Drake_Marcus

Hmm, while you're at it try offering Filppula and a 2nd to Washington for Ovechkin. Tatar's an excellent young player. He was the youngest player in the AHL his first professional season and on track for his best year in terms of pts and goals as well as being a fixture at both ends of the ice. So yeah, it's Tatar, a 1st and our trash. Get it right.

That means the waiver process needs to start today for teams that want to be compliant by tomorrow. The Wings are sitting at 25 men on their roster. Eaves may well be put on LTIR but Sammy and Helm won't. I wonder if they'll put Coli on LTIR... What do you guys think?

No surprise there. This season will be a sprint to the finish line with no time for the team to adjust to the loss of a generational talent.

Here's an update on the waiver wire so far (credit to Bob McKenzie's twitter): Angelidis, Wyman, Wilson, Taormina (TB). Cannone (OTT). Chorney (STL). Tardif (BOS). Van Der Gulik (COL). Holden (CBJ). Connolly (TOR). Joslin, Gordon (VAN). Wallace (CAR). Bodnarchuk (LAK). N Palimieri, Dowell, Veilleux (MIN). Blunden, St. Denis (MTL). Byron, Carson, Irving, Karlsson (CGY). Connor, C Johnson, N Johnson, Klinkhammer, Rechlicz (PHX). Elkins (ANA). Yonkman, Wright, Caruso (FLA). Pelech, McCarthy, Kearns (SJ). Plante, Byers, House (EDM). Porter, Tarnasky, Pardy (BUF). Smith, Holzapfel, Peters, Reese, Grant, Phil Dupuis, Strait, Ferriero (PIT). Anderson, Frazee, Leach, Sestito, Wiseman, Zalewski (NJD) Santorelli (FLA)

Update: The rumour is that the Leafs will waive Connolly today (source: Darren Dreger) Edit: The Leafs beat reporters have all jumped on this, with one actually saying he can confirm that they will indeed waive Connolly at noon today.

Good point. I didn't notice that Capgeek was counting Holmstrom and Nyquist against the roster limit at the moment. My mistake. Still-- there are other teams that will be demoting/waiving.

Pietrangelo on the same level as Weber, Suter and Letang...? Really? He's had two damn fine seasons in two years but I don't think it's fair to put him on that level just yet... if his play holds up this season (and it likely will) we can talk. In the mean time I'd say he's justa hair below the very top teir in this league. Ehhhh... Weber's a better defensive player than the guy who won the Norris this past season.

What a joke. The first big signing post-lockout and it's an overpayment. What was the point of the lockout again? The worst thing is this is a statement signing... it sets a terrible standard for future contracts under this cba.

The worst seats at the Saddledome are worse than getting mugged out back. At least you can tell what's happening when you get mugged.

I count myself as a Mrazek fan but saying he's probably better than a guy who played in the All-Star game is a bit silly. He hasn't even played a single NHL game...

Filppula wasn't as heralded as Nyquist coming into his first NHL season, though. I do agree that Nyquist and Tatar will have to earn their top 6 mins, which will be aided by the compact schedule and lack of training camp-- they're the 1st and 2nd call-ups from GR when the Wings need to do so.

What about Dmitri Kulikov? Apparently he still hasn't reported to the Panthers training camp due to the fact that they haven't been able to sign him to a contract yet. I wonder how open the Panthers would be to trading him to the Wings...

lol JBo's offensive output hasn't been worth his pay cheque in years. He gets more mins in Calgary than he would here, so why would you assume his production would increase significantly? The difference in mins should make up for the small difference in systems .

Yandle would be my preference. I have no interest in JBo unless he can be had for almost nothing.

Great news. I'm glad they're being so cautious with him. The brain isn't something you want to make rash choices about.

God damn that man is talented.

Pics or it didn't happen. This thread makes me proud to be a Wings fan. Best fans in all of sports.

The wings want him to get significant NHL play time... I'm guessing they're waiting to see how the guys who didn't play during the lockout look. Nyquist and Tatar will certainly play in Detroit this season, I have no doubt there will be injuries and such and that once they're up in Detroit they can make a real case to stay. We'll have to wait and see what happens. I'm annoyed with the situation too.

Crazy stuff... I wonder who they have pegged to replace him.

I don't doubt there was extreme pressure on Datsyuk, Kovy, Malkin and Ovy to stay in Russia (both from a nationalist and a financial perspective). Imagine if the roles were reveresed and the KHL was the top league who had locked players out. Now suppose the NHL brought all those Canadian and American guys back to NA during the KHL lockout to play in front of their home fans.... Can you imagine how much pressure there would be from Canadian media for guys like Crosby to stay in Canada and play in front of their families? And if the money was the same, wouldn't you be tempted to stay? All that being said, I'm sure Datsyuk will play out his best years in Detroit, even past the remainder of this contract. After that I have no doubt he'd retire in the KHL as other Russian stars have. Don't doubt that some of this media buzz was generated because some players and agents made statements intended to influence negotiations.

Ewwww... I'm a Mrazek fan if anything. He was unreal at the World Jrs last year and has been brilliant in GR this year.

Yeahhhh... Bettman told coaches to come up with the trap. So Bettman innovated defensive hockey schemes with his prolific knowedge as a former NBA executive with no real background in hockey. Baffling. Oh, and apparently Bettman should be held responsible for Patty Roy popularizing the butterfly, goaltending equipment companies selling bigger gear and all those dry seasons that hurt farmers.

Downey's rubbing off on soft euros is why they started making him get dressed in the room down the hall.

Here's my wishful thinking lines, factoring in that some of the guys who have been playing hockey all year will have an advantage: Nyquist - Datsyuk - Franzen Filppula - Z - Brunner Cleary - Helm - Sammy Tootoo - Abdelkader - Bertuzzi Scratches: Miller,Mursak 1st call-up: Tatar (he or Mursak could knock Cleary, Bert or Sammy down to scratch level due to their inactivity) Kronwall - Quincey White - Ericsson Smith - Colo Scratch: Kindl has to fight Colo for a spot after Carl gets back from his shoulder injury Howard Gus Tatar and Mursak have good shots at pushing a veteran down the depth chart this season because both have been playing all season against professional competition. Tatar's having his best year so far (he's probably the most complete, hard-working player in GR right now) and he's playing the kind of puck-dog game that Babcock loves. The short training camp and lack of a pre-season will definitely make the lives of the bottom six veteran guys much, much tougher (on every team). Expect some to severely underperform and others to get injured early. Without internal growth that won't change (and Holland knows that). When he lost out on the UFA sweepstakes he brought cheap veterans in who can provide insurance if the kids don't grow into top rolls. If you think this team is in the position to trade assets for quick fixes you havent' looked at the ages of our top players. The Wings are in "reload" mode and not far from "rebuild" mode (entirely dependant on how Datsyuk and Zetterberg play as they continue to get older).