Drake_Marcus

That Zetterberg kid was 210th. I hear he's half decent. Have you looked at his GR stats or read any scouting reports? OR are you just going by the draft order? Ericsson leads the Griffins in scoring. LEADS. On a horrible team with a losing record we have a big sophmore d-man who just made the AHL all-star team. From RWC: STRENGTHS Surprising mobility and agility for a big man ... good hands and puck skills ... makes good first pass ... booming slap shot (100.1 miles per hour at the 2008 AHL skills competition) ... uses his skating, impressive reach and positional game to neutralize opponents in the defensive zone ... uses his size and gets involved ... willing to stand up for his teammates, fighting when necessary ... quick and willing learner ... character player ... WEAKNESSES Needs to continue improving his consistency defensively and moving the puck ... the ultimate project player because he began his career as a forward and only converted to the blue line in his draft year ... heavy shot but a quicker release will help him get NHL power-play time ... PROJECTION Mr. Irrelevant, the last pick in the 2002 draft, is suddenly very relevant. The late-blooming blueliner shocked everyone in 2006-07 with an outstanding AHL rookie season and showed no signs of slowing down as a sophomore in 2007-08. Ericsson projects as a two-way, top-four defenseman and should be ready for NHL duty in 2008-09, although his waiver-free status will hurt his chances of staying in Detroit. This kid is gold, and honestly he's my favourite prospect by a long shot. Big, moble, great hands and eyes, what else do you want? He's mentally tough and plays consistently, even on horrible losing teams (he was usually the only bright spot in griffin blow outs this season). Ericsson is money. Oh, and in case you're wondering, he's ranked second on the depth chart according to RWC. Hockey's Futures has him ranked 8th on our depth chart as of September 2nd, which is exactly where RWC had him ranked at that time. I'd trade Quincey or possibly even Kindl before Ericsson. Ericsson made a huge impact in his first North American season whilst Kindl is really struggling badly in the AHL even after having played in the OHL. Kindl still has tons of upside, and is 3 years younger than Ericsson but Ericsson keeps delivering today instead of promissing to deliver tomorrow and it's clear the Wings need a ready NHL d-man next season. I honestly think Ericsson is the man for that job.

Don't worry dude- Kenny's already stated he won't trade a good roster player for a rental. If the Wings land Hossa he won't be as a simple rental- bank on that. As for last year being a mistake- I respectfully disagree. All deadline trades are, at least on some level, a gamble. Bert was the deal of the deadline. We got a potential game changer (yes- said potential- that's why these deals are gambles) for a prospect that was, at the time, only midlevel on the prospect depth chart. No one knew the end results, but had that Jack-ass Burke not offered Burt a stupidly inflated contract in the summer the wings would likely still have a decent second line power forward right now- something Matthis isn't likely to become in the near future.

I think he actually ment to say maybe we could sign him for below the over-inflated-free-agent market level. I honestly believe that Detroit could sign Hossa for 5-6 years at 6.5-7 million per. He's making 7 million now and could go for 8 million on the FA market. BUT he knows that any team that buys his services for 8 million isn't going to be perpetually competitive and stacked with high quality players. Hossa's stated multiple times that his issue is with competitiveness and that he wants to be competiting for the cup year in and year out. Detroit has a unique ability to offer that over a 5-6 year period. Very, very, very few teams can claim to have been at the top of the league for this long, nor can they claim to have half the managerial quality and comittment to sucess. If Detroit gives him a long term contract at his current salary, or makes a convincing case to get him to take a small pay cut (we're talking small here- as in no more than a million dollars) I think they have a really good chance to win his services. My plan, were I in Holland's shoes would be to give Hossa a HUGE contract for next year. Like 9 million (assuming it can be squeezed in under the increased cap), even though it'd eat up all the remaining wiggle room for next year. Then the contract would decline to be 6 million or less in the 09-10 season (when Zetterberg's new contract would start). Hossa should know how the math works in the financial world- big money now > big money later (assuming he actually invests something ).

There's a BIG difference between the organization having Filppula in their future plans and them being stupid enough not to move him for a franchise player like Hossa.

Let the Wings make a strong, strong move now and play it to Hossa that they aren't waiting on Sundin but, rather, are committed to him now. Give him the razzle dazzle that Holland/Ilitch always gives new players/staff and make him a convincingly long but reasonably priced (6.5-7 mill) contract extension. Something has to give with Zetterberg, however. Prehaps the Wings could quietly convince him to play cheap ($3mill) until Lidstrom retires with strong insurances that they will give him the remaining years of his contract at Lids old salary ontop of his current salary. Or something like that. I'm just saying we have to think of Zetterberg AND Cleary. The upward movement of the cap accounts for Cleary and some of Zetterberg's contract. Where does the rest come from? *sigh* I'm sure Holland has it figured out since they're 6 mill under the cap now and Zetterberg's looking at a 4.5 million dollar raise from 09-10 onwards. Cleary should be making another 2 million ontop of his current salary, so we're looking for movement (cap or player) to clear up 7.5 million in room for the 09-10 season. No? All that's from memory, so correct me if I'm wrong.

Nope. And I'm not saying that because I love Huddles. Realistically, because Juri is 5'9, regardless of his pure offensive talent, he's not as valuable at this stage as Val is. Hudler has a better offensive skill set, no question there- even if you don't watch him play you have to agree he'd have to be drafted higher than Filppula when he's sub 5'10 and Val is 6'1. The problem is that Filppula's still yet to tap all his offensive potential, just as Juri is as-of-yet not fully tapped, but Val is an awesome penelty killer, consistantly hard worker, and all around responsible player that cup-winning teams desperately need. Solid, hardworking forwards with 20 goal potential aren't a dime a dozen, but in the salary cap world they're coveted assets. I'm happy that Filppula's turned out to be such a solid NHL player -I really am, but when it comes down to trading him for Hossa I'd pack his bags. Hossa's goals scored in reverse chronological order: 43, 39, 36, 45, 31, 32, 29, 15 (rookie year). Those came with these point totals: 100, 92, 82, 80, 66, 75, 30 (rookie year). Honestly- this guy is fricking gold. Before anyone else says it- yes he'd have to be signed.

Dude- those two comments aren't necessarily in agreement. A non-rental Hossa >> Filppula. I love Filp as much as the next guy, but a signed Hossa is worth anyone on the wings not named Dats, Z or Lidstrom.

I wanna watch "Roman Times hockey" Seriously though- please please please make Lids be ok Thanks for stomping some ass tonight Downey. That's why he's on this team. He's a controlled enforcer who plays disciplined hockey but isn't afraid to make a big statement. Tonight Downey made a huge statement- put your elbows up on a Wing and prepare for him to go apes***. Could we have a better fighter? Well he's not #1 in the league, but he's definitely no slouch and he proved tonight that he's a heavy weight when it comes to being a Red Wing.

Woh. Turco with an amazing game. Wow.

Honestly? Because this is the salary cap era. Homegrown talent that comes at the league minimum is extremely valuable for the purposes of filling out your bottom 6. Kopecky still has some upside and is playing with lots of heart and grit for a player in the bottom 3 of a team that's seen maybe 6 minutes a game for the last two years. It's not time to give up on Kopecky yet. All that being said- of course he's one of the most expendible members of this organization.

Go Kopecky!

Oh oh! One more addition to my wish-list: I want Jimmy Howard to really dazzle tonight!

Please, please, please- we need Hudler and Zetterberg to heat up again. I miss Hudler's hot streak almost as much as I miss Z's huge multi-point games.

Heh- yeah. If Hank ends up being as productive for us as Forsberg was for the Aves I think we say he was a damn good pick! Hank will be a wing, wonky back or not. Don't forget- Thornton had a bad back a few years ago- with injury trouble just like Hank's had. Thornton's just fine now.

I assume this is based solely on the last month, right? Not the first two months where he was invisible. Or last year when he was a great player, but hardly comparible to Feds when he was a rookie.

Hossa's comments make it pretty clear he'd be interested in playing for a club like the Wings. No one in the NHL has been as consistently competitive over the last 15 years.

Looks like the outcry wasn't in vain. Awesome!

Rad man. I'd love to see a collection of the lock-out season jerseys worn by notable NHL players.

Heh- I doubt you'd get Cambell for a 1st, Meech AND Quincey. Meech isn't a high-end prospect, and you can bet Cambell will attract one of those from a crappy club that has contract room for him and a farm for sale.

I've got to admit- Joseive is pretty clever.

I'd rather give up anyone else in our system, and that might even include Howard before Ericsson. The wings may be deep in defensive prospects, but not big, hard hitting, stay at home defensemen who manage to lead their team in points during their second year as a pro. Think about that. Ericsson is a stay at home, bone cruncher kinda guy that manages to put some decent numbers on the board and makes the AHL all-star team even though he's playing on a horribly struggling team all year. Quincy is a solid 3rd pairing guy, second if he manages to improve more. Ericsson is just ozzing with potential though, and remains the kind of defensive prospect the Wings can't afford to give up. I'm hoping this season isn't a fluke for him.

Haha- time to clear out your office kids. This team is getting gutted.

If we had had 2 more Cleary's last year this team would be pushing for back to back cups this year.

Indeed- Hudler's been playing really well. He's made some great plays that haven't materialised for whatever reason. To be honest, it looks like Hudler's become the second line playmaker and not the second line sniper. He either needs a playmaking centre (a role Filppula's apparently switched away from to become a winger/shut-down-centre) to feed him pucks or a sniper to finish (Filppula still seems to wiff far too often on open nets). EDIT: That's not to say Filp's been playing poorly. He's been fantastic lately, just not the playmaker as much as the scorer (and the relative stats of each member of the second line seem to back my story up).

Hmmmm..... To be honest I don't like the idea of switching McCarty for Downey. Downey's been an awesome team player from the start here and has definitely earned his spot on this team. Moreover, Downey's a fantastic fit for this team: -->He picks his spots. I've yet to see Downey fight someone and have it cost the team. Downey always brings someone else to the box if he goes in- he doesn't take dumb roughing minors or other s*** some of the less judicious fighters out there do. -->He's a big part of team moral- fun in the locker room, happy with his role and limited ice-time, and he always sticks up for the star players. He's not in the ice floating around looking for fights as much as he's on the ice giving the stink eye to people who take liberties with our boys. -->He's not a big liability when out there. He can still skate and doesn't make horrible defensive mistakes compared to other enforcers. I'm really pumped that D-Mac is getting his life back on track. I sincerely hope he keeps getting into game shape and plays better and better. I'd LOVE to see him get a training camp invite As for Feds. He's still my favourite Wing of all time. Up there with Yzerman and Gordie. But at this point in his career he's a depth player on this team. Throw him on as the third line centre, NOT in the top 6! I'd rather see Hudler up there. I've got a feeling Feds would turn it up in the playoffs anyway and would greatly benefit from returning to this team. His hands and head are still there. I still remember his game winning shoot-out goal at the start of this season. He hasn't lost his skill, but he has lost all of his motivation. And lets face it- Fed had motivation issues during the regular season with the Wings too. All I care about is the fact that he's a beast in the playoffs. So throw Feds on the third line and let him prove that he's still got top six chops. Lilja's not dead weight unless we get another BIG and PHYSICAL d-man. Lilja was vital to our team last run. He lead the league in hits during the playoffs and served an important role out there. When we played big physical teams (ie. the entire playoffs ) Lilja was out there banging bodies and serving up grit. You drop guys like that without replacing them and it lets this team get pushed around. Remember how proud we all were of this team's ability to stand up against the rough play of Calgary and San Jose? A big part of that was Lilja's physical play.