Aussie_Wing

How underrated is Nyquist? It's insane. Back to back finallist for Hobey Baker, starts off with a bang with the Griffins, the kid will be at worst a third line winger.

Zetterberg - Datsyuk - Cleary/FA Franzen - Filppula - Tatar Nyquist - Jarnkrok - Pulkkinen Abdelkader - Helm - Mursak Incredible.

Couple of very interesting things to be found in this article... My link Geez Ericsson, how good do you think you are mate? You have size but don't use it, you skate well but don't really utilise it. You don't have great hockey sense which results in too many turnovers. As for Draper, I know everything in our past suggests Holland will re-sign him for one more year, but is it time we start making the tough call, without emotions playing a part?

Now that I completely agree with. To me we shouldve had Mursak up all season; playing Modano was a waste of time when it couldve been better spent on getting Mursak more quickly up to speed.

You obviously didn't read eva's initial post. If you did, then I pity the fool. Maybe if he were a better player, he'd get these promotions.

Filppula 49 playoff points in 86 games. (.057 PPG) Hudler 31 playoff points in 61 games. (0.50 PPG) Just saying.

Worst. Signing. Ever.

I'd like Tomas Fleischmann. Filppula - Datsyuk - Franzen Fleischmann - Zetterberg - Cleary Bertuzzi - Abdelkader - Holmstrom Eaves - Helm - Mursak

You all know what's going to happen though. It'll come to our pick and we'll draft some small but highly skilled guy. Just wouldn't the same if it didn't go down like that! I cannot fault the majority of our recent picks as I think we've got some absolute gems in our pipeline: Mursak, Tatar, Pulu, Gus, Jarnkrok, Smith.

Martin Hanzal is a GUN and would be worth way more than we could ever give them. You know one of these years he's going to explode offensively and that is on top of one heck of a defensive game and excellent faceoff skills. He's one of the most underrated players in the game, one of the best 2 way players for sure.

As I have said a MILLION TIMES now, next season is the 'suck it up' season, as we have final seasons of Bertuzzi, Rafalski and Holmstrom. The following season we see Tatar, maybe Jarnkrok, maybe Pulkkinen, Lidstrom likely retires and we spend big in free agency. As far as I can see, this season there's not a lot of changes we can make. Minor changes such as bringing in Mursak and maybe Emmerton will help, but on top of that, what more can we do/would you like to see?

Nah I've decided I'm going for the Bruins. Not that I have one, but if I did, they've been my '2nd' team for a while now. I love Nathan Horton and Milan Lucic. Obviously I won't be fussed if Tampa wins of course, I'd just prefer to see the Bruins advance.

What the heck?!?! That's awful.

You were awesome Jimmy. Absolutely stellar play by you. Got way more faith in our goaltending going forward than I did just a month ago.

What would you change? The way I see it, we 'suck it up' for one more season, then when Bert, Homer and Rafalski are gone, that's when we see noticable changes, more youth, some FA signings. With that line-up, roughly $7 mil. Spend as you please.

Filppula - Datsyuk - Holmstrom Franzen - Zetterberg - Bertuzzi Cleary - Helm - Eaves Abdelkader - Emmerton - Mursak (Axelsson/Miller) Lidstrom - Ericsson Kronwall - Kindl Stuart - Rafalski (Salei, Pyett, I don't care) Howard Osgood/Larsson

Filppula won't be moved, as he can play anywhere. 1st line wing alongside Dats (this needs to happen full time), can centre the 2nd line and allow Dats and Hank to play together, and he can even centre the 3rd. He is extremely flexible, is great defensively and is still young. Filppula wasn't playing with Hossa and Toews too, but anyway...

I remember way back when Kings fans were saying he was as good as Zetterberg. The guy lacks heart, not surprised to see him go this route.

You know what, I really like Wiz. He gets bagged a bit for his defence, and yet I saw a lot of him this season (was in my fantasy team) and I saw few signs of him being poor defensively. He had 30 points in 43 games with Montreal, was a +4, and had 16 PPP. I'd love him on the Wings, I really would.

He really is the heart of the team. The amount of times he carries the team on his back is unbelievable. The guy is an amazing player, just a joy to watch, thankfully I support the DRW so I can see him night in, night out.

That's my dream too. Imagine having him in this team? Freaking insane!!

Are you kidding me? Eaves was very good in the playoffs and was one of our most consistent players against SJ. He worked his backside off every shift. Honestly, you should flip your assessments of Eaves and Miller THEN you'd make sense. Mursak, Tatar, Jarnkrok, Nyquist, Pulkkinen, Smith. Exciting times ahead!!

VAN/SJS: 4-2 BOS/TBL: 4-2

Hudler needs to go. He’s earning near $3mil and yet you can’t rely on him to score goals, you can’t rely on him to play strong defence; he just doesn’t fit on this team. I like him, and I’ve been one of his biggest fans over the journey, but I’m just not convinced he’s a right fit in Detroit. Send him to any team willing to have him. It’s always disappointing to let go a guy capable of putting up 50 points but he’s never going to gain enough trust by Babcock to make his salary worthwhile. Draper should retire. He’s $1.5mil comes off the books which is excellent, but I get the feeling he’ll want to hang around for another year, especially if Osgood does too. All reports are that Osgood wants back for another year which makes me nervous that Draper will too. We need to get a little bit younger, here is a start. Modano obviously won’t be back. That was a major failed experiment, not that I didn’t say that it would happen... Not fussed about Drew Miller. I wouldn't mind having him back, but only as a 12th/13th forward, and obviously very cheap. I'd be interested to see what Dick Axelsson could bring to the table, he could be a wildcard, but I wouldn't be counting on it. Filppula needs to play permanently with Datsyuk. They click, it’s that simple. I get that we want to spread out the wealth, and I know that there’s always the temptation of playing Hank with Dats and trying to reunite that chemistry, but I think to maximise Filppula’s potential you make this pairing happen. Plus it’ll bring out the best in Dats knowing he’s got some speed and puck handling skills alongside. Have to make re-signing Patrick eaves a priority. He was superb all season and IMO was a real unsung hero against San Jose. Ideally something like 2 years, $2.2 million. Eaves is Detroit kind of guy and has a real will to win. Unfortunately another season of Rafalski, Holmstrom and, to a lesser extent, Bertuzzi, awaits. It’d be awesome to move Rafalski and his massive contract but that won’t happen. Here’s my ideal line-up next season: Filppula – Datsyuk – Holmstrom (shudder at Holmstrom, but where else can you put him?) Bertuzzi – Zetterberg – Franzen Eaves – Helm – Cleary Abdelkader – Emmerton - Mursak I think Helm's ready to centre the 3rd line. Cory Emmerton comes in and plays 4th line centre, well either he or Abdelkader. Mursak would ideally fit on that Eaves and Helm line to create insane speed and energy, but as a rookie he'll probably start on the 4th line.