Kp-Wings

I think all the dessert stores and bakeries can count on good business for the next few years.

Jason Smith said earlier in the season that he wanted to return to New Jersey if the Flyers didn't bring him back; unless nobody else heard about this, I don't know why you all keep mentioning his name. Plus, he's a slug, and is completely wrong for the Wings system. As a forward, you can get away with having no speed like that (think McCarty, Hudler, etc.), but as a defenseman, it just doesn't work.

The fact that the list includes only one European should give away the bias pretty quickly.

Weber isn't better than Stuart; he's younger, but Stuart is still a better player. Weber could easily make this team, as he's a lot better than Lebda or Chelios, but that still doesn't mean we should go after him. He'll command a high return price (most RFA's do), and it's not worth the payout for a #5-6 defenseman. There are plenty of cheaper options for that role already in the system, or in free agency. I do like Weber, but the chances of him getting him are very unrealistic.

Honestly, I will never understand what management sees in Lilja. Obviously they know a lot more than I do, but why are they actually interested in bringing him back? Are Meech and Quincey really that bad or that far off that a POS like Lilja is still considered more valuable to the team? Ugh, not a good way for me to start the work day, reading this news. Boo.

It confuses me why McCabe won't except a trade; he's easily the most hated player on that team. Plus, the Leafs are still a couple of years away from being even a playoff contender, so if he's got the chance to possibly make it onto a good team that can make the playoffs and even contend for the Cup, then why doesn't he? I really don't get it.

Hossa is not going to take a paycut to play here. He just turned down Pittsburgh's seven-something million offer, and even if they are losing players, they are still a Cup contender (which Hossa apparently has stated he wants to play for, yet is turning one down right now). Hossa had a strong playoff series, especially in the finals; you can't tell me he's going to take anything less than 8-9 million. Considering the Wings just won the Stanley Cup, and already have a very strong team, do they really even need him? I know he's a great player, but the teams long term benefits could be at stake with his probably huge contract eating away at cap space.

Agreed. The same needs to be said about the Shanahan talk; he was a great player when he was here, and I still like the guy, but he's a slug now. He's become nothing more than a perimeter player who's afraid to go in the corners and battle, a role that is completely useless in the playoffs. That pretty much explains why he hasn't done anything productive in that part of the season since 2002. Any free agents that are signed will be for depth, and I'd rather those players be guys who haven't yet won a Stanley Cup, and give it everything they've got to win one; not a guy like Shanahan or Fedorov that have already been there numerous times, and are basically just going through the motions to collect a paycheck.

Cloutier as a backup is not such a bad thing. Cloutier as a starter = :puke:

That's what everyone said about them last year.

St. Louis is still in the Central, so no, it's not stacked.

Teams like Los Angeles could be desperate enough to pick up someone in his position, but given his attitude, I almost don't see it happening. I mean, it's a stretch to blame all of a teams problems on one player (unless that one player is Alexei Yashin, but that's another subject for another day), but Emery was a distraction in that lockeroom this season. Once he came back from his injury, expecting to be the #1 goalie without actually earning it (which he never did), his attitude pretty much started the Senators season derailment. I think he might end up somewhere, but not right away. If a team like Los Angeles or maybe Tampa still has goaltending problems later this season, then he may get another shot.

I really like this pick. While I was mostly hoping to draft a scorer this time around (read: Nicholas Deschamps), McCollum was the #1 ranked North American goalie by CS, and is looking like he could be a solid goalie in the future. Plus, it never hurts to have a good insurance policy for the future, in case Howard and/or Larsson don't work out. Great selection by the Wings. On a somewhat related note, I loved the standing ovation Yzerman got by the crowd in Ottawa. I thought that was pretty cool.

Per TSN:

If that's true, then that's one of the most ridiculous things I've seen all summer. The guy just won a Calder Cup with their AHL affiliate, and knows all the players already in the Thrashers system. Who are they going to hire that's any better? The same castoffs that we see year in and year out leach onto teams, only to get fired again in a few years?

Unless Crosby retires for some reason, or dies, nobody in the NHL will ever unseat him in popularity. Guys like Ovechkin, Iginla, Zetterberg, and many others are much way better and more complete players than him, yet they get nothing in attention compared to him. The NHL has their man, and again, unless something happens to him, they are going to market the crap out of him. Never mind the fact that what their doing is excessive; this is the NHL we're talking about, and they can never get anything of this sort right. Their media and PR relations is so piss poor.

Welcome to the "new NHL". Contracts like this just further prove how extremely useless the lockout was, since the whole point of the lockout was destroy contracts like this, yet it's not happening. If you guys think Kevin Lowe is laughing, just think about former HOF players who made about half this much money in the prime of their careers. Guys like Carter and Penner are taking their respective teams to the cleaners, showing that it's all about money anymore.

Campbell didn't really do anything when he played in San Jose, though. In his time there, the Sharks had another historic month of March, which means nothing, but once again flailed in the playoffs. Campbell was terrible, especially in the Dallas series, so it's not like he really came to play. I never really thought much of him anyways, so I hope he doesn't end up here.

This just further proves the man cares absolutley nothing about the leagues history at all. Next thing to happen will be expansion franchises in Mexico City and South America.

I honestly wouldn't mind drafting a goalie in the 1st round. Having a good insurance policy in case Howard doesn't work out (because goalies here often don't, yada yada yada) isn't really a bad thing. Haha, Jim Kelley wrote an article a few weeks back on how Zetterberg and Datsyuk, despite winning numerous awards this season and proving their status as some of the NHL's best players, still are not the faces of the NHL, and never will be. This latest drab shouldn't surprise anyone.

The pieces seem to be falling into place that Stuart won't be back. Oh well. Time to mull over the free agent list, and look what's out there instead.

167 PIM's? Looks like the Rags got themselves their very own Pain Train.

Congrats to Larionov. Great career, and a great guy. Always be one of my favorite Red Wings. Congrats to Glenn Anderson as well.

Heh.

I can't wait until Malkin is a UFA. The excitement is already building (not because I want him here, but because I want to see Pittsburgh squirm when they can't re-sign him).