greenrebellion

Maybe we should try to sign Cheechoo...could have magical chemistry with Datsyuk.

If you are implying that there is a non-zero chance that someone will claim him, let me assure you that the chances of him being claimed are indeed zero.

Heading into the year, I thought with some maturing our defense would be pretty deep and solid. But there is far more wrong with our defense/team than just Smith given the number of shots the Wings are giving up each game.

Keep in mind that by having them take a guy like Samuelson off our hands, we have to pay for that. So just as a hypothetical example, maybe Moulson himself is only worth a 1st and a 2nd, but if we are dumping players and contracts, we would have to further sweeten the deal which is why I felt like it would take a 1st and a 2nd plus a prospect. Doubt the prospect would have to be a premiere prospect, but who knows given the prices paid at recent trade deadlines. But many have brought up a good point, if he is looking for a $6M a year contract, it simply wouldn't be worth it as I don't think his game is well rounded enough to justify that price tag. Also keep in mind that this trade gets Nyquist on the roster...so that is worth something above and beyond simply what Moulson brings to the team.

This is a good post, and I think the bolded part plays a very big role in how Holland/Babcock manage the roster.

This combined with an awful forecheck from 3 out of the 4 lines means that we are always in our zone...hence the insane amount of shots we give up game after game. Seems like all of our offensive chances are one and done.

Over 40 shots against and we were playing one of the worst teams in the league with a litany of injuries. This team needs a lot of work. Its on Holland now, not much more Babcock can do with what he has to work with.

Ugly play...but I'll take the 2-1 result after two.

No my point was that lots of crazy things can happen with small samples that may have nothing to do with whether he is on a new team or not. Players have hot and cold streaks, might be battling undisclosed injuries, might be unlucky, might be lucky, might be off his game....once the season is over, the point discrepancy won't be as wide as it projects to be today.

Sample sizes are small at this point. Filppula isn't going to end up with the 75 points he is on pace for...nor is Weiss going to end up with the 14 points he is on pace for...things will normalize over the course of a long season.

Devastating, he's my favorite player behind Datsyuk.

Excited to see Tatar back in the lineup!

Absolutely huge that we got two great performances out of Gus. Hopefully Howard is ready to go against the Avs on Thursday.

I miss Larry Murphy

Pretty sure we are going to have a cap issue when he returns. I wonder what Holland is gonna do.

The constant complaining about officiating on these boards gets tiring. The fact that some people actually believe that Watson or other refs are conspiring against the Wings is beyond comical. Fact is this. Every hockey forum for every team in the NHL has numerous posts complaining about how biased the refs are against their team. Maybe that should tell you that through the rose colored glasses, everyone thinks they are getting screwed. Start enjoying the hockey game rather than worrying about and whining about every decision the refs make on the ice. Did they miss some calls today? Maybe, but it all evens out in an 82 game season.

Franzen did something!

Ya, he certainly isn't off to a good start this season.

I watched quite a few games when he played in Toronto and all I can say is that he lets these kinds of goals in at a well above average clip. Either he's the most unlucky guy in the world or something in his game is a bit off...deflected or not. He's a below average backup, is what it is. Hopefully Howard has the stamina to play close to 70 games this season and by next season we'll have a new backup.

QFT

Trade him for what? We need a young scoring top six winger and Tatar is ready or close to ready to fill that role.

This whole Tatar thing is really starting to get on my nerves. He needs to play, he needs to develop, the Wings need goal scoring...put this guy on the first or second line ASAP. What am I missing, why is something that seems so obvious to me so lost on management?

This is not a playoff caliber lineup.

My major concern is that this permanently harms their development. Nyquist is certainly proven he's ready for the challenge of the NHL and Tatar certainly isn't developing on the bench.

Pretty much this, I'm very happy by the start of the free agency period and I expect a trade or two to be made by Holland before it is all said and done.