DatsyukownzU13

He's putting up better numbers than either Fil or Hudler did in the AHL as well (well he's on pace for somewhere around Hudler's best season, which was his 3rd in the AHL). Hudler isn't anything special on defense. Fil isn't anything special on offense. Sometimes you need to take chances. I'd say 2nd in points in the Finnish Elite League followed by a strong preseason in the NHL and 20 points in 18 games in the AHL (his first season in North America) is something noteworthy. The fact of the matter is we aren't going to likely have all these players next year, so you have to look for cheaper alternatives to fill the gaps. More often than not that is going to come from the minors, especially when one player has been doing significantly well.

Either for Crosby straight up. Leaning towards Datsyuk. The defensive gap is closing. Age. Either for Ovechkin straight up. Too amazing of an offensive talent to refuse. Age. Any others would be very hard to justify but I could consider Kovalchuk, Getzlaf, Iginla, Malkin and Kane.

They are all pretty expendable. Leino can play Sammy and Hudlers role easily, while Helm can replace Fil. It's hard to pick between the two but I'd go for Hudler or Fil depending on the contract that Hudler is going for.

kronnnn

Souray is a big idiot.

That's pretty sick considering Stortini is a legit fighter.

The bold is why this really doesn't hold any water when figuring out the top 20.

What if the Wings dealt Rafalski. 6 million dollar contract and definitely hasn't played up to his price tag. Big E is waiting in the system to step up and be a top-4 defenseman. Yeah our D would/could take a hit, but if we could keep those 3 it would be huge. Obviously we would have to part ways with a few others (possibly Lijla, Hudler, Sammy), but I think it might be possible. Discuss.

Hockey is only boring to people that don't understand it or make an effort to. As far as the whole nice guys are boring, it's pretty sad that our sports culture is completely based around what dance move X football player does to mock the other team and what trash talk X basketball/football player says about Y in public. Sean Avery is the only person that really fits into the category of this in hockey (i.e. why he is the only player talked about on all these lame websites like ESPN). I'll take classy individuals and competitors over the publicity anyday. The NHL has legit role models for kids (not that all other sports don't have some, it just seems like they are few and far in between).

Talented, little (kind beat the odds), and I think he comes off being really humble and nice. Some people may interpret this another way, but crying about your coach being fired in the public eye as a male professional athlete is admirable. Sadly, a majority of super insecure masculine guys scream, "***/Baby/Wuss" at the idea of a man (well in this case boy) crying. Kinda odd to me.

F me... forgot that he has a NTC, anyway.

Dustin Brown Pat Kane Sidney Crosby Alex Ovechkin Phil Kessel

Friday: New Jersey @ Washington Columbus @ Buffalo Carolina @ Atlanta Detroit @ Florida St Louis @ Chicago Nashville @ Anaheim Saturday: Toronto @ Vancouver Philadelphia @ Montreal Washington @ New Jersey Ottawa @ NY Islanders Boston @ NY Rangers Buffalo @ Pittsburgh Columbus @ Minnesota Dallas @ Phoenix Colorado @ Edmonton Nashville @ Los Angeles Sunday: Tampa Bay @ Carolina Montreal @ St Louis San Jose @ Chicago Atlanta @ Philadelphia Los Angeles @ Anaheim

It looked like a kick, but I like the call just because of the fact that it was going to be a goal anyway. We've been given enough already.

Shouldn't be disallowed. That was for sure going in regardless. I know it's a rule, but that's stupid.

This whole sequence was pretty stupid... I hate when games get completely turned around because of penalties. That said, being a Wings fan Ill take it though.

If that stands... worst goal of the season?

Not going to lie... I feel like this is a giant makeup call for the Pittsburgh game from the NHL. But then again, I'm way too into the idea of the whole NHL conspiracy thing.

Hahaha 3 penalties? Seriously? I'll take it but whoa.

Not at all. Tampa comes out on top hugely with this trade. Not only is Downie pretty underrated when it comes to his actual hockey talent, Eminger = Carle without the 2.5 million price tag. Apparently for the time being Downie is going to Norfolk, but he is going to be a great top-9 player in a year or two.

Friday: Ottawa @ Carolina Montreal @ Columbus Atlanta @ Buffalo Dallas @ Anaheim Saturday: Buffalo @ Boston Montreal @ Toronto Pittsburgh @ NY Islanders Tampa Bay @ Philadelphia NY Rangers @ Washington New Jersey @ Detroit Calgary @ Columbus Nashville @ Colorado Florida @ Phoenix Minnesota @ Vancouver Dallas @ San Jose St Louis @ Los Angeles Sunday: Atlanta @ Carolina Calgary @ Chicago Edmonton @ New Jersey Florida @ Anaheim San Jose @ Phoenix

qft. This is much more important than how tired the Wings are.

I'm a fan of Avery. Yeah, he's a total b*tch to play against, but I would love to have him back. And on another level, he shows that pro athletes can be more than just that. He doesn't care how people may judge him (obviously by throwing this all out there) and I think it's pretty admirable.

I really doubt that they would get anything for him of value. If they couldn't get any draft picks for Quincey, who has debatably more upside, I doubt they can get much for Lebda (who has played even bad for Lebda standards this season). The guy is a completely liabilty and the first player since Boyd that I would consider a "void".

Agreed. Would love to have Chris Neil on this team, though.