Mighty Wings

WTF??? Brendan Smith. I'm sorry Kenny you blew it....again BRENDAN SMITH St. Michael’s • OPJHL 6'1.25", 170 lbs. Defense, shoots left Born: February 8, 1989 in Toronto, Ontario Final Ranking: 68 • Mid-Term Ranking: 157 • North American Skater Central Scouting Report: A skilled defenseman with good puck skills... has good mobility and a good skating stride... able to join the rush well and is creative with the puck… needs to make better decisions with the puck and move it quicker... needs to improve the consistency of his physical play.

Petrecki scouting reports: The TSN Insider's Forecast: Scouts agree on so little in general, but this is pretty much unanimous: Nick Petrecki is the most physical defenceman available in the draft. If there were an award for best bodychecker and most aggressive play, Petrecki would likely win it. "He's mean, he hits to hurt and he has a bomb for a shot," said one scout. But some question his decision making with the puck and like Keaton Ellerby, it's possible he could slip a little on that basis. Either way, he should be a first-rounder and odds are he's taken between 10 and 20. Petrecki will attend Boston College in the fall. From NHL Central Scouting: A stay-at-home defenseman with excellent speed and lateral quickness. Has a strong physical presence on the ice with the ability to make the big hit. Is quick to the puck and makes hard and accurate passes Needs to improve the consistency of his decision-making and discipline. From ISS: Does everything hard - passes, shooting, finishing checks. Has good positioning vs the rush, does a nice job of taking away the middle of the ice. He shoots the puck like a pro via a bullet wrist shot and gets his shot through. He as well displays general nastiness that is indeed impressive and as a result it allows him to gain extra space.

Best player available, genius

YESSSSS, KENNY PLEASE TAKE THE BEST PLAYER AVAILABLE IN PETRECKI

No excuse for kenny to take Hjalmarsson or Joakim Andersson now. He's gotta go BPA right here.

Yeah Petrecki otherwise Tommy Cross would be almost as good.

YES!!!! only 3 more to go, quite a few good ones left.

Quality players still left on the board: Petrecki Tommy Cross Mclean Aliu If we end up with one of these guys I'll be excited.

Wow. Espo is still around. Not sure if the wings should take him, but another guy I really think they should get is Brett Mclean.

Overpayment by the leafs. They did get a #1 goaltender, but the sharks also got rid of a bad contract in Mark Bell. I think the sharks may not be done just yet.

I'd love to see the TSN mock come to fruition. Here's what NHL central scouting says about Tommy Cross:

I'm hoping we take one of these two: Max Pacioretty Position: Winger Shoots: Left Date of Birth: November 20, 1988 Height: 6’-1.5†Weight: 203 LBS 06-07 League: USHL 06-07 Team: Sioux City Stats: 60 GP 21 G 42 A 63 PTS Strengths: Max is a large body that likes to play a physical brand of hockey. His skating is fluid and while I wouldn’t consider him a burner he does have more than one gear. The big Connecticut native has nice hands and a cannon of a shot that he uses early and often. His playmaking skills are a bit underrated as he possesses good on ice vision and anticipation. Weakness: Consistency is an area he has struggled with as well as defensive support. Driving back defensivly into his own zone is not really a part of his game right now but if he added that kind of dimension he would be a hot commodity come June 22nd. Max could also improve his skating and physical play with a little work on his leg strength as he will find it increasingly difficult to play the way he did this past season in Sioux City at the next level when U. of M.’s season starts. NHL Potential: Top two line scoring winger. Boom or Bust Potential: Med Risk, Med Reward. It would not be a stretch to see Max rounding out his game into a Brian Rolston type of NHL forward. Extra Note: Max was named rookie of the year in the USHL this past season and has committed to the University of Michigan for the fall. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- T.J. Brennan Position: Defender Shoots: Left Date of Birth: February 10, 1989 Height: 6’-0.25†Weight: 204 LBS 06-07 League: QMJHL 06-07 Team: St. John’s Stats: 68 GP 16 G 25 A 41 PTS Strengths: T.J. is a very good skater with good mobility, he is an offensive defender but he is also very positionally sound in his own end which couldn’t be said earlier in the year. This shows that he is also a quick study and listens to his coaches. Brennan has a heavy point shot that he uses on the PP and also possesses good passing abilities. T.J. is a tough kid who does not back away from the extracurricular activities. Weakness: His hockey sense is not great but he does have good defensive awareness. He is very raw and almost an unknown quantity. He is still very early in his development and T.J. could go along way and become a great defender. NHL Potential: Top 6 defensive defender with some offensive upside. Boom or Bust Potential: High risk, high reward. T.J. is really not known what his potential could be as he has improved so much from last October to this April already. Extra Note: Not drafted by a CHL team, Brennan was signed as a FA by St. John’s and I bet there are a few OHL teams kicking their own butts about that one. QMJHL Rookie of the year winner.

http://www.nypost.com/seven/06102007/sport...ooks.htm?page=2

found a couple of good websites for NHL draft geeks out there: NHL media guide (takes a min or two to load) http://www.freewebs.com/cupscout/

How???? Revenues were $2.1 bil for this season (06-07) and bettman even said a few times recently, that the league revenues were going to rise 6-7%. a 6% increase would give you $2.2 bil in revenues putting the cap at $46.4 mil a 7% increase would give u $2.25 bil in revenues putting the cap at $47.5 mil The article by brooks suggests that NHLPA is planning to exercise its right under the CBA to request that a full 5% bump is built into next season's cap. If you factor that in with the 7% increase, you're looking at a cap of $49.5 mil at the most.

I wonder who shot this video????

until the board of governors approve it, all this will just be pure talk.

Wow. Sucks for us as it drove up schneider's asking price. I don't see how he's not convinced that he'll get $3.5 - 4Mil now.

MLIVE.com, Ansar Khan. DETROIT -- Detroit Red Wings general manager Ken Holland expressed mixed emotions Thursday, two days after his team's playoff run ended with a loss to Anaheim in Game 6 of the Western Conference finals. He lamented a lost opportunity but was proud of the team for overcoming many obstacles to advance to the NHL's final four. And he's optimistic about the future. "We got a lot to be excited about going forward,'' Holland said. "A lot of the team is under contract and half the team is under 30.'' Holland will soon begin shaping next season's roster, which, to a large extent, is already in place. The Wings have 17 players signed for 2007-08 -- 16 from their current roster, plus prospect Igor Grigorenko -- for slightly more than $33 million. The salary cap is expected to increase from $44 million to between $48-and-$50 million. Holland estimated he'll have between $10 million and $13 million to spend on a goaltender, three defensemen and two forwards, some of whom will be the club's own unrestricted free agents. He'll leave some room (about $2 million) to make a move or two at next season's trade deadline. "We got some space to do a move or two of significance,'' he said. But first, the Wings must decide what to do with their own free agents. Holland doesn't anticipate any moves until after the organization's three-day staff meeting June 11-13. NHL free agency begins on July 1, but clubs can re-sign their own players before then. Holland has already stated his desire to bring back goaltender Dominik Hasek, who said he'll take a few weeks to decide whether to return or retire, and Chris Chelios, who might be signed before that staff meeting. At forward, the Wings will re-sign Jiri Hudler, a restricted free agent, and must make a decision on Todd Bertuzzi. They are not likely to bring back Robert Lang and Kyle Calder. They'll have six defensemen signed, including Chelios and Kyle Quincey. They'd like to re-sign unrestricted free agents Mathieu Schneider and Danny Markov but might be able to afford only one. "Some (players) we'll make offers to, some we won't -- that'll be decided by the middle of June,'' Holland said. "To make good decisions, you have to take the emotion out. That takes a couple of weeks.'' Holland said Calder hurt his finger in the first round of the playoffs against Calgary, but it wasn't broken and that wasn't why his performance declined. "He played real well early and as we got into the playoffs his role was reduced and he probably started to press and it went from bad to worse,'' Holland said. "He didn't have quite the impact we hoped.'' Bertuzzi hurt his tailbone in Game 5 vs. Anaheim -- Holland said he doesn't know if it's broken -- and he'll have an MRI. Defenseman Brett Lebda, who sprained his ankle in Game 6 vs. Calgary, hurt his shoulder during his first shift in his first game back, Game 4 vs. San Jose, but played through it. The inflamed disc in Henrik Zetterberg's back never completely healed but Holland said he won't need surgery, just time off. Holland will look back on this season with satisfaction and frustration. "On one hand, I'm very disappointed. When you get to the final four and you're up 2-1 in the series, you'd like to find a way to finish the deal,'' Holland said. "On the other hand, I'm tremendously proud of our players. To get to the final four, we had a lot of people step up big-time. I'm proud of the heart, determination and the will.'' The contracts of assistant coaches Todd McClellan and Paul MacLean have expired. Holland said he'd like to re-sign both.

Absolutely. Here is an option via trade, who could be had for a draft pick. http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/news?slug=roto...mp;type=fantasy

http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/news?slug=roto...mp;type=fantasy This is what I wanted hear. He should definitely be an option, if kenny can't get his #1 targeted player.

I hear buffalo wants to shed salary so that they have as much room as possible to re-sign their significant free agents. He can be had for a draft pick. Makes $2.33Mil for the next 2 years and Would look awfully good next to hank or pavel

Buffalo is looking to clear some salary in order to re-sign some of their FAs, and I've heard kotalik's name thrown around. He makes $2.33Mil, and would complement datsyuk or zetterberg nicely.

Kevin Lowe would hang up the phone laughing.