achildr1

I'm not an expert on either but how much better is Kaberle than Liles? Burke seems to have really fleeced Chirelli, although the Bruins probably don't care much now anyway...

http://twitter.com/TSNBobMcKenzie/status/84356107417567232 JM Liles to Toronto for 2nd round pick. A decent puck moving dman for a 2nd round pick, would be nice if we could pull that if were not thrilled on the FA front.

I think it's Jesper actually, but I believe he still plays in like tier 2 or 3, hasn't really developed at all.

This probably had something to do with it.

How is it that Detroit has been the home of the greatest stickhandler and the greatest running back (two of the the most entertaining gifts BTW) in their respective sports histories?

I dislike the Nucks more now than before the playoffs. Kesler looks like a prideful punk, Luongo isn't the great goalie he's made out to be and I'm annoyed nearly anytime he's mentioned, but I think their fans are the real kicker. Their fans, pretty much all of Canada when the playoffs started, just seem so arrogant and basically expected them to sweep everybody.

Lol, I didn't see this until after I posted. But thanks, 2 on 1 and counting!

Really? C'mon man. Vokoun was there when Nashville was duking it out with us for top spot in the Central with 50 wins (I think), Paul Kariya, Kimo Timonen, and Forsberg at the deadline. That Nashville team was deeper, tougher, and more skilled than any team Pheonix has ever had.

I didn't know he didn't get suspended until after I seen that he scored the winner last night. I am so tired of the league's questionable rulings and terrible officiating. I can imagine how mad Bruins fans are.

This is actually a huge thing to consider when signing someone this offseason. Cleary, Franzen, and Holmstrom all miss large amounts of time each year. We don't need to sign another guy that only plays 60 games a year.

I have that wierd feeling like Kenny is going to put in a decent effort here. If not, I really wouldn't care, but if we can pull a Hossa-esque moves im all for it. If Richards were here, I'd hope that Zetterberg would focus more on scoring 40 goals again and less on playmaking. We need bonafide goal scorers and if Brad and Pavel could be the playmakers to Hank and Johan's finishing abilities, our offense would be scary. With Raffi gone and Nick gone soon, we will probably spend the rest of our free space on defenseman and appropriately so. Here's my ideas and first go around with Capgeek... Note: Cap should be at least $62 mill next year. Richards takes Datsyuk's salary after Holland tells him he can only make more than Pavel if he can take the puck from him. Richards signs before ever trying. We sign a hometown, offensive defenseman. Osgood stays because Holland adopts him as his son. Ericsson stays because he knows his flaws would be exploited elsewhere. We don't sign a tough guy because size is our enemy and strength is weakness. Hudler disappears, like last summer and most of his NHL shifts. CAPGEEK.COM CAP CALCULATOR FORWARDS Henrik Zetterberg ($6.083m) / Brad Richards ($6.700m) / Tomas Holmstrom ($1.875m) Daniel Cleary ($2.800m) / Pavel Datsyuk ($6.700m) / Johan Franzen ($3.954m) Justin Abdelkader ($0.787m) / Valtteri Filppula ($3.000m) / Todd Bertuzzi ($1.937m) Jan Mursak ($0.550m) / Darren Helm ($0.912m) / Patrick Eaves ($1.500m) Cory Emmerton ($0.533m) / Kris Draper ($0.800m) DEFENSEMEN Nicklas Lidstrom ($5.000m) / Niklas Kronwall ($3.000m) Brad Stuart ($3.750m) / James Wisniewski ($4.500m) or Andy Greene ($3.5-$4) Jonathan Ericsson ($1.700m) / Jakub Kindl ($0.883m) Brendan Smith ($0.875m) GOALTENDERS Jimmy Howard ($2.250m) / Chris Osgood ($1.000m) CAPGEEK.COM TOTALS (follow @capgeek on Twitter) (these totals are compiled without the bonus cushion) SALARY CAP: $59,400,000; CAP PAYROLL: $61,092,044; BONUSES: $0 CAP SPACE (23-man roster): -$1,692,044 Disclaimer: This is all under the not so likely assumption that we would actually sign Brad Richards. I highly doubt its going to happen. Most likely (if our needs are 2 defenseman, a backup goalie, and a top 9 forward) we'll end up with a Ruslan Salei clone, Tomas Kaberle (Schnieder was terrible and he played here!), Osgood (duh!), and Dale Hawerchuck (since Modano is probably done).

Lmbo. Yep, and Stamkos. Run it!

I'm going to have to disagree, at least in terms of overall value. I haven't watched a ton of Hal Gill but I think consensus would say he's a much better 'defenseman' than Ericsson. Strictly on defense, there's not real comparison. Gill is a huge, experienced defensive defenseman who shuts down opponents. Ericsson has size but doesn't use it, experience but he's actually regressing, and allowed people to literally treat him like a pylon in the playoffs. As for offense, Ericsson doesn't do anything well, he just has more potential for it than Gill does. I would rather Ericsson learn to play Gill's game and forget about offense than be mediocre at trying to be a two-way dman. We need a Gill type anyway. If Ericsson is suppossed to be our #5-6 defenseman, he shouldn't make anymore than 1.75. A. If he does, it should only be based on his suppossed 'potential'. B.Since he's older than most players your still banking on potential in, the deal should be no more than 2 years.

Thank you. You just saved me a half hour of my life.

Wow. This is crazyness. TSN usually wont report stuff unless its for real so I'm pretty surprised now this is happening...

Oh my Garth, in a heartbeat. Ferraro and McCullom are looking pretty close to bust material. Smith will most likely never be as good as Weber. Sheahan, well I'm not convinced Sheahan will be more than a third line center in the Bigs. The thing with the Wings giving up the picks is how low they'll most likely be. It makes it look semi-reasonable. That said, can we please stop the crazy nonsense about getting Weber. There are so many things stacked against this happening that calling it a pipe dream is generous. Plus, I think the system is a little out dated considering how much picks mean now. The price to poach a guy is hyper-astronomically large. Akin or worse to the Shanahan - Stevens debacle.

Thanks Raffi! You were so much better than Schneider, had career seasons here, won a Cup and gave us the best puck moving tandem in the league since you've been here. Seeing you end it here at home was great!

Um, wow, WTH. Our offseason just got a heck of a lot trickier.

I really like the Blues players and Davidson in the front office. It does start at the top though, and if it is unstable, that could end up posing a problem with stability in direction with the team. That said, I'm pretty sure that St. Louis has the best young team in the league that's full of depth, variety of skill sets, and potential. The Stewart trade was golden and even if Johnson becomes a #1 guy, the Blues will still have gotten fair value. Do they have a better future than the Wings? I think that answer would start at the top in Ilitch. As long as he's alive he's shown that he's willing to spend to the cap every year and allow the front office to ice the team they deam best. That kind of confidance, trust, and financial support is part of why we stay at the top of the heap. In terms of pure, up-and-coming talent, the Blues do look to have the better future. That said, we would still have Datsyuk, Zetterberg, and Kronwall for ten more years, the kind of champion veteran talent the Blues can't provide. Having those players to bring along our wealthy farm system is invaluable and key to our success. The Blues and Wings have very different organizational dynamics but in theory, should both have very bright futures.

That would be great but I can't see the Central being that weak or having MON, TOR, and Detroit in one division. There would be too many hardcore canvases in one division. I'm sure the NHL wants that spread amongst weaker teams.

I went to TSN.CA today and LGW several times before seeing that McCrimmon was fired. Ah well, I'm ecstatic to have hope that maybe someone will come in and teach our guys how to dominate again.

I feel like this thread is going to be a lot like the San Jose Photoshop war thread. All of LGW vs one guy (in that case, Grypho. Who contributed phenominally I might add.) So, Eva, I'm going to throw my first stone. Hudler, like a rabid puppy, needs to find a new home. If there is a player on our team who doesn't fit the Red Wing mold, its The Happy Hoodlum. Where do I start? He took off in the middle of his contract, is a one dimensional player, cannot play physically, how old is he now?, is too expensive to play on the bottom two lines, is too streaky to play in the top two lines, is a complementary player at best, was a healthy scratch several times (deserved to be), and was 4 minutes away from be Leino 2.0 this season. He's basically everything we hate about Franzen except he's 4'11".

Legit #1 defenseman? I was under the impression that elite defenseman can play defense. After watching him this playoff I thinly he's as close to being a PP specialist dman like Foster or Bergeron than he is to be an elite all-around guy like Lidstrom. He may be the legit #1 guy on Florida or Columbus but that's more of a slight to them then an affirmation of talent to Rafalski. This. Miller game is more easily replaced by a younger, potential-laden prospect than any other players. Just so happens that we have to decide whether we should keep Emmerton and Mursak on the team next year and I for one hope that Miller doesn't get the spot over either one of them.

Lol, sure you didn't pull Rafalski's info? I had the impression he better defensively...

This is a guy that I think Detroit would take a serious look at. Probably won't get an enormous salary/term and is our type of player from what I hear.