egroen

I called the Ducks would flop last year and I think they will do even worse this year. I would not be suprised in the least if they failed to make the playoffs.

I am still amazed at how bad a decision it was for Fedorov to leave the Red Wings. Things really did not work out that well for him, asides from making boatloads of money playing a sport, but you get what I mean.

Was the "tall guy" Fischer, by any chance?

I was thinking some more on that -- Lilja! With Finger at $3.5 million, Lilja is at least worth $2.5 million -- at least in the eyes of an agent like Winter

Exactly... I am sure a lot of us would take $300,000 tax free to play hockey in those conditions (vs. working our asses off at a day job for a fraction of that money), but some of these guys can still make really good money playing in the NHL, under sublime conditions. I dunno -- is $2 million tax free vs. $1 million taxed worth it to play in a country you know little about and have no inkling of the language? Never mind the stark contrast in conditions.

I see a lot of Fischer in Ericsson -- Fischer was a long project, so I would not be suprised if Ericsson is as well.

I think Kindl plateued a bit, w/o really take a step forward or backwards. He had such an impressive training camp two years ago he almost made the team. Not so much last year. Plenty of time for him to continue to improve. Ericsson is just too irresistable right now with his size, speed and 100 mph shot.

There are so many players that can fill in for Kopecky that there is no reason to sign any more. Downey and Mac may be there. Helm or Abdelkader would be great to see as well as possibly Leino.

Heh... Holland could have traded him at the deadline for a decent second line plug and a 1st rounder Who is signed at 50%? Kronwall? Certainly not at the time he signed. Zetterberg? Again, not at the time he signed. I see a lot of 25% discounts, but not much more than that.

If he can just get something, I will be happy no matter what happens. With our scouts, I love the idea of stockpiling low picks. The worst thing would be to lose someone through waivers... I was disappointed we lost Ellis for nothing. Whether it is Lilja, Lebda, Quincey or Meech who goes I'll be fine with it. I don't think any of them have that much potential (they are all fine bottom pairing defenceman). I'm definitely more interested in the next batch: Ericsson, Kindl, Pyett, Smith.

He's out there with the prospect's training camp right now... running drills and showing good form while doing it, apparently.

I don't know if these guys have any idea what they are in store for... check out Lecavalier's experience in Russia: http://www.sptimes.com/2005/03/27/Lightnin...anslation.shtml Who knows? Maybe it will be good for him?

I would rather have Fedorov, but Naslund has been producing more.... Given the market, not a bad deal for Fedorov, but certainly highlights to me why he will never be a Red Wing again.

Heh.... well, Probert is arguably the best enforcer ever in the NHL and certainly had a huge impact while playing for the Red Wings. He will never get his jersey hung in the rafters, but I would be all for him being inducted into a "Red Wings Hall of Fame". I'd love to see them do it... there are a lot of guys who would deserve that recognition, without having to retire 1/4 of the numbers available. Illitch reps: Get it done!

Wow, Capitals totally caved after first offering $2 million. Sergei's a great fit there, but that is a hefty price.

I'm kinda suprised there is not a "Red Wings Hall of Fame" -- there definitely should be, and Holmstrom would obviously be a no-brainer for it.

Messier's stay in Vancouver was less than stellar to say the least... little over 150 pts in 3 years, demanded #11 and demanded the captaincy from Trevor Linden who was then traded. He is not well remembered in Vancouver. I always bring that up whenever someone starts spouting about how he was a better captain than Yzerman.

Maybe Toronto will throw a $3 million offer sheet Quincey's way??? Too many posters here are assuming Quincey/Meech/Ericsson will be a better defenceman than Chelios... maybe they will be, but not a single one of them is right now. Chelios is slow, that's it. In '07 playoffs when Detroit's defence was decimated Chelios was getting top line minutes and performing superbly. He had a couple bad line changes in the playoffs this year, and way too many of you are willing to hang him out to dry. This is a close to league minimum player who can be counted on for top line penalty kills and second line even strength play in spurts. Quincey is not going to give you that for years, and when he does you will be paying him a hell of a lot more than what Chelios wants. Ericsson is intriguing, but I saw him make more bone-headed mistakes in one game than Chelios did all year -- just none of Ericsson's mistakes resulted in a Lilja-esque goal against so he was given freebies by fans. He is not ready for the NHL.

That's as good of a reason as any I have heard -- there really has never been a reason given and the family is pissed - and they never received a reason. I think it is rather rotten, but admittedly one of the few slights against Illitch I can think of. How many players in the NHL have been unretired? Bobby Hull's was unretired so Brett Hull could wear it in Phoenix. In a craptacular move Messier forced Vancouver to let him wear Wayne Maki's out of circulation #11 -- for comparison's sake, this would be worse than Hossa demanding Vladdie's #16, as Maki died of brain cancer at the age of 29, and like Vladdie, his number was unofficially retired.

Aurie was officially retired but un-retired by Illitch -- no one seems to know the reason why.

I hope it gets noticed that Lidstrom missed an entire year of hockey in his prime due to the lockout... any chance he would have another Norris right now? Orr is untouchable, he really is. Only Howe and Gretzky have more Harts than Shore. Lidstrom could retire ahead of Harvey and Bourque, and could arguably be ahead of Bourque right now... though I lean towards disagreeing. The mid-80's to the mid 90's was pretty fierce competition for defencemen and Bourque was the clear best. Bourque, Chelios, Coffey, MacInnis, Leetch, and Stevens were all in their primes and all are first ballot HOF guys. Lidstrom's competition is not near that level.

How hilarious would it be if he actually had to buy Schneider *and* Marchant out???

One year $2.75 million.

I am dieing to see how Burke digs himself out of this hole. Ducks are over the cap. Schneider *and* Marchant have to be moved if they expect to get Selanne back, and those contracts are not going to field the best returns. Then, even if they can move Schneider, they only have 6 defencemen currently signed and will have to find another, much cheaper, to fill in. It's a big ol' cluster-bleep over there in Anaheim. I'm loving it.

I think you are certifiably nuts. Helm: 18gp 2g 2a 4pts averaging 7:30 per game Hudler: 22gp 5g 9a 14pts averaging 11:35 per game Over three times the production for only $400,000 more. Hudler is a flat out steal.