Echolalia

I agree completely, and I think it has just as much to do with the Flyers style of play as their defensive roster, but it's difficult to fault them entirely when they were playing without Pronger and Mezaros. With those two healthy and in the playoffs I think the Flyers get away with their all-offense mentality, maybe not to win the Cup, but certainly they would have gone deeper than they did.

By all signs point to here, I think it would be better to say one sign points to here and that is playing alongside Datsyuk, presumably his favorite player to watch. Whether that's an actual sign is anyone's guess, but I think better factors to look at include how much each team is willing to pay him, and for how long, the role at his new team, and their odds at winning the Stanley Cup during his contract length are. Fortunately the Wings get a passing grade on all the above, but I don't think you can say they have the best grade in any of those factors, compared to other suitors. We may pay him 7M, but maybe Columbus can pay 9. Maybe the Flyers have a better chance of getting deep into the playoffs, but perhaps they can only afford a short term deal, or 6M long term. What does Parise want to sacrifice, and what is essential to him? We can only guess.

Much of the speculation that has Parise leaving the Devils is based on the financial state of the team. The New Jersey Devils are an economic mess at the moment, and the instability suggests that Parise won't be brought back to the club. Whether he comes to Detroit of all places is another story. For the record I voted 10%. I know there are 30 teams that would love to add someone of Parise's caliber (especially with the lack of high end skill in this year's free agent pool). I don't know how many can realistically afford to take a shot at him, but he's the type of player you should be moving pieces around to fit in. I'd wager at least a third of the league will make serious inquiries with appeal to Parise in one form or another.

Yzerman was also damaged goods at that point, playing on one knee. He missed significant playing time each of those years with injury problems, and didn't pot more than 52 points since the 2000-2001 year. Yes he took a paycut, but its hardly equivalent to Lidstrom taking 3M/year to play, who is still quite healthy, quite effective, and even including the lost step he has endured with age, is still an elite defensman in the league. I also have to disagree with you assessment of Parise: You are correct in labeling him as a small forward, but he is effective and gritty in the corners, and plays harder and more tenacious on the puck/body than the majority of our current roster. He isn't going to steamroll Weber, but he will make his presence felt given the opportunity. Keep an eye on him in the playoffs if you get the chance. On our core: Datsyuk is currently 33, which isn't fresh but I wouldn't consider him "old" either. He's nearing the end of his prime, but he is certainly still there. I really don't get the desire to move perhaps the most effective two-way player in the game right now (and frankly the most effective two-way player I have ever seen, in any hockey era). Zetterberg isn't far behind him, and while he had terrible first-half numbers, it was revealed he was injured and really stepped it up in the second half. Z is younger, also in his prime, and still quite effective. Lidstrom is old, but still effective. Homer is also old, so is Bert, and none of them will be around much longer. Darren Helm is young and energetic, Abdelkader is a solid shut-down centerman who's backcheck and defensive game are quite underrated. Also young. Filppula is south of 30. Hudler is south of 30. Jimmy Howard is south of 30. Emmerton, Ericsson, Miller, Eaves, Quincey, White and many others are younger than 30. I don't know that its fair to say that we're an old team anymore. We're the youngest we've been in over a decade.

I wonder what they'll get in return. Moving Luongo gives them 5.3M in cap space (not including any rise or fall in salary cap for next year), but at the same time, Schneider is due for a raise, and I imagine he'll be getting a bit more than his current 900k salary.

The Wings have several players who have the potential to make the jump to the NHL, much like the Wild do, but the difference between the two prospect pools is that the majority of our prospects aren't top line material. If they get into the NHL, they aren't going to be stars, they'll be supporting cast. And that's assuming they continue to develop, like you noted previously. The Wings aren't immune to promising prospects never making it to the NHL (Grigorenko, Ryno, Axellson, etc). Minnesota's prospect pool has a much higher skill cap than ours. They have top six talent coming up and a lot of it. I would hardly say that our prospects are at the very least equal to Minnesota's, or about half the league for that matter.

I don't know that Pitt would want that trade either, but I do know there aren't high expectations for their 3 center system going forward, especially with the speculation that Staal wants to center a top-two line, and not the third. I dont know that they can afford all three guys. Flip plays wing as effectively as he does center and would be a solid playmaker for Malkin, and an effective center should Crosby get injured again. Like you mentioned, though, it doesn't provide much Cap relief on their part, and while their top six may look better rounded, they still need serious help on th back end. I

How would you feel about moving Filppula for Jordan Staal? They've had similar point production through their careers but Staal is a more gritty style to Filpulla's finesse.

If anything I could see the Canucks and Pens swapping coaches. Despite what some folks may think, Babs is still an effective coach in Detroit, and management is aware of this.

I think the trade route is the more viable option, especially this year with a lot of promising, high-expectations teams bowing out in the first round after three years of being labelled as not performing to expectations. Chicago, Pittsburgh, Vancouver, San Jose, Detroit, and perhaps Boston or Washington will all be looking to shake up the roster. Chicago needs goaltending and defense, has offensive surplus. Pens need defense, wingers, and with Crosby and Malkin, I see Staal being the prime trade piece. San Jose needs a new identity. I don't think anyone on that roster is safe from being moved, which will make for an interesting offseason. Vancouver I'm not sure how to grade. They have all the pieces to go far, but ran into a bit of bad luck going against Quick in round one and without Sedin. But still, they were manhandled in the first round, and the Vancouver fan base is unforgiving. I'm curious to see how the GM will respond. There's only one of Parise and Suter, and 30 teams who will be inquiring come free agency. The odds of the Wings landing even one of those two is slim. I'm not saying we shouldn't push hard for these guys, but I think the gold this year will be found in trades.

This offseason has the potential to be one of the most interesting and active offseasons league-wide in recent history. The Wings obviously need to shake things up after two second round exits followed by a first round slaughtering. The Penguns have been underperformers in the postseason since winning the Cup (plus a 1st round exit in ugly fashion); they'll likely look to shake things up. The Canucks were embarrassed by the 8th seed Kings and might look to shake things up. The Sharks are in desperate need of an identity change and should look to shake things up. The Rangers and Bruins are still fighting but their first rounds arent going as expected either. There are so many teams this year in hot hockey markets that were favorites to go far and they all underperformed. I expect all of these teams to be moving pieces around. Consequently, Parise may be the obvious choice, but Holland needs to keep his mind open about the possibility of landing a Jordan Staal or Ryan Kesler or Patrick Marleau if need be. Maybe not necessarily those players (although I would love to have Staal) but there should be a lot of options out there given how this season is closing, and I see our team and see a lot of trade bait that could be more valuable to a team structured differently than ours.

That money for Prince Fielder had to come from somewhere!

It's a bummer such a historically high first round pick for the Wings was traded away

How the hell did this team get into the playoffs? They look like the Oilers with all these embarrassing rookie mistakes.

Looked like we might've been robbed 5 seconds of power play time. The clock kept running after that last stoppage

I think a couple big ones have already been mentioned. Less time wasting by trying to make the perfect scoring opportunity; those waste time and energy and they haven't even been going in the net. Take what Nashville gives and bust the seams open from there. We need more net presence and rebound-hunger. I'm tired of watching the Preds get two to three shots on net per attack while it seems 50% of the time the Wings can't even get one. I see some perimeter play, a shot that goes wide, is blocked, or Rinne rebounds it away, then suddenly the Preds are already in the neutral zone with the puck, racing toward Jimmy. Consistency. I think I've seen this one maybe three times the whole season so I'm not sure if it's even realistic to ask for it. Special teams has been the silver lining for us, but we're playing with fire. We (Franzen) have been taking too many stupid penalties, whether you want to include referee incompetence or not. The Preds' power play has looked dangerous and has exploited our PK, but they haven't had the puck luck to collect the tally. Additionally, we need to start generatin power play opportunities, and not rely on s***ty reffing to hand us two minutes every so often. This is where speed and tenacity and hunger come into play, especially in the Predator's zone. The Wings have all the tools they need to close this out in 6. Whether they want to use those tools is entirely up to them.

Maybe I have long-term memory issues, but it seems like the amount of cheapshotting has skyrocketed these playoffs compared to years past, particularly after Shanahan decided taking Weber's lunch money was an appropriate punishment for crushing Zetterberg's face into the glass. After all the stuff that occurred in game 2s throughout the league, I'm wondering whether Shanahan will have the balls to start cracking down on dangerous and illegal plays, or whether he'll have the audacity to turn his head away. Now maybe Im wrong. Maybe Playoff hockey has always been like this and I just never paid attention. Maybe the recent s*** that's gone down is just an anomaly and will calm back down on its own. It'll be interesting to see how Shanahan responds. Also please excuse the spelling error in the thread title

I just want to see our current roster play like they want it more than the Preds. This series will be won on bounces, and it's te hungrier team that gets the bounces.

I couldn't believe that slugfest at the beginning.

I guess I never thought about the date that started. It would be awesome to have the claim of contributing something that colossal to the Wings' franchise.

So does that mean if Bertuzzi grabs hold of the back of Weber's head and drives his face into the boards he only has to pay $2500?

Zetterberg's helmet was broken as he skated away, if I saw that correctly. It looked like where the chin strap connects to the side of the helmet had broken off, and was hanging.

Wow idthink that's suspension worthy. Driving someone's head into the boards?

Where have I seen this before? Late game comeback only to fall short by one goal at the end of the game? Well see.

Actually I think something along those lines would be in the best interest of both teams.