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Helm or Hudler is more likely to center the 3rd line than Leino -- But I also feel quite calm about Detroit's chances next year. It is fun to watch guys in their first year of the NHL, and Ericsson, Leino, Helm and possibly Abdelkader will provide a lot of entertainment. These guys will be working their asses off every single shift! I am going to be pissed off this year if Babcock keeps trying to separate Zetterberg and Datsyuk. I'm a bit worried about defense, PK and goaltending... but have faith it will be sorted out by the playoffs, which the Wings should still have no trouble making.

Williams, especially, is interesting -- he was a pretty big prospect for Toronto and has an elite, wicked shot. Scored 3 goals in his first 3 games last year in the NHL, then had 5 goals in 6 games -- then only two assists in the next 5 games. He's like Kyle Welwood, with probably less work ethic, if you can believe it. Unbelievably high shooting percentage of 22% -- pair him up with a legit playmaker and he will score goals at any level, but as of right now that is all he will do and would probably end up being an overall liability. It will be interesting to see if they can do anything with him in Grand Rapids. Newbury is always a fan favorite.

I thought I would try and stay within the inner realms of the imagination Helm and Abdelkader (if he is even on the team) will not get enough minutes to really put up much points. Leino could see time on the PP and even on the second line, while Ericsson could continue to get nice minutes.

Leino and Ericsson for the Calder!!!!

You might be surprised with how many agree with me here. Smallish defensive forwards with good skating are more common in the NHL than someone who puts up 55+ points with limited minutes.

Assuming Campbell does not have a NMC this is exactly what will have to be done -- hoping he will be picked up on waivers, and then on re-entry waivers at 2/3 the hit.

I disagree.

Yes, though he plays absolutely no defense and does not understand the words "back check".

Yes -- although in Detroit it has frequently been the left winger as well.

Is this a serious post? The Penguins were outscored by, and barely beat a Wings team that suffered from freak injury after freak injury. There is no doubt in my mind this team would have beaten Pittsburgh with nothing more than Lilja healthy.... never mind a healthy Datsyuk, Lidstrom, Cleary, Holmstrom, Draper and Rafalski. Any team with less depth than Detroit would not have made it past the second round with all those injuries. Detroit had *4* rookies playing at one point.

Red Wings Central does a great job of keeping me pretty up-to-date on Detroit prospects. For instance, on Kindl: http://www.redwingscentral.com/prospects/kindl.php Kindl ripped up the OHL, almost made the Wings out of camp, but then struggled in the AHL. He improved quite a bit last year.

Franzen - Hudler - Hossa would have been awesome, I am convinced of it. As long as Hudler is centering two defensively responsible players with decent speed, I would not be overtly concerned.

If I played in the NHL I would find it impossible to not read message boards and look for posts about me. I would not take it personally, but I would be too curious to not look. I also would not be above registering and piping in occasionally (anonymously) -- I have a hard time believing I am completely unique.

The Wings just lost a 40 goal scorer and a 20 goal scorer The current team is chock-full of defensive forwards, as well as the pipeline Hudler has been a part of the organization longer than Filppula An offensive specialist is exactly what this team needs

Wow, great price! Hip-hip Holland! Hip-hip Holland!

I am always impressed with Kings' fans, and with the young talent they have in that organization, I am frankly amazed they have not turned it around yet. i think they just need some stability in coaching.

If it came down to deciding between Hudler and Filppula, I take Hudler. Should be able to keep both, however. What I do not want to happen is for Holland to get nothing out of this. Either sign Hudler and trade him -- with Hudler's blessing. Or trade Filppula for a decent return.

$4.5m is my bet as to what Lidstrom takes next year. He may have lost a step or two, but he was still the best defenseman in the NHL last year and deserved the Norris.

I agree. Andersson is not only a super-scout because of his eye for talent, but because of his networking. He knows which players are being looked at and by whom, and in the cases of Datsyuk and Zetterberg, knew no one else at all had literally seen them. Why waste an early pick? Detroit being a great drafting team is not a myth at all.

Holland indicated he and the Hudler camp were not that far off, so I doubt Hudler is holding out for that kind of money -- or he would not have even bothered filing for arbitration.

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/sports/hockey...3268/story.html I just can not imagine Holland ever getting the Wings in such a situation.

Heh... how the hell could Holland focus on Hossa when Samuelsson was sitting there!

Lord help us if Lidstrom retires... I could see Lidstrom going to $4.5m, and with Maltby and Holmstrom retiring you have $5-6m to play with next year -- depending on whether the cap goes down or not. Helm and Abdelkader raises will barely eat into that -- so $4-5m to play with! Nice!

Has any team actually re-signed Laraque once his contract ran out? One of those guys who looks better on paper than in reality.

Laraque is about the opposite of "enforcer putty" and often gets benched because of it. He is simply too nice of a guy on the ice. Laraque trying to define himself as a skater gets him about as far as Hudler would trying to define himself as an enforcer.