Echolalia

And so begins the era of low-payed goalies. Hopefully, at least.

At best this would only render one of my points irrelevant. Modano is still superior to Miller both offensively and defensively, and can contribute to the powerplay and shootouts whereas Miller can not. But I'm not willing to cede that Modano's leadership will be pointless to add to the team. I think its quite beneficial to add the all-time American leading scorer, former captain and Stanely Cup Champion to the list, especially because he's going to add an element to the bottom six that Draper and Holmstrom cannot. Drapes understands the grinding and defensive aspect well, but he's not nearly as experienced as Modano is when it comes to finding the back of the net, or at the very least setting someone else up to find the back of the net. For Hudler and Abdelkader and Helm and Eaves to play alongside someone who can help out more directly in that aspect I think is invaluable to their future as well as the Wings'. Sure they can watch Datsyuk and Zetterberg work their magic, but its something else all-together to have the direct mentorship and opportunity to execute in game settings. As for Tatar, Mursak, Nyqvist, etc, they're all still in GR. Sure, when they're finally with the Wings Modano will certainly be retired, but perhaps by then Abdelkader and Helm will have learned a thing or two from Mike that they can apply and pass on.

I'm just not seeing it. Miller will certainly be playing hockey longer than Modano, but Modano has leadership, offensive and defensive skills that I still consider to be above that of Miller's, and having another veteran presence on the ice and in the locker-room will be good for the younger guys that Holland wants on the team long-term. Heck, Modano scored almost as many points last year as Miller has in his entire career, and Mike only played in 59 games.

Why would you rather have Miller over Modano?

I thought I read somewhere yesterday that he said its Red Wings or retirement. Edit: Bam! http://www.detnews.com/article/20100707/SPORTS0103/7070368/Modano--It-s-Wings-or-retirement

Beat me to it

He said he was excited to start talking about where and how he would fit with our team. That and the fact that nobody else has contacted him are pretty good signs, I think.

Even if I were to cede that enforcers who can't score are worth the cap and roster space they eat up, I still don't think their value to our team would be equal or greater than having three legitimate scoring lines. A scoring third line gives the Wings some options. Babs could just match up lines and overpower the other teams, and while our top six is certainly nothing to scoff off, our 7,8,9 matched up against other teams third lines would be a mismatch and something opponents might want to avoid. Or perhaps instead Babs could roll the third line a little more often than other teams because its built like a second line, and ease the workload of the top two lines by a couple minutes each night. Huddles and Modanno will get their glory, and our top six will be a bit more energized each night, and perhaps also in the playoffs. It goes without saying, but Modanno also brings unquestionable leadership to the bottom six, and with guys like Abby and Helm and even Hudler, I think the odds of them improving under Mike's leadership also rise.

This is such terrible news.

So what's their roster and cap looking like now? Are cap websites able to keep up?

For Nabby or Sid?

We would certainly be better from February on, but who will be available that will fit in with the team under the cap restrictions that we have, and is it worth parting ways with draft picks, prospects, etc?

I imagine Holland inquired about the possibility of him signing for around 2M or something really low for a year just for a "why-not?" kind of deal. Obviously nothing will come of it, but suddenly people start saying "Detroit is interested". Or maybe its Nabby's agent trying to play up the value of his client. No team wants the Wings to get better, perhaps they're willing to shed with an extra half mil if it means not playing a Red Wings team manned by Nabokov. Or maybe its just a journalist trying to stir some s***.

They say Detroit is the next Hollywood!

He's reported to be out for the year (four months healing time), but there's no ligament damage, and doctors don't know if he'll even need surgery. He fractured the olecranon, which is a protrusion at the elbow. They're speculating he'll be back next year.

Yzerman also retired at the beginning of the salary cap era. I'm not sure the Wings were fully hampered by the Cap at that point, and Yzerman was also playing on borrowed time to begin with. If Modanno is interested in playing, he doesn't have any nagging knee injuries holding him back. The Stars, however, have their team to focus on and a salary cap that won't rise for the face of the franchise. But at the same time, you would think that a guy of his stature would deserve a little more class. I think its just one of those situations where ugliness was inevitable.

His biggest phrase: "I'm a big believer in ..."

http://www.letsgowings.com/forums/index.php/topic/65851-whats-going-on-with-the-red-wings-rfas/ It was buried a page back. I expect they'll all re-sign and at least one of them will be promptly traded away.

I've been hearing rumors of the Illitches trying to take over for a while now. I wouldn't be surprised in the least if Olympia had three major league teams under its belt in the coming years.

I couldn't find the "our powerplay" option under the "who is the best fighter" poll...

I don't know how I feel about that second line. Filp, Bert, Mule are all good enough players to be in the top-six, I just don't have a good feeling about those three together. The ZDH line is awesome, and I love Hudler and Cleary supporting Abby in the center. I expect that line to get a lot of points if they stay together, and if Draper, Eaves (if he's the lucky one), and Helm have the same type of chemistry they did last year, I'll be more than pleased with our fourth line also.

Foget points, I want him to make it to the NHL just so I can utilize the Ironhook name.

I'm always more excited about the second, third, fourth, etc rounds than the first.

I like 2 minutes for diving, regardless of how many times per game or per season one commits the penalty. No fines, that's a bit ridiculous IMO, but I would like to see the other penalty negated if a player dives on a legit penalty.

So is this the official draft day thread?