Andy Pred 48

dont even think of offering Smith or Tatar as trade options. Both of these guys are going to be top players for the Wings for years to come. the young kid over in Sweden (if he can put 20LB on) ALMQVIST is a big prospect, another latter round gem in the making, he has Lidstrom like savvy. needs to improve his skating thou. I do think the big question here is can Kronwall raise his game to the next level? He doesn't find the back of the net enough to be anywhere what we need as a top pairing guy. 23 goals in 300+ reg games 9 of which were on the PP dont cut it really. Lids had almost double the amount at the same time in his career, yes Lids is different class but Kronwall was taken in the 1st round.

if the Wings dont get Modano there are still plenty of options out there. They could get a 5/6 D and a gritty 4th liner with the money they have set aside for Modano. what sort of money is Christian Backman looking for or is he signed in the KHL already? Is Alex Henry out with an injury, he could provide the grit as the 6th D and then go for a more productive 3/4 liner. Flip's old line mate Sean Bergenheim could be a good fit, but nothing is going to happen until Mike lets Kenny know of his intentions, either way I feel 1 or 2 currently on the roster will be traded to make way for new personnel.

Artyukhin Afinogenov Schubert Cap space at prsent,$3,774,623. Abbey and Helm resign for combined fee of $1.7m, leaving $2m in the pot.Trade off Meech, Ritola and Miller for draft picks. Freeing up a further $1.7m, which gets us back to the original cap space of $3.7m.Put $.7m of that in the pot for any call ups during the season. Which gives us $3m. Last season Artyukhin was on $.95m,Afinogenov $.8m and Schubert earned $883,333 combining for a total of $2.633m. Of these guys Afingenov will be looking for a raise of sorts. So do you offer both Artyukhin and Schubert slight raise's say, $1m for Arty and $.9m for Schu,leaving $1.1m for Max? Who else could you afford to offload to make the offers more acceptable to these 3? I think you'd get Schu for the $.9m, but I'd say Arty would want $1.2m and Max in the region of at least $1.5m, so we'd need to trim the roster by another $.6m, or could Kenny get it done with the $3m? One thing is for sure, I think all 3 would be upgrades on the 3 they'd be replacing. Plus we just got a whole lot bigger!

still think Kenny should have gone after Jay Bouwmeester last year. Could have Lids replacement bedded in with the master for 2 years.

forget about Madano, if the guy really wanted to be a Wing he would have signed when Kenny called him first. use the cash somewhere else. I keep calling for Kenny to sign Evgeny Artyukhin and i still say that he would be a cult guy here at the Joe. Give him a 2 year deal for $2m, the guy just needs a home. He has untapped talent as well as being the grit we seem to be looking for and could play on anyline. He's only 27 and has his best years ahead of him. Whatever happens Kenny is gunna have to trade away a forward without signing a UFA. Theres too many already. So if he signs Modano or another he'll be moving 2 on, seems like we go with what we have, unless Kenny has a cunning plan up his sleeve.He may surprise us with what he does. Z Dats Hommer Bert Fil Mule Clears Huds Draps Drew Daz Pat Mattias Abby As well as having Meech to either re-up or trade.

Smith and Kindl are both expected top 4 guys when drafted. E is a real bonus to the Wings as to how far he has come compaired to his drafting position. Maybe E can adapt and turn into the 5/6 physical shutdown guy ala Lilja and have Stuart as his partner. Then have Smith and Kindl compete to play alongside Nik jnr or give them a run in the team each to see where their at. This could be a win win situation for the Wings, getting 2 high end draft picks 30 plus games each in their rookie season alongside a vet to learn off. 1st Lids Raffi 2nd Kronner Smith/Kindl 3rd Stuy Big rig 7th Smith/Kindl

I say keep Eaves & Miller and trade Draper to TB for a draft pick to ease up some cap space. Draps PK time last year was virtually nil when Miller came on board and Eaves has alot more to offer than Draps does now. Leader in the locker room goes so far but he gets paid for his on ice performance and that dwindled towards seasons end. With Babs indicating that he wants the 3 pairing having more icetime next year may be seen as persuading Lils to stay or go after a higher grade D man. I dont buy into the Modano thing, we need to get younger and give the I/T to them. I'd like us to go after Arty as the grit guy, think he could finally find a home at the Joe and he has untapped talent that would make him worth having. Plus I think the Wings fans would have a new cult guy if he came. The other scenario is that Kindl could come up and shine and give Kenny another headache. Alot of ifs and buts here I know, but it could be done.

I would like to see Crosty signed up, the guy is a forward/D-man so he could provide the grit for the forwards on the 4th line. We do seem light with that type of player and we need to protect the likes of Mursak, Tatar and Pare guys Tardif can drop them but he's more middleweight whereas Paul can go with the heavys.

Could Kenny wait till camp to see if Sergei Kolosov could step up. The guy has plenty of international exp with Belarus who play in the top pools @ the Worlds and Olympics. He is a stay at home guy and 6/7 D at best. Maybe Kenny wants a vet at the back and not have 3 so called rookie guys at 5,6 and 7. Could save us some cap space too.

Maybe Kenny aint signing a 6/7th D yet and will wait to see what this kid shows us in camp if he is coming over that is.

Christoph Schubert could be a cheaper option back on the blueline.

Adam Burish (F) Chicago Blackhawks to Dallas Stars . Tim Jackman (F) New York Islanders to Calgary Flames Raitis Ivanans (F) Los Angeles Kings to Calgary Flames Matt Cullen (F) Ottawa Senators to Minnesota Wild Eric Nystrom (F) Calgary Flames to Minnesota Wild. Not sure if these have been put on before. Arty still available!!!

Wings waiting for the overpaying teams to use up their capspace before stepping in and making a steal. Maybe Artuykin could be a possability, the guy can play as well as fight. Think that Kenny will get his grit on the 6/7 D man and not at forward thou.

Tanguay back to the Flames

Both Kenny and Jim have stated that that is all we are looking at bringing in. Lilja is an option for the D position along with Janik who is already signed up. Judging by the costs who else out there on the ufa list at the $.5-$.7m price tag could we bring in. I would say that they will be looking for a veteran to play alongside either Big rig or Kindl. One guy that no one seems to have suggested and has played under Babs before is Skoula. A former first round pick with good size and was low end salary last season, $.575m. Could also help Kindl as well being a Czech. Good puck mover and tidy in his own end, may be a little slow for the wings style but is 4 years younger than Lilja and if we get him at last seasons cost alot cheaper too. Other options worth looking at in the $ bracket are S Brookbank, A Johnson, J Harrison and J Scott. The 4th liner is a more interesting topic. There are a few guys out there who are just out and out enforcer's who don't really serve as the type of player the Wings will entertain although some fans would love. E Boulton, B McGrattan, R Ivanans, S Macintyre and the Boogeyman are all available, although Derek is not in the $ catergory I stated above. The wings want a guy who can play as well as agitate, put some numbers up. Alot of fans on here are high on Asham, but after last season I can see him wanting a rise from his $.640m. Maybe just a bit more than we are willing to pay. 2 guys on the Isles roster last year, Gilles and Jackman did a good job for them, Jackman has the more skill and would fit better on the wings roster. The Avs Hendricks would also be a good fit on the 4th line too. My own choice would be Adam Mair. He could be the closest to Drake that is available at present. Cap hit last year was $.760m. One guy I would love us to get is Evgeny Artyukhin, his cap hit is maybe too high, but I just feel he would bring a presence to the ice we haven't had for awhile. He's been getting 15-16 points a year on bad teams, I just think he would thrive in Detroit. So with the cap issues, I am going with Mair as our new 4th liner and Skoula as our 6/7D man, at a combined cap hit of $1.5m.

Although our front office seem loathed to actually trade any of our assests, maybe dealing some may get Kenny that guy he seems to be after and still have some $ to play with come trade deadline. I see we still have just over $5m with 18 players on the roster will all the RFAs be offered a contract or can we trade RFA's?

if we get Raffi to waive his ntc ask Kovy to take a 2 yr deal for $6m a year and bring up Smith on the d then yes we could get him, as they say never say never but in this case maybe never is the right phrase !!

Isle get Kabanov

Vladimir Konstantinov, Height 5.11 -- Weight 176 , hit like a train. You don't have to be 6'4" 230Lb to deliver the goods guys. The Wings wouldn't have this guy over for nothing.

with the cap going up more than expected, maybe we could get Artyukhin.

the lad has some issues,but he was a point a game for the Wildcats before his actions let him down. I just think he'll be worth the risk, Smith has had his problems but he's gunna be a big player for the Wings in a year or two. Kabanov is a raw talent in a big frame, if we get the chance to draft him we should.

I DON'T CARE HOW KENNY DOESN IT BUT KABANOV IS GUNNA BE A STAR, GET HIM ON BOARD. ALSO NO ONE HAS MENTIONED THE OTHER MICHIGAN LAD I PAIRED WITH WATSON, Jared Knight OF THE LONDON KNIGHTS. COULD BE A GOOD SOLID 3RD LINE PLAYER DOWN THE LINE.

I take it that thats Tatar for now then guys?

Kenny and Babs have both said in the past that the best players will get to play, so we'll wait and see if they back this up. For those of you who ahve stated that Tatar will not see a min let alone a game this coming season, don't put your house on it! The Wings front office are big on this kid and they will bring him up for a stint this season, just to see how he handles it. By all comparison's, (Hudler with speed) and that will do for me. All this let them learn in the A for a few years, well some kids it will help, but occasionally you get a guy where you have to give them the ball early. I think Tatar falls into that catergory.