paulwoodsfan

Goalies traded in 2015-16 (since end of last season): Scrivens Poulin Gibson Nilsson Copley Hellberg Jones (twice) Raanta Khudobin Talbot rights to Niemi Lack Lehner Maybe four or five whose first names most of us would know. Not much received in exchange altho Lehner (with Legwand) yielded a first-rounder (!). Jones with a pick and a player yielded Lucic. Then Jones went for a first. Talbot yielded a second, third and seventh. Every other deal was who for who. So I stand corrected, there is some market for goalies. But I don't see Howard being of much interest to anyone. Even if we ate $3M per year, he has never won anything.

Has any goalie traded recently yielded much in return?

There's no trade market for highly paid goalies. There's very little trade market for any goalies these days. I don't see someone offering anything of value for Howard even if we eat a big chunk of contract. We should get used to the idea he will be an expensive backup for the next three years (or however much contract he has left).

Only saw last 10 minutes -- loved how aggressively the Wings played. Attacked and pressed rather than sit back and defend. I am fairly sure Marchenko saw little or no ice in those 10 minutes, tho, which worries me since it suggests the coach trusts Ericsson more than him (relevant when KQ returns).

They get/got NHL pay for the days they are/were up. Takes some of the sting out of not dressing.

To me the disturbing part is not the valuation but the operating profit. Only $3.7M on revenue of $135M is a pitiful return that does not bode well for selling the team when the time comes. Mike Illitch (and family) has been a very generous and indulgent owner. Hope we continue to have one of those in the future.

Whatever number he signs for, people on this board will be apoplectic and then two years later will be congratulating Holland on such a sweet, inexpensive deal.

Have to say I'm surprised how many posters are opposed to the rafters for fedorov, datsyuk and zetterberg. IMO all three qualify: Feds as the most dynamic player of the 1990s and a key cog on three Cup champs; Dats as the most talented player of his generation and respected/idolized by his peers; and Z as a captain and leader and Conn Smythe trophy winner.

Interesting to note that we have six RFAs and just five open roster spots although if Franzen stays on LTIR we could sign all six. I think Andersson is closest to being on the bubble. Ferraro, amazingly, seems as if he is and should be in our plans as a fourth-liner. Never expected that to happen. No room for Zidlicky.

What does one have to do to "deserve" ice time on a particular line? IMO Babcock's plan all along has been to develop Abdelkader into a power forward, and part of that development required going head to head with the top lines on our opponents, which means top-six ice time even when he wasn't scoring at nearly a top-six pace.

That sounds vaguely correct. Tnx.

I've been scouring the web for proof but can't find it, but I am positive that about a decade ago, a Wings afternoon game (I think it was against the Stars) ended in OT, NBC wrapped up the broadcast and went to golf, and then they had to go back to the game because the OT goal was disallowed and OT resumed. Does anyone else remember this happening? Unfortunately I can't recall who scored the disallowed goal.

I believe Datsyuk is a lock for the Hall of Fame -- he is regarded by many of his peers (and has been for many years) as the best and most-respected player in the NHL. Z has a shot at the Hall if he plays out the remainder of his contract as captain and stays relatively healthy, and even moreso if he raises the Cup another time or two. As for retiring their numbers, I think both guys will get that, and strong chance for Fedorov as well -- he was the best player in the game for a while, and (like Datsyuk) the best two-way player in the game for a long while.

Here I am, number9. I vote for . . . Homer. A truly unique player -- literally no one else has ever been really like him. Some guys (like Dino C) did some of the things he did, but only Homer had the complete package of screening and annoying goalies, deflecting deadly shots and digging the puck out of the corner the way he did. Paul Woods ranks in my top five, tho.

This is a great signing. Only 101 players scored more goals than him last season (less than four per team), so he's in the top 33% or so of forwards in terms of goal production, yet his salary cap hit will be below the league average of around $3M. And in two years this will look even better, assuming (as I do) that he will continue to score in the 20- 25-goal range.

That is the funniest thing I have seen forever. How the hell does someone come up with such a creative concept and then execute it so well? Way to go, Flashy.

It's easy to like (or hate) the moves a GM makes in July. I will reserve judgment on whether Yzerman or Nill is better than Holland until we see how their teams do in the coming season(s). At this point neither looks to be close to a Stanley Cup. Neither do we, but at least under Holland we have won Cups, and I don't think even the Holland haters would argue that we have failed to draft and develop good prospects in the past five years. I am not convinced that Spezza and Hemsky are going to magically become playoff points producers for Dallas. Yzerman's moves this week look OK on paper but again, until he achieves some tangible results better than a first-round loss and a few more regular-season points than Detroit, I think it's early to be saying he would be a better GM than the one we have.

I'm not advocating for Ekblad, but I think most if not all hockey scouts would say he has way more upside than DeK, Smith, Ouellet and Sproul. They all have potential to be a first-pair d-man; Ekblad has potential to be a Norris winner.

Jiri Fischer might be a dark horse candidate. He was worked with our young d-men and seems to be rising through the org. But that said, I'd prefer a career coach type, and I think that's the direction Babs will go.

If there was a "local boy" available right now who was a 21-year-old free agent and as good as Nosek apparently is, then the Wings could be criticized. Clearly, however, there isn't any such player available.

If we get a top-18 player back for Kindl -- a guy who will dress night after night, either forward or D -- I will be very surprised. I don't think GMs are dumb enough to buy into the "change of scenery" line. Sure, someone will be willing to take on an experienced d-man, but they won't give up much for him, IMO.

Much as some of us would like to say farewell to Kindl and Andersson, neither guy has much trade value, especially not in a package for a big name. Teams would look at that as a good second-line scorer (Tatar), a marginal fourth-liner (Andersson) and a seventh defenceman (Kindl), so it wouldn't bring much back.

Kindl is obviously expendable, but those suggesting that Almqvist is more valuable than Smith and Lashoff are guilty, IMO, of overvaluing potential and the unknown. He can't kill penalties, which Lashoff does quite well. By all accounts Almqvist is below at least three other defencemen in Grand Rapids, in terms of NHL potential. If he turns into Rafalski, I will be stunned.

I've read that they only started doing pull-ups, instead of push-ups, this year so I doubt Gary Roberts was ever asked to do one at his combine. I don't know what shape Roberts was in coming out of junior, but he is now a workout monster, and many of the top players in the NHL and junior pay him big money to work them into top condition.

How many third-period leads did we blow? It felt like a ton of them in the first half of the season. Clean that up even a little bit and we're not playing the Bruins in Round 1.