Drake_Marcus

Is anyone else as excited about this kid as me? Pulkkinen is a RW sniper! I can't wait to read/see how he does in Traverse City. I've included scouting reports below for your reading enjoyment. Source: Sauce: http://thehockeywriters.com/prospect-profile-teemu-pulkkinen-jokerit-helsinki-sm-liiga/ This kid is the real deal guys. In mock drafts he was consistently ranked in the top 40 with many people ranking him as a 1st rounder. Pulkkinen may end up being the steal of the draft. He just needs to stay healthy for a full season. I wouldn't be surprised to see Holland sign him to play in Grand Rapids (but only if he has a strong showing in Traverse City and the main training camp like Tatar did).

That requires a bottle of scotch.

Plus big hitters make a much larger impact in the playoffs where fights are pretty scarce. Kronwall's hits are capable of swinging the momentum of a playoff game and that's a valuable asset to have.

The five sub million dollar years tacked on at the end are what killed the Devils here.

I'd jump all over that. There were some very real attitude/interpersonal issues between him and the team (and I have no clue who's at fault) for this situation to go down like this. You don't waive a kid who put 26pts up as a rookie without some real issues behind the scenes.

Fixed it for you.

If I had to choose I'd pick Turco. He's still got the chops. Even with an absolutely brutal first half he managed to bring his numbers up to average this year on a non-playoff team.

Grebs is from the Mike Green school of defense (in other words-- f*** it I'll just try and score). You can't be a turn-over machine unless you put the points up to justify that and he never did.

Stan Bowman's actions are as transparent as his statements are bulls*** (in other words: very).

Note that you mentioned a sport and not a league chosen avatar of the sport.

Don't underestimate Lidstrom's impact. There simply isn't a defenseman in the NHL right now who can dominate like Lidstrom did in his prime years. It's impossible to replace a player who's consistently mentioned as being one of the top 2 or 3 players to play his position in the history of the game (and I can't believe anyone would rank him lower than 2nd, only Bobby Orr consistently dominated his position more thoroughly than Lidstrom).

Some regress. The sophomore slump is a big exaggerated. Sure it happens sometimes but does it happen any more frequently than regression does with any other player (not counting 35+ guys).

There's no need to worry. Holland is seeking mult-year deals on Abdelkader and Helm which means the bargaining process is more drawn out. Furthermore, because neither has arbitration rights or is a likely target for another team to steal Holland has time to take it slower and try to solidify the financial picture more carefully. Edit: spelling

Quite the overpayment based on potential. It's pretty surprising he got that average cap hit AND that term. I wouldn't have paid over 6 mil a year for Koivu (even though I'd kill to see him in a Wings uniform). In this salary cap world that contract is a massive risk.

It's interesting that people question whether he belongs in the top 10 because he's been a top 5 goalie in terms of statistics in his NHL career. Of course he's only played one season but that caveat shouldn't change a ranking made based on the 09-10 season and looking towards the 10-11 season. I can find more than 5 goalies who I feel are better than Jimmy but that's hard to justify in the light of cold hard facts-- Howard was a top 5 goalie in save percentage and goals against average. Period. He was the MVP on a team with Lidstrom, Datsyuk and Zetterberg. It's cute that anyone would rank 09-10 Luongo over 09-10 Howard because that can't possibly be based on how Luongo played last season (average at best). Howard can only be ranked outside the top 10 if we ignore his statistical production.

I'm guessing that guys who played a ton of games last year were given more time off if they're place in the organization was already cemented (Tatar). I can't think of a good reason why Nyquist, Andersson and Nestrasil aren't there.

You think they were a #3 defenseman away from a cup?

I just had it pop up on my twitter as well. Good to see he found a home.

Yup. It was with Dallas but they were worried about his back.

So you're saying that 71.49% of the time he was on the PP it wasn't with the combo of Franzen, Sammy and Zetterberg? Thanks for proving my point. I find it pretty preposterous that a player who is just entering his prime is going to regress to sophomore numbers based on the fact that Samuelsson and Hossa no longer play on the team. You're not giving Hudler any credit here-- he doesn't mooch off the offensive creativity of other players. Hudler has better hands than any forward on the team not named Datsyuk, Zetterberg or Franzen (although his playmaking ability is certainly better than Franzen's).

Sweet. That means we got a pair of 10+ goal scoring PK assets for an average cap hit of $700,000 each. Helm and Abdelkader's agents will have a tough looking at these deals and asking for 1 mil or more for their clients.

PP goals and GW goals in addition to the +/-. I also value his durability (80 games from a shot blocker is good). Also I may have been a bit aggressive with ya. Sorry.

Tomas Kopecky. Yeah I went there.

Yeah-- shocking that a 40 year old Modano who we're asking to be on our 3rd line couldn't raise the s***ty 09-10 Stars out of mediocrity. You're brilliant! Quick-- someone call the Hall of Fame and tell them to scrap the future Modano exhibit because some troll discovered the all time highest scoring American isn't actually all that good. Christ. Your already wafer thin credibility took another shot when you said Modano can't skate anymore (proving that you have know knowledge of him whatsoever). Edit: limited the digs at Icecapades

Z wasn't primarily on the 2nd PP that year-- he was playing with Datsyuk on the 1st PP. The 2nd PP looks superior. His theoretical linemates on the 3rd look a bit worse (although Modano is a better playmaker than Filppula and is a superior shooter). However, the only way Hudler stays permanently on the 3rd line is if Bertuzzi outperforms him offensively (unlikely based on the current decade). Hudler will float between the 2nd and 3rd line just like he always has. Assuming he'll regress to his sophomore level is just foolish. It's Mike Babcock and the year is 2010. The idea that lines are fixed unless players get injured is 1990's coaching.