Drake_Marcus

Oh I agree 100%. As Lidstrom approaches retirement, pairing him with the future top d-men of this team becomes more and more critical. That's why I pray that Ericsson gets to play some significant minutes with Lidstrom this season. That will most likely be limited to the PK and situations when Rafalski isn't paired with Lids due to injury, line shuffling or the odd times during the game when Babs is balancing out the minutes played for different d-men. My hope is that Ericsson out plays Stuart (not an unlikely possibility) and makes his way onto the top 4. In that case Babs might consider pairing the guys like this: Lidstrom-Ericsson (24 mins a night) Rafalski-Kronwall (24 mins a night) Stuart-Lilja/Lebda (12 mins a night) I know it's unlikely that he'll split Lids and Rafalski at even strength, but I just Ericsson to get as much time as possible to learn from Lidstrom before he retires.

I agree 100% man. This is why Kindl drives me nuts-- he has all the tools to be a #1 d-man and a perennial all-star. He's big, strong, has great hockey sense, sees the ice very well and has a powerful, accurate shot. He can pass, hit and skate like a #1 d-man. He's got the skills to be a future Norris winner. On the other side of the coin-- he's inconsistent, has long lapses in judgment (when he's off his game) and is very prone to turn-overs. Last season he played 4 months of exciting, promising hockey that made me think "this guy will be playing on the top pairing in Detroit in 5 years". Then he played 4 months of dismal hockey that made me think "Jesus, trade this kid while his upside is still 'untapped' and other teams think he's worth something". Obviously I don't want the Wings to give up on him, but last season ended so poorly for him that I was close to wishing that. I just couldn't get over how he could play 4 months straight without showing us the glimpses of brilliance he did the previous half of the season. Then again, Kindl almost made the Wings out of camp in 06-07-- before his rookie season in the AHL. When this kid is "on" he's frigging impressive. Really impressive. All we can hope for is that he learns to lock himself into "on" mode permanently, or at least learns to put bad games behind him and start fresh. That last part is the hardest for young pros. Doing what Ozzy does so well-- having a short memory when it comes to bad games, is incredibly difficult and it's the key to being an effective professional athlete. Both Hudler and Filppula struggled with that throughout their NHL careers. Imagine how good Filppula could be if he nailed down the secret to consistency! But that's often the big difference between a very good player and an excellent player.

Nope. Lebda and Meech are already on the payroll-- the Wings can't afford to pay them to sit and have Kindl play as the #6 d-man. Furthermore, Kindl isn't close to being NHL ready. He struggled defensively in the AHL so he'd be eaten alive in the NHL.

Agreed. I'm expecting a big, big season from Kindl this year.

The inconsistency people talk of refers to how he played lights out for half of last season then became one of the worst d-men on the team in the second half. For example, Griffinscentral.com said the following: First half report card: Second half report card: That kind of inconsistency is pretty shocking, and not really "getting adjusted". He played a full season with GR in 07-08, so he's already had his 82 game adjustment period. This is a case of a player who simply needs to become more consistent, it's as simple as that. His conditioning should've been up to speck last season after his rookie campaign gave him a taste of the league.

To be fair, though, I've heard people call him An_y _elmore (in other words-- where's the d?). Apparently he's pretty weak in his own end.

In certain instances (for example-- the scenerio I wrote about above) it makes sense to talk about trading Stuart. An NTC does NOT make a player impossible to trade. Players with NTC's have a history of being traded in the NHL-- the player just gets input as to where they go and whether they're willing to be moved. Because trading him is possible and makes sense in certain situations you should plan to lose your mind, because people will still talk about it and some of those people will make some sense.

I'm not terribly surprised that Leino and Filppula have chemistry Leino is a finisher who loves going to the net and Filppula plays best with someone who can take the puck from him and use it creatively. Plus there's something to be said for them both being Finnish guys around the same age-- perhaps sharing a native tongue is an advantage? The only problem is Williams-- no way he bumps Franzen off the second line. Hopefully Franzen can slot in there without disturbing the chemistry too much... otherwise Babs might put Leino-Filppula-Williams on the third and split Zetterberg and Datsyuk into two lines again.

Man I hope he can follow in Ericsson's footsteps but to do so he'll have to become competent defensively. He's definitely an offensively gifted guy but his attention to defensive positioning is severely lacking. He's still young, though, and being defensively weak is a common problem for young d-men. Kindl just needs to stay focused and learn to play with his maximum intensity every night. So far he's been lucky in terms of health (knock on wood!) so he's had tons of experience at the pro level for a 2nd year AHL player. At this point the depth chart for D-men looks like this: 1. Lidstrom 2. Rafalski 3. Kronwall 4a. Stuart 4b. Ericsson (Based on his play in the playoffs, it looks like Ericsson can jump over Stuart this season) 6. Lilja (2010 UFA) 7. Lebda (2010 UFA-- due for a raise and thus will lose pretty much the only thing keeping him here--price) 8. Meech (2010 RFA-- gonezo unless Lilja impresses and is willing to stay for around his current salary) Kindl won't play in Detroit next year unless he's secured a spot in the top 6. (He's too valuable to have sitting in the pressbox when he could be developing in GR and the 10-11 season will be his last year with waiver free status) Assuming Lilja comes back and plays well we know Lebda won't be in Detroit next year. So basically, Kindl has to have any of the following happen: --> Outplay Lilja and Meech in training camp next year --> Stuart gets traded because Ericsson plays him out of a top 4 job AND Holland decides Stuart isn't worth paying 3.75 million to to play on the 3rd pairing while he waits for Lidstrom to retire (since Stuart will be a valuable piece when Lidstrom retires and the top 4 is suddenly about 80% less impresive). Holland needs to decide if he'll try to "replace" Lidstrom via a trade or free agency (replace being used loosely since no one in the league is could replace Lidstrom) or whether he thinks Kronwall has progressed enough to move up to the top pairing and Ericsson/Stuart is a strong enough second pairing. Based on Kronwall's progression I believe he'll be good enough to play on the top line when Lidstrom eventually retires (hopefully he signs a two year deal at the end of this season or even stays longer-- I'd rather he gradually phases himself out than just leave so close to his peak). This situation is dependant on Lidstrom's plans after this season and Stuart, Kronwall, Rafalski and Ericsson's play this season. --> Lilja doesn't return to form, Lebda out prices himself and Meech doesn't prove he's more than a 7th d-man. In this case Kindl's the only viable option within the organization baring a monster season by Kolosov. --> Kindl plays so well in the AHL this season that leaving him in GR would be stupid. If you look at the depth chart below Meech we see this (note that I've ignored Delmore since he's retchedly bad defensively and Janik because he's a 29 year old spare part and not a future piece of the organization): 9. Kindl [22 years old] 10. Kolosov [23] (Strong AHL season last year-- considered most improved player on the Griffins by many) 11. Smith [20] (hasn't played pro yet and won't until next season at the earliest, so unlikely to jump in sooner) 12. Lashoff [19] (OHL last year, playing in the OHL this season too) 13. Nicastro [19] (USHL last year, will play for Boston in the NCAA this season) 14. Pyett [21] (struggled mightily in his rookie AHL season-- looking to bounce back big this season) 15. Piche [21] (QMJHL last year, will be an AHL rookie this year) 16. Ehrhardt [20] (WHL last year, I assume he'll still be in the WHL this season) 17. Rufenach [20] (NCAA last year, will stay in the NCAA this season) (note that I haven't included 09 picks in this list because the odds of them pushing past Kindl in one year are minuscule when it comes to the Red Wings and how they develop prospects) So realistically, Kindl's only going to face competition from guys who've played in the AHL if he's trying to win a spot next year (assuming a non-AHL d-man doesn't blow him away in camp and the preseason, but a youngin' hasn't made the team that way since Fischer). Well those d-men only really include Kolosov, Pyett and Piche. Piche is a rookie this season and doesn't really project as more than a 3rd pairing d-man so I doubt Kindl has much to worry about. Pyett would have to have the bounce back season of the century to pass Kindl and Kolosov would have to drastically increase his offensive production (although his defensive game is coming along nicely and he's a very physical player who seems committed to improving and playing hard every night, so Kindl might have to worry about him if he can't put together a strong season this year). Man, I wish I got bonus points for rambling my way into posts of this ridiculous length.

No no no NEVER on the second option I hate seeing Datsyuk and Zetterberg split up. Their chemistry is too valuable to mess with. In the 07-08 playoffs Babs split Z and Dats at times but when the game was on the line and the Wings had to score he could put them back together and there was instant chemistry again. In the 08-09 playoffs when Babs tried putting them together that chemistry just wasn't as sharp or effective. Honestly, I blame that on his splitting them up so often in the regular season. Keep Datsyuk and Zetterberg together all year and make sure they can dominate in the playoffs. Plus, at this point Babs needs to let Filppula earn the second line centre spot. In 07-08 Filppula struggled to play that spot effectively, but he's more mature now and I think he can be an effective 2nd line centre. Let him sink or swim this season. I'm also not a fan of putting Franzen, Cleary or Holmstrom together on a line. Those three are supposed to be doing the same thing out there, especially Cleary and Holmstrom. It's time to play Cleary in front of the net for a full season because it's readily apparent that Holmer isn't going to be his old self for much longer. Cleary needs a chance to establish himself as a premier net front presence, and that means giving him lots of minutes in front of the net. Here's how I'd do it if Holmstrom is back to his old self: Zetterberg-Datsyuk-Holmstrom Franzen-Filppula-Bertuzzi (clearly in this case Franzen won't be the net-front man, he'll be the shooter) Leino-Williams-Cleary (Williams will have to shore up his defense if he's going to pull this off) Eaves-Draper-Helm (Helm isn't offensively gifted so putting him on the third instead of Williams is a stretch) PP1 Zetterberg-Datsyuk-Holmstrom Lidstrom-Rafalski PP2 Franzen-Williams-Leino Kronwall-Ericsson (I hate forwards at the point and Williams is too good on the PP to leave him off, Val would get chances to work in anyway, since there's more than 6 forwards who get PP time over the course of a season) PK1 Datsyuk-Filppula (I love this combo on the PK) Lidstrom-Stuart PK2 Zetterberg-Cleary/Helm Kronwall-Ericsson So what if Holmstrom plays like he did in the 08-09 playoffs? Zetterberg-Datsyuk-Cleary (this will be our top line next year, so why not try it out early) Franzen-Filppula-Bertuzzi (I'd rather Leino, but Bert is too slow and lazy defensively to play on the checking line) Leino-Helm-Williams (let Williams shoot, Leino make plays/shoot and Helm win faceoffs and forecheck like crazy) Eaves-Draper-Holmstrom (a troublesome line since Holmer is so damn slow, but where else can he play?) PP & PK same as the above (yes-- with Holmstrom) So in closing-- no way Williams plays on the 4th so Helm can centre the 3rd. Helm has almost zero offensive upside and Williams is a competent scorer. While I love having a guy like Helm as a checking line centre, Williams is too good offensively to play on the 4th instead of Helm. Helm will eventually be the 3rd line centre, but as it stands now Williams is higher on the depth chart for centres.

We'll see about Kindl... this year is the make or break year for him. He needs to stop turning the puck over and start being consistent or he'll start to look more like one of those "never lived up to your potential" guys. Last season started so strong for him, but he crashed and burned after the All-Star break . Then again, I'm an Ericsson guy, so I might just be biased

While I like the idea of replacing Holmstrom with Cleary on the ZDH line, Holmer just can't do much other than stand in front of the net and direct shots at the goalie while he wags his ass at him. In this case Cleary's versatility works against him.

Yikes! If Team Howe isn't getting one of the top two forwards they could've at least been given Lidstrom! Kind of weird that they put Lids and Zetterberg on the same team... I'd have thought they'd put the top three players on different teams for balance. As far as Filppula on the third line goes-- well if Zetterberg and Datsyuk are centring the 1st and 2nd lines where else do you put Filppula? He's too good of a centre to put on the wing all year-- they need his face-off skill and defensive presence as a centre.

All I see on TSN is a report stating that this is NOT happening and that the rumour is 100% false.

What? LA would get hosed in that deal. Marleau, when compared season by season from his rookie onwards, is inferior to Frolov and 5 years older. No reason why they should be dumb enough to trade Frolov for the older version of himself when they're in rebuilding mode. Oh, and add a second player in there and it's retarded.

Fixed it.

So the game's already ended, but it's worth discussing the results: http://www.pointstreak.com/prostats/boxsco...?gameid=1093188 Final: Detroit 4 Dallas 1 Scoring: Detroit Red Wings - Mitchell Callahan (Sergei Kolosov) 11:29 2nd Dallas Stars - Jamie Benn (Zak Stebner, Tomas Vincour) 15:13 2nd Detroit Red Wings - Landon Ferraro (Willie Coetzee) 17:50 2nd Detroit Red Wings - Jan Mursak (Cory Emmerton) 18:26 2nd Detroit Red Wings - Logan Pyett (Brent Raedeke, Andrej Nestrasil) 16:48 3rd Other Notes: Callahan had a roughing minor and fighting major, giving him 14 PIM in only 4 games (with 2 fights). Top Red Wings Scorers in the Tournament (4 games): 1. Tomas Tatar © -- 3g / 2a / 5pts / +5 2. Jan Mursak (LW) -- 2g / 3a / 5pts / +1 3. Brian Lashoff (D) -- 2g / 1a / 3pts / +2 4. Brent Raendeke (LW) -- 2g / 1a / 3pts / -1 5. Corry Emmerton (LW) -- 1g / 2a / 3pts / +3 Full List EDIT: With no points tonight, Tatar slipped down to 5th in tournament scoring (noting that 4 teams are still playing so that could fall lower).

I've reserved my enthusiasm for McCollum until he has a season of pro hockey under his belt. Remember how impressive Stephen Liv was before he came over to the AHL?

Yeah, on a team desperate for cap room you think it's obvious they'd trade Meech over Lebda. ->Meech is cheaper than the current league minimum salary. ->Meech can play forward so he effectively serves as two different types of injury replacements. ->Meech makes about $150,000 less than Lebda and plays an identical game. ->Both Meech and Lebda are spare parts once Lilja comes back (which is the only time either will be traded anyway). ->Lebda may be a veteran who has cup experience but his contract is up this year and he'll want more-- there's no way he'll be wearing a Winged wheel next October. Meech won't get much of a raise next year-- expect he'd play for the league minimum again. If Lilja comes back early Meech as a far better chance to stay here than if he comes back late. A late return by Lilja effectively negates the salary advantage Meech has over Lebda, which is really the only important advantage (I'm sure Lebda is capable of playing forward as effectively as Meech if pushed to). So, in summary-- the choice isn't as clear cut as you make it out to be. It all depends on when Lilja returns.

Arrrgggghhhhh.... reading this makes me want to stab something.

Oh yeah-- they'd be a great regular season duo. Then they can disappear in the post season and enjoy some nice games of golf.

That type of thinking seems to be common in LA's management and it's exactly why they've been "rebuilding" for decades. Pathetic. They're a revolving door for talent that hands gifts out to whoever trades with them.

That's a terrible deal for Los Angeles. Frolov for Marleau straight up is a questionable trade for the Kings (given that they're still stuck in rebuilding mode): Marleau: Age 29, Last 4 seasons: 71pts/48pts/78pts/86pts Frolov: Age 24, Last 4 seasons: 59pts/67pts/71pts/54pts It's worth noting that if you compare Marleau to Frolov season by season in their respective careers Frolov has done much better on a worse team (I'm comparing one guy's 1st year to the other's 1st year and so on). Add to that that Marleau's heart and leadership is a big question mark and I just can't see why LA would trade their budding star for a guy who was worse at Frolov's age and is 5 years older. This trade would make more sense if the Kings were trying to make a playoff run but it certainly doesn't make sense for a team that's in perpetual rebuilding mode. I guess it makes sense based on LA's history of jettisoning valuable assets for less than their worth and making retarded trades for old men. But adding Stoll in there just makes it retarded.

TSN or it didn't happen. By the way-- this deal has been rumoured for months. And yet neither Murray nor Heatly mentioned the Sharks as an interested party... that tells me that the Sharks want the deal but haven't made an offer the Sens consider serious.

That'd be awesome. You're right-- he's definitely going to put up fewer goals on a weak team like Red Deer than he would on a strong team.