Drake_Marcus

Jarnkrok needs NHL size/strength. The skill's never been in question. Nyquist needs NHL size too, but I'm sure the Wings have already made the weight-room requirements clear Jurco, Plukkinen, Jarnkrok, Nyquist and Tvrdon all have top end upside in terms of talent. Any of them could be Z/Dats players if the Wings are lucky. Datsyuk's sublime skill really started to shine once he had the NHL strength to harness it. If any of those five can follow the same trajectory as Datsyuk did between their age and his late twenties we're golden. Obvious troll is obvious.

Smith is definitely playing well but Tip's system is making him look even better. The 'yotes are extremely well coached.

A straight Hudler for Nyquist swap wouldn't make the team deeper. It's unfair to ask a rookie to walk in and post 50pts minimum. Switching Nyquist in for a guy like Emmmerton? That's a big increase in scoring depth. I'm not sure they're willing to give up on Emmerton just yet, though. It all depends on who stays and who goes this summer. I don't really care what happens with Cory but wish him the best none-the-less. A cliched line repeated ad nauseum on the internet with no regard to context? Yup.

There's room on this team for the Hudler we saw every year in the league other than last season. He's a specialty winger who gives you a strong 2nd PP guy. Losing Hudler would only make our lame PP even worse. I can't wait to see some remodeling of the roster this summer but switching Hudler for a gritty forward is goofy suggestion unless that gritty forward is also a top 6 guy (unlikely since every team in the league covets gritty scorers above all else). If Hudler does go I wish him the best on his next team and I really hope he's replaced by a better player offensive player and not a token grinder who reduces our offensive depth even further.

Interesting stuff from some posters. I guess it's hard to judge Hudler if you don't pay attention to every game. Yes, Hudler gets out-muscled by bigger players (see: everyone but St.Louis and Gionta) but he battled way more than half our forwards (Bertuzzi, Franzen) and was one of the few players who went to the front of the net on a regular basis. He's also one of only two guys to score on Rinne more than once in the playoffs. Anyone who thinks those points by Hudler in the playoffs were thanks to Filppula's amazing play must not have watched the same games I watched (Val's sudden transformation into a player who stayed exclusively on the outside didn't help anyone in the playoffs, it's a damn shame he wasn't driving the net like he did in the regular season). Newsflash: NHL players don't stumble to 50pt seasons along side sub-70pt linemates because they're getting dragged along despite their lack of skill. Hudler earned his spot on the Zetterberg line by going to the net and playing mini-Holmstrom (a role I wouldn't have believed he could play before this season). If Franzen worked as hard as Hudler did this year we'd probably still be in the playoffs.

http://www.tsn.ca/showdown/2012/ He's getting destroyed in voting right now. Pens fans are stuffing the ballot box. Time to even the score! Essentially the same play except Datsyuk kicked the puck to his stick and didn't get to victimize a rookie forward.

It's a misconception that Stamkos is a lone-star player. St. Louis is an excellent player who's only a season removed from nearly hitting 100pts. Stammer definitely has good players to work with.

I'll go with a less common suggestion: we need a big, strong shut-down centre who has elite face-off numbers. Helm's almost that guy but he's pretty small.

Great point-- especially the part in bold. Quick really had a tiny margin of error (.22 goals per game difference between for and against) compared to Lundqvist (.49 goals per game). Or put another way: LA was 2nd in goals against but 29th in goals for and NYR was 3rd and 11th, comparatively. Interestingly, the Wings were 7th in both categories. The real failing for us was special teams: 22nd in PP and 18th in PK.

Hey Edmonton: Holland's phone line is always open.

Pavs is great at talking to the media. Being understood isn't always his forte but when he gets his point across there's usually enough cleverness to make everyone love him.

Oh it can be done. The question with 99.9% of all construction is whether it can be done correctly while staying on time and on budget. Maybe they'll just keep throwing time and money at it until it's doable instead of starting from a feasible design at the outset.

Rinne's been with the same coach his entire NHL career and that guy happens to be someone who consistently manages elite defensive systems. Quick's had a variety of coaches and been strong (overall) with all of them. It's hard to really know how Rinne would perform with a different system (that's my only reservation with him).

'tuzzi is going to be much more effective on the 3rd line where he can be opportunistic than on the 2nd line where he'll be viewed as not pulling his weight.

If Schneider gets 2.4M he better fire his agent.

Lol Semin. People ***** about Franzen being a lazy floater... Semin's twice as absentminded, twice as talented and half as consistent as Frazen (and unlike Franzen up until last year, he doesn't have a history of being dynamite in the playoffs).

Oh for sure. I just doubt he'll get much for the Canucks unless they're willing to take a bad contract coming the other way or a package of smaller things mashed together (schlubs, picks and prospects). Everyone in the league knows Vancouver will be happy just to be rid of his financial and emotional baggage.

Smith isn't even comparable to Stuart on the PK. Babs would be nuts to throw Smith to the PK sharks. Brendan needs some serious NHL seasoning for his defensive game and he'll always be a 'gambler' as Mickey (and the scouts at the draft) says. If it was only about the PP Smith is an instant upgrade to the Wings' special teams. The Wings have some very strong talent below the AHL level both in Europe and NA. The talent coming down the pipeline is definitely coming at the right time.

If Yzerman gives St. Louis or anything good up for Luongo's bloated contract he's a moron. Vinny's about all I'd give up in terms of legit 'big name' talent for Luongo. Vinny's got an equally bloated contract (yes, the insane term on Luongo's contract is a big factor, even if it's a manageable cap number).

When you produced less than 70pts the same season your contract expires you aren't exactly dealing from the kind of position that allows you to demand 8million + http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/teams/players/bio/?id=3508 Those are not $8,000,000 numbers.

Let Yzerman manage his team into the playoffs on a consistent basis before we anoint him with palm fronds.

Montreal's a s***show right now. Offer the GM job to anyone with an ounce of sense and they'd but their hands up and slowly back up before jumping in their car and speeding away.

Boom. 50% of the top scorer in the 2012 playoffs could be ours.

I can see Columbus taking that deal. Nash is grossly overpaid for his production but playing alongside the Sedins would instantly allow him to put silly numbers up. Perry + 2 1sts for Kindl and a pair of Wings seasons tickets.