has resulted in many a superstar.

I don't know, how many teams have the cap space, are willing to spend that cap space and have the players to trade along with that to get a deal done without gutting their own team?

This should go in the rumor section.

You know that commercial that says "The Cup Changes Everything"? In this case it's the Cap that changes everything.

I don't think Jason Smith is the answer since he isn't capable of playing the minutes Stuart was but I don't think you watched Mark Streit that much last year. Streit is strictly a PP specialist... we have 3 of those already. Streit played on the PK, but as a forward. Streit may work in our system but we need a guy like Stuart who has offensive flair but strength is on defense. If we lose both Stuart and Lilja I don't think we want to risk having Lidstrom and Chelios be our top guys minute wise for the PK all season long. Even if we re-sign Lilja I don't want Chelios to be in the top 3.

I sent this in: I'm not exactly sure how you can justify saying Brian Burke is the best GM for 2007-2008 when his moves almost single-handedly dashed any hopes of the Ducks having any success in the playoffs. Bertuzzi and Schneider ended up being flops in free agency and they also spelled the end for Andy MacDonald who is more important than either of those players. Dustin Penner is a better player than Bertuzzi is, yet Burke felt the need to let him go and sign a has been for virtually the same contract? Burke may have done more damage than good for the future. The Cup was nice but they lost two important pieces of their cup run for two players who won't be around longer than 3 years. MacDonald and Penner could've been around for another decade. The circus that was waiting around for Niedermayer to come back ended up being a major distraction and in the end costed the team a lot of valuable chemistry and focus. The best GM of 2007-2008 is either Ken Holland or George McPhee. The Ducks season started on a bad note and ended on one, I don't understand the praise.

I post here too.

http://redwings.nhl.com/team/app/?service=...ge&id=20549

Defense is not exclusive to the defensive zone or penalty killing. If it were, the voters would always award the forward who had the most time killing penalties. It's splitting hairs and while I would've been fine with Zetterberg winning, just because Zetterberg may be better killing 5 on 3's doesn't mean he was consistently better defensively all season than Datsyuk or vice versa.

That's the way I see it as well.

We lost our offensive assistant coach, we should be looking at someone who specializes in that.

Holland is only going to sign him for as long as his contract is.

20? Ozzie did an amazing job in the playoffs but I really don't think that is going to translate into him playing 60+ games next season. I could see Ozzie playing 50 and Howard playing 30 unless Howard plays fantastic but even though Osgood is fairly durable I just can't imagine him getting workhorse like starts.

Well yeah, he still has a year left on his contract.