Drake_Marcus

They could afford the salary numbers just fine. He left because he wanted the 5 million tax free in Russia. The Wings offered him 3.5 million a year pre-arbitration, so a 2.875 million dollar post-arbitration number is money for the Wings. Ask the IIHF why they're causing more drama, guaranteed it has nothing to do with the Wings and they'd be up in arms if the NHL caused this to happen at this point in the summer.

I love that idea too... at least from an offensive perspective. (although where's Maltby in your scenario?) While Hudler is undoubtedly superior to Filppula offensively, there are some problems with using him over Filppula as the second line centre. The problems lay in the areas where Filppula is superior to Hudler: --> Defense --> Face-offs --> Skating All three of those are very important factors for your centres, especially the first two on the Wings. Now I'm sure Hudler is capable of learning to improve his defense and face-off ability just as he learned to skate better in the off-seasons. He'd still make our 2nd PP so much better, though. In your scenario I'd go with this line-up: Zetterberg-Datsyuk-Holmstrom/Bertuzzi Franzen-Filppula-Hudler/Cleary Leino-Williams-Cleary/Hudler Helm-Draper-Bertuzzi/Holmstrom Lidstrom-Rafalski Kronwall-Ericsson Lebda-Meech --> 3rd pairing is very vulnerable to being pushed around given their both midgets I'd rather Holland somehow convinced Holmstrom to retire and gives him a place somewhere within the Wings organization (Swedish scout?). He'd also convince Maltby to retire in this scenario (obviously this is all fantasy). Zetterberg-Datsyuk-Bertuzzi Franzen-Filppula-Hudler Leino-Williams-Cleary <--very dangerous 3rd line. Very, very dangerous Helm-Draper-Eaves Lidstrom-Kronwall <-- each of the top 2 pairings would get ~25 mins a night Rafalski-Stuart Ericsson-Lebda PP: Zetterberg-Datsyuk-Bertuzzi Lidstrom-Rafalksi Franzen-Hudler-Leino Kronwall-Williams <-- as much as I hate a forward on the point, we all know Babs likes R-L pairings on the blueline PK: Datsyuk-Filppula Lidstrom-Ericsson/Stuart Zetterberg-Cleary/Helm Kronwall-Stuart/Ericsson

To be fair to Richards-- he's definitely a talented defensive forward and deserves the praise he gets. And I'm not talking about his shorthanded goals. I'm pretty confident that Datsyuk has more Selke in him. His defensive numbers last season weren't quite as impressive as they were the year before but that had a lot to do with how poor the team was playing as a defensive unit. This year there will be a much stronger push to play the way the 07-08 Wings did defensively, and that will only help Datsyuk's defensive numbers.

Drama! Can't wait to hear the rhetoric from the KHL president.

Oh yeah, I agree. Jackman's win was a joke. But then again, having our players be relatively award free helps keep them cheaper.

If it's a line that played together I'd have to pick the Production line-- Howe, Lindsey, Abel. All time? Howe-Fedorov-Yzerman Lidstrom-Kelly Sawchuk I'm a huge fan of Vlady, but Kelly had a better career. If Vlady hadn't been hurt all bet are off, though.

Yup. I agree 100%.

Actually he had lots of production with Maltby and Draper. He only actually played a game with Datsyuk if my memory serves me. I remember reading on the Snapshots blog that while playing with Leino Draper and Maltby put up half of the points they scored last season. Leino won't be on the 4th line again, so it stands to reason that he'll have even better linemates. This kid's a stud and definitely my favourite young forward.

Step back? Yes. Sizable step back? No, I don't think so. But we'll see how the season goes soon enough.

Really? The Islanders have to work to hit the cap floor. They're not exactly bursting at the seems with star players.

And it would really help the PK. Lilja and Ericsson both provide big, shotblocking bodies that are invaluable for the pk.

The Wings dominated the 'Hawks last season (especially in the playoffs). Switching Havlat for Hossa is almost a lateral move when you compare the relative stats of those two players last year. Then they switch Khabi for a terrible, terribe Huet? How the hell do people interpret these moves as putting them over the big red hump?

Dude-- I'd pay money to get right handed forwards off the Wings' point. But we all know that's how Babcock rolls.

Me too man-- Leino's the s***! I'm excited for the season to start so I can go on ebay and snap up all of his rookie cards

To be honest, I'm not convinced Filppula will be consistent enough to stay on the 2nd line. He really seems to struggle early in the season, and that type of inconsistency is what seems to hold him back more than linemates. I'm sure he'll play a good chunk of the season on the 2nd line, but if he wants to score 55 points or more he'll have to play enough with the same guys to develop the right chemistry. He's not offensively talented enough to slide up and down the line-up and still score 57 pts like Hudler did, but he is talented enough to score that many points in the right situation. And in my opinion that situation is one where Filppula is consistent enough to stick around on the 2nd line full time and develop some solid chemistry with his linemates. We know Franzen will be on one wing, but the 2nd winger is open to debate, so you're also kind of counting on someone showing up and playing themselves onto that line full time. Leino could be that guy. I'd love to see some chemistry develop between Leino and Filppula, and who knows-- we might have a nearly fully Finnish line. So in summary-- yeah, he could score 55 this season if the right situation develops. I just won't predict it because it's something that's more situational and is, at least to some extent, out of Filppula's control. And as it stands now, Filppula hasn't shown us he can create chemistry and pull a line along with him. Now if Hossa was returning and they reunited the Hossa-Filppula-Franzen line from the playoffs I'm confident Filppula could break 50 pts.

Samulesson and Cleary's superior scoring, PP and SO numbers must just be a coincidence then. I guess Cleary being a scoring star before entering the league and being drafted in the 1st round is also a coincidence. Discredit? Why don't you reread my post that directly addressed your concerns about me. You know, it is possible to think Filppula's not going to rip it up this year and suddenly become a top 30 centre in this league without actually disliking him. I like Filppula-- I appreciate what he offers the team. I'm just not convinced that every single player has the potential to be the next star player if we just wish hard enough when we blow out the candles. And again, I've argued that Filppula won't score "60+" points this year. You can pretend I'm arguing against a 15 point increase, though, if that makes you feel better.

Crazy gingers.

MAF is the worst goalie at the camp. Mason can easily out play his terribly inconsistent ass. And for the record I think Ward is an elite goalie based on his consistently steller postseason play.

Don't forget the part about stealing from the cabbie who makes 50 times less than he does in a year.

In Maltby's case this year? I hope the answer is: sitting in the pressbox.

I was arguing that's his career potential, not that he'd hit it this year. If you think he's going to go over 60 pts this season, surely you think his career potential is higher. And like I said- less than 30 centres scored 60 or more points last season. I didn't say "pace", I didn't say "fairly close" and I didn't say it included any forward position. I was talking about centres. And guess what? If your offensive output is such that there are few enough of your peers to account for one per team, you've got an argument that you're elite. An above average player on a good offensive team can hit 60 without it being impressive? The Wings lead the league in scoring last year. They also had a team considered to be stocked with forwards that are above average or better. How many non-elite forwards scored 60 or more? ZERO.

Meech? The bartender could easily pick him up, afterall.

Abdelkader's currently training at State, so he'd be around to actually go to a bar with buddies right now...

I'll second that. Lebda's the one who did the same type of thing with the Cup back in 08...

Filppula spent time playing on the 2nd line both seasons. If he didn't his even strength time wouldn't be in the top six forwards, simple as that. Filppula only fell down to the 2nd line when he couldn't perform offensively. That's why he started the 07-08 season on the 2nd line and lost it quickly. If Filppula could've played 50-60 point hockey Babcock would've kept Dats and Zetterberg together. Is Hossa a centre? No. If Filppula could've put consistent offensive numbers up as a centre he would've stayed on the 2nd line, because he was certainly given a lot of opportunities. Filppula couldn't stick around as the 2nd line centre for the same reason he couldn't do it the year before-- he isn't a consistent offensive threat. And he's never been a PP regular. His 1:47 PP time in 07-08 was representative of someone who played some time on the 2nd PP, but certainly wasn't on there as the key centre. Know why? He's never been among the top six offensive threats on the team. Never. He lost 1 minute of PP time man. One minute. Not drastic. There's a WORLD of difference between taking a 13 game sample and taking a 1 game sample. Moreover, 13 games is a decent sample size when you're talking about an incoming rookie AND you're talking about someone you've already given data for based on two entire seasons previous (AHL, Finnish Elite League). Also note that I clearly indicated I was projecting the average over an 82 game season, so I in no way misrepresented the facts at hand. The fact remains that that 13 game stint is as relevant a sample as Filppula's most recent playoff run.