egroen

That has nothing to do with whether or not he is waiver exempt or not. It takes a bit to figure out, but it looks like Helm has one more year of waiver-exemption: He signed his first contract at the age of 19 (September, 2006) which gives his 4 years of waiver exemption, provided he does not play in more than 160 NHL games. He has not played in that many (nor any at 18 or 19, which can also decrease it), so he should be waiver-exempt throughout this 2009/10 season, which will be his final year of exemption.

I grew out my playoff beard = Wings win Cup w/ fully bearded Zetterberg winning the Conn Smythe I remained clean-shaven = Wings lose Cup w/ cleanly shaven Malkin winning the Conn Smythe Fact. May is a guy that we might actually see play in the playoffs - so far he has looked a hell of a lot better than Eaves. Abdelkader is the only player currently waiver-exempt on the team, I believe.

Yes. He'd get claimed and Holland would never do it. Maltby's great, but I really hope this is his last year. It's getting ridiculous holding all these players in GR.

For the love of god, please reunite Datsyuk and Zetterberg soon.

Agreed. Kronwall is a much better passer and heads-up player at this point, and it is not even close. Ericsson will take a while to develop, IMO, but already I can say I want to start seeing him on the point in PPs over Williams.

He's way behind Zetterberg defensively, and a bit behind him offensively. I'd give Getzlaf an edge in size and fighting though

In what way?

I do think Fischer was better than Kronwall or Ericsson -- Fischer took a while to recover from his ACL injury, but was improving at an alarming rate after the lockout. He was slotted as a defensive defenseman, rarely receiving more than 30 seconds a game on the PP (but over 3 min a game on the PK) so just about all of his points were at even strength. 22 games into the 06 season, at only the age of 25, he was on pace for close to 25 even strength points and would have found himself on the PP sooner than later. Last year, 22 of Kronwall's 51 points came on the power play. Even now, he outskills even the most skilled forwards of our prospects at camp when he is on the ice. He was just the complete package, and would just now be entering his prime. There is no doubt in my mind he would have become a top 10 defenseman in the league, and I would not have been surprised to see him become a Norris contender.

There was no "I" in Gretzky, either -- a completely underrated captain and definitely a team first player who is amongst the hardest working players ever. LA did not have to trade Robitaille, so I am sure Detroit would have been able to keep Yzerman. LA gave up $15 million, 3 First round picks, Martin Gelinas, and Jimmy Carson for Gretzky, McSorley, and Mike Krushelnyski. It's the $15 million that probably put LA over the top.

He performed well in the '07 playoffs, well enough for the wings to sign him, well enough for the Kings to claim him and well enough for many fans to rate him higher than both Lebda and Meech. His skillset was also unique from Lebda and Meech -- at that price, production is not necessary, just decent defense. It was a definite mistake on Holland's part, but as has been said, that's pretty sweet if *that* is is one of his worst mistakes.

Lebda started off rough last year (worse +/- on the team by far for the first couple of months) and ended up getting a lot better as the season progressed. I can't stand that these two guys are the 6 and 7 defensemen right now -- as they are virtual carbon copies of each other and the exact opposite of what I would prefer the Wings have on their bottom pairing. I would rather have a slow, plodding defensive defenseman back there who rarely leaves his own zone than two speedy, small defensemen who think they need to carry the puck, jump up into plays and end up really being turnover machines. I was convinced Quincey would have been a better option than either of these two and I can not wait until Lilja is better and one of these guys can be traded away.

Thornton Still leads the league in points since the lockout - lackluster playoffs can not completely diminish that.

Draper and Maltby send a nice big FU to LGW.com

Every team he has signed with since has hoped for that... and been disappointed. I can't let myself get optimistic with him so I am saying 16 goals and 33 points in 41 games this season.

Holland never showed any interest in him (which kind of annoyed me).

His dad owns a boxing gymn. Pound-for-pound I think he is the best fighter in the league... now if only he could stay healthy for a season.

Thornton

I don't disagree -- Bossy is one of the greatest goal scorers ever. I just do not consider him as the best. If there was no Gretzky, Bossy would have had another probable 2, possibly 3, more goal-scoring titles.

Lemieux's GPG when he first retired was .83; Gretzky was .82 in his first 10 years -- but scoring was much higher in the 80s and I rank all of them behind Hull in goal scoring. Players who have led the league the most in goals scored: 1. Bobby Hull 7 2. Phil Esposito 6 3. Charlie Conacher 5 3. Gordie Howe 5 3. Maurice Richard 5 3. Wayne Gretzky 5 7. Babe Dye 3 7. Bill Cook 3 7. Mario Lemieux 3 7. Brett Hull 3 7. Teemu Selanne 3 7. Pavel Bure 3

I can't believe no one has suggested Belvieau for Montreal yet.

I usually think of Hull as the 5th greatest player ever, and not that far at all behind Mario Lemieux when careers are taken in full context. 800 goals is not unreasonabe to think of. Probably the greatest goal scorer of all-time. 7 times he led the league in goals, and was top 6 another 6 times... all before he went to the WHA at the age of 33. Just a freak of nature that even without the benefits of modern amenities would probably still be in the running for fastest skater and hardest shot in today's skills competitions.

Unfortunately, for decades, most of the aspiring, creative entrepeneurs in Russia had nowhere to turn to than crime syndicates and the black market. A successful, completely legite, russian friend of mine made a killing in russia as a young man by running an 'illegal' passport scam.

That list is an abomination on so many fronts... I can't even take it seriously enough to critique. It's amazing some people get paid to put this drek together.

I'd agree with that.... I believe he is still #1 in points since the lockout. I have a feeling he will have a huge season this year with Heatley.

Deserved heat. That's pretty downright stupid.