Jay Bouwmeester

[albo23 10]

He's a UFA next year and seems to be a solid defenseman. Would you be willing to give up Hossa for Bouwmeester?

He is not injury prone at all, but his +/- is a bit scarey however he has played on a poor team throughout his career.

Edited June 13, 2009 by albo23

[Pat 44]

Was thinking the same thing, solid defender or power forward...tough..

[Aussie_Wing 354]

Heck yes I'd be willing. But it won't be that simple, realistically we would have to give up probably Rafalski and Holmstrom, as well as not re-signing Hossa.

I think we should be willing to explore the possibilities though because when Lidstrom retires we'll need someone to lead our defence and this man could well be the one to do it.

[Guest Shoreline]

No.

[VM1138 1,921]

I'm glad I'm not GM. The Hossa situation needs to end, one way or the other. I personally think our defense needs straightening up. We need to lose Lebda, bring up Big E, maybe add another one (though where would they fit). But most of all, our defensive coach needs to be replaced with someone who can plan a defense.

[mtuhockey7 23]

Considering Cheli's time here is done and we're gonna get rid of the plague named Marian, we'll have a defensive slot and cap room available. J-Bo would be a great defender. Then we would have:

Lids-Raffy

Stuart-Kronwall

Some combination of Lebda, Ericsson, Bouwmeester, Lilja

[datterberg1340 626]

Considering Cheli's time here is done and we're gonna get rid of the plague named Marian, we'll have a defensive slot and cap room available. J-Bo would be a great defender. Then we would have:

Lids-Raffy

Stuart-Kronwall

Some combination of Lebda, Ericsson, Bouwmeester, Lilja

Lids, Raf, Kronner, Ericsson are all givens, and so is Stuart(he has a no-trade clause for the first 2 years of his contract), though I wish we could dump him, and not just b/c of his 2 horrible gaffes in Game 7, but b/c he's not really worth a 3.75 mil cap hit (If we had signed Hossa before we re-signed Stuart then Stuart definitely would've gone elsewhere)

Lebda may be gone, and Meech as well. I just hope Lilja will be able to come back, word is he may not even be ready for training camp

I doubt we'd get Bouwmeester, even if we let Hossa walk, which I think we should do. I think we ought to go out and get a little more gritty. Really what we need to do is just be better defensively, defense wins championships, and it was our defense that was a big problem all year and we never fixed it and it cost us in the worst possible way

I wouldn't mind Bouwmeester on our team, but I would think someone else will offer more $ and he probably wants to cash in

[crotty99 302]

I would consider J-bo a rafi replacement and not someone who could take lids spot.

But im pretty sure rafi will play out his whole contract here.

I dunno maybe he could be a good lidstrom "replacement" but its too hard to think about. Everyone else just seems like such a liability compared to nik

Seriously its going to be interesting times when st nik leaves.

Saying that, i do really like what Jay brings to the table and think he could be a good fit for the wings. his +/- is scary but he was playing for Florida. Not sure how realistic getting him here would be.

[DatsyukownzU13 1]

I would consider J-bo a rafi replacement and not someone who could take lids spot.

But im pretty sure rafi will play out his whole contract here.

I dunno maybe he could be a good lidstrom "replacement" but its too hard to think about. Everyone else just seems like such a liability compared to nik

Seriously its going to be interesting times when st nik leaves.

Saying that, i do really like what Jay brings to the table and think he could be a good fit for the wings. his +/- is scary but he was playing for Florida. Not sure how realistic getting him here would be.

Bouwmeester would be a huge upgrade over Ralaski (at least his recent play). Rafalski has looked lost in his own end, while Bouwmeester is the top UFA defenseman and is coveted by plenty of teams. If we wanted to get him, it's going to take a lot of cash because he'll get some big offers.

[dlawings 0]

Lids, Raf, Kronner, Ericsson are all givens, and so is Stuart(he has a no-trade clause for the first 2 years of his contract), though I wish we could dump him, and not just b/c of his 2 horrible gaffes in Game 7, but b/c he's not really worth a 3.75 mil cap hit (If we had signed Hossa before we re-signed Stuart then Stuart definitely would've gone elsewhere)

Lebda may be gone, and Meech as well. I just hope Lilja will be able to come back, word is he may not even be ready for training camp

I doubt we'd get Bouwmeester, even if we let Hossa walk, which I think we should do. I think we ought to go out and get a little more gritty. Really what we need to do is just be better defensively, defense wins championships, and it was our defense that was a big problem all year and we never fixed it and it cost us in the worst possible way

I wouldn't mind Bouwmeester on our team, but I would think someone else will offer more $ and he probably wants to cash in

Jay Bouwmeester will be one of the most highly desired player during the 2009 Summer retooling of teams, I’d hate to guess what the Wings and other NHL teams will be willing to give up to have J B on there 2009/2010 team.

[Yzerfan1999 81]

Yes, yes, yes. I was thinking long and hard about this last night. I would love to see the Wings make a pitch for this kid. Young, big, and he is only going to get better. If the Wings want to ease the pain of losing Lids in the next 2-3 years - this is the guy to bring into the mix.

I would gladly let Hossa go for J Bo. Not that I am against Marian, but like Holland says, defense wins championships and this year already our defense started to look weak.

[Doggy 130]

Jay Bouwmeester's a great player. We'd need to let go of Hossa and a defenseman though. There's no value to having 5 top three Dmen in the team because it will cost us guys like Hudler and Sammy and leave us unnecessarily thin up front.

[PDX Wingman 0]

I'd be willing to give up Hossa for a chicken-fried steak.

Anyway, Bouwmeester's good, but I'm not as concerned with the defensive corps as I am with adding some clutch goal-scorers. I think it's possible to land the Sedins in Detroit if Holland works his crazy contract magick.

[Doggy 130]

I think it's possible to land the Sedins in Detroit if Holland works his crazy contract magick.

[Guest Shoreline]

Indeed. Can some female here simulate what ogling over the Sedin twins would be like in The Hottest Red Wing topic?

[rage 24]

Considering Cheli's time here is done and we're gonna get rid of the plague named Marian, we'll have a defensive slot and cap room available. J-Bo would be a great defender. Then we would have:

Lids-Raffy

Stuart-Kronwall

Some combination of Lebda, Ericsson, Bouwmeester, Lilja

Yeah, I don't see him coming here to play on the 3rd pairing. Or even the second pairing.

[Herr Hockey 0]

I hope I'm not viewed as crazy for this, but I want the Wings to get Ian Laperriere. He reportedly rejected the Avs offer to him, and will become a UFA. http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=281630. Lose Hossa and Sammy, sign Lappy. The D-corps should be fine, at least until the deadline.

Datsyuk-Zetterberg-Cleary

Franzen-Filppula-Hudler

Leino-Helm-Lapperiere

Maltby-Draper-Holmstrom

Lidstrom-Rafalski

Kronwall-Stuart

Ericsson-Lilja

Lebda

Losing any one or any combination of Draper, Maltby, and Holmstrom and being able to resign sammy wouldn't be too bad either.

Edited June 13, 2009 by Herr Hockey

[Doggy 130]

I hope I'm not viewed as crazy for this, but I want the Wings to get Ian Laperriere.

I'd welcome him. I wonder what might've been if Detroit had a player like that in the playoffs. There's no question Dallas Drake was a big part of our '08 win.

[VM1138 1,921]

It would be kind of nice to have 6 top 4 D-men. Considering the only open defensive spot is one of the bottom two.

[Snazzy 0]

I hope I'm not viewed as crazy for this, but I want the Wings to get Ian Laperriere. He reportedly rejected the Avs offer to him, and will become a UFA. http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=281630. Lose Hossa and Sammy, sign Lappy. The D-corps should be fine, at least until the deadline.

Datsyuk-Zetterberg-Cleary

Franzen-Filppula-Hudler

Leino-Helm-Lapperiere

Maltby-Draper-Holmstrom

Lidstrom-Rafalski

Kronwall-Stuart

Ericsson-Lilja

Lebda

Losing any one or any combination of Draper, Maltby, and Holmstrom and being able to resign sammy wouldn't be too bad either.

I say let Hudler go and so the team can bulk up on the size more...

[10 Minute Misconduct 104]

yeah i was thinking about this last night - but to bad it won't happen. we dont have enough money :/

[FedorovMan91 1]

I am going to leave Hossa until he speaks something. However, I will be sad if we re-sign Samuelsson and Hudler. Hudler had a great first half of the season but at the end, his consistency has been appeared as usual. Samuelsson, who is blamed hard every day, has to be gone. He pretty much screwed up our PP although he scored some big goals. The guy I want to get at this point is one tough cetner and one tough Wing. The Wings' third liners were atrocious on the ice throughout the ice especially against the Ducks; gets robbed all over the ice.

I agree with Herr Hockey that it will be good to sign for Ian Lapierre but we have to fix some defensive core. I do not know how much it will cost Bouwmeester but I think he can play great on the Wings system.

Besides, I think it is time for the old guys to go except for Nick. Holmstrom, Chellios, Maltby, and Draper have to be gone. I am concerned about Osgood too. He was amazing in this playoff as the last season but that does not change his poor play in the regular season. He will stay here and I like it but if Howard and Larsson do not perform enough well, we will need a goalie change as well

[Ham on Wheels 0]

Good god a thousand times yes, Hossa for Bouwmeester sounds great

[Trapt1307 81]

Won't happen. Hossa will be re-signed, and the Wings will be in salary cap hell for the next seven years. Just the impression that I get. I really think Hossa will be re-signed.

I wouldn't mind seeing Hossa and Samuelsson being let go to allow a little bit of flexibility, Hudler as well if he demands too much money.

The Grand Rapids kids have proven that they can play in the NHL. Give them a shot, and fill out the roster with Laperriere type hungry role players.

[IceMunkee 15]

Since Hossa is probably the top UFA this season even though some of us won't admit it cause we got our goat glasses on. I would sign Hossa first. I would entertain the idea of somehow replacing Rafalski with Jay. Here's my concern he is a defender in the East. The West is a completely differant style and level of play. Sure enough his +/- would improve with us but would he be able to put up the points?