Obligatory forward lines thread for next season

[Wiser19 0]

The only reason Babcock split Dats and Zata up was to make two leathal lines. If Frazen can keep up his 2nd half pace we will have two great lines. Our third line will be as dynamic as our second line was during the finals. Then create havoc with a fourth line that can bang and GRIND.

Dats-Z-Holmstrom

Hossa-Filp-Franzen

Cleary-Hudler-Samuelsson/Leino

McCarty/Kopecky-Draper-Maltby

Extras: Helm,Downey

I think if Leino can crack the line up it will force a trade or cause either Samuelsson or Maltby to be odd man out. Kopecky could also used in the same role as last year (13 Forward). Of course the lines will change throughout the year to create other options in chemistry.

It was awesome to see how the team responded to the line changes in 3rd period of game 5 SCF.

Anyways I like these lines... I think Hudler will have more ice time and better line mates this year.

[RWK23 0]

Datsyuk - Zetterberg - Holmstrom

Hossa - Filppula - Franzen

Maltby - Draper - Cleary

Hudler - Kopecky - Samuelsson

Extra(s): McCarty, Downey

This set up would give us two dominant scoring lines, a real nice checking line with meshing styles of play, and a fourth line that could score. Dress McCarty/Downey when necessary (ie, playing a dirty team).

I'm upset at the fact that Helm, who won me over with his outstanding playoff run, won't be on the team, but there really isn't a way to do it and keep everyone else. Ericsson is going to get the same treatment on the blue line, but that's the NHL. It's just the way it is.

My blue line would look something like this:

Lidstrom - Rafalski

Kronwall - Stuart

Lilja - Lebda

Extra: Chelios

[omnipotent_hudler 0]

Hossa-Hossa-Hossa

Hossa-Hossa-Hossa

Hossa-Hossa-Hossa

Hossa-Hossa-Hossa

(Hossa)

Hossa-Hossa

Hossa-Hossa

Hossa-Hossa

(Hossa, Hossa)

Hossa

Hasek

[Wiser19 0]

Hossa-Hossa-Hossa

Hossa-Hossa-Hossa

Hossa-Hossa-Hossa

Hossa-Hossa-Hossa

(Hossa)

Hossa-Hossa

Hossa-Hossa

Hossa-Hossa

(Hossa, Hossa)

Hossa

Hasek

This is just ridiculous... Hasek retired. Hossa should be backing up Hossa in net.

[omnipotent_hudler 0]

This is just ridiculous... Hasek retired. Hossa should be backing up Hossa in net.

hasek will come back in December to the panthers and we will trade Cory Emmerton for him at the deadline because Hossa has looked shaky in net, calling it now

[Superman54 91]

I love Malts, but I do hope he sits for some young guy like Helm.

[hockeeman13 0]

What about Abdelkader on the 4th line wing? The kid is sick, and will be a force.

[Saran 1]

This is just ridiculous... Hasek retired. Hossa should be backing up Hossa in net.

Hahaha.

[marcaractac 3,963]

You would have to make one more move, because it is only a 23 man roster.

Which is exactly why Holland wants Mac and Downey on 2 way contracts. He'd only have to have one on the roster at a time, or send both down to bring up Howard for a start.

[high_stick69 7]

This is what I expect to see:

Homer/Datsyuk/Hossa

Filppula/Zetterberg/Franzen

Cleary/Draper/Samuelsson

Maltby/Hudler/Kopecky

Extras: McCarty/Downey

Lidstrom/Rafalski

Kronwall/Stuart

Quincey/Meech

Extras: Lilja/Chelios

Osgood

Backup: Conklin

Howard will spend time with the Wings and with the Griffins. Downey and McCarty will get sent down to allow Howard to get starts when possible to prove himself for 2009/2010.

Ericsson will spend another year in Grand Rapids just because he is the only one who can. Guaranteed a spot for 2009/2010 though.

Helm will spend the year in Grand Rapids for the same reasons as Ericsson, and also so he can get lots of playing time. It sucks, but thats the way it goes. He'll be back the year after for sure though because either Hossa or Sammy will be gone.

Lebda will be the odd man out and get traded (I'll definitely miss his drunken celebratory antics). Quincey and Meech have more of an upside to them. Our 3rd defense pairing will be rotated around a lot.

I like this lineup but see Maltby possibly going away in favor of Helm. Zets and the Mule have awesome chemistry and I think they excel on a line together. Hossa and Dats would probably work together similar to how Crosby and Hossa did. Its a very cool dillema to have trying to figure out which dream lines you'd want to put together!!!

[Guest mindfly]

This is what freep thought:

FORWARDS

Pavel Datsyuk Henrik Zetterberg Tomas Holmstrom

Johan Franzen Valtteri Filppula Marian Hossa

Mikael Samuelsson Kris Draper Dan Cleary

Jiri Hudler Darren Helm Kirk Maltby

DEFENSEMEN GOALIES

Nicklas Lidstrom Brian Rafalski Chris Osgood

Niklas Kronwall Brad Stuart Ty Conklin

Andreas Lilja Brett Lebda Jimmy Howard

Forwards possibly in the mix: Aaron Downey, Tomas Kopecky, Darren McCarty.

Defensemen likely to be in the mix: Chris Chelios, Derek Meech, Jonathan Ericsson, Jakub Kindl.

Likely to retire: F Dallas Drake.

[omnipotent_hudler 0]

Hossa-Kopecky-Hudler

[DraperFan MN 0]

Two things about those line combos I cannot stand...

Sammy is still on the team and Hudler playing on the fourth line. Hudler has just done everything that has been asked of him, and continued to produce at a high level in spite of his place on the team.

There is zero reason why Sammy cannot be traded. Let Malts (some people would say Malts has run his course as well) be on a line with Draper and Cleary, and let Hudler, Helm, and Kopecky play on a line together. I wouldn't even consider one of those lines a fourth line, call those two lines 3a and 3b and give 'em equal minutes. (Obviously, that would be contingent upon game situations)

I think ultimately there will have to be some movement in the forward corps as well as the back end, because Leino is coming over this year, and the speculation is that he could make this roster, I think Samuelsson and Quincey are the tradeable commodities. Sammy's salary is very cap friendly, and he just won a cup in which he actually played well. His trade value will NEVER be higher than it is right now.

TRADE SAMMY!

[Guest mindfly]

Agree totally... Sammy is done.

Hudler > Samuelsson

Give hudler more ice-time and we will get better

[GMRwings1983 8,794]

Agree totally... Sammy is done.

Hudler > Samuelsson

Give hudler more ice-time and we will get better

Done?

When has Babcock ever scracthed Sammy in favor of Hudler?

[Shaman 713]

I see the top 2 lines looking like this

Zetterberg Franzen Hossa

Datsyuk Flip Homer

Why? because that gives you the best bang for the buck, esspically if Flip is break out next year like i think he might be. This will also help Franzen with 2 natural play makers with him to set up his raw ability to crash and score, whereas Homer is more veteran and can keep people off of Flip and Dats.

[YoungGuns1340 1]

I see the top 2 lines looking like this

Zetterberg Franzen Hossa

Datsyuk Flip Homer

Why? because that gives you the best bang for the buck, esspically if Flip is break out next year like i think he might be. This will also help Franzen with 2 natural play makers with him to set up his raw ability to crash and score, whereas Homer is more veteran and can keep people off of Flip and Dats.

Franzen would never in his life center a line with Zetterberg on it. Center is Zetterbergs natural position. Not LW. Despite what NHL.com says. Same with Datsyuk. Especially when Filppula is not a good distributing center.

Franzen - Zetterberg - Hossa

Filppula - Datsyuk - Holmstrom

But really, I couldnt give two s***s about what our line combos look like. We'll have kick-ass lines regardless, and they'll be tossed around early in the season to find the perfect fit as it is.

[redwings1914 18]

Sammy isn't that bad, there are plenty of teams where he could be a top six forward and probably get 25+goals, he will just never get that type of ice time here in Detroit.....Sort of like the situation Mike Knuble was in, but of course none of us knew he could have been a 30 goal scorer.

[Brew McCrew 0]

Franzen - Z - Hossa

Homer - Dats - Flip

Sammy - Cleary - Hudler

Helm - Draper - Kopecky

1st Line - I don't like the idea of putting Hossa on a line without a euro twin. However sweet an uber line of Hoss-Z-Pavs, it would be putting all your eggs in one basket.

2nd Line - I loved what I saw when Filp and Dats played on the same line during the regular season. So I think Z gonna be the one to play with Hoss.

3rd Line - A pretty decent scoring threat for a 3rd line.

4th Line - I think Maltby needs to go. He doesn't contribute any more. At least Draper is a faceoff man. Kopecky needs to play or leave. Helm deserves a roster spot for his performance last year.

[Superman54 91]

Because Dats is more of a playmaker then Zetterberg is, I think he will be paired up with the sniper Hossa. Zetterberg and Franzen also play very well together

[Anomalously 0]

Franzen - Z - Hossa

Homer - Dats - Flip

Sammy - Cleary - Hudler

Helm - Draper - Kopecky

What are you doing? Don't put Z on a line with Hossa and Franzen until he's signed a long-term contract!

[Doggy 130]

What are you doing? Don't put Z on a line with Hossa and Franzen until he's signed a long-term contract!

Sage words. A real businessman here.

[Guest EZBAKETHAGANGSTA]

Lines id like to see

Home

Zetterberg-Datsyuk-Homer

Franzen-Filpulla-Hossa

Cleary-Hudler-Sammy

Helm-Draper-Malts/Kopecky

Road

1A Homer-Datsyuk-Hossa

1B Fillpulla-Z-Franzen

2 Sammy-Hudler-Cleary

Checking Helm-Draper-Malts/Kopecky

1)Workds same as Zdh only Hossa is more of a finisher.

2) Decently sized scoring line

3) Defensivily responible scoring line with decent size. Really would be a 2nd line on most teams so i called it that

Checking: Maltby needs to go but hes not going to.... I like what helm showed

[Guest Four]

This is what freep thought:

FORWARDS

Pavel Datsyuk Henrik Zetterberg Tomas Holmstrom

Johan Franzen Valtteri Filppula Marian Hossa

Mikael Samuelsson Kris Draper Dan Cleary

Jiri Hudler Darren Helm Kirk Maltby

DEFENSEMEN GOALIES

Nicklas Lidstrom Brian Rafalski Chris Osgood

Niklas Kronwall Brad Stuart Ty Conklin

Andreas Lilja Brett Lebda Jimmy Howard

Forwards possibly in the mix: Aaron Downey, Tomas Kopecky, Darren McCarty.

Defensemen likely to be in the mix: Chris Chelios, Derek Meech, Jonathan Ericsson, Jakub Kindl.

Likely to retire: F Dallas Drake.

Very similar to mine although I would probably throw Kopecky in some games and let Kindl/Meech take over the lebda/lilja combo

[Rice 42]

If Hossa is playing with one of the twins, I think Datsyuk would be a much better fit. Datsyuk is a pure playmaker and Hossa is a pure finisher. Zetterberg's a great set-up man too but I think Hossa and Datsyuk would be incredible together.