TNBT

I love Maltby as much as the next guy, and I thank him for everything he has done for this team over the years, but part of me hopes he just hangs up his skates and calls it a day. Still, if he does end up signing though, part of me will feel good just to keep this guy who was so good for us for one more year before the core of this team all retires. I guess that sort of attitude is probably a good fit with Wings management.

Osgood has been a great player for the Wings over the years, but everyone has to retire at some point. I think Jimmy Howard is really going to establish himself as a talented and improving young starter, so when the time comes for McCollum to take over the backup job, Howard should be in a position to carry a big workload, meaning that McCollum wont be thrown straight into a situation where he has to play a lot of minutes straight away.

This certainly is bad news, but when you think about it, maybe it will be a positive for us. He was in the running to make the Wings lineup this coming season, but that appears to be over now because of this injury. That means that he will most likely play in Grand Rapids when he's healthy again, and him spending a year in Grand Rapids will only make him better and more experienced for the following season.

I know that it's always fun to imagine players that you like from other teams signing with the Wings, but as has been said already, we don't need any more players. We have too many forwards to fill 4 lines, and when Meech re-signs, we will have 7 defensemen as well. Getting into debates about who we should or shouldn't go after as a free-agent just seems to be wasting time at this point. As for lines and defensive pairings, I remember reading an article that someone posted a link to on this board in which Babs mentioned a couple of different lines that he wanted to use, but now I can't find it. Does anyone know which article I'm talking about, or have links to any other articles that mention what lines and pairs we are likely to use?

I agree. I've been playing around with different line combinations in my head, and I can't find a way to fit all the forwards in. As for the defense, we will have 7 guys when Meech re-signs. When you look at that, you can see that we don't really have any room left on the roster at the moment, and if we have injuries and do need someone else, we can promote a kid from Grand Rapids to get them some experience.

No worries. Sorry mate.

You mean me?

I hadn't heard of this guy until recently when I started to do some research on our young guys, and I must say that this kid sounds very interesting. He seems to have the body frame to put on weight, the physical attitude that everyone loves and the skills to go with it. With that said, apparently the knock on him was that his skating isn't up to scratch, which normally I wouldn't worry too much about, but if his skating is so bad that a guy who sounds as good as I just mentioned would slip to the 3rd round, then how bad exactly is his skating? I'm hoping it's not that bad and we got another steal, but I'm worried that it must be pretty bad for a prospect of that quality to fall so far in the draft.

I haven't really kept up to date with everything going on with the Wings and our prospects lately, but after doing some reading over the last few days, Willie is starting to look like he could be a real steal for us. I hope he can keep up producing and really establish himself in the AHL next season. He has speed, great hands and he can put the puck in the net, meaning he has legitimate top-6 potential. He does need to work on his defensive game, but so does a lot of our skilled forward prospects. He'll never be a real two-way player most likely, but he still needs to at least be accountable in his own end.

I know it has been a couple of days, but I still can't believe it. I never met him, or knew the guy personally, but from all accounts he was an absolutely wonderful human being off the ice. I feel terrible for his family and friends right now. My thoughts, as well as those of everyone else here I'm sure, are with his family and friends right now. RIP Probie.

I think it's going to depend on a few things, such as how the team plays, what line he is on, and how much PP time he gets. If he plays on the 2nd line and gets some nice PP minutes, then I think he could produce some really nice numbers. If he plays on the 3rd line however, which seems to be what a lot of people around here think will happen, then I don't want to get my hopes up too much in case I get let down.

Sure, and while I do that, how about you try pulling your head out of Jason Williams' ass and looking at him without your homer goggles on?

Are you serious?

I like these lines better than about 99% of the others that have been posted in this thread. However, these lines only happen if we keep Datsyuk and Zetterberg together. If we split them and have them center the first two lines, then I think you have Filppula center the 3rd line to give us three dangerous lines offensively.

I'd take Samuelsson. He's bigger and more physical than Williams. However, it should be noted that I have an extreme person dislike of Jason Williams.

No idea who will win this game, but I love that teams name.

I must be honest. I haven't been the best Wings fan recently. I have been too caught up following my Chicago Bulls and Chicago Bears, but I have still always been a Wings fan. I'm not as up to date on the prospects as I used to be, but everything I have seen and heard about this kid gives me hope. He seems to have a lot of skills and potential.

Yeah, we certainly have one hell of a good team here. I can't wait for the season.

I think that if Hossa plays well for us this year, then of course we would all love to have him back. However, we have more important guys to re-sign (ie. Hank), and if there is not enough left for Hossa then it would suck to see him leave, but I think most people would understand why he did.

Ouch.

Franzen will start on a line with Hank and Hudler? I guess that means that the other scoring line will be Homer-Datsyuk-Hossa?

Yeah, he sure is a big guy. I really hope he can keep developing his game to the point where he is a regular in the Wings lineup. It would be nice having a big guy out there who can drop the gloves.

I agree with pretty much everything that has been said. He was a great talent and he had a bright future ahead of him. I tried to model my own game around his, so it sucks that his career had to end so early. As long as he is happy and healthy though, that's what matters most.

I'd be leaning more towards keeping Franzen as well. Hossa is probably the more gifted of the two, but we have some top level scoring forwards in guys like Hank and Pav. I think Franzen brings an edge that not many other guys on this team have, outside of maybe Mac and Downey.

Poor Lilja. Well... he doesn't have it THAT bad I guess. He's rich, famous, gets to play hockey for a living and my girlfriend drools over him.