Who is the most improved Red Wing from last season?

[going_top_shelf 6]

Jiri Hudler

[Never_Retire_Steve 35]

I think we are all happy with the progress that was made with Hudler, Lilja, and Samuellson has made

[The Secret 304]

I've never liked Lilja at all but this year he is catching my eye, thats hard for me to say, but he improvements deserve to be mentioned so he wins my MIP award. Second would be Hudler IMO.

[Red Crazy 201]

Lilja. He has been at times one of our best D-men.

[redwing_sparty 0]

i would have to say huds.

he really moved up a level this season. he has become a credible scoring threat. dats has def gotten better, but we all knew he was amazing already, where as with huds we hadn;t seen anything like this from him yet.

[LIDDYGIBBY5 1]

My better column:

Lilja

Hudler

Rafalski

god sends for this season:

Conklin

Hossa

Leino

Datsyuk

Z

my gotten worse column:

Kronwall

Stuart

Draper

Osgood

my s*** list:

Kopecky

Lebda

Chelios

I'm going to have to be a Lebda defender this time. After his terrible start, he has been very steady. He is fourth in defense points and fourth in defense +/-. He is playing about 13:30 per game. Those numbers aren't too shabby for a number 6-7 defenseman. I wouldn't call him great, but I would say that he is doing the job that is expected of him.

[RedSea 31]

I was originally going to say Hudler, but then I thought about it and I think Lilja takes the cake. Lils was on my s*** list a lot last year but this year he has been the most consistent d-man behind Lidstrom. Very good on the PK and blocking some very important shots.

But I think it's close between Huds and Lilja. Hudler has enormously stepped up his offense and even improved his defense a little, but I just think Lilja has improved his defense so drastically that he could easily be a 2nd line defenseman on any other team. Hudler, on the other hand, still lacks the size to make himself a threat without his teammates around. I see Lilja making a lot of one on one plays, while Hudler is more of a get open and shoot/pass kind of player right now because he can't muscle for position (he could still kick my arse, but compared to NHL players I don't think he's quite there yet).

I can't even tell you which one has more potential to be better because both have improved so much over the course of a year. I think I'll say Lilja has more potential because it's very possible Hudler will not be wearing the Winged Wheel next year and I think that will hurt his progress .

[LIDDYGIBBY5 1]

I was originally going to say Hudler, but then I thought about it and I think Lilja takes the cake. Lils was on my s*** list a lot last year but this year he has been the most consistent d-man behind Lidstrom. Very good on the PK and blocking some very important shots.

But I think it's close between Huds and Lilja. Hudler has enormously stepped up his offense and even improved his defense a little, but I just think Lilja has improved his defense so drastically that he could easily be a 2nd line defenseman on any other team. Hudler, on the other hand, still lacks the size to make himself a threat without his teammates around. I see Lilja making a lot of one on one plays, while Hudler is more of a get open and shoot/pass kind of player right now because he can't muscle for position (he could still kick my arse, but compared to NHL players I don't think he's quite there yet).

I can't even tell you which one has more potential to be better because both have improved so much over the course of a year. I think I'll say Lilja has more potential because it's very possible Hudler will not be wearing the Winged Wheel next year and I think that will hurt his progress .

You show my a player who will thrive in this league w/o some sort of supporting cast!. A great player with out any other talent around him is a waste of salary.

[hokeychik22 17]

As much as I hate to say it Lilja would have to get my vote. He started off really bad at the beginning of the season and is getting better each game he plays.

[RedSea 31]

You show my a player who will thrive in this league w/o some sort of supporting cast!. A great player with out any other talent around him is a waste of salary.

I'm not trying to take anything away from Hudler or say that he is some special case where his teammates are the only reason he's playing well. I just think he's playing on the best 2nd/3rd line in the NHL and that's boosting his stats a little. And it was for the sake of a one-on-one argument. I think Lilja has shown better defensive capabilities on the one-on-one than Hudler has shown on the offensive side of the one-on-one. That's all I was really trying to say, I guess I just worded it poorly.

[VM1138 1,921]

I would say Hudler, but he was really good last year, too. To really say most improved I would have to agree about Lilja. The guy is like a totally different player. I've seen him make very few critical mistakes this year and I actually feel comfortable about him being between the goalie and an onrushing forward or two. He's been great for us, hopefully he keeps it up.

[LIDDYGIBBY5 1]

I'm not trying to take anything away from Hudler or say that he is some special case where his teammates are the only reason he's playing well. I just think he's playing on the best 2nd/3rd line in the NHL and that's boosting his stats a little. And it was for the sake of a one-on-one argument. I think Lilja has shown better defensive capabilities on the one-on-one than Hudler has shown on the offensive side of the one-on-one. That's all I was really trying to say, I guess I just worded it poorly.

I see where you are going with this. I guess that is just the best part of playing for Detroit. You get to pad your stats a little because you get to play with teammates who are so committed to winning, that they will take less $$ to do so!

[Spinner 6]

Hudler gets my vote, Although Lilja and Samuelson were on everyones S-list last year and both have shown a lot of improvement.

[NomadFromKazoo 42]

In terms of impact to the team, no disrespect to Hus or Lilja who have had great years, but there is no doubt that Dats turning it up a notch is a MAJOR development and exceeds the others. In terms of percent improvement to his game though, Huds has been excellent. Lilja is a strong third.

I think the criticism of Stuart's a little unfair. Granted he didn't come in and dominate, but he's been solid. He's fitting in the D. No doubt I'd like him to turn it up a notch now that we're heading to the second season, but declaring him a disappointment's a bit premature a bit strong. K HAS been someone disappointing though, but not so badly he can't still redeem himself and it's time for him to start doing that. In the end, 9 months a year is a LONG time to play hockey. Players do need to be able to play well and then turn it up a notch, like now.

[GMRwings1983 8,803]

Just curious as to who you all think is the most improved from last year's roster.

I'd say Lilja or Datsyuk. Last year, Lilja was absolutely brutal. He was constantly turning over the puck, making bad decisions with it, leaving his man unattended, etc. It was just a terrible, terrible season for him. When Holland resigned him I was pretty angry, wondering why we were going to waste a roster spot, and valuable cap space, on this loser who has proven he cannot handle the role of being a third-pairing defenseman. However, this year, he's head and shoulders above where he was last year. He's blocking shots, he's taking his man out of the play, delivering timely hits, getting the puck up ice, etc.

Datsyuk is another choice. While he was amazing last year, he's gotten even better (how is that even possible?) this year. He's been much more physical (I think that San Jose game may have been in his top three games he's ever played), even MORE offensively dominant, and he's doing both of those things without sacrificing any other element of his game. Absolutely incredible.

So what do you all think? Who is your pick?

Dude, did you even watch him fight last year? He didn't even lose once. I told everyone how great he was way before anybody else jumped on his bandwagon, so I can't say that he has surprised me.

The answer is easily Hudler.

Unfortunately, we've had more disappointments from last year than improvements. Fillpulla, Kronwall, Osgood, Draper, all those guys are playing worse this season than they were last year.

[ComradeWasabi 109]

Dude, did you even watch him fight last year? He didn't even lose once. I told everyone how great he was way before anybody else jumped on his bandwagon, so I can't say that he has surprised me.

What the f***? I hope that post was sarcastic. Who gives a f*** if he didn't lose any of the very few fights he had, he was undoubtedly atrocious when it came to bad plays, giveaways and poor defensive play.

[Ms_Hockey 0]

I couldn't stand watching Lilja last year. I wanted him traded.. badly. Not only did he have poor defensive play, but he took penalties at what it seemed was the most inconvenient time to take one.

This season? He's improved his game 110%. I haven't wanted him traded once!

[Guest Shoreline]

Definitely Chris Osgood. And Sergei Fedorov.

[Kevvie 0]

Bertuzzi?

[Carman 387]

Quincey?

[Vincanni 1]

I never dogged on Lilja before hand with the exception of a few gigantic mistakes made over the years so his production this year is no surprise whatsoever. Jiri wins this hands down, he's finally hitting the potential I thought we see from him last year.

[Datsyerberger 279]

To be honest, I think carry-over hate from that gaff with Selanne in the previous playoffs clouded people's perception of him last season. Lilja is doing about how I would have expected this season.

Hudler is far and away the most improved. He broke his previous year's scoring totals like, what, halfway into this season?

[Blueliner 69]

After tonight's game, I may want to take back my statement about Lilja. Especially after that fight.