Airborn

I don't understand you two. You talk about how great our Defense was last year, but wasn't Markov a major part of that? Don't you think there's a really good chance the D will suffer if Lilja or Kronwall are forced on the top line with Lidstrom?

I'm personally a fan of him being on this list, as I thought he was horrible in the playoffs last year. I cringed anytime the puck was dumped into his side of the ice. You just knew the other team was coming away with the puck. That said, he's way too popular with LGW'ers (why I'm not sure), so I'm sure Sammy will get most of the heat, closely followed by Lilja.

I keep hearing this and it makes me wonder: Why? The only possible reason I can think of is they'll have a full year of Andy Murray, which I don't think is enough to make a difference. I see only 2 upgrades over last years team, which wasn't horrible, but still missed the playoff by 15 points. 1. Kariya is a slight upgrade over Guerin (debatable) 2. Erik Johnson For my money, I wouldn't bet on Johnson being that great this year. Rookie defensemen rarely are, no matter how much hype they get. Also, their 2 best returning players (Weight and Tkachuk) will be 37 and 36 respectively next year. I guess you can tell, I'm not sold.

I'm sure this is complete speculation on Eklund's part. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out the Wings are interested in Forsberg. They keep saying they want a top-6 forward. Is there another, currently available, guy out there that fits this description? Forsberg is the only guy, especially now that we know there is no interest in Yashin. Add in their interest at the deadline and , poof, it makes complete sense. Of course, for the right price, I don't think there is a sane GM that wouldn't be interested in Forsberg. Even at 60% of his former self, he's still a hell of a player. However, is Forsberg intersted in playing here? That's the question.

It's the Swedish 5. Maybe they can take on the Russian 5 in reunion games.

So true

I have no problem with this signing. He'll be a good fit on the Draper/Maltby line. He'll provide some energy and physical play in a 4th line role. They definitely need someone whose willing to throw the body around, and he's more than willing. Worst case scenario, he provides depth in case of injuries.

Just to point something out. You disparage Lang because of his turnovers, yet praise the Rafalski signing. Brian led the Devils in turnovers last year. That said, I think Rafalski was a good signing (you had to after losing Scheids), and I wouldn't have given Lang $4 million per either. I just think calling Lang a liability is an extreme.

It's a good thing we never ended up trading Thames. After his last couple of performances, I have a feeling he's stole his buddy, Craig's, job. At least I'm hoping and praying he has

Looking at this lineup, you have to wonder where the offense is coming from. I mean, I never thought I'd live in a world where someone penciled in Mikeal Samuelsson on the Wings top line and it completely makes sense.

Lang was good in the playoffs. Not saying he's worth $4 million......

I think we'll see only one player on this list signed (Hasek). My guess is Holland wants to keep the term and dollars down for whatever defenseman and forward we sign, hence his comments about waiting a while to sign them. If I could pick any of these, I'd go with Markov (why screw with chemistry) and Yashin. There's no way I'd give Yashin anything more than a 1 to 2 year deal for around $2 million per. Anything more than that is insanity. Although with as many incompetent GMs there are in the NHL, it's almost assured that someone is going to offer him 3 years at $4 million per.

I agree it would set the ceiling for the top-end players, but is that a bad thing? A max contract with the $50 million cap would be around $10 million. If a team has to give 1/5th to 1/6th of their entire budget to one guy, how much is left over for the 3rd and 4th line guys. That's a dangerous precedent for the NHLPA to push, because while it helps the upper-eschelon players, it screws the other 80%.

If Thornton and Iginla can take deals for less than they would have got. then I don't see how the NHLPA could come down on Crosby.

I haven't seen his name mentioned, so I'll throw it out there. Aaron Miller is a UFA. He'd be a good fit to replace Markov (assuming we can't resign him). Steady stay-at-home guy with some size, won a cup, lots of intangibles. You get the point.

Wow that's insane. I would have like to see Bert come back, but not at that price.

They have about $8 million left to spend. http://blog.mlive.com/redwingsinsider/2007...n_rafalski.html Remeber they need to leave about $1.2 million for injuries and a possible move at the deadline, plus the bonus money from last year counts against this years cap.

If you're interested, NHL.com is streaming TSNs coverage.

Umpire Terry Porter's strike zone made no sense last night. On two occasions he called high strikes to punch out Granderson and Ordonez that were about 2 inches out of the strike zone. However, in the 1st inning he called Ordonez out on a pitch that was about an inch below the knees and looked off the plate. So if that was his strikezone, it was the biggest one I've ever seen: From the ankles ot the chin!? To make it worse, I don't think Verlander benefited from the same strike zone. I think this was a case of an umpire calling a pitchers reputation more than the strike zone.

Most importantly, it adds excitement to the game. The trade deadline is one of the most exciting days of the year and it spices up the season the rest of the way.

Ughh... The series with Texas has been horrible. The team as a whole has been horrible, but the bullpen is the most immediate consern. At this point, I think it's time for Jones to go. He said it himself a couple of weeks ago. The bullpen starts with the closer. Everything feeds off him, and right now I don't trust Jones to hold a 4 run lead much less keep us in a tie ballgame. Also, as I said last week, Grilli needs to go. If you can't consistantly throw strikes, you don't belong in a major league bullpen. I'm not huge on Gagne, especially considering what Texas wants for him. However, I might give the Royals a call about Dotel. I think he could be had for a decent price. I really don't know, but I do know this. If our bullpen doesn't straighten out, we're going to have a tough time making the post season.

I've thought for a while the Cards would be a good landing spot. He went to the NL and went to a team that he can help. The Cards pitching has been horrible, especially their starters all year long. It'll be interesting to see what the player to be named later ends up being.

The Tigers could "designate him for assignment" (in other words try to send him down), but because he has more than 3 years of MLB experience, Maroth can choose to decline. Assuming Maroth would decline the assignment, the Tigers would then have 10 days to either trade of release him. The most likely scenario is for Dombrowski to just try and trade Maroth for some value. The scenario above is usually saved for drastic scenarios where a team is trying to desperately unload a head case.

E.J. Hradek has again listed the Wings as his favorite to get Smyth. I haven't seen anyone other than him print this, so I'd still consider it a longshot. http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/columns/stor...mp;lid=tab7pos1 Personally, I'm all for it. I think Smyth would fit in perfectly with the Wings system. I think he would instantly make the Wings far and away the best team in the NHL, assuming they also bring back either Schneider or Markov. I realize it would make signing Z more difficult, but you have to take your shot a some point, and the Wings have a great window of opportunity now. Edit: Sorry forgot link

The Ledezma trade makes me think we're leaning towards moving Durbin to the pen, and keeping Miller. Afterall, Ledezma was the primary long reliever, so somebody has to take that spot. I hate to see Ledezma go, as I thought he had pitched better than his stats, but it made sense to move him considering he had decent trade value so we not only to get a decent arm back, we also got someone with an option left. Another smart move by Dombrowski: Go figure.