My final two free agent requests

[redwingfan19 293]

i wouldnt mind asham , i just checked your videos and though he can fight didnt look like he had much competition , those guys werent really fighters

did you watch the one with him and Janssen? And richards was a really good fighter in junior, some pretty good fighters if you ask me.

[RedRockit 0]

did you watch the one with him and Janssen? And richards was a really good fighter in junior, some pretty good fighters if you ask me.

Why do you want a fighter? Do you really desire to watch our men go on the PK? (remembering who our top PKillers were)?

Instigator Rule is not so new or contradictory. when you consider that it's ALWAYS been the retaliatory pen that gets called.

A drop-the-gloves guy would not have helped us against the Ducks: rather, would in fact have hindered-- merely gave the refs an excuse to rule pens against the Wings more than they did.

[Detroit # 1 Fan 2,204]

Haha , Get a clue people , Asham is NOT a "drop the gloves guy". He can play the game , has a great slap shot.

Its hilarious , you dont want Asham because hes a fighter , but you want Samuelsson for reasons I dont know. Even when they both had the same amount of goals.

[redwingfan19 293]

I don't know why people are so against adding toughness to this team, it beyond me, and im not talking about "Drop the gloves guys" like brad norton, guys who actually know how the game is played.

Edited July 5, 2007 by redwingfan19

[motorcitykid 42]

Why do you want a fighter? Do you really desire to watch our men go on the PK? (remembering who our top PKillers were)?A drop-the-gloves guy would not have helped us against the Ducks: rather, would in fact have hindered-- merely gave the refs an excuse to rule pens against the Wings more than they did.

Well said.

We need scoring. A winger or 2 who can put the puck in the net and be a bonafide top 6 or 9 forward. Yet you have some in here asking Holland to divert his attention to signing a guy who's a career utility player [on the Islanders no less] that can drop the gloves. Wow.

Edited July 5, 2007 by motorcitykid

[Detroit # 1 Fan 2,204]

Well said.

We need some scoring from our top lines. A top 6 forward [geez, how about 2 of them] is a must. And yet people are asking Holland to focus on landing a guy who fights and is a utility player. Wow.

But Sammy and Hudler arent utilty players right?

Im happy you guys want our guys to be a bunch of small soft players, But some of us want the wings to get grittier and bigger. Asham CAN SCORE 20 GOALS with decent minutes and a couple linemates. If Hudler can score 30 goals with his minutes and Asham cant huh? Talk about favoritism.

Tell me , wtf is left for a Top 6 guy? Guerin is old , soft and sleeps during the playoffs. Gelinas is the only guy on the FA market I'd consider a good top 6 forward for us.

Edited July 5, 2007 by Detroit # 1 Fan

[eva unit zero 271]

Give me a break. But Samuelsson and Hudler bring a whole to the table scoring there 11 and 15 goals , Both getting more minutes then Asham who had 11 on the 4th line.

I'd take Asham on this team anyday. Fight a little? He can beat some heavyweights and most middle weights , watch some fighting videos of him before you talk about him.

Hudler played 647:00 ES and 114:54 PP. He scored 12 at ES and 3 on the PP.

Samuelsson played 637:31 ES 159:53 PP. He scored 8 at ES and 6 on the PP.

Asham played 729:20 ES and 15:18 PP. He scored 11 at ES and 0 on the PP.

So Asham and Samuelsson are basically even in goal scoring. Samuelsson is the better defender, and Asham is the grittier player.

How Hudler, who is pretty obviously superior to both in scoring ability, got dragged into this comparison is beyond reason.

[#1redwingfan 0]

Now this I agree with. He actually thinks Schneider and Bertuzzi will replace Neidermayer and Selanne. Anaheim will drop way off next season.

On topic: Brent Sopel? Give me a break. Signing him would just be for the sake of signing someone. The Wings need a physical defenseman, not a half-baked offensive defenseman who can't play a lick of defense. Even his offense has been on the decline lately.

Same goes for Mike Comrie. "Small Centers" and "Detroit Red Wings" should not even be mentioned in the same line of text, since that's the exact last thing the Wings need right now. Comrie is also a bastard in the lockeroom, and when he's not scoring, is fairly useless. We all know what Grapes thinks of Comrie, and for once, he's right. Pass.

Burke is a monster GM because he signed a few free agents? Cmon. I'm all for bashing Holland time to time, but Brian Burke and the word genius simply do not belong in the same sentence.

Anaheim went from not making the playoffs, to going to the semi's the next year and then winning the cup the next year. (If my memory is accurate anyways) And yeah I know they made the finals the year before that but that was all Giggy. Burke might not be a genious, but he certainly knows his stuff... if any other team lost a defenseman like scott niedermayer, they would be down and out, but Burke snags Schneider off the wings. And yeah I'm quite aware that Niedermayer is better than Schneider but that is a pretty damn good replacement. So you guys might not appreciate what he's doing for that club, but I recognize a good job when i see it.

[eva unit zero 271]

Anaheim went from not making the playoffs, to going to the semi's the next year and then winning the cup the next year. (If my memory is accurate anyways) And yeah I know they made the finals the year before that but that was all Giggy. Burke might not be a genious, but he certainly knows his stuff... if any other team lost a defenseman like scott niedermayer, they would be down and out, but Burke snags Schneider off the wings. And yeah I'm quite aware that Niedermayer is better than Schneider but that is a pretty damn good replacement. So you guys might not appreciate what he's doing for that club, but I recognize a good job when i see it.

Bertuzzi is a downgrade from Selanne.

Schneider is a downgrade from Niedermayer.

Rafalski is an UPGRADE from Schneider.

And based on the way Bert played last year, Grigorenko, Hudler, Filppula are all upgrades over Bertuzzi.

So ultimately, with the movement of Bert and Schneids to Anaheim, the Ducks get WEAKER and the Wings get STRONGER. Yet Burke, not Holland, is the one getting credit for a job well done?

[Kp-Wings 3]

For those interested:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FypPm_tJ3vU

I like that he takes his helmet off in the fight with Richards. Seems like a tough dude for someone who's not very big.

And I guess he even scores a few.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlvWlP2dR7M

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BlXuKEGp2ps...ted&search=

Good links there Harold. Now people can finally see what I'm talking about with Asham.

I don't get it. Why does half of this board think a useless scrub like Samulesson is any better? Asham is aggresive and fights people. Samulesson doesn't do anything except rapid fire shots at the goalies chest. I can't believe you guys are so dense to this.

Sign Asham now Kenny!

Tell me , wtf is left for a Top 6 guy? Guerin is old , soft and sleeps during the playoffs. Gelinas is the only guy on the FA market I'd consider a good top 6 forward for us.

Well said. Thank God some people here actually realize what's left, which is nothing.

Everybody keeps going off in this "We need a top 6 forward!!!!!!11one!1!!1" montage. But, they keep seemingly forgetting that there isn't s*** left in the UFA market for top 6 forwards. Guerin is not a bad option in my opinion, but he won't come here. Besides that, he isn't worth 3.5 million a season, since he is a playoff ghost. Now, that's the biggest name left. Who else is after that? Nobody!

Oh, I'm sure I'll see some stupid like Alexei Yashin retort thrown here, which I'm not even going to bother replying to. You all know my feelings of what kind of player, and person, Yashin is. He isn't going to help this team in a dicks way possible, so no one should even suggest it.

Edited July 5, 2007 by Kp-Wings

[haroldsnepsts 4,826]

Good links there Harold. Now people can finally see what I'm talking about with Asham.

I don't get it. Why does half of this board think a useless scrub like Samulesson is any better? Asham is aggresive and fights people. Samulesson doesn't do anything except rapid fire shots at the goalies chest. I can't believe you guys are so dense to this.

Sign Asham now Kenny!

Samuelsson's got good size, but doesn't use it. He makes Lang look like a power forward.

Other than his bulk, I don't really get what Babcock or Holland see in him that's worth locking him up through '09. He's not terrible, but he's nothing special either.

Maybe it's all part of Holland's plan to sign every Swedish player in the league.

[Kp-Wings 3]

Samuelsson's got good size, but doesn't use it. He makes Lang look like a power forward.

Other than his bulk, I don't really get what Babcock or Holland see in him that's worth locking him up through '09. He's not terrible, but he's nothing special either.

Maybe it's all part of Holland's plan to sign every Swedish player in the league.

I really think it is, which I don't understand why. The Wings won 3 Cups, done on the fact we had grit on those teams. Now what is Holland trying to do? Test new boundries by winning a Stanley Cup with a predominitly European team, 3 North American forwards and very little grit at all?

If he want to sign Euro's, why can't he sign the gritty ones like Ville Niememen or Evgeny Artyukhin? No, instead, he signs everything far from that, like Samulesson. Ugh.

[N4C3R 0]

I would take Arron Asham over Samuelsson any day of the week. Yes, Mikael is responsible defensively, but he doesn't use his size to play a more physical game. Arron Asham would be a perfect fit under coach Babcock.

-P

[Wings_Dynasty 267]

Bertuzzi is a downgrade from Selanne.

Schneider is a downgrade from Niedermayer.

Rafalski is an UPGRADE from Schneider.

And based on the way Bert played last year, Grigorenko, Hudler, Filppula are all upgrades over Bertuzzi.

So ultimately, with the movement of Bert and Schneids to Anaheim, the Ducks get WEAKER and the Wings get STRONGER. Yet Burke, not Holland, is the one getting credit for a job well done?

You speak the truth. ESPN pretty much called Burke a genius. Yet, Bertuzzi's name is only famous for his past play pre-injury and Schneider is only famous because he was on the Wings.

Holland knows what he is doing, I just wish he would do SOMETHING along the lines of signing a winger, be it Asham, O'Neil, or Murray; just something we can all talk about and stop making "What's Going On?" threads.

[RedRockit 0]

I really think it is, which I don't understand why. The Wings won 3 Cups, done on the fact we had grit on those teams. Now what is Holland trying to do? Test new boundries by winning a Stanley Cup with a predominitly European team, 3 North American forwards and very little grit at all?

If he want to sign Euro's, why can't he sign the gritty ones like Ville Niememen or Evgeny Artyukhin? No, instead, he signs everything far from that, like Samulesson. Ugh.

I personally think that Kenny believes we will field nearly the same darn good team that went to WCFs last year: minus Schneider, yes, but with a balance out of that with Rafalski.

Wot's our problem? We gotta fill in with talented young Euros, or some gritty young Canadians? Have a bunch of cap space leftover for trade deadline to fill the needed holes?

Ohhhh, to have these problems as a GM.

Edited July 5, 2007 by RedRockit

[lfd250 1]

I know he's small but why not Avery IF the rangers let him go after arbitration? probably area of 2 mill? Worth it?? or NOT??

Edited July 5, 2007 by lfd250

[N4C3R 0]

I know he's small but why not Avery IF the rangers let him go after arbitration? probably area of 2 mill? Worth it?? or NOT??

I say yes, Avery would be worth investigating.

[redwinger40 0]

This is my first post ever, but I had to chime in during this off-season talk. I don't understand why all Wings fans think we can only win by playing the free agent game. We have talent in our system, we just need to develop it (in a similar way to how Anaheim has with their talent, such as Penner and Getzlaf). Players like Hudler, Grigs, Quincey and even Jimmy Howard should be able to show us what they've got. I think that many of our young guys will thrive in expanded roles, lets not wait till they are in their late 20s to give them full-time duty. Have a little faith in what we have- lets not sign a 40 year old who's glory days are in the rearview mirror.

[Guest DetroitIan]

Defense - Brent Sopel.

Forward - Comrie or Gelinas. We need to fill a couple roster spots. Comrie, while small, can put the puck in the net and is a good skater. Gelinas is a solid veteran who is said to be in the best shape of any player in the NHL (this according to CBC's Kelly Hrudey). Any word on Teemu Selanne's intentions for next season?

What else is out there in terms of solid roster players??

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=212407&hubname=

Actually, I would be happy with either. Sopel would be a really good fit on our squad. And Comrie or Gelinas would definitely mess well offensively with our forwards. I would want Comrie over Marty. But either one would work in the winged wheel.

[motorcitykid 42]

Bertuzzi is a downgrade from Selanne.

Schneider is a downgrade from Niedermayer.

Rafalski is an UPGRADE from Schneider.

And based on the way Bert played last year, Grigorenko, Hudler, Filppula are all upgrades over Bertuzzi.

So ultimately, with the movement of Bert and Schneids to Anaheim, the Ducks get WEAKER and the Wings get STRONGER. Yet Burke, not Holland, is the one getting credit for a job well done?

[Yzerfan1999 81]

now that Hasek is wrapped up, i truly think a guy like Gelinas will round out this team nicely. Doubt it will happen though. Looks as if Holland is set with his team and will make moves at the deadline if he thinks they are needed

[Detroit # 1 Fan 2,204]

now that Hasek is wrapped up, i truly think a guy like Gelinas will round out this team nicely. Doubt it will happen though. Looks as if Holland is set with his team and will make moves at the deadline if he thinks they are needed

Totally agree. I would really like to see Gelinas on this team. He's money in the playoffs and a great leader. I still wouldnt mind Asham or Winchester either. But Gelinas fine with me!