Wings_Toledo

With all of the injuries to their D, this was probably the best short-term move that the Flyers could arrange and not give up much. Best of luck to Huskins in Philly. He was a pretty decent fill-in for the Wings.

*UPDATE* So, we won't know until at least Tuesday, it seems.

Well, he is sort of stating the obvious but you can see that he's taking a smart approach. We don't want to see the Wings mortgage the future to acquire a big name that won't really help them make the playoffs. If they're sitting at 5-7 after the next six games then I would expect to see a trade or two.

Re: Ovechkin - I just don't think he would ever do well under Babcock or on this team in general. He has a very "me first" mentality and doesn't seem willing to change his attitude, no matter who is the head coach. Filppula plays his role well on this team and is a guy who can be counted on to hold down a spot on the 2nd line. Now, if he won't move from 5+ mil/season to re-sign then maybe Holland should consider moving him to at least get something in return. But I wouldn't be so quick to give up on negotiations.

If not for Bobrovsky and their ability to take advantage of shootouts to get extra points they'd still be at the bottom of the standings. They work hard, but their roster is essentially a hodge-podge of players that Howson put together, seemingly without any kind of reasoning. With their new GM, I expect CBJ to start to become at least a bit more competitive over the next few seasons.

I know he won't win it (maybe not even nominated) but, Datsyuk for the Hart!

White would probably do better on a team that's all about offense first, but for what he brings, he really just doesn't fit on this team. I'd rather see the Wings play several shutdown guys who make the simple play than have him out there getting beat along the wall and throwing errant passes up the middle.

At this point, just swap Cleary and Tatar. I want to see what Dats can do with someone on his line who can handle a puck...

I wasn't trying to compare the two, just pointing out that Brunner has the ability to produce and would be way cheaper to re-sign than to try and acquire Perry or sign him as a FA. Obviously Perry is the all-around better player, but if we're being realistic we all know that some other team will overpay to have him or he'll just re-sign with Anaheim because they have the cap space. When healthy, the Wings already have a competitive top six. I'm not so sure Holland will be looking to add any pieces to that part of the roster, but we'll see what happens as the season draws closer to the trade deadline.

My bad. Forgot about that 2-year deal for Cola. In my opinion, they should let White walk. He's never really been that impressive with the Wings. As for everyone penciling in Dekeyser on defense, did I miss where Holland said that he would get a guaranteed spot, or something? I would imagine he'd at least spend one season in GR.

Brunner currently has more points and goals than Perry and would cost way less to re-sign than to bring in Perry. Not saying I wouldn't like him here, but realistically I think Holland will re-sign Brunner, Flip and Howard and look for help on D if anyone is available. Lots of veteran D-men available this summer (if they don't sign new contracts before then...) who would be an upgrade over Cola and Huskins.

He's doing a fine job and having him with Ericsson has been a decent top pairing for this season. He may not be a PP quarterback like Lids but I've noticed he's able to get shots through for rebounds that often lead to goals.

Cleary has taken a stupid, unnecessary penalty in each game thus far and it's becoming very irritating to watch. He needs to ride the pine for a few games to cool off.

Might as well just call up the entire Griffins roster with the way these injuries are going. I mean, this was kind of expected with a season starting on short notice, but geez...

I think the loss of Lidstrom is more noticeable on the PK than the PP. The defensemen are getting exploited going from behind the net back out front and look out of position any time the puck isn't at the points.

Emmerton, for sure. When Helm and Bert are back it would be nice to see Cleary rotated in and out of the lineup, but I'm not sure Babcock would do that.

Well, Franzen looks pretty useless. Can't hit and refuses to skate. Awesome...

Didn't take long for the first Crosby dive of the season.

Experience and business sense aside, there are very few fans who actually respect Gary Bettman and want him to represent the sport of hockey to die-hard and casual fans in North America. The expansion (in terms of revenue) has been a failure, specifically for the Southern franchises and this whole shady deal with NBC, should there be a labor stoppage, shows Bettman's true colors. Unfortunately, the decision of whether or not to replace Bettman is up to the Board of Governors, and as long as the larger market teams are satisfied then there will be a majority vote to keep him.

Calgary is more likely to part with Babchuk than JBo and Yandle probably won't be traded unless a d-man goes back the other way. So, I wouldn't really consider either of them an option. More likely, Holland will wait until after the CBA is worked out and probably partway into the season to better evualute the team.

A young Clint Eastwood would be a great fit to play Yzerman. But there are no time machines, so...

I hope this news is true. However, wasn't Hockeyy Insiderr shown to be an unreliable "source?"

Not to de-rail the thread, but I thought about Commie the other day. He's a FA now, so if nothing else works out Holland could offer him a 1-year deal for $1-2 mil and have him be a shutdown 6th or 7th d-man. I don't think he was that bad when he was here. He just doesn't have the speed one would like to see.

Oddly enough, the thing I remember most about Burrows is an incident during the '07 Western quarterfinals (I think) when he got in Ott's face and then proceeded to run to the bench and hide behind Jeff Cowen.

I've disliked Burrows ever since he came into the league. He likes to pick fights and then hide behind his teammates. He's not exactly what I would call a "tough" player. The Wings need a true goal-scorer, not some little punk who benefits from playing with the Sedin twins.