The Central division

[eva unit zero 271]

Since we always have so many doomsday predictors for the fate of the Wings, I thought I'd put together a little example of why exactly the Wings will dominate the Central this year. I took the rosters of the other four Central division teams and combined them into two teams; the Illinois Black and Blues(Chicago/St. Louis) and Kentucky Fur Coats (Columbus/Nashville). I tried to pick the best roster available from roster players under contract, and did not use prospects who have yet to play in the NHL such as Toews and Kane. I also limited the rosters to two players 35 and up.

Illinois Black and Blues

Paul Kariya 6.0m/Doug Weight 3.5m/Martin Havlat 6.0m

Keith Tkachuk 4.0m/Tuomo Ruutu 1.875m/Lee Stempniak 2.5m

Petr Cajanek 1.85m/Patrick Sharp 775k/Brad Boyes 1.5m

Rene Bourque 825k/Ryan Johnson 800k/Jamal Mayers 1.333m

Kevyn Adams 650k

FORWARD TOTAL 31.608

Duncan Keith 1.475m/Barret Jackman 2.2m

Eric Brewer 4.25m/Jay McKee 4.0m

Christian Backman 2.3m/Brent Seabrook 942k

James Wisniewski 650k

D DEFENSE TOTAL15.817m

G Manny Legace 2.15m

G Hannu Toivonen 532k

GOALTENDER TOTAL 2.682m

TOTAL PAYROLL 50.107

Kentucky Fur Coats

Rick Nash 5.4m/Sergei Fedorov 6.08m/Steve Sullivan 3.2m

JP Dumont 2.25/Jason Arnott 4.5m/David Vyborny 2.2m

Martin Erat 1.675/David Legwand 1.875m/Alexander Radulov 919k

Martin Gelinas 1.25m/Radek Bonk 1.475m/Jason Chimera 875k

Darcy Hordichuk 517k

FORWARD TOTAL 32.216m

Marek Zidlicky 3.35m/Rostislav Klesla 1.6m

Dan Hamhuis 2.0m/Shea Weber 610k

Greg deVries 2.5m/Ryan Suter 785k

Ron Hainsey 738k

D DEFENSE TOTAL11.583m

G Chris Mason 1.25m

G Pascal Leclaire 1.05m

GOALTENDER TOTAL 2.3m

TOTAL PAYROLL 46.099

Now you may notice some high profile players missing from these rosters (Foote, Khabibulin, Lang, Brule, etc.) These decisions were made because either the player was too expensive for the role he would play (Foote, Khabi, Lang, Modin, Westcott) or another player would have fit better in the spot he would have ended up in for similar cost (Brule v. Bonk for 4th line center.)

Ultimately, this exercise proves the Wings will continue to own the Central, because even combining the rest of the division's best players into fewer teams, you don't come up with rosters better than Detroit's.

EDIT: formatting

Edited August 19, 2007 by eva unit zero

[BeeRYCE 2]

I don't know, seems to me both teams would have a better top 6 than we do. Our defense is what kills them though, and DEFENSE wins championships... Right San Antonio?

[eva unit zero 271]

I don't know, seems to me both teams would have a better top 6 than we do. Our defense is what kills them though, and DEFENSE wins championships... Right San Antonio?

As Fedorov was pretty much the only available top-six forward who was defensively reliable for either squad, I based many of my picks on offense for value. They do have more offense in the top six, but the Wings have the two best defensemen in the division, and Holmstrom, Hudler, and Grigorenko are the only forward in the Wings' top twelve that aren't good enough defensively to play PK for most teams. Also, Mason is the only goalie listed who would have a chance at making the Detroit roster even as a backup. A good top six is a good start, but you need good defense and good goaltending to have real success.

[GMRwings1983 8,794]

I don't care what other improvements Chicago, St. Louis, or Columbus may have made. It's our division to lose more so than I can ever remember. It would be an embarassment for the Wings not to win the division this year with Nashville getting so much worse.

[SouthernWingsFan 854]

I don't care what other improvements Chicago, St. Louis, or Columbus may have made. It's our division to lose more so than I can ever remember. It would be an embarassment for the Wings not to win the division this year with Nashville getting so much worse.

Could've said the same thing last year as well about the Wings division to lose, since they've won it pretty much every year in the past since the latest round of expansion, despite Nashville being really solid throughout the year.

[GMRwings1983 8,794]

Could've said the same thing last year as well about the Wings division to lose, since they've won it pretty much every year in the past since the latest round of expansion, despite Nashville being really solid throughout the year.

This division looks weaker this year than I can ever remember it looking. Nashville was ahead of us all year until the last month or so when we pulled away from them. I don't expect any such competition this year.

[Wings_Dynasty 267]

The Kentucky Fur Coats is not a bad roster. I think they would give a lot of teams a run for their money. But since it is a combo of 2 teams, the Wings will win the Central by at least 10 points.

[Spongewingredpants 75]

must be a slow sunday but nice effort

[SweWings 45]

must be a slow sunday but nice effort

Ditto. It is good to see what we'll be facing though. And while our 2nd line is kinda crap, not many teams can beat Dats-Zets-Homer on the first line...And our defensive corps is among the best in the league - if they stay healthy...

[GoWings1905 2,694]

Four Reasons why the Red Wings will win the Central Division:

1. Nashville

2. St. Louis

3. Chicago

4. Columbus

Edited August 19, 2007 by GoWings1905

[SweWings 45]

Four Reasons why the Red Wings will win the Central Division:

1. Nashville

2. St. Louis

3. Chicago

4. Columbus

It should be Five reasons; you forgot one:

5. Hudler's upcoming 100-point season...

[GoWings1905 2,694]

It should be Five reasons; you forgot one:

5. Hudler's upcoming 100-point season...

[betterREDthandead 58]

This isn't a strong division - in fact it's possibly the weakest in the league. May as well get ready now for all the "disrespecting" the Wings will get from various sources for having an inflated record thanks to a bad division.

[eva unit zero 271]

must be a slow sunday but nice effort

It sort of spawned fro mthe Oct 6th GDT...I was going to comment (in response to a comment about a Blues/Hawks game) about how you could combine the Blues and Hawks to make one decent team...and it sort of just snowballed from there.

[Guest Yzer19]

The reason the Wings will win the central is because the rest of the teams are so bad. They no longer have any competition now that Nashville decided to rebuild and dump most of their good players.

[eva unit zero 271]

The reason the Wings will win the central is because the rest of the teams are so bad. They no longer have any competition now that Nashville decided to rebuild and dump most of their good players.

Hmm.

Nashville traded Timonen and Hartnell because they were significantly overpriced. Nashville traded Vokoun because he cost significantly more than Mason, who outplayed him last season in the same number of games. Kariya left because he thought the team was moving to Hamilton, and because the Blues offered him $6m. Forsberg still may return. Arnott, Sullivan, Dumont, Legwand, Erat, Radulov, Zidlicky, Weber, Hamhuis, Suter, Mason are still around. DeVries has been added. Bonk has been added. Gelinas has been added. Doesn't sound like rebuilding...more like retooling.

EDIT: Also, Nashville is still $1m below the cap floor, based on 14 forwards, 7 defensemen, and 2 goalies that ARE under contract. This would mean that the minimum they can do is sign a player who makes 1.5m, because someone would have to come off the roster as well. According to TSN, Forsberg has said he only wants to play for Colorado, Philadelphia, or Nashville. Philly has no cap space, and Colorado's would be basically wiping out their remaining cap space with Floppa. Nashville seems to be the likely destination.

Edited August 20, 2007 by eva unit zero