Drake_Marcus

Thanks. And yeah, I play the NHL xbox games. Friggin' love them in the off-season.

NHL09?

This. HoH gets it.

First of all, Hudler being on the 4th line at the end of the playoffs wasn't an indication of where he should be used, it was an indication of Babcock's displeasure with Hudler at the time (for one of thousands of reasons Babcock didn't like Huddles ). Babs was good at making Hudler work, though, because usually when he put him on a doghouse line Hudler would play with a vengeance. It's kind of like an in-game benching that Babs used with good effect on Hudler. Hudler still scored in the top six in the playoffs, all while playing from the doghouse. Back on topic, I don't see why the OP likes putting Leino on the 4th line. In his short call-up, Leino came close to matching Eaves season numbers. If you're scoring at nearly the same pace in less than 15 games that a guy did over a full season I don't see why you'd be playing on a lower line. Putting that part aside, there's still the fact of how Leino plays. Leino plays like a pure top six guy. Putting him on a line with Draper and Maltby is like handcuffing his left arm to his hockey pants. Eaves would be better used on the fourth than Leino-- at least Eaves is used to playing that role.

Do want.

I don't think they're slim. Looks like Holland intends to keep Lilja on board until he's healthy. Assuming he gets his grove back once he's healthy we're good to go. Stuart had the persistent post-concussion headaches for a year long period once and he's fine now.

I strongly doubt there will be a permanent 13th forward presence. If someone gets injured they can call someone up from GR. Holland seems to want to go with 22 forwards for the year (23 while Lilja is on LTIR). There's not enough cap space to pay a guy to ride the pine unless you have to (i.e. they're not on a two way contract or no longer are waiver exempt). Plus, Meech provides a 13th forward / 7th defenseman presence.

Believe it or not, Ericsson is a two way guy with tons of offensive ability. He played Lilja's role in the playoffs, but he's definitely a mobile offensive blue-liner. Lilja's role is to be a big, shutdown player with grit and shotblocking ability.

To be fair, Williams took a 32% paycut when he signed on here. Kenny gave him 1.5 million even though he got paid 2.2 million last season (whether he deserved it or not, although he did score 19 goals). So we can say we got Williams at a discount.

The Wings lose two mild level players (40-60pt guys) from their championship roster and you're forcasting their demise. Lucky for Wings fans our management is the best in the NHL. The Red Wings don't rebuild- they Reload. It's been that way for almost 15 years now. Our 'Lemieux' retires after the 05-06 season and the Wings win the cup two seasons later. What makes you think the same thing won't happen when Lidstrom eventually retires (which won't happen for a few years according to Nick)? I know you're just trolling, but I do find it entertaining that you're projecting your experience as a Pens fan onto the Wings. The Pens win a cup or two then tank for more than a decade until they can ice a starting line-up of lottery picks. That's not how the Wings work man, they're run too well to have to rely on draft charity.

Yeah, what the hell does Ken Holland know about running a hockey club? (I mean aside from winning)

And he from Flint!

Just move the 'yotes to Vegas. They'll sell out every single night. Vegas is starving for a major league franchise. Tons of snowbirds down there anyway, so it's not like there won't be "real" fans.

No way man. The purple cartoon octopus endears us to the Henti crowd.<--Warning, don't just google "henti" if you're at work, it's a disturbing fetish, my reference to which is probably best explained by this innocuous picture: Treat the "G" like some accidentally treat the "D" in Draper.

Helm broke your rules. Seriously, though, Abdelkader will get a nice long look when his time comes. He's only got one season as a pro under his belt. It's not like he's been waiting in GR for 4 years If the team didn't already have 4 rookies on it going into October AND Abs had a shot at getting more than 7 mins a night he'd be a shoe in. But as it stands now he's better served playing the role of a 1st line centre in GR and getting 20 mins a night and being cast in the light of a locker room leader. I'm sure he'll thrive because this kid hasn't stumbled yet. Once he gets here he's going to be a great Wing.

He was steaky in that sometimes he was the hottest player in the league (the first round of the playoffs), sometimes he was an elite player (the start of the season), and sometimes he was MIA (the second round of the playoffs). Yeah he was streaky, but the key is that he averaged out to be an excellent player, especially when motivated. His injury issue wasn't terribly significant (especially if he had rested it a bit longer, see: Larsson's big gamble). If there were more Ducks fans here they'd say they were "Hella bored". That's how I identify people from California.

But Filppula's an offensive superstar in waiting!

Yeah, but it's a stupid PR move by the league. They should've quietly worked something out between the olympic committees, member nations and NHL owners. Whatever the solution is, it should look better for the league than this one.

The fact that Holland makes Hudler fly in a cargo box is exactly why he left. In the KHL you get your own velvet-lined coffin.

Having a third line that can score is what saved us when Datsyuk and Hossa went dry in the playoffs. Of course I want a third line that crashes and bangs, but having one guy on that line that exchanges crashing and banging for top six scoring talent makes the Wings a deeper, harder team to play against. That was my point about the loss of Hudler. The top six now have a smaller margin of error. Most teams couldn't make it to the finals with two of their top three forwards playing through a slump. That's only possible when guys like Hudler and Sammy are on your 3rd and 4th line.

Via Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun, link from the London Free Press:

Assuming the 2nd PP is as good as it was last year

Abdelkader's too important of a prospect to waste a year of development on the 4th line. Plus the Wings will have 4 rookies, minimum, walking into October. Based on Holland's style, I'd say the 12th spot is going to go to a veteran. I see what you're getting at, but he can get lots more pro experience in the AHL. Helm stuck with the team because he was overripe from working his tail off for a few years down in GR. Give Abdelkader one more season in GR (making two pro hockey seasons in total) and he'll be ready to crack the roster.