Andy Pred 48

I think something could be in the pipeline. Maybe the front office at the Joe are looking at moving someone on, Lebda is back in the line up tomorrow. Maybe Meech/Lebda are the one's that could get moved. Ericsson has got to get in the bigs soon. The space would only open up if both of them are moved due to cap issues. Not sure about the Downey one. I thought he could be re-called anytime. Strange, I suppose it'll come out soon. A straight swap for him and Dmac maybe? I have a feeling that if nothing changes in the 2 games in Florida, that we could see more than one roster change being made by the Wings.

I'm sure at the time Kyle was gutted at being claimed, but it was for the best in terms of his developement as an NHL defenceman.I'm positive that his experience he has gotten in Detroit the past 3 years has helped him settle in and dare I say taken on a leadership role within his new club. Two weeks into his new surroundings and the kid is doing ok for himself. He's getting icetime he could only dream of in the Wings lineup, leading the Kings overall with 22.52 toi/g more than a minute more than the 2nd placed guy. He has 1+4 in his 7 games to date with the LA side and has a +3 rating. Overall not a bad start for a guy slated as a 6th 7th D by the Wings. Its early yet I know but I'm happy he's made such a good start, deep down he knew he'd never crack the top 4 in Detroit so I think its been a decent move all round. Just a pity Kenny didn't get anything for him.

Pre season quote from Babs; "The best players will get to play". Well I know the boys have played 5 games in 7 days and only failed to pick up points in SJ, but my biggest worry isn't that Lebda is having a mare with his 2nd in the league worse -9, ( Mathieu Schneider is dead last with -10). My concern is the team as a whole giving up +3 goals a game!! Its the overall picture with team defence that is stuggling. If we look at the stats, it tells us that only the top 2 lines are holding their own. The 3rd D pairing, Lebda and Lilja have no points and -9 & -1. The current 4th line of Draper, Maltby and McCarty haven't got a single point between them and all are a - rating combing a -10 overall. Although the usual 3rd line of Filppula Cleary and Hudler have 6+13 points combined all of them are - players at present, -8 if you put Kopecky in there its -10 combined. So what is the solution? 10 years ago the grind line was great, but they are all over 36 years old and as good a skater Draper is he can't cover for his slower line mates. Saying that Kris is 2nd worst on the team with -7. Only Mac can be sent down and both the others have a no trade clause. Has Babs got any say into what or who Kenny sends down or brings up? The cap is the issue here, sending Mac down to GR isn't going to touch the cap. Cheli is going to be ready soon, someone or somebodies are going to have to be moved on. It'll be a very interesting 2-3 weeks at the Joe. Back to the original quote, well if the best are playing Babs, they better start showing us why you think that!

if he clears (big if) then boy are the Griffs going to be stacked on the D as well.

Bets of luck Griffs, really looking forward to this season as we have a lot of top end talent playing on the Griffs roster. Hope they can all gel as a unit.

Im just off to work the night shift. History in the making tonight guys, Hossa scores the first goal and his 300th NHL one. Leafs young D man Scheen is in for a hard lesson on his debut. Good luck boys

Leino is 25 and is more or less ready. A month or two in GR and he'll be back up for good. Babs is mad about big rig as well, does he want him up for a while to? Think Ericsson will spend the majority of the year in GR with the odd call up here and there. Helm will think he has been hard done by after his stella play last year. He is the unluckiest of them all due mainly to the numbers game. The thing is, could Leino do a similar job on the 4th line as Rex did the year before last? I have a funny feeling that the guy who could drop down the pecking order this year may be Holmstrom. For me Franzen is over taking him for the #1 line spot. Could he end up on his old 4th line spot by the end of the year? Could Leino cope with 2nd line mins and put up the #'s to keep it? We are so stacked it is unreal, we'll be having line discussion's all year long. Its great to be a Wings fan right now!! Just a slight interesting topic. Which of the Wings bottom 6 forwards haven't got a no trade clause in their contracts?

I was just going through the Wings prospects and latest signings and it seems that the Griffs could have a very youthful speedy looking roster for next year. I would summise and say that it could be a very young looking D too. Depending on which of last years Griffs the Wings offer contract's to as I believe that Ference and Stafford are UFA's this summer. Quincey has to make the Wings roster as he is out of options to be sent back. Ericsson is not, but I feel that if it was upto Babs then the big Swede will be with the parent club and Quincey will be lost to waivers. Don't think the front office will let that happen thou, so I see Jonathan starting the season as a Griff at least. Kindl will be back as a Griff and needs to tighten up his decision making for sure. He could be the perfect partner for Ericsson on the 2nd unit. The young lad Pyett will add more skill to the 3rd pairing for sure next season.There is also an outside chance that big hitting Belarus prospect Kolosov could be signed by the Wings to. I'd like to see both Brad and Garrett back next year to, for that experience that the rest of the D will lack. Up front could be the most exciting factor for Griffs fans. Cullen Corazzini Lemieux and Hartigan are all out of contrac this summer, with C Oulahen becoming an RFA. Will the Wings retain any of these guys? Tardif ,Gelech, McGrath and Ritola are all signed on 2 way deals thru to end of next year at least and unless one of them has a hell of a camp I see them all wearing a Griffs shirt next season. Some of the Wings top prospects will also be becoming Griffs next year. Can Helm keep hold of the Wings spot he has at present? Or will he be heading a list that could include Abdelkader, Emmerton, Mursak, Axelsson and Finish league scoring leader Leino to Van Andel? With the addition of some veteran leadership up front to keep the kids in check, it could be a free scoring season all round. In net we could see an all Swedish tandem, well maybe. Howard looks like he'll be heading to the Wings and with Berkhoel a UFA could the Griffs have top prospect Larsson vying for the #1 spot with Liv, who may have another crack at the NHL after another great year in Sweden, probably not.The kid Larsson looks certain to come over and maybe Berkhoel will be re-signed to mentor the rookie. All in all, the Griffs have the makings of an entertaining roster next season, on paper that is. Lets hope the do.

Who goes who stays, we all have our own views on the issue. I doubt if any of us has the same views. So as a bit of fun the easiest way is to brake the roster into ethical lines, see what you think. I could go with the end results; Line Sweden Larsson Lidstrom Kronvall Holmstrom Zetterberg Franzen Line Nth America Osgood Rafalski Stuart Cleary Draper Helm Line Scandinavia Ericsson Lilja Samuelsson Filppula Leino Line Europe Kindl Kolosov Hudler Datsyuk Hossa. The obvious pointers is that Line Europes D would obviously be the 7th and 8th D men, and spend most of the year in GR's whereas their Fwds could be either the 1st or 2nd line. No Meech Lebda or Quincey. Is that too much to lose or do we have enough talent coming thru on the D to cover the loss? Kindl,Kolosov, Pyett, Smith and Nicastro I say yes we do. The top 6 D could perform for another couple of years by then some of the rookie D will be ready. The 4 forward lines to me look good. Line NA would be the 4th line, most other NHL sides would like a 2nd line of that quality. Who's not in on the FWD's? Kopecky, Maltby, McCarty, Downey and Abdelkader. If we carry a 13th Fwd I would go with Downey. He's only there for one reason and I feel he does it better than Mac. Mac isn't up to pushing out any of the 4th liners so I see a mentors role for him in GRs. So do we trade Kopecky and Maltby? Doesn't seem any other solution really. I see Abdelkader having a year in GR and then taking Maltbys place the year after anyway. So for me keeping Helm in now will benifit the Wings more in the long run. A full year playing with Draps and Dan will improve him even more. He could then take over from Draps with Abdelkader coming up to fill his void. Old man Cheli will stay on the roster as the spare D, I would have him getting more involved with the coaching side of things as his exp would be invaluable to the rookie D's. Cap wise I think we could pull it off as well. Lebda Meech Quincey Maltby and Kopecky combine for $3.042m. Bringing up Ericsson Leino and Helm would cost us $2.37m. This is just a bit of fun as i said, but I do like the looks of the lines.

Matt Ellis was claimed off waivers by Buffalo from the LA Kings. Matt played 51 games for the Wings over 2 years.

Just for GMRwings; Larsson Liv Lidstrom Kronvall Holmstrom Zetterberg Franzen Lilja Ericsson Axelsson Andersson Ritola Backstrom Samuelsson (M) Ryno Samuelsson (J) Nyquist Team Swedwings.

Is it possable that they could also move a forward to get the cap space or is it just down to the D being too overloaded. I mean Ericsson is looking good, and Babs has stated he'd love him in his lineup already. Maybe Quincey Meech and a FWD to get us under the cap and have #52 stay up.

End of 2nd SOG DET 27 ATL 6 I know its pre-season but thats pitiful on the thrashers part. At least have a go.

He's started this camp off well, getting 2+1 against the NYR prospects. Plus he wears my # so he should be good!!

With the trg camp getting ever closer, i was wondering if the front office are going to send any invites out to UFA's this year. Our roster looks almost set and I can't see any places that could be up for grabs during the camp. We look like we may have to trade one or two players anyway so any invitee's may well feel its a closed shop in Detroit. Could we get a couple in to push the guys on the brink even harder? Last year we needed D and we had Cullimore and Sopel (who must be kicking himself he didn't sign) in for the camp but this year we are deep enough on D. Maybe we get some 3rd or 4th liner Ufa's in to fight it out with our roster 2 way guys, and they could go to GR if upstaged. I like the competition this causes but I feel that any UFA coming in is probably wasting their time.

If Babs sticks Huds on a line with Z and Hos all year, then he'll beat his total point haul of last year in helpers alone. The other side of the coin is that Huds is great on the power play as well. I'll stick my neck out and say Huds will get 60+ points this year, if he stays on that 2nd line.

Lilja,Lebda, Meech or Quincey? Seems to be the general thought on the boards. Would Kenny move 2 or 3 of these guys? It seems certain that Cheli is gunna be signed and you can bet your bottom $ that it won't be a 2 way deal, so we sure do have a log jam on the blueline. Well the top 4 are set thats a no-brainer. Lids & Raffi, Stuy & Kronner. I will stick my neck out and say Cheli is gunna be the 7th D this year. Babs really wants Big Rig in, but hes the one with waiver options who is safe to go to GR. So who could we afford to let go. Lebda and Meech are similar players but the Wings have Pyett in GR this year, who some say is like them but slighty bigger and with more upside. Pyett is at least 2 years away from the Wings roster thou. In Lilja and Quincey the Wings again have similar stay at home guys but at different ends of their careers. Lilja being 10yrs Quinceys senior and the slightly bigger bodied player. Is Kyle going to be an upgrade on Anders, I don't think he is. Kolosov will be in GR this year and will play the role that Lilja does for the Wings. He will be tested in GR this year but he has the size and a mean streak to boot, that coud help him out and although being a long shot can look at Ericsson as an example of what can be done with the right attitude. The other prospect in GR, Kindl, is not what the Wings will won't to part with. He is projected as a top 4 D and needs another year or 2 at least in GR to hone his skills. So we do have replacements in line if need be, but maybe only Ericsson can step up now. The Wings like the speed that Lebda or Meech bring to the 3rd pairing, but also the work ethic of Lilja esp on the PK. Its a tuff call maybe camp will sort it out for the front office. My call would be to trade Meech and Lilja. Give Quincey a shot with Lebda on the 3rd D, with Cheli stepping in now and then. Ericsson to GR only because of his waiver options. If Kyle can't handle it, package him off with one of the young forward prospects and bring up Ericsson as Lebda's partner. There some # crunching to be done but I think we would be just under the cap.

The fact that Marian signed for the Wings at a so called below mkt value fee, says to me that he fancies being a Redwing for more than just the 08-09 season. He knows that the chances of the Wings retaining the Cup are good but not dead certain. But they could well repeat in the next 2- 5 years, at 29 he is in his prime and the roster he is joining looks set for that period and will only get better. He likes his chances,and so do I, having Stanley back at the Joe in that time span. Kenny will do all he can in keeping the core of this team together for the foreseeable future. Will Marian take a lower multiyear deal this time next year to stay a Wing? To me its a no brainer and Hos may have the same thinking, judging by this summers decision he made.

I think that Datsyuk will top the 100 point this year and that Z & Ho will be locked in a scoring race with Hossa just pipping Zetta to it.

the other thing is that the Wings will invite 2 or 3 UFA's to camp. Who's to say that one of these won't blow away the coaching staff during camp. I can see 2 maybe 3 guys being traded before the camp is finished.

Anyone else think that by Hossa jumping in quick to be a Wing kinda buggered Sundins plans, and he now really does have a dilema on who to sign for. Mats, hang em up son. All the trains with any hope of winning the cup this year have left the station mate!

Yep him and Duvie Westcott have both signed for the Latvian side.

Holland has said that after the Hossa signing that he was done in the free agency market. I wonder what he would do if Sundin's camp rang and asked for a 1yr deal in the 3.5-4m range? This is highly unlikely but stranger things have happened before. Would Kenny consider it and what options would he have in getting the deal done? Well, with 10 D on the books, the possability of letting 2 of these and 1 roster fwd go may make enough space on the books to accomedate Sundin. But losing 3 players & the probable departure of Sundin at the end of the year would surely be to big a gamble for Kenny to take. Outside chance yes, actually happening very unlikely.

Haydar has a great record in the AHL and would be a good leader for the young guns that the Griffs rooster is going to be full of. Could be Hartigan's replacement.

Here's a more arguble one, who will be the leading point scorer on D? Lids will hit the 1000 mark next season.