Drake_Marcus

Walking in from last season, I wouldn't say he's too good to be a 4th liner. Potential wise, yeah he's got the potential to be a top six, but he'll have to earn every minute in Detroit. Not that that's a problem. Having to earn your ice time only makes you a better hockey player.

Assuming Holmstrom plays like 07-08 Holmstrom and not the guy we saw in 08-09: Zetterberg-Datsyuk-Holmstrom Franzen-Filppula-Cleary/Leino ?UFA?-Helm-Leino/Cleary Eaves-Draper-Maltby The third line is definitely a downgrade from last year when we had a 60pt guy on our third, but hopefully the UFA added can pot something like 20 goals. Let's say Holland convinces Prospal to sign for a cool 2 million a season: Zetterberg-Datsyuk-Holmstrom Franzen-Filppula-Prospal Leino-Helm-Cleary Eaves-Draper-Maltby Those lines look much better. Now the top two are more balanced, the third is dangerous while providing excellent defense/checking and the fourth has a kid to provide it with some more zip. In this scenario Leino gives the third great set of hands that can distribute the puck, Cleary provides finishing ability and Helm causes chaos by hitting everything that isn't wearing red.

Yeah, he's ineligible by that description because he played more than 6 games two seasons in a row. I'd be happy if people were talking about him being in that group of high end rookies but for that technicality anyway. Helm's got the same problem if I remember correctly, not that he's the type of player that wins a Calder anyway (since the voters are looking for points, points and points).

Based on Leino's play over the course of his call up last season I'd say he's our best shot at a Rookie of the Year type player since Hudler's rookie year (although Hudler only got 10 mins a night that year, so Leino will have to get more minutes to put up the kind of numbers people expect from a RotY forward). Unfortunately for us, Ericsson probably won't get the kind of PP and overall mins per night to get much consideration as the RotY. Calder winners are only rarely d-men and those d-men almost always get to play 1st pairing minutes in that season.

I doubt it. Janik was picked up purely on a depth basis and is expected to play on the first pairing down in Grand Rapids. Lilja or Lebda will probably be sent off sometime early in this season, but I can't see both going. Meech will stick around because he plays the part of a 7th d-man OR a 13th forward for only 443k a season. Given the Wings' cap issues that's too cheap and too versatile to throw away without good reason. That being said, this is probably the 'make it or break it' season for Meech in Detroit. He won't want to be the third wheel forever. Plus, at this point if another team were to show interest in Meech I'd say the Wings would take whatever return they could get for him.

It's interesting that you bring that up. Lang was regularly critizised around here for being a lazy floater, but part of that came down to his style (well part). He was one of those guys who put himself in the right place to take a shot and tended to stick around that spot... kind of how Hull was in his years here. Now obviously Lang wasn't the kind of scorer Hull was, but that kind of player tends to look like they're phoning it in more often than a player like Helm does who looks like a pinball on skates. Lidstrom might seem like that too because his game is so positioning based that he rarely has to rush to get somewhere since he mapped the situation out in his head 30 seconds ago and already started skating towards the spot in question. Lidstrom treats hockey like a good chess player treats the game of chess.

This!

Comrie and Zherdev will have to lower their salary expectations no matter who they sign with. I'd take Prospal over Williams or Sykora. Williams is a ghost in the playoffs and Sykora was a healthy scratch with Pitts. Grier would be a good pickup, but right now it looks like they're aiming for a scorer first and foremost (since Eaves is better described as a utility forward than a scorer based on the last two seasons). Bertuzzi is an option but it looks like his three most likely teams are in the east (Islanders, Leafs and some other team). Afinogenov is highly overpaid, so he'd definitely have to check his ego at the door if he wants to play in Motown. No thank you on Tanguay. Overpaid and inconsistent.

I dunno... Cleary was pretty highly touted coming into the league as well. I'd say they're both near the same level with Cleary having better one on one moves against a goalie and Eaves having a better shot.

Hudler was still in the top six for forward scoring and he still played on the 2nd PP. Hudler dropped a few minutes in the playoffs, but he was played pretty much the same way he was played in the regular season. It's not like Babcock gave Hudler top six minutes in the regular season then demoted him in the playoffs. In how many seasons? I'm willing to bet he'll reach 20 career regular season goals by mid way through his third season, maybe the end of his third. I love Helm, wish we had two of him. But to say he's a potential 20 goal scorer is pretty far fetched. He'll chip goals in sometimes, but that's not why he's playing in the NHL, that's just a bonus.

A god? He was despised by half the boards. Hudler and Helm provide two completely different things. One is a scorer with an average defensive capacity and the other is an energy player with strong defensive ability. Yeah we all wish everyone played like Helm-- I'm sure Babcock would kill to get the entire team to play with as much energy as Helm. But he wasn't more important than Hudler to the team. In a few years? Maybe. Helm was a critical piece of the 2nd PP that allowed Dats and Z to be played together on the 1st PP. As it stands right now we don't have a strong set-up guy to lead the forwards on the 2nd PP. Filppula will be asked to fill this role, but he's a significant downgrade from Hudler in that the realm of offensive skill. You won't see Helm on the PP, nor will you see Hudler on the PK. It's really tough to compare those two players.

I'd say it would push Leino out of the top 6 and onto the 3rd line. (which I'm ok with since he's a rookie and will likely get a few shots at the top six throughout the season)

Posting the exact same thing twice = fail.

20? That's being pretty hopeful. I'd be thrilled if they can squeeze 15 goals out of him. 20 sure would feel good, though. I'm more hoping he turns out to be an excellent PKer who provides lots of hustle, backchecking and energy. Cleary will likely spend the entire season on the top 6, so we need another Cleary type of player to be a 3rd line winger.

Hey, that's not fair. You're really underplaying Kopecky's ability to get during or right before the playoffs. Anyone know of a 4th line guy with size (but doesn't use it), a friend and countryman who's a superstar and the ability to get spectacularly injured? (coccyx!) What about that 3rd line kid who was best buddies with Crosby until he got traded to Atlanta?

Did Shoreline just put someone over his knee?

Yeah I hope the finals this year taught Babs a lesson about splitting Z and Dats-- keep them together at least long enough to maintain their chemistry from 07-08.

Nah. Keep Abdelkader in Grand Rapids please. He'll be the 1st line centre down in GR and see 20 mins a night. That's much better for his development than 7 mins a night in Detroit.

Prospal is good for an average of 20 goals a season over the last 7 years or so. Yeah he was bought out, but it was because Tampa's owners are cheap as f***. Prospal being bought out make him an even cheaper option for the Wings because he's already betting paid 1.17 million a season by the Lightning. Prospal looks to be the "best of the rest" so to say. Holland didn't go after someone before now for one simple reason: The NHL decided to file a grievance over Hudler's defection to the KHL. Holland stated that he couldn't go out and sign a player for 2 million only to have Hudler added back to the roster in August. He had to be sure everything was all tied up before he signed a replacement.

I'm just tired of arguing with people that Filppula isn't the second coming of Datsyuk. Some people on here are obviously convinced he has amazing hands and just hasn't managed to show us that empirically. I'm sticking with the reasonable conclusion that his career is pointing towards a strong two-way centre who can anchor the 2nd line. Apparently that makes me a blasphemer.

I'm guessing Meech will stay as the 7th d-man / 13th forward. I strongly, strongly doubt they'll carry 13 forwards AND 7 d-men this season unless they sign a very cheap player as the 12th forward AND trade or LTIR Lilja (who looks most likely to be on the LTIR at the start of the season).

If Holmstrom continues to struggle on the first line with Dats and Z, you better believe he'll be on the fourth. That's where he played for the majority of the playoffs. He's too weak defensively to play on the 3rd line (checking line). All we can do is pray he heals up this summer and comes back strong in October.

You should write a letter to the NHL and tell them they're listing things incorrectly on NHL.com. You still seem to think he's asked to sacrifice scoring more so than other players. It's interesting because Datsyuk and Zetterberg manage to put up impressive point totals when asked to do the exact same thing. Sometimes he plays on the checking line. Cool. When he's there he's asked to be defensively responsible. Is he asked to be more defensively responsible than any other Red Wings centre 5-on-5? Not really. Filppula spent at least half of last season centering the second line, and he spent more than half of the season before centering the second line. The only times when he's moved down is when he's playing inconsistently or not putting up offensive numbers (see the first half of last season). Filppula has always had the most chances out of all of the recent rookies to prove himself. He's consistently given the greatest number of opppertunities of all the young Red Wings. Hudler consistently outplays Filppula offensively but always remains in Babcock's doghouse. Face it- Filppula is the golden child when it comes to ice time. He's always been given fists full of ice time. Your PP time arguments are flawed-- Filppula's been given plenty of time to find his niche on the PP: 2006-2007: TOI/G: 11:15, PP TOI/G: 0:47, SH TOI/G: 0:46 (PP points: 0 g, 0 a, 0 pts, last in team pp scoring) 2007-2008: TOI/G: 16:57, PP TOI/G: 1:49, SH TOI/G: 1:13 (PP points: 3 g, 5 a, 8 pts, 10th in team pp scoring) 2008-2009: TOI/G: 16:06, PP TOI/G: 0:47, SH TOI/G: 1:45, (PP points: 1 g, 3 a, 4 pts, 11th in team pp scoring) Filppula lost time on the PP this season because he didn't show "enough" offensively on the PP to earn it. Simple as that. Babcock would love to give Hudler's time to Filppula, but Filppula just didn't perform well enough offensively when put on the PP to bump someone else off the list. You seem to think he's elite offensively. That's neat. He hasn't shown it to me or Babcock (or Babs would put him on the PP more often), but I'm glad he's convinced you. You and I don't agree. Sounds fine to me. Let's just leave it at that.

Sweet: