Samuelsson does not fit in

[redwings56 1]

Hey all you Wings fans I just joined a couple days ago and am a huge fan.

This is just what I have been noticing since about the 10th game this season. Sammy had a good start with a couple goals at key times for the Wings to start the season off, but since then has looked lost. I understand why Babs would put him on the top line a couple times when homer was out. He got a goal last night which was great, but he does not go 110% every shift like all the other wings. He enters the zone and right away is calling for the one-timer from hudler when he is well covered. It is like somebody told him he has a great shot (which he does) and now it has gotten to his head and it is all he thinks of ever doing. Now when the coaches say for him to shoot more, that doesn't mean every time the puck is on your stick in the offensive zone. He is not talented enough to playon the second line and would not fit on the 3rd or 4th line (becase he does not work hard enough) so where else can you put a player like that? They dump him, and have Franzen with Flip and Hudler would make for a much better line.

Maybe sit him out for a couple games and send a message.

[lidstromfan5 3]

And if things weren't bad enough, he gets second power play unit time ahead of Lebda who should be back there instead. I don't understand it myself either. It is totally blowing my prediction of Lebda getting 35 to 40 points this season. And yes I was serious.

[eva unit zero 271]

Drake and Maltby might be the only players on the team more expendable than Samuelsson. That said, Sammy brings a pretty decent package of two-way play and versatility. He'll never be a first line forward, but is good enough offensively to score like a top six forward when given top-six ice time, and good enough defensively that he can play effectively on a checking line in a defensive role. While I'd rather see him used in a more limited role on the Wings. But we need a better scoring forward for that to happen, and we don't really have that right now.

[YoungGuns1340 1]

Drake and Maltby might be the only players on the team more expendable than Samuelsson. That said, Sammy brings a pretty decent package of two-way play and versatility. He'll never be a first line forward, but is good enough offensively to score like a top six forward when given top-six ice time, and good enough defensively that he can play effectively on a checking line in a defensive role. While I'd rather see him used in a more limited role on the Wings. But we need a better scoring forward for that to happen, and we don't really have that right now.

Bottom line: Cleary, Filppula, and Hudler do a hell of a lot more with that top 6 ice time than Sammy does. He is the most expendable guy on the ice for the Wings, and he should really be replaced with a physical 3rd liner. Id rather see his minutes go to any of the three above mentioned guys.

[irishtemper14+25 11]

i do not know where u guys get the idea he is great offensively(i know u guys in particular didnt say that, but babcock plays him like he thinks he is)

he is very good defensively from what I've seen, and I think he should be moved down to the defensive line and have cleary play on the second line

[canadienhater 0]

And if things weren't bad enough, he gets second power play unit time ahead of Lebda who should be back there instead. I don't understand it myself either. It is totally blowing my prediction of Lebda getting 35 to 40 points this season. And yes I was serious.

sammy is streaky he reminds me a lot of petr klima sammy on good nights can be a top 6 forward but not every night

i can usually tell after a shift or two if it is a good night or bad night. The fact is we need a shooter a sniper to play with flip like a marco sturm

[Guest wingswillwincup]

ummm i never liked samuelsson , even when he got his 20 goal season and i got bashed for sayin he sucked , hes way overrated , im from montreal and i think this player is not to great either but hes a free agent at seasons end and samuelsson isnt so we can get rid of sammys contract at the end of the year by doing this trade , and montreal is always benching him and theres no way hes gonna be back next year there

mikael samuelsson

for michael ryder

any thoughts ??

[Bluedevils_13 0]

Sammy shoots because he cannot pass, he just can't. When he does, it's bad.

[theman19 47]

I think Samuelsson will be gone come deadline time. He's not much of a trade asset, but hey,...geoff sanderson was traded right?

[YoungGuns1340 1]

ummm i never liked samuelsson , even when he got his 20 goal season and i got bashed for sayin he sucked , hes way overrated , im from montreal and i think this player is not to great either but hes a free agent at seasons end and samuelsson isnt so we can get rid of sammys contract at the end of the year by doing this trade , and montreal is always benching him and theres no way hes gonna be back next year there

mikael samuelsson

for michael ryder

any thoughts ??

Sammy would have to be packaged with something else to land Ryder, but even if Ryder is having a rough season, Id still take him over Sammy any day of the week and twice on Sundays. Hes getting about 11 minutes of ice time right now in his slump, but his shot >> Sammys shot, and thats exactly what hed be used for.

As for Sammy being good defensively, thats great and all, but who really cares when Drake, Franzen, Maltby, Filppula, Cleary, Hank, Datsyuk, and Draper are all as good or much better than Sammy. Cleary, Homer, Hank, Dats, Flip, and Hudler are all better than Sammy offensively too. Theres really no reason to have this guy even if he is a bargain player. Hes the least dynamic player on the entire squad, and he needs to be dealt before we head to the playoffs..

I think Samuelsson will be gone come deadline time. He's not much of a trade asset, but hey,...geoff sanderson was traded right?

I think hes actually a decent asset when you consider his contract. There are a lot of players out there who make many times over what Sammy makes and dont break 30 points. Sammy is pretty good for 40 points on a full season, and he doesnt have any outstanding flaws like poor defense, poor skating, size or speed. That being said, he doesnt really have any outstanding positives either. But you can be sure some team will be interested in for scoring depth at the trade deadline when he really is a no risk move. A 1.2M contract is not going to break the bank, and hes not going to be a negative on your squad either.

[irishtemper14+25 11]

speaking of trading him to MTL

hows a 2nd line of Huds-Flip-Kovalev looking to u guys...looks very good to me =D

i wonder what itd take to get him out of there....sammy and what else?

[SweWings 45]

speaking of trading him to MTL

hows a 2nd line of Huds-Flip-Kovalev looking to u guys...looks very good to me =D

i wonder what itd take to get him out of there....sammy and what else?

Considering he's doing way better this year compared to last and he has another year on his contract (I'm not 100% on that but pretty sure) I doubt he'll go unless mtl are out and they get a good offer. Ryder will quite likely get traded if MTL gets a decent enough offer - I don't think it'll take that much, after all he's UFA after this season and he hasn't exactly been playing well.

[b.shanafan14 733]

I agree with all above opinions that call for Samuelson's departure. He has a powerful shot, but it comes with neither accuracy or good timing. This season is more disappointing than any of his others with Detroit because to me he seems to be skating better and added some stick handling to his game. Unfortunately, this hasn't paid dividends in the scoring department. And yet, he still plays on the second line, with rare promotion to first line due to injury or spiltting Pav and Hank. He still plays point on the second powerplay unit where I think we would be better served to have a speedy defenseman like Lebda or a heavy rebound shot like Chelios. I'm also a bit suspect of Samuelson's ability to hold the zone on the back end, as he seems to often miss passes or not hustle to keep the puck on the right side of the blueline, this is another thing Lebda or Chelios could help with. Even his poor passing has made his emproved skating and stickhandling useless. I believe that Kopecky is beginning to come into his own at the NHL level, and even he is playing better than Sammy so far this season.

Its times like this when players who are doing more with less like Hudler and Fillpula aren't promoted as Sammy stays on the top units, when I start to question Babcock's conviction on playing the producers vs. who he thinks can produce.

[SouthernWingsFan 854]

I think hes actually a decent asset when you consider his contract. There are a lot of players out there who make many times over what Sammy makes and dont break 30 points. Sammy is pretty good for 40 points on a full season, and he doesnt have any outstanding flaws like poor defense, poor skating, size or speed. That being said, he doesnt really have any outstanding positives either. But you can be sure some team will be interested in for scoring depth at the trade deadline when he really is a no risk move. A 1.2M contract is not going to break the bank, and hes not going to be a negative on your squad either.

QFT. He's neither underpaid/overpaid.

It still remains to be seen long-term, but I think we're starting to see glimpses of Flipper and Rex, and even more of Cleary, being able to be threats offensively to where they have good chances of getting 20 goals a season and at leas 40-50 point seasons. That could make Samuelsson expendable in time.

But, secondary scoring is still of concern for this team in the long run I think. Samuelsson does a decent job of filling in that spot on a 2nd or 3rd line.

Samuelsson's game is boring for better or worse. It usually consists of shooting and shooting some more, so you don't really notice him doing anything just glorious or just downright horrible. And I don't care what anybody says, he's better on the point of a power play than Jason Williams ever was, Williams never shot the puck and Samuelsson is more responsible defensively in that position, and is fairly responsible defensively overall. More often than not, he does his job I think, but again in very quiet fashion so you don't really notice him good or bad. As quoted, no absolutely major negatives, but not much major offensive strengths that would strike fear into defenses (on a consistent basis night-in and night-out at least).

If a trade package can be worked out to where all parties benefit, I'm all for it. And no, you can't just randomly pull names out of a hat and perform a trade instantly like it's PlayStation2 or your XBox, doesn't work that way in real life.

All that being said thouh, I have a soft spot for Samuelsson since he often gets a status of whipping boy in here, undeservedly more often than not. I don't mind having him on the Wings, he's not a major deterrant to the team like some make out to be on here.

[Barrie 900]

I've never been a big Sammy fan either, but getting rid of him, and getting something decent in return, is probably easier said then done.

We're probably stuck with him until his contract expires.

[Guest wingswillwincup]

Sammy would have to be packaged with something else to land Ryder, but even if Ryder is having a rough season, Id still take him over Sammy any day of the week and twice on Sundays. Hes getting about 11 minutes of ice time right now in his slump, but his shot >> Sammys shot, and thats exactly what hed be used for.

As for Sammy being good defensively, thats great and all, but who really cares when Drake, Franzen, Maltby, Filppula, Cleary, Hank, Datsyuk, and Draper are all as good or much better than Sammy. Cleary, Homer, Hank, Dats, Flip, and Hudler are all better than Sammy offensively too. Theres really no reason to have this guy even if he is a bargain player. Hes the least dynamic player on the entire squad, and he needs to be dealt before we head to the playoffs..

I think hes actually a decent asset when you consider his contract. There are a lot of players out there who make many times over what Sammy makes and dont break 30 points. Sammy is pretty good for 40 points on a full season, and he doesnt have any outstanding flaws like poor defense, poor skating, size or speed. That being said, he doesnt really have any outstanding positives either. But you can be sure some team will be interested in for scoring depth at the trade deadline when he really is a no risk move. A 1.2M contract is not going to break the bank, and hes not going to be a negative on your squad either.

i really dont think we would have to give up more then samuelsson for ryder , im from montreal and trust me the media and the fans are fed up of him and everyone knows hes leaving at seasons end , hes not doing nothing which doesnt help his value regardless of his few 30 goal seasons he's had .

trading sammy for ryder would save montreal a bit of cash for this season and would ensure the habs they got at least a player in return who will be under contract for next season at a cheaper cost and would ensure us of saving 1.2 million for next season if we let ryder go

How much do you think we would have to give up ?? cause i dont think we would have to add in a prospect of a top pick , if "anything" maybe a 7th round pick , ryder has no value right now ....... and lets face it were not gonna get that BIG name goal scorer were all hoping for so we might as well get ryder , and there i say maybe think about breaking up zetterberg/datsyuk for a few games and see if we can have 2 solid lines ?? or just put ryder next to filppula and hudler

speaking of trading him to MTL

hows a 2nd line of Huds-Flip-Kovalev looking to u guys...looks very good to me =D

i wonder what itd take to get him out of there....sammy and what else?

i think kovalev has another year left at 4.5 per ........ no thanks , the guy gets all his points on the powerplay and only plays when he feels like it

[Copenhagen848 58]

Well, I'm glad I'm not the only one that doesn't car for him.

He is the only guy on the Wings right now that I really WANT to see go. There are a couple guys that wouldn't bother me if they were traded....but I wish Sammy would go. As mentioned he just does not fit in with this puck possession team. As soon as he get the puck he shoots it, no matter where he is on the ice or who/what is in front of him. I am so sick of hearing "Sammuelson shoots, blocked by (insert d-man here)" or hearing it smack off the boards/glass.

His skating has a weird clumsy-like stride. I can always tell when he is on the ice just by the way he skates. Hell try to make a break up ice, but it's just poked away usually leading to a turnover. It's like he gets going in one direction but can't control it after that, like a wind-up car, lol.

I would really like to see him go and I literally do not care who or what the Wings would get in return.

[Copenhagen848 58]

Oops, double post.

Edited December 22, 2007 by Copenhagen848

[chrisdetroit 189]

Well, I'm glad I'm not the only one that doesn't car for him.

He is the only guy on the Wings right now that I really WANT to see go. There are a couple guys that wouldn't bother me if they were traded....but I wish Sammy would go. As mentioned he just does not fit in with this puck possession team. As soon as he get the puck he shoots it, no matter where he is on the ice or who/what is in front of him. I am so sick of hearing "Sammuelson shoots, blocked by (insert d-man here)" or hearing it smack off the boards/glass.

His skating has a weird clumsy-like stride. I can always tell when he is on the ice just by the way he skates. Hell try to make a break up ice, but it's just poked away usually leading to a turnover. It's like he gets going in one direction but can't control it after that, like a wind-up car, lol.

I would really like to see him go and I literally do not care who or what the Wings would get in return.

Drake needs to go. He has a total of 2 points and is -7. Nobody else other than Derek Meech has a negative +/- and he's only -2 after having played in 8 games. We cannot have a defensive liability on the ice and Drake brings nothing that Aaron Downey doesn't. Unfortunately, we will not be able to unload Drake. He needs to be waved and his minutes given to Flip or Huds

[redwings56 1]

Well I am glad to see that my post has generate such a overwhelming agreement. We all think he does not fit in, but some of us think he is worth the money he is getting paid.

Ryder would get traded for someone like Marleau and Bernier, and mix in Koivu. There is no way the legend Ken Holland could even get rid of Sammy for more than a late draft pick or AHL player.

Who is 'Rex' anyway. One guy posted this here and I saw it a couple more times. Is it Hulder? Franzen? Kopecky? I am so confused with who Rex is.

Ryder would be a great addition though, to fill in on the 2nd powerplay unit and then have lebda on it too.

Drake needs to go. He has a total of 2 points and is -7. Nobody else other than Derek Meech has a negative +/- and he's only -2 after having played in 8 games. We cannot have a defensive liability on the ice and Drake brings nothing that Aaron Downey doesn't. Unfortunately, we will not be able to unload Drake. He needs to be waved and his minutes given to Flip or Huds

I kinda agree with you that he seems to be a defensive liability. But he brings a lot more than Downey ever will. Drake will be great coming down the playoff stretch. He had a great pass to Fil the other night against ST LU. I think though that he is getting too much ice time, and if Babs would give more to Hudler and Fil it would make Drake more useful.

[b.shanafan14 733]

Well I am glad to see that my post has generate such a overwhelming agreement. We all think he does not fit in, but some of us think he is worth the money he is getting paid.

Ryder would get traded for someone like Marleau and Bernier, and mix in Koivu. There is no way the legend Ken Holland could even get rid of Sammy for more than a late draft pick or AHL player.

Who is 'Rex' anyway. One guy posted this here and I saw it a couple more times. Is it Hulder? Franzen? Kopecky? I am so confused with who Rex is.

Ryder would be a great addition though, to fill in on the 2nd powerplay unit and then have lebda on it too.

"Rex" is Hudler... not sure how he got that name, just kinda picked up on Rex=Hudler after being on the boards for a while

[datsyukonethree 0]

The thing that bugs me the most about Samuelsson is all the great chances he gets where he can't receive the pass and lets it slide between his legs or bounce off his stick. I appreciate the value of having a shoot-first mentality guy on the team, but with all our free cap space you'd think we could do a little better. Unless we're saving it to snag Sundin at the deadline. In that case we can sit tight.

[chrisdetroit 189]

Drake needs to go. He has a total of 2 points and is -7. Nobody else other than Derek Meech has a negative +/- and he's only -2 after having played in 8 games. We cannot have a defensive liability on the ice and Drake brings nothing that Aaron Downey doesn't. Unfortunately, we will not be able to unload Drake. He needs to be waved and his minutes given to Flip or Huds

Sammy has a 4.0% sucess rate on shots. This is the lowest on the team among all forwards except Drake and Downey who have limited ice time and aren't out their to score goals. Tops on the team are Homer (22.4) because of him standing in front tipping in shots, Fillpula (19.6), Huds (15.1) Draper (15.0), Cleary (11.0), Pavel (10.2).

[johnnyoski 0]

Drake needs to go. He has a total of 2 points and is -7. Nobody else other than Derek Meech has a negative +/- and he's only -2 after having played in 8 games. We cannot have a defensive liability on the ice and Drake brings nothing that Aaron Downey doesn't. Unfortunately, we will not be able to unload Drake. He needs to be waved and his minutes given to Flip or Huds

You know...I used to feel that way too, but watching Drake the last 2+ weeks I think he's really improved and is much more valuable than Downey. He's been contributing to the penalty kill and has seen his minutes increase.

For whatever reason that full face shield really messed up his game and thats when he looked lost on the ice.

[Aeothe Kaear 0]

sammy is streaky he reminds me a lot of petr klima

Yeah right... Klima scored 30+ goals five times and totaled 313 in 786 games. Comparing him to the anchor that is Samuelsson is a slap in the face.