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juice71285

Any Word On Helmer or Manlow?

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I was wondering if anybody knows if Bryan Helmer or Eric Manlow are under contract with the Wings or not. I have looked at a variety of sites and none of them have told me that they ae signed, but I did not see their names listed as free agents either.

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Yeah, I've actually been wondering the same thing...i'm 99% sure Manlow is signed. I was sure Helmer was..but with all these Defensive depth signings...i'm not so sure.

Helmer was a one-year deal for last year I believe. I am pretty sure Manlow is sticking around, and I think he'll have a decent shot at making the Red Wings. Before signing with the Wings, he bounced around with the Isles and Bruins, playing a handful of NHL games and doing pretty well.

Zetterberg, Datsyuk, Shanahan, Holmstrom, Lang, Yzerman, Maltby, Draper are the guys who are going to "automatically" make the team at forward.

Lidstrom, Schneider, Fischer, Kronwall, Chelios, Lilja have six set spots on defense.

Osgood and Legace already have goaltending completely set.

So that's 16 taken spots of a 21-22 man roster.

We need another defenseman, and the rest of the five-six spots will be filled with forwards.

Guys who will compete for the one spot on defense:

Rivers, Delmore

Guys who will compete for up to five forward spots:

Franzen, Rivers, Williams, Mowers, MacLean, Manlow, Bootland

Rivers can play both forward and defense, so he'll likely be on the roster as he's a solid all-around player, he's reliable, and he's cheap.

So that means we have "9" forwards and "7" defensemen, totalling 15 skaters. 2 goalies brings it to a total of 17, and we'll add four more players. Franzen and Mowers are the best available forwards, so they're in. 17 skaters, 2 goalies.

Williams, MacLean, Manlow, and Bootland are competing for it at forward, and Delmore might get in at defense.

With 10 forwards plus Rivers, we'll add two more. MacLean had a strong season in the minors offensively in 03-04 and did well in Finland, and he's a sound defensive forward and a good skater. He gets a spot. Bootland is the worst skater of the four and needs to work on his puckhandling and defense. He'll go to the minors.

So 11 forwards plus Rivers, and 6 defensemen plus Rivers.

If it's a 21-player roster, we add one more forward.

Williams has shown he has the skills to play at the NHL level. But looking at it right now (and I change my mind on the last couple forwards every three minutes) I think playing this year in Grand Rapids might be the best course to take with Williams, as he has the raw talent but needs to polish it, and needs to improve his defensive game. He could become an EXCELLENT all-around player in the future, but he won't do it playing on Detroit's fourth line.

That leaves Eric Manlow. He has proven he has two-way skills at the NHL level, he's got grit and has size. He could probably play on any of Detroit's lines without a problem. He plays a very in-your-face style and could be a good replacement for McCarty on the Grind Line.

And if budget allows, Delmore can stay up on the roster, which means guys like Yzerman, Shanahan, Chelios can get more rest because we have that extra spare.

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Guys who will compete for up to five forward spots:

Franzen, Rivers, Williams, Mowers, MacLean, Manlow, Bootland

You forgot Kent McDonell..I think he has the edge over MacLean..he's grittier.

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Guys who will compete for up to five forward spots:

Franzen, Rivers, Williams, Mowers, MacLean, Manlow, Bootland

You forgot Kent McDonell..I think he has the edge over MacLean..he's grittier.

I don't think McDonnell is bring looked at as anything more than a potential 'emergency' player.

He's a former Wings pick who never amounted to anything in our system.

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ok guys What ever happened to Jiri Hudler being on our depth chart, for real. I know he didnt have a great year the last year, but he's still around and i haven't heard anyone count him in this season.

He didnt play the full season..he had an injury and his dad was really sick so he left the country for a while. The Wings want him to play a full season and put up decent numbers before he's on the roster full time..but he could possibly see a few games this season.

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