Dabura

Case in point.

What's to stop Chris Chelios?

Datsyuk Thornton Zetterberg Weiss *maniacal laughter*

Joe Thornton is an insanely good hockey player. For the record. Also for the record: Steve Yzerman was a playoff choker who would obviously never lead his team to ultimate glory. Until he did. And then he did it again the very next year. And then he did it again four years later. And now he's a legend.

The crazy thing is we don't even know how good DeKeyser really is, since he spent most of last season - his first full season with the Wings - dragging Quincey around. His underlying numbers suggest he's already our second best defenseman, pound-for-pound, and that's with Quincey on his back.

I'd actually meant to mention that it'd concern me even on a good one-year deal. (FWIW, he's rumored to be looking for two years but may be open to just one.) I'd worry about Boyle's endurance over a full season as a Red Wing. We saw DeKeyser get hurt in that kind of situation. We saw the Ducks hammer Doughty behind his net every chance they got in the second round. It'd be much less of a concern if our goalie could handle the puck (like, I dunno, PETR MRAZEK) and we were great at breaking out of our zone (like, I dunno, A GOOD TEAM). But, all things considered? I'd be thrilled to have the guy on our team. I believe that if we have a healthy Zetterberg, a healthy Datsyuk (dude has not been close to fully healthy for some time now, regardless of what he says), a healthy Ericsson, and Boyle playing in place of one of our bottom-three defensemen, we take the Bruins to seven games and quite possibly take the series and maybe even the Wales Trophy. (Not the Cup, tho. We wouldn't stand a chance against the Kings. Sorry.) Boyle means we actually have a power play to speak of. Boyle means some of our shots from the point actually hit the net. Boyle means we move the puck much better and have an honest-to-goodness transition game and we spend less time in our zone and we score more goals. And if none of that actually comes to fruition? If we sign him and he never really delivers? That's Opportunity for a kid, and we have Dan Boyle on the third pairing or something. I could live with that.

Kronwall Ericsson Campbell Gilbert DeKeyser Smith mwahahaha

Ah, sorry!

I wouldn't be happy with Michalek for Tatar. The biggest concern is he's got wonky knees, which eliminates his greatest asset - his North-South speed. Additionally, he doesn't play an especially physical game; he's always played alongside Spezza (Can he produce when he's not slotted next to a supremely talented 1C like Spezza?), he's injury-prone; his best years are probably behind him (though, in fairness, he's coming off his second-best season as a Senator, in terms of points); and he lacks Tatar's dynamic, game-changing ability. Plus, Tatar would become a Senator, so we'd be seeing a whole lot of him for years to come. And you just know he'd haunt us. I like Cammalleri and Moulson, but don't we have enough veterans? Z and D and Franzen and Weiss - four of our top six forwards are at least 30 years old and injury-prone and slowing down, which would be completely unacceptable if Z and D weren't every bit as good as they are.

Not sure if serious. It's probably a bad idea (defensive shortcomings), but I wasn't putting much thought into the actual line combinations. The point was that we'd have a number of big bodies in the mix. Slightly more realistic: Zetterberg Datsyuk Jurco Franzen Weiss Wheeler Pouliot Sheahan Nyquist Miller Helm Abdelkader

The big concern with Boyle is the deathtrapezoid effect (a big reason why "big and mobile" is the new school), which, in our case, is compounded by our goalie being a terrible, terrible puckhandler. While I'm pro-Boyle, I could see him succumbing to death-by-F1.

Campbell would be a monster add.

All depends on where Cheveldayoff wants to go with the team. Are they going to push for the playoffs and possibly legitimate contention in the here and now, or does he move a couple core players to get some exceptional young players that might make for a Realgud Jets team several years from now (call it Team Trouba). If they want to go for it now, I don't think we're really in the discussion for any of their players. But if they want young assets? Then I think we have a shot at any of their big names. FWIW, they lack depth at center and LW.

I'm not overly concerned about our lack of size up front. Suppose we sign Pouliot and trade, I dunno, Tatar and a pick and a prospect for Blake Wheeler. In theory, we could have... Zetterberg Datsyuk Mantha Franzen Weiss Wheeler Pouliot Sheahan Nyquist Abdelkader Helm Jurco We also have Campbell, Nastasiuk, Athanasiou, and Nosek in the pipeline, and we might add, say, Brendan Perlini at the draft. Rosterbation!

I bet he ends up back in Ottawa.

TBH, I love the idea of Cleary as a full-time Griffin.

Maybe we're hot for Connor McDavid.

Rumor has it the Habs are open to moving 24-year-old Swedish defenseman Magnus Nygren. (Link) What Hockey's Future has to say about Nygren: http://www.hockeysfuture.com/prospects/magnus_nygren/ Color me interested. Would they be interested in...Jordin Tootoo?

I'm ok with this if he plays for free and doesn't play.

Would rather have McGrattan. Then we could have Boring Mitch Callahan.

Could the Winnipeg Jets make a blockbuster deal? [Arctic Ice Hockey] i want i want i want i want i want i want i want

Aren't they really high on him?

I wasn't saying we should move Z. I was saying I'd like to see Z and Berglund as linemates on the Wings. Though, while we're on the subject, I have a feeling they'd be pretty ok with Zetterberg for Shattenkirk. I like Berglund a lot. Typically, if I say I like a certain player, I've got a mental list of at least a dozen solid reasons why I'd like him on the Wings. Not so with Berglund. It's mostly just "a feeling." FWIW, there's some fancy stats informing that feeling, but I'm choosing to embrace one of two diametrically opposed conclusions that one could draw from some of the underlying numbers in question, and I'm doing so based on a fuzzy notion that isn't quantifiable in terms of any established metric. (I don't think 3C on the Blues is the optimal spot for him. I believe he's better suited for our team and style and systems, given the right linemates and usage and whatnot.) You're right that he probably wouldn't cost much at all, but I interpet the Berglund+Rattie+something for Spezza talk as an indication that we'd probably have to overpay for him, simply because they might be able to get Jason Spezza for him (I believe they might be able to), and if so, we'd have to offer something better than Jason Spezza, which would mean "paying out the ass" for him. I know it doesn't make sense. I know calling him defensively responsible would make a lot of Blues fans s*** their pants. But Gaborik to LA had everyone scratching their heads. Granted, Team Lombardi had really done their homework. I don't have those resources; I'm not a GM. But if you put a gun to my head and said HONORS THESIS ABOUT THE WONDERS OF PATRIK BERGLUND, I could probably make a compelling case. Also, he's Swedish.

We should be kicking the tires all up and down that Jets team. Kane, Wheeler, Byfuglien, Little, Ladd, Enstrom, Bogosian, Trouba - dear Goc, how do they have all that talent and not even make the playoffs???

Evander Kane may be on the market Like said a couple weeks ago, kid is a gem. His production thus far puts him where Patrick Kane was at his age, and Patrick Kane has always been surrounded by quality players, whereas Evander Kane has played with plugs. I don't care about his attitude or whatever. Patrick Kane's a ****** nozzle but he's white and he plays for an elite team and he's, like, totally reformed. (SHOWTIME!) As for the Oilers...pass on all their forwards, unless they're thinking about moving Hall or RNH. I love Klefbom and Nurse.