b.shanafan14

I just saw this on MLive, and thought "oh, so it CAN get worse". While its only practice at this point, with Franzen out and Babcock's history, is there any reason to believe Cleary and Abdelkader won't be in the Top 6? I can only hope Miller plays in place of Samuelsson, both to improve our lineup and to prevent us from being a laughing stock with $8M worth of cap on the 4th line. Also glad we are pairing our defensemen like a playoff bracket 1-6 (Kronwall-Smith), 2-5 (DeKeyser-Quincey), 3-4 (Kindl-Lashoff) in an effort to prevent catastrophic turnovers within your bottom pairs (only half sarcastic, unfortuntely).

Top-6 doesn't look awful, but its not the names on paper that have been the problem . Good to see Tatar up though.

This may be crazy, not sure I believe it myself, but with the woes we're having, what could it hurt: Zetterberg-Weiss-Datsyuk (I know, three centermen, but in order for this team to succeed, we need Weiss going) Bertuzzi-Franzen-Alfredsson (Bertuzzi has looked good so far and Franzen works harder at center) Abdelkader-Andersson-Tatar (This is where all three players belong until Helm returns) Tootoo-Glendening-Miller (Energy well-spent) Samuelsson-Cleary (PINE)

Franzen does look better at center, but only because it forces him to move more. Maybe that is the recipe for getting effort out of him, but its probably a wash in terms of actual scoring. In fact, at center we'll paradoxically see him become a better player (in terms of effort, visibility, complete game), but score even less (taking the role of a playmaker with no one around him to reciprocate). I don't know how I feel about this, since he started and developed into the player he was at his peak by playing center (though doing all his scoring at wing), and currently I hate that his playing style is one that I see as an overall detriment to the team only justified by his stat-line at the end of the season. Is it better to look at a player and his stats and say "huh, I thought he was better than that" or "wow, how did that bum manage that?" (current Franzen).

This is what is killing us, and "one-line" is being generous at times. So far it has been Datsyuk and Zetterberg, then everyone else. Its pretty bad when Franzen ends up centering your second line seemingly just so Weiss can move down the roster without splitting up the only two guys that are doing anything. Even Alfredsson has been a disappointment save for his 7-8 assists, most of which were earned by simply being the guy to touch the puck before Pav or Z. Weiss has been the biggest disappointment, but overall this lineup has far too many past-their-prime hold-overs and misplaced grinders. Abdelkader shouldn't be higher than the 3rd line, and as bad as Mikael "Buy me out and I'll fight it" Samuelsson is, I can't begin to imagine what makes Cleary so much better to keep him in the lineup every game. The whole roster is forced, so its no wonder we can't get a sync'd, balanced attack.

He actually seems to be getting worse... he was a relatively unknown quantity because of recent injuries as it was, and so far he has been invisible at best. He is easily knocked off the puck and his moves aren't fooling anyone. $5M x 5 years... could get brutal indeed....

Fixed, Franzen is a bum.

Good assessment overall, but here would be my tweaks: Abdelkader: B-/C+ While he has been a good checking forward as usual, his production is inadequate given his roles on the top-line. As others have pointed out, Abdelkader should be producing at least a legitimate fraction as much as his linemates, or more given the attention both Pav and Z get whenever they are on the ice. Bertuzzi: B/B- Comparing him and his role to Abdelkader should give Bertuzzi the edge. He holds on to the puck better, creates space better, and manages to make his own hay. Statistically the two are similar with more goals to Bertuzzi and overall better play. As things stand through 10 games, I've preferred Bert on the Top-6 wing to Abdelkader, and he has met/surpassed low expectations. Howard: A-/B+ He hasn't been bad, and at times he has been very good, but he is far from flawless. He has let in a few stinkers and his rebound control is still a bit suspect. I would say there is plenty of room for improvement, despite being hung out to dry on many nights. Kindl: B+ I think the kid has taken some huge strides and surpassed expectations thus far. Offensively its just a matter of time before he starts showing up on the scoresheet regularly, especially against weaker competitions in the 2nd and 3rd pairing. In terms of his performance relative to his role, I'd say he is excelling through 10 games. Tootoo: B+ Again, performance relative to his role, Tootoo makes this lineup better. Even when he isn't dropping the gloves, Tootoo has been our best 4th liner. When he is in the lineup, his line spends most of the time forechecking and attacking. He provides energy and sandpaper, and while he is the most attractive piece to move, he makes us better in the short-term.

I think these pairings look great! Dekeyser is already a great Stuart-type stay-at-home, but he has a lot of offensive upside with his skating ability and first pass. Last night, DD was showing off his shot and the ability to find the lanes, and I loved it. Dekeyser is the future and I think playing side-by-side with a guy like Kronwall could help him develop that part of his game. Ericsson and Kindl would then face less potent scoring lines, allowing them to create more offensively. I think Ericsson has been solid all year, but Dekeyser should be groomed for the top pair now. Kindl has started to show some flair offensively and would do well to have a steady, big body like Ericsson on the other side. If Quincey plays like he did last night and cuts down on his mistakes, he could make a decent partner for Smith, though they both make me a bit nervous. Either way, with 2-3 weeks of a Kronner-DD pairing we'll have plenty of opportunity to see how they mesh. Pretty exciting, though I wish we didn't need to lose a Top-3 defenseman to find out.

Sorry for the confusion. It wasn't my intention to say they aren't less formidable without Burns or Boyle, but was rather commenting on the forward line-up they'll ice tonight. You said it doesn't exactly "jump off the paper and smack you in the face", and I was more or less saying it does/should. They have plenty of great players even without Burns and Boyle playing. That said, I hope the Wings come fired up and surprise everyone. Go Wings!

Their first line has been deadly, their second line is extremely dangerous (especially against the Wings), Pavelski's line is better than our third line at the moment (and again, Pavelski tends to score on the Wings), and you can't discount what a team of dive-artists are going to do with our newly acquired propensity for ending up in the box. It should be a game one way or the other if we get decent goaltending and at least Pav and Z keep rolling, but it doesn't make the Sharks any less formidable.

I just saw this, my bad. Great news, when was the last time Franzen started a game at center? Must really be hoping to get Weiss going against softer match-ups. EDIT: And I've been waiting for Tatar to get back in the lineup.

This could get hairy... with Tatar with Weiss and Cleary, we must be splitting up Pav and Z again (). With a thin blue line against a thus-far dominant Sharks team, splitting up the Eurotwins probably has just as much to do with shutting down the opposition as it does with trying to get our own thus-far disappointing offense going. On a side note: Wouldn't it be great if we had a 2nd line center who could actually get some production out of their match-up without having Pav or Z shouldering the load every single night, every single season? Weiss has unfortunately made both Franzen and Bertuzzi look way better by comparison this season. At least he is still centering the 3rd line, instead of getting to ride shotgun and get comfortable when he can't make his own hay, ala Filppula.

Let's just hope the Coyote's scouting department is too lazy to update their reports every year and still have Smith as the highly-toted prospect tearing it up at Wisconsin, and Franzen is still the goal-scoring beast dubbed the Mule by the great Steve Yzerman. It MIGHT just work then...

LGW! So pumped! Hopefully that second-line can keep up with our first-line (or else Tats would gladly take Franzen's spot), and the bottom-six won't be as atrocious as they are shaping up to be. I'm especially excited to see how Dekeyser fairs this season. I'm hoping for a Calder-caliber showing, myself! Hopefully they come out of the gates hard, take it to the East before they can adjust. Red Wings 4 (Abdelkader, Zetterberg, Kindl, Miller) Sabres 2 (who cares)

Jack Edwards has always been an over-the-top moron; no news there. Reminds me of "Another right by ROY! Another right by ROY! Uppercut! Uppercut! Bicycle kick by ROY! Piledriver! Another right by ROY! ROY summons strength from his ancestors for a fireball! Finish him! Fatality!.... Osgood with the takedown"

For starters, our ideal roster has neither Bertuzzi nor Samuelsson, so we are immediately far out of the realm of ideal. If Helm can't go right away we again lose another preferred player and kick the can down the road as far as one roster spot and some cap-space. Sending Nyquist down is yet another move that isn't in the spirit of icing the best hockey team, but rather dealing with the mistakes of signing Bertuzzi and Samuelsson. Tootoo is as good as gone, which doesn't bother me too much if we can find a trade partner. I'll miss Eaves more and he will give us less cap-relief, but he may be our easiest to move. Then comes the question of what to do with Tatar. He'll probably end of in a rotation with Bert and Sammy with any given night having either $2M of slow, $3M of slow, or $800K of talent riding pine. Unfortunately all of this has nothing to do with Cleary in particular and for the price and term, this is a spectacular move and shows just how much he loves the organization, which I can't fault him for. It just makes the already messed up situation with Samuelsson and Bertuzzi even more troublesome. Now whenever I picture Sammy, I don't even see him in his gear, just sitting there with his smirk, arms crossed, taking up bench and cap-space.

My mind can't even begin to process the amount of shedding that needs to happen... We are literally one player from having a 1st and 2nd line with two 3rd and two 4th lines. Hopefully we get some decent return and no young players get moved... Zetterberg-Datsyuk-Abdelkader Alfredsson-Weiss-Franzen Tatar-Andersson-Nyquist Samuelsson-Cleary-Bertuzzi Miller-Helm-Eaves Tootoo-Emmerton-(damn...) I'm honestly at a loss for who stays and who goes given Sammy and Berts NTC. We either trade or demote some of our young talent or part with some of our best 4th liners/PK... things are getting wacky. Wake me in October...

Great guy who'll be sorely missed. He really pulled out all the stops in this last playoff run and he was always a great locker room presence, seemed extremely well liked and banged the "Red Wings are the greatest organization ever" drum right up until the minute he left. Great contract (for him) and I wish him the best of luck! EDIT: This would sting less if we didn't have all these older roster hangers-on like Samuelsson and Bertuzzi, who ironically were some of the players brought in over the last 3-4 years or so using the "Dan Cleary" theory (i.e. they sucked elsewhere, seemed washed up, but hopefully a stop here will turn things around).

Honestly, I love this and it ALMOST makes up for firing Murphy (but definitely doesn't). I'm pumped to hear the banter between Ken, Mick, and Ozzie and I'm even more thrilled to see the interaction between Ozzie and his former teammates. Murphy was always the funny older guy who a handful of older Wings played with; Ozzie has recently played with half the team, including the really interview-prone ones. I can't wait to see the exchange of s***-eating-grins with a little wink-nudge. Great for the entertainment factor.

I love that we are calling water melted-ice. I suppose it sounds a bit more marketable, like calling sh*t digested food

I've been saying it... absolutely absurd to talk about expansion when at least half-dozen teams around the league are losing money. The league seems to think the better solution is to add more teams that are viable to prop up the money-pit teams, rather than convert some of the latter to the former through relocation and cut out two of the others through contraction. Is it really any surprise with this kind of lunacy that we've seen 3 lockouts in less than 20 years?

I think the league needs to find a way to fix the unbalanced divisions between East and West. I think we all know the league could stand to lose two teams, though I doubt they would ever make that decision. I am completely, irrevocably, unflinchingly against expansion. 28 teams > 30 teams > 32 teams. Other than that, the current division and playoff format is fine. The best of a bad situation.

I think what is offered has a little more to do with icetime than it does dollars and years. From what I've read, the big priority for Brunner is a top-six spot. He wants to be valuable and indispensable to whatever team he lands on. If he can do that, he has confidence that his contributions will eventually earn him the money and security. I'm not saying he isn't thinking about the money or term in this contract, but the guy wants to be a top-six scorer in the NHL first and foremost (by all accounts). I can't fault the guy for that.

I can't blame Brunner for wanting to find a place to play top-6 and hopefully make a little more money in the process. I would obviously like him back and think that if he was willing to play out a short-term contract in Detroit as an extended audition he would be in a good position once Alfredsson decided to retire/move on. I think staying with Detroit where they have him slotted would be much more helpful to his development as an NHL player, but I also understand as an older player he is probably more interested in the ice-time and pay. Either way, I wish him the best, still holding out hope that he ends up back in Detroit, either this season (unlikely) or in a year or two.