Don't expect the Wings to make move today

[Probie 7]

Haha.. Seriously? I mean I would not argue that the Wings are in "deep" trouble, I actually think they will be OK, but if you can look at our roster today, compared to yesterday and say we are in "great" shape - well, something is wrong with you. Holland is doing absolutely no chess playing what so ever - he can't, he has nothing. No assets, no money, nothing...

Holland is probably wondering why he resigned Maltby and Draper another round of multi year contracts their last go around. Other then that today sucks in regards to having a better, or even equal team in regards to skill.

Draper will be 40 years old in his last contract season, Maltby 39, Rafalski 38. Draper and Rafalski have NTC's. I'm sure Holland Learned his lesson, but its the team that takes the hurt because of it. It would be a good idea to put NTC's at the first few years of their contracts, not for all of them. How can you predict where a player is going to be physically when they are fourty when you sign them at an age when their cap hit still counts, and give them NTC years all the way through. I hope whomever is bringing the team down with their geezer play this season gets thrown on the LTIR before the trade deadline and a fresh body gets inserted with some physicality. Are we the softest team in the league?

Losing a fourty point guy in Sammy is no big deal, thats replaceable IMO, and its better he leaves anyways, he is the giveaway king, and sucks on the second PP unit. We didnt have Hossa before and we won, and he disturbed the lines and their chemistry plus he choked in the playoffs. Plus the people who are eating up their minutes this year are improving as players IE Flip and Hudler. Helm Erricson, Abdelkader, Lieno are only going to be better then what we saw of them this year. Its Maltby, Draper, and Holmstrom that makes me cringe the most. A year older, a year slower :eek:

Edited July 2, 2009 by Probie

[dat's sick 1,002]

Some poster said that when Lidström retires, we'll have more cap space and will consequently be able to build an even better team. What is wrong with that statement?

So we're losing a 40-goal scorer. We can get by without his services - we don't need our players to step up offensively this coming season, we need our defense to be better than it was last season. Then we'll be fine. Hopefully a summer of rest will sort Holmström out. Maltby was clearly saving his best play for the post-season, but it would be nice to see him make a bit more of an effort in the regular season (I imagine he doesn't want Abdelkader stealing his playoff spot). It will be interesting to see what Leino can do, and where he plays. If we keep him and Hudler, and play them on the 3rd line, they could put up decent numbers playing against opposing teams lower lines (Hudler's specialty). I'm not even sure that the Wings will make a FA signing this summer - I expect them to add a depth player at some point, but that could be through trade. Holland has said that he will trade a defenseman after training camp, once he evaluates Lilja's condition.

I don't want to see Abdelkader in a Detroit uniform next year, except for call-ups due to injury, playoffs etc. He's got too much upside to be playing 6 minutes a night in Detroit. Let him play big line minutes in GR, and only bring him up when he's not going to develop anymore, or when there is room for him to play a bigger role. Correct me if I'm wrong, but would I be right in saying that while Helm's potential is to be a wicked 3rd line centre, doesn't Abdelkader have a higher offensive potential?

Good post. I agree Abdelkader should stay in the minors one more year. Though I personally feel like Abby is the one who has 3rd line potential at the most, while Helm could definitely be a top 6 guy if he learns to put the puck in the net on a consistant basis.

[FirstSamuel1745 0]

The way the Cup will be won next year is not by making a huge splash like last year with Hossa, but with the small, "no one cares" signings of a Samuelsson or a Cleary. Holland generally works his magic on the back end of the market. Be patient folks.

[NGKEIB 32]

The way the Cup will be won next year is not by making a huge splash like last year with Hossa, but with the small, "no one cares" signings of a Samuelsson or a Cleary. Holland generally works his magic on the back end of the market. Be patient folks.

Spot on. In 08, the additions were Drake in the off-season and Stuart at the trade deadline. I'll be honest and say that I didn't know much about Stuart at all, and hadn't seen him play.

[e_prime 1,936]

You spelled Abdelkader right. I think he's going to get another year in Grand Rapids tho... but I do agree, our additions do make up for most of our losses. We just have a couple of tiny holes to fill and that's it.

Indeed Abdelkader was spelled right, but Kopecky was spelled wrong. ...and, infact I've spelled it wrong too.

I think it's: M-O-S-T-L-Y B-R-O-K-E-N C-A-P S-U-C-K.

PS: I'm still not freaking out.