Heroes of Hockeytown

Well gee, I guess we ought to trade for this guy because he hit Doan that one time. Bon voyage, Stuie!

I'm with you. Any play that helps create a goal, even stuff that doesn't end up on the scoresheet -- like a breakout pass up ice or steal in the neutral zone that leads to a rush, a screen or even a pick that creates an opening for a goal -- is good enough for me. Except when it isn't. But hey, no one's perfect.

He had his moments -- the 2009 WCF, for example. But I'd just as well give any other Dman in the Wings' system a try instead. Costs less and probably has a higher ceiling than Lebda. Let it never be forgotten that he recorded a goal and an assist in his first two games in the NHL. You were great once Lebda, what happened?

I think the one big game has exaggerated how effective he was in the playoffs night-in and night-out by a little. But on the other hand, in restrospect, I was one of those guys giving him undue flack for his game this postseason. While his goals were down he and Pavel were hooking up for a lot of great plays. Normally Pavel is the playmaker and Mule is the finisher, and for whatever reason that was reversed in the playoffs and my brain didn't like that. Outside of the monster game he had a point every night, finished PPG, which isn't out of the ordinary for him considering that's about where he was at the last two playoff runs.

None of those guys are as talented as Modano. They might bust their asses but that doesn't mean they'll get more results.

Miller is a plug. He did good work but he's totally replaceable and expendable. Losing him is losing nothing.

They did last season in the playoffs, specifically on the bottom lines. Miller and Abdelkader each scored once and that was it. Bottom pairing Dmen and 4th liners inherently contribute the least to a team's success. I haven't really crunched the numbers but there are still shot-blocking Dmen out there, and a guy that can help make another scoring line like Modano would have more impact than a plugger on the 4th line.

Of course he's declining. Do you think the Wings would have any shot at all to get him if he wasn't at the end of his career? The Wings can't go out and get a great, All-Star caliber forward to center their third line; five years into the salary cap world, you have to get bargain players to fill out your roster, and Modano is a good value. If you can get 15 goals and 40ish points from your third line center? Fantastic, you're in business.

That would seem to help Hudler individually in terms of production rather than harm. It's hard to get into that top six when he needed to outplay a guy like Hossa to get there. Hossa is gone now and the guy in his place is, what, Bertuzzi? This is possibly a concern though. It might be the case that he puts Hudler on the third line in order to spread out the scoring depth a bit. Ultimately everyone will end up playing with everyone, and whichever lines click the best will be the go-to lines; so whatever happens as long as we get the best lines to help the team win, it works for me.

After just his rookie season I don't think it's at all fair to judge where he'll end up offensively, but a lot of players have had to work their way up from the 4th line on the Wings. Franzen, Cleary, Sammy, all showed promise on the 4th line before they got bumped up to scoring lines. With all the talent the Wings have on the top six, Abby is going to have to do work on the bottom lines to get better linemates to play with.

The Wings can sign all their players and Modano if they want, go over the cap by a little bit before the season starts, and then trade whoever they deem expendable.

I think Eaves (and his agent) are cognizant of his potential and are going to be gunning for a short term deal in the hopes of getting a big payday in a year or two. Doesn't want to end up like Sammy, making $1.2M while putting up 40 points annually.

Good point, I hadn't considered the prospect of a trade. They can sign both and go over the cap before the season starts and have time to deal one of them.

Snapshots has got an enormous roundup of reactions from around the league. Good stuff from guys like Stevie, Joey Kocur, and Shawn Burr:

If they are going to re-sign Eaves and Miller right now, and try to bring in Modano as well, that seems to push Ritola right out the door before he ever gets the opportunity to start with the big club. Can't say I like that very much.

For the top two lines, I agree. After struggling with injuries all season they came out in the playoffs and scored with ease so I'm not very concerned about their production, especially with Hudler back in the fold. The third line was not nearly as successful though, all but disappearing in the playoffs. All teams rely on those third and fourth line guys to come up with a big goal now and again and the Wings' bottom six couldn't deliver. Modano would transform a grinding-type third line into another scoring line straightaway; the expectation isn't that they might chip in every once in a while, but that they can be a scoring threat on a nightly basis.

No, Zetterberg holds it now for his 27 in 2008. Anyways, RIP Probie. There goes one tough SOB.

Some guy, can't remember his name, Hofstra, Sosa, Hoffa? It's on the tip of my tongue.

Homer and Bert will probably retire, and if Rafalski doesn't he sure won't be a six million dollar man anymore. There will be a lot of money coming off the books in the next couple years. Although Lidstrom is irreplaceable there's still a lot of exciting moves that may be made.

And who exactly do they have that's going to be the recipient of that freed up roster spot anyways? Krys Barch? Toby Petersen? Brian Sutherby? Gimme a break. It doesn't really seem like letting him go makes sense from a hockey standpoint or a financial one for the Stars.

I guess the main downside is they would be awarded one or two year deals, and then after that would become unrestricted free agents. It's possible this is how they want it, though, since they stand to have a lot to gain by performing in the short-term and cashing in long-term. In fact I bet they would reject any reasonable multi-year offer from Holland to avoid ending up in a Sammy-type situation.

It sure isn't like the old days where Detroit/Colorado/Dallas were guaranteed to be in the Finals every single year. As for Nashville, they might have a decent season, but a Cup contender they are not. Hornqvist is the only forward on their team with first line talent, and that's in a net-front role like Holmstrom. The rest of their forwards are 2nd-3rd line talent trying to make it as 1st-2nd liners. It's a credit to Barry Trotz that he manages to coach such a weak team into the playoffs most years, but it's no surprise that he's never won a playoff series with them.

You've gone and done it now. That typing you hear is the sound of eva putting the finishing touches on his magnus opus, the Kopecky Manifesto.

Tampa has a ton of work to do before they can be contenders again. Decent D corps, but not in the same zip code as the Wings' right now; questionable goaltending; but most of all no one is even signed at forward right now, and whoever they do sign isn't going to be very impressive. Despite Stamkos and St. Louis killing it last year (and Lecavalier being a lay about like always while collecting $8M) they still finished 23rd in the league in scoring.

Hell, he doesn't even scare me during the regular season. For whatever reason Hank dominates him every time they play, I don't think he scores so consistently on any other goalie.