J-Swift

Please. Since Higgins' ankle injury, Latendresse has been scoring a point-per-game. In that same time, he's outscored Michael Ryder, and has kept pace with Saku Koivu. Furthermore, Latendresse's 4 goals would tie him for third on this team right now. Isn't everyone always talking about how all we need is another scoring winger? And I really find it comical that you think it's a knock against Latendresse that the coaching staff trusts him enough to put him on a scoring line. He's only 19, and he's already locked up a spot on the team. The fact is, he's been a physical force all year, but only now is he starting to show his scoring touch. Considering our recent play with the extra man, a guy like Latendresse wouldn't hurt, would it? Ah yes, there's nothing quite like a thread without the old "everybody thinks they're smarter than Ken Holland comment". Come on. What fun is following a sports team if you're simply not allowed to question any moves they make? As for Abdelkader, I hope he makes me feel like an idiot for ever wanting Latendresse, but the fact is, the Wings aren't going to get many oppurtunities to draft power-forward prospects like Guillaume. This is true when you consider the fact that Detroit not only finishes at the top of the standings every year, but also because the Wings have a tendency to trade their first rounder on an annual basis. I personally have nothing against Justin Abdelkader. From everything I've read, he's a hard-working hockey player. I hope to see him continue to improve his physical game as well as his scoring touch. But until he makes it to the NHL and proves us wrong, the comparison between him and Latendresse is likely to stick.

I'm sure Abdelkader will make it to the NHL, and I'm glad to see he's made progress this season, but the fact is, Latendresse is already an NHL contributor at the age of 19. And whether he pans out or not, Guillaume is a prototypical power-forward, and that's not really something the Wings have in full supply right now. As wingsfan28__ noted above, Latendresse got another goal tonight, putting him at four goals and one assist. For those of you keeping track, that's more points than any rookie on our team.

Well, I've seen Kindl play in person before, and from what I've seen, I agree that he will not be particularly physical at the NHL level, but Jakub isn't a guy who's gonna get pushed around. He was always mixing it up after the whistle, and was willing to play the body somewhat in the corners at least. I'm not particularly sure how well he clears the crease because he was never really assigned to the front of the net during the PK. He was, however, used in all situations; including the power-play, the penalty-kill, as well as even strength. The times in which I saw him play, it was clear to me that he was Kitchener's best d-man, and that's saying something when you look at who was on their blueline last season. I've always felt that the comparison of Kindl to a more offensive, less physical Fischer was reasonably accurate. Both guys are excellent physical specimens who, despite their size, are fine skaters. Kindl's stature is something I noticed right of the bat, he really did look much bigger than the other players on the ice. But, like Fisch, Jakub does struggle with the mental aspects of the game at times. Though I do speak pretty highly about Kindl, he does have a long way to go. He's fine defensively most of the time, but he's prone to lapses. In my mind, he'll be a pretty good second pairing defenceman for us, possibly filling a similar role to that of Schneider.

Thornton did something in last year's playoffs that Datsyuk hasn't done in 4 years. Any guess what it was? And I'm not particularly sure how Joe's inability to put up big numbers in the post-season makes Pavel any more of a playoff performer. In my opinion, it really isn't an issue whether Datsyuk has "heart" or not, I feel his work ethic is fine. I just think that his style of play simply isn't suited for an NHL post-season. Especially when we're playing tougher teams like Calgary and Edmonton.

That's how the TSN play-by-play guys were pronouncing his name back in the World Juniors.

Well, I agree that he wouldn't hurt this team and that he could go a long way in replacing Shanny's 40 regular season goals. But the problem is, if we sign Anson Carter, the roster is essentially set, and after an off-season full of promises, we'd be left with a team very similar to the one that got bounced in the first round last year. This is especially true for our forward unit. Despite the floating Shanny committed from time to time, he did provide arguably more toughness than anybody else in our top six, and with him gone, we're even softer than last season. Personally, I felt it was quite clear that the Wings needed to add a forward capable of driving to the net, but it seems less and less likely that Ken Holland is going to acquire such a forward. Not to mention the fact that signing Anson Carter basically means that Jiri Hudler, Tomas Kopecky and Daryl Bootland will all have to fight for one roster spot (at the most).

Hakan Andersson was gushing over Lofberg, so I'd imagine he'd only have to make a marginal improvement on his dismal season from last year in order to get a contract. I think Ritola, however, will have to be much better. Detroit just doesn't seem to be as high on him, and he doesn't really provide anything that this organization doesn't already have, other than the fact that he's a natural winger (which we have suprisingly few of).

Ugh. I was hoping this rumour was just speculation, but Bill Watters is a fairly respectable source. And unfortunately, this rumour makes far more sense than those Zetterberg+Kronwall for Antropov+Colaicovo trades we were hearing about last summer. I really don't understand why we'd make such a move. Antropov can't be the "20-goal scoring winger" Holland has been talking about getting, because, for all Nik's "potential", he's never even hit that mark. Therefore, we'd be acquiring yet another winger for our top lines like Nolan, Sykora, or Carter. This means that Kopecky likely wouldn't be making the team, and Bootland would have absolutely no chance. Why would we want to stop the only tough forward prospects we have in our system from making the team? There's a reason JFJ wants to dump Antropov on us. I'm sure he wanted to do it last season, but he couldn't with Pat Quinn in the picture.

Most Leaf fans absolutely love Mats Sundin. The reason they hate Antropov is because he was a very hyped prospect (drafted 10th overall in '98), but he hasn't done a thing for them.

I believe Hasek will be solid when he's healthy, but I doubt he'll finish the season. I would love to be proven wrong though.

"Sky rocket" is hardly the word I would use. Nik's only put up more than 40 points once in his entire career, and he's never scored more than 16 goals either. If these are the numbers he puts up while playing with Sundin, then why does everyone think he'll explode offensively when he gets to play with Datsyuk? Keep in mind that Pat Quinn has given him every oppurtunity to succeed when he's been healthy, and that hasn't been very often. The thought of acquiring a big physical winger with a scoring touch for Datsyuk makes sense, but believe me, Nik Antropov is not that winger. As a result of where I live, I get to watch the Toronto Maple Leafs play far more often then I get to see the Wings (unfortunately), and I would never want Antropov on the Wings. The Toronto media and fan base absolutely despise him, and for good reason. Give him a couple months in Detroit and he would become the new LGW whipping boy.

Babcock couldn't make Lilja use his gigantic frame, why would Antropov be any different? We won't be releasing Nik if we gave up a third rounder to get him, and I really doubt we'd acquire him and then go out and trade him, no matter how bad he was. Personally, I'd rather not give up a mid-round draft pick for another big softie. Bootland and Kopecky would bring far more to this team than Antropov would, and they're cheaper too.

I'm with you for sure. For those of you who haven't seen Nik Antropov play all that much in the past, believe me, you do not want him on this team. He is, without a doubt, what Andreas Lilja would be like if he became a forward. He's big, he's soft, he's an under-achiever, and half the time, he honestly doesn't know what he's doing out there. And to top it all of, he's injury prone too. The only reason he's even still with the Leafs is because Pat Quinn liked him for whatever reason, and was just too stubborn to get rid of him. Now that he's out of the picture, I can't blame JFJ if he is trying to dump Antropov on us.

I bet Eklund's feeling awfully good about himself right now. Even a blind squirrel finds a nut once in a while.

Although I like Richard Park, we already have enough players like him even if we did trade Maltby away. IMO, Cleary is just a bigger version of Park. But I'm sure somebody will scoop him up before training camp starts.

Hasn't Ken Holland publicly said that the Wings were not interested in Hasek at all? I really don't see this happening.

Jimmy has put up big numbers in both college hockey and the AHL. What more can he possibly do before he makes it to the NHL that would impress you? Anyways, as much as I don't think we need Montoya at all, the rumour might be legit. Keep in mind that one of the reasons we traded our first round pick to Phoenix was because Leland Irving (a goaltender) was taken. We then proceeded to draft Daniel Larsson in the third round. For whatever reason, it appears as if the Wings want more quality goalie prospects in their system.

I'm totally in agreement with you guys on this one. There's no way we should even consider trading Kronwall, seeing as it's anybody's guess as to when/if Fischer is coming back. Not to mention the fact that Nik is probably the only d-man in our system with true top-pairing potential. Kindl is talented, but has a long way to go, and Quincey should make the NHL, but won't be spectacular. We are awfully shallow in the defensive department. There is a tremendous amount of offensive potential in Maxim Afinogenov, and only this season did he really put it together. Afinogenov certainly could provide the speed and talent we sorely lack on the wings, but I'm kinda wondering how big of a salary he'd command next season. He's a restricted free agent, right? As for Biron, I know he's been discussed here for a long time, and I do indeed think of him as an upgrade over Belfour. But, IMO, he's a little overrated on these boards.

Well, if you want to get technical, Columbus did pick up Modin in the Denis trade. Not to mention they have a pretty stacked young core that's only going to get better next season. So, essentially, every other team in our division has brought new players into their lineup.

Shanny doesn't deserve a dime more than Zetterberg makes, and he certainly doesn't deserve to be our highest paid forward. Offer Brendan exactly what he made last season, and if that's not enough, let him leave. And considering how things haven't exactly gone well for Shanahan on the free agent market, Ken Holland should be playing hardball, not throwing out several million dollars. I swear, Kenny is intent on bringing back the exact same team from last season.

Actually, I think we are. Have you read the Belfour rumours? That being said, I wouldn't mind shipping Datsyuk out, but we would certainly need more than Biron in return. But with Briere and Drury in the lineup, why would the Sabres even want Pavel?

Here's Bob McKenzie's top thirty: Top 30 Draft Prospects RyanBarnes! suggested Nick Foligno, and TSN has him picked right around the 29th spot, so I don't think he'd be a bad choice at all. The ISS has him lower than that, 45th to be exact, but he seems to be a pretty tough player with some solid skills. I know the Hockey News has him pegged as more of a checking/energy-line kind of guy, but I think our lineup could use some of the enthusiasm he brings. Anyways, I've had my eye on Joe Ryan (he's in the "Honourable Mentions" section of the article) who played in the Quebec league last year. A lot of the scouting reports I've read have praised his ability to clear the front of the net, which is something I felt we lacked against the Oilers, and Ryan's also been described as being very mobile, which is a valued commodity for a defensive defenceman. The ISS scouting report also describes him as being a real team player, and I've always had a preference towards heart-and-soul kind of guys.

I voted Lilja. Hatcher, though painfully slow and out of sync in the '04 post-season, was at least physically intimidating during his short stint with Detroit. And when paired with Chelios, he did a pretty solid job at containing Iginla early in the Calgary series. Andreas Lilja, however, succeeded in dragging down Lidstrom to a level of total ineffectiveness. Not only did he fail to move any Edmonton Oilers from our crease, but he also screened Manny mutiple times with his gigantic frame. It's almost comical to see how many of Edmonton's goals from the point came as a result of Lilja standing absolutely dumb-founded in front of our net. I am not joking when I say he did as good a job providing a screen for the Edmonton defence as Ryan Smyth did. And there's absolutely no defending his play in Game 6. That was just plain awful.

These kind of threads haven't been all that successful lately.

I really like Henrik Zetterberg, but it's hard to argue against Nicklas Lidstrom. The Norris is, without a doubt, his and he'll get a few MVP votes too. Nick might be a little soft-spoken, but so is Steve Yzerman, and if nothing else, I'm sure he's a very calm presence on the ice and in the locker room.