egroen

Kurri had speed, Hull not so much.

All fine points - though you have to give Holland credit here, he realized it and is in a position with a ton of cap space.

Until the Wings suck and start getting Top 10 picks they are not going to, and are stuck trying to find talent that will just take longer to develop. This is easily the best the prospect pool has looked in over a decade, so I'm just not getting all the pooh-poohing.

Who is "most valuable to HIS team" is subjective message board fodder. The Hart should go to the most valuable player in the league and that was Malkin this year.

Didn't see a thread for him, but this kid could end up a huge steal. A two-way defenseman with size, skating, intelligence, great pass and already very good defensively... He even plays with an edge, but without the PIMs. He was chosen to be the face of the KHL's junior-aged players and is already slotted to be the #1 defenseman for the Russian under-20 team. He sank in the draft because of the Russian factor (though he has recently stated he is willing to come to N. America within the next two years) and having to have his spleen removed. Biggest weakness is his shot.

No way. Franzen is billed as a two-way workhorse with clutch goal scoring who ramps it up in the playoffs. He had a terrible year and I hope Holland has a long talk with him this summer about not getting too comfortable or he'll find his ass traded to the Islanders. Despite decent stats in the regular season, he was awful, and even a C is too generous. It's like Lang came out of retirement.

The problem with Suter and Parise is if they wait, weighing options, before they sign. Meanwhile all the other free agents will be sucked up.

I'm hoping it is more of an '03-'06 type of thing. Wings went: '03 - 1st round '04 - 2nd round '06 - 1st round Played '07 and '08 with a lot to prove.

I do agree here - the time to stock up on players is in the offseason - it's too much of a crapshoot and too costly at the trade deadline.

It's not like 1st round exits are a new thing for the Wings. 2001, 2003, 2006 certainly did not kill Detroit as a free agent destination.

Embarrassing loss tonight.

Franzen needs to work on his backhand.

I'm giving my bookie your address if this doesn't pan out.

First time I've seen the NHL "angry" about a call and Bettman later on the air saying the officials would be "held responsible". I swear, it's like they are purposefully adding fuel to the tin foil cap crowd. Pretty much in the past week you have no suspension for Orprik's knee-on-knee, an exhorbant fine to Torts for calling the Pens arrogant, Bettman defending Crosby on air after Milbury/Torts/Berube comments and now an official being thrown under the bus for blowing a call that hurt the Pens. Mario Lemieux publishes an article on his website and releases it to the media directly criticizing the NHL's officiating and doesn't get fined a cent. And every Wings fan here can name more than a handful of other dubious incidents that have coincidently favored the Penguins over the past few years. Except it's not just Wings fans... It's pretty much every other fanbase, and also players and coaches who notice and comment on it. I'm at the point where I wouldn't even be surprised if the league announced Crosby's number was to be retired leaguewide... tomorrow.

Always appreciate it when top picks do not go to Central teams. It's great having all these guys go to Edmonton - no way they can keep all of them and ensures some real talent will be hitting the market in a few years.

I think Holland ends up snagging Semin for a decent cap hit. No Suter or Parise, but I think they end up with Weber when he becomes a UFA.

Wings in 4. Predators average 1.74 GPG.

Devils in 5: they've just looked better to me

Phoenix in 6 - just not expecting much from Chicago this year.

I'm going with the upset of the first round here: Capitals in 7

Rangers in 6

No -- Lidstrom is a shadow of his old self and needs to retire for the needed cap space, Zetterberg's back has made his contract an albatross (see first half of this season), Datsyuk is getting old with injuries taking an obvious toll (only 5 pts in 8 gms since coming back from injury) and Howard is too inconsistent, with poor rebound control and never taken a team past the 2nd round. I say gut the team... Maybe keep Helm, but he is starting to seem pretty injury-prone. And I thought Daigle has been playing in Switzerland? Regardless, I'm on board.

Not Lidstrom or Maltby - not even Downey. Lidstrom might have it if Bowman did not have him as a healthy scratch at the end of a lot of seasons.

Who holds the longest streak of games played as a Red Wing (without missing a game)?

Nice one with Norm Ullman - probably the most under-appreciated Red Wing in history. Shanahan never scored 50 as a Wing, right with Sheppard, Redmond and Fedorov -- 2 more.