Dabura

I'm considering turning what would, I assure you, be several thoughtful replies (to plopster, Dangler et al.) into a new, uber-thoughtful thread.

Holland has already pretty much said he's not especially interested in sandpaper. I think at most we'll get a guy like Doan or someone like Prust. Parise is definitely the priority, though. Ideally, we somehow get Corey Perry in addition. I really feel he'd be huge for us in more than one department - grit being one of them. (I think I'm gonna try and mention Perry in every post I make from now until July 1.) (Ha, no.)

His wife's battling cancer. Best wishes to the Nills.

Nick returns. Stuart walks. Quincey re-ups. Hudler walks, Nyquist takes his spot in the top 6. We don't sign Ryan Suter. Instead, we get Dennis Wideman, pair him with Kronwall. He's Stuart's replacement. We do sign Zach Parise. He plays on a line with Datsyuk and Nyquist. Flip and Franzen flank Zetterberg on the second (or first, whatever) scoring line. Helm centers Bertuzzi and Cleary on the third line. Holmer retires. {Miller - Abdelkader - Eaves} is our fourth unit. Sounds sort of realistic, right? Unfortunately, I think even this much is the moon for Ken Holland. But I can't bring myself to describe a lineup with a retained Jiri Hudler.

Realistically, it's what we need.

We need more than scoring depth. We need a couple big guns. (This being the realist thread and all....)

They absolutely do. And I love it. The Blues, on the other hand...well, it remains to be seen how much heart and soul they have. My guess is not quite as much (see, e.g., the lackluster finish to their regular season). I think that could very well be the deciding factor here. Who wants it more? (Official slogan of The Parity Era, I guess.)

I love how he thinks we're all idiots.

On the top-6 front - if we don't get Parise, we're in trouble. Because, well, how the hell do we get an elite goal-scorer AND a legitimate power forward via trading? Unless there are some real UFA gems I'm overlooking...?

Yeah, at the very least, this is pretty much the WCF.

Yup, we're almost certainly stuck with Quincey.

I wish we hadn't picked up Quincey.

The benefit in moving him is two-fold: 1) we'd get something in return (which is why you move people), 2) we'd save ourselves from having to use him on the second or third pairing. Like I said, I don't like him with anyone but Nick; his performance seems to drop considerably if he's not paired with #5. And I like Wideman.

(I'm bored. Tolerate me.)

Flash-sideways.

Funny, I was thinking the same thing to myself yesterday. "Trotz...pretty classy." Actually, if memory serves, I think I woke up with that thought in my head.

So let's say we get Suter. What do we do with White? I don't like him with anyone but Nick. Maybe we could package him with Flip and Franzen and deal the trio to the Ducks in exchange for Perry. (I have no shame.) Of course, one of the really nice things about White is he's right-handed...whereas everyone else on our blue line is not. Enter, perhaps, Dennis Wideman?

Winner takes the Cup, IMO.

Parise Perry Doan

Dude, lighten up.

So say Perry costs Flip, Franzen, a fourth-liner/prospect...and I'll throw in a draft pick, because Perry's that good, and that important to the Ducks, and Holland really should be that interested in him, IMHO. And then say we also get Parise. Parise - Datsyuk - Bertuzzi Cleary/Nyquist - Zetterberg - Perry I almost feel like I'm trolling.

As for Franzen - like I said, he's not entirely unmovable. I realize everyone and his mom feels that no one in his right mind would ever take him on, but I really don't think that's so. There are teams who could use someone like him. Could we get a comparable player in return? I dunno. But the thing with him is, if he starts tanking, he may very well be unmovable in a couple seasons. In which case The Powers That Be would look back in anger and remorse, asking, "Why didn't we even consider moving this lazy sonsabitch?" Mind you, I don't seem him going anywhere. So I do hope he does great things for us. (In other words, I don't have a Franzen voodoo doll. He has the potential to be elite.)

I agree about Nyquist, no way Holland moves him. Flip is, I think, a possibility. The bottom six guys I mentioned, they're good guys, but they're also pretty expendable. Not that I think they'd fetch a whole lot - unless, perhaps, packaged along with a bigger name or two....

True story.

Half the guys on this team, and the head coach, and maybe even the GM (memory's a little hazy) stopped just short of calling Helm the heart of this team. Guy's not going anywhere anytime soon, especially considering what happened to him. EDIT: Hossa was playing hurt, and he didn't exactly have a lot of time to learn the system.