WpgMikos 17 Report post Posted October 22, 2009 Could the Red Wings trade Jimmy Howard, Ville Leino or Justin Abdelkader? Which potential free agents might return with the Wings next season? MLIVE.COM: George James Malik dismisses recent rumors suggesting the Detroit Red Wings might move goalie Jimmy Howard to the Toronto Maple Leafs for picks and prospects or offer up Ville Leino and Justin Abdelkader to the LA Kings for Alex Frolov. Malik notes the Wings have invested plenty of time to develop those three and aren't about to dump them now for quick fixes. SPECTOR'S NOTE: GM Ken Holland has already stated he's not about to make any quick-fix deals in the wake of Johan Franzen's knee injury and I certainly don't see him moving those three. Now perhaps later in the season if Howard isn't playing well he might - MIGHT - consider moving him or finding an upgrade on the trade market. As for Leino and Abdelkader, forget about it. Those two are considered vital parts of the Red Wings future and Holland isn't going to move either guy during what is being considered a transitional season for the club. DETROIT NEWS: Chris McCosky noted Nicklas Lidstrom, Tomas Holmstrom, Todd Bertuzzi, Jason Williams, Andreas Lilja, Kirk Maltby, Brett Lebda and Brad May are eligible for UFA status next summer. If they all depart that'll free up around $16 million in payroll, although McCosky doubt Lidstrom and Holmstrom won't be back. He also points out Darren Helm, Justin Abdelkader and Derek Meech will be RFAs. SPECTOR'S NOTE: Lidstrom is a lock to re-sign with the Wings, Holmstrom too if he keeps playing well. Williams could also be an affordable re-signing depending on his play. Helm Abdelkader and Meech won't be expensive to retain. I suspect that once the re-signings are deducted the Wings could have between $8-$10 million to play with next summer, provided the salary cap remains close to this season's $56.8 million. Just figured I'd throw this out there. NHH: Moustache's can save your face, Chiarelli continues Boston shake-up, couple of disgruntled players off to Russia, Savard to Leafs as UFA? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Z and D for the C 712 Report post Posted October 22, 2009 (edited) Leino and Abds for Frolov really isn't bad imo. Keep in mind Leino is only one year younger than Frolov, who scored 30 goals with the kings last year. I'd be more upset over losing Abds than Leino. Edit: Didn't realize Frolov is a ufa this summer. Nevermind. Edited October 22, 2009 by Z and D for the C Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Iceman7626 0 Report post Posted October 22, 2009 Leino and Abds for Frolov really isn't bad imo. Keep in mind Leino is only one year younger than Frolov, who scored 30 goals with the kings last year. I'd be more upset over losing Abds than Leino. Edit: Didn't realize Frolov is a ufa this summer. Nevermind. I have to agree I'd love to have Frolov as he is excellent on puck control as I've seen him at times in the corners not allowing anyone close to the puck, also he was just recently a healthy scratch and this has not been the first time since Terry Murray (thinking terry I know its not Andy but definetly a murray) has been head coach in LA. IMO I believe Frolov is not very happy there as things have changed for the Kings in the past couple of years Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
The Mule 0 Report post Posted October 22, 2009 Leino and Abdelkader are both very good young players. Why exactly would anyone in their right mind even consider moving both of them for a player who was made a healthy scratch just a couple of days ago? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Detroit # 1 Fan 2,204 Report post Posted October 22, 2009 No interest in Frolov at all, if your benched playing for the Kings, you cant break it here, and I dont like the way he plays at all, softer then Willy. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AtomicPunk 296 Report post Posted October 22, 2009 Even when Frolov does play, he is on their 3rd line. Can't understand why a few on LGW have singled him out as a player to bring here. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dat's sick 1,002 Report post Posted October 22, 2009 I wouldn't mind having Frolov on the Wings, but at the cost of Leino and Abdelkader? No way. Those two are here to stay. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Seraph 240 Report post Posted October 22, 2009 (edited) That trade is as far away from a Kenny Holland move as you can get... Edited October 22, 2009 by The Nephilim Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Namingway 146 Report post Posted October 22, 2009 Frolov is good but yeah, a third liner/bench warmer of the Kings for a possible future 2nd liner and a young kid with talent that's still getting better? Leino alone for Frolov could maaaaaybe pass (depending on how the two do this year) or Abdelkader and a draft pick, I wouldn't trade away Leino and Abs for him though. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jaymz99 2 Report post Posted October 22, 2009 I say we trade Lidstrom, Datsyuk, and Zetty for Malkin and get rid of Osgood, Howard, and Franzen (since he is hurt and all) for Luongo. Then bring up Larsson as backup. Yeah that's it. We are sure to win then. These threads always create some really goofy ideas. Separates the fair weather fans from the real ones, I guess. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest mindfly Report post Posted October 22, 2009 (edited) I wouldnt mind sending Leino off to anywhere for anything.. so weak on the skates, hands made of cement and a small and overly soft euro who has yet to finish a check? Abdelkader could be a solid 3line checker in the NHL he should stay. Edited October 22, 2009 by mindfly Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dat's sick 1,002 Report post Posted October 22, 2009 I wouldnt mind sending Leino off to anywhere for anything.. so weak on the skates, hands made of cement and a small and overly soft euro who has yet to finish a check? Abdelkader could be a solid 3line checker in the NHL he should stay. Wow someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed. Again. Leino and hands of cement does not compute. He's got great hands. I don't think you know what weak on the skates means. Do you mean that he is slow? Because then you atleast have something close to a point, he's not blazing fast. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Drake_Marcus 890 Report post Posted October 22, 2009 I wouldnt mind sending Leino off to anywhere for anything.. so weak on the skates, hands made of cement and a small and overly soft euro who has yet to finish a check? Abdelkader could be a solid 3line checker in the NHL he should stay. Let's do a quick fact-check: False: weak on skates, hands made of cement, small, overly soft, yet to finish a check. True: European. Grade: F Please see me after class Mr. Fly. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest mindfly Report post Posted October 22, 2009 Let's do a quick fact-check: False: weak on skates, hands made of cement, small, overly soft, yet to finish a check. True: European. Grade: F Please see me after class Mr. Fly. Datsyuk and Zetterberg are also small euros but they can atleast take hits and the Datsyuk is a good hitter as well... we all saw how good Leino's hands were last game.. missed open nets, fumbled, got his pocket picked etc... i agree he can hold on the the f*** and circle in the corners but he cant go to the hard area get the puck and snipe it... he's just overrated on this forum, on any other team he would be a random player but here he's the 2nd coming of zetterberg, give me a break Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Drake_Marcus 890 Report post Posted October 22, 2009 There's a reason why Spector shot this rumour down-- it's crazy. Spector, for the record, is without a question the best hockey rumour guy on the internet, so I definitely recommend checking his site out for an intelligent analysis of trade and FA rumours. In reality I think it'd only take one of these two players plus a pick to get Frolov. If we knew more about Abdelkader's scoring upside I'd consider trading him straight-up for Frolov, but there's too many unknowns with Abs. He was the frozen four MVP, so he's been on the radar of other teams' scouts for a few years now. His only season of professional hockey was a huge success, with him tieing for the rookie lead in points on the team, posting fantastic numbers in clutch situations, being the team's strongest player on the ice in the playoffs (with the exception of Leino's performance in the first round) and winning accolades from the AHL at various times during the season. Abs was definitely one of the top rookies in the AHL last year and he did it all with an aggressive edge to his game that is very rare in the Wings' system. Abdelkader has the potential to be a 2nd line centre in this league that can fight, kill penalties and deliver 150 hits a year. As a prospect he's as tantalizing as he is tough to pin down. Worst case he'll be a good checking line player. Leino's considered a legitimate Calder threat and he's signed cheap for 2 years, so he's off the list of available prospects too. I'd give Kindl up for Frolov if the Wings are confident they can re-sign Frolov, though. Kindl's value will either rise or plummet this season. If he can't put a good season together in the AHL this year his days as a Wings prospect could be numbered. I can see them trading Kindl this season if he flounders in the AHL this season and they need to make a move at the deadline. Honestly, he hasn't shown enough to warrant a spot on the team next season, at least he hasn't in the defensive department (and if you can't play solid D in the AHL there will be real trouble in the NHL). But he's still considered a blue chip prospect, so if they don't think he'll make the jump they'll probably dump him while he's still worth something. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Finnish Wing 110 Report post Posted October 22, 2009 (edited) I wouldnt mind sending Leino off to anywhere for anything.. so weak on the skates, hands made of cement and a small and overly soft euro who has yet to finish a check? Abdelkader could be a solid 3line checker in the NHL he should stay. Weak on the skates? He's improved a lot in speed from the last year. I think he's just as fast as many other guys in this team. His style just isn't all about speed like Helm's. But when Leino skates in the neutral zone, you can see that he's a lot faster now. That "hands made of cement" argument is just straight up ridiculous. Had one bad game where he didn't score on a scoring chance and in the shootout and now his hands are made of cement? Gimme a break. This guy has top5 hands in the team. Didn't know 186 cm (6 feet 1 inch) was small these days. Soft? Maybe he doesn't give many big hits but he loves to take hits. Leino has said many times before that taking hits just boosts up his play. He has also crashed the net at times, scored a goal that way earlier and made a good play in the Flip's goal too. But overall, his game isn't even about crashing the net or hitting everything that moves. If backchecking counts as checking you can't say that Leino "has yet to finish a check". You can clearly see that he has improved tremendously in his backchecking too. LEINO BACKCHECKING? Oh, yes. So before you make that kinda arguments - actually looked more like bad sarcasm - watch the games and get the facts. kthxbai Edited October 22, 2009 by Finnish Wing Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Drake_Marcus 890 Report post Posted October 22, 2009 Datsyuk and Zetterberg are also small euros but they can atleast take hits and the Datsyuk is a good hitter as well... we all saw how good Leino's hands were last game.. missed open nets, fumbled, got his pocket picked etc... i agree he can hold on the the f*** and circle in the corners but he cant go to the hard area get the puck and snipe it... he's just overrated on this forum, on any other team he would be a random player but here he's the 2nd coming of zetterberg, give me a break Hands problems? 5G & 4A in his first 13 NHL games. He was a point per game player in the preseason. He lead the AHL in playoff scoring through the first two rounds even though he didn't get points in the 4 game loss to the Moose in round 2. Leino's got great hands. Should we dump Datsyuk? He's played poorly so far this season-- 2A in 6 games. Leino has 2G & 1A so far, with the two goals coming in the first 3 games. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Z Winged Dangler 2,082 Report post Posted October 22, 2009 frolov and his apparent bad attitude would just take up space in babcock's doghouse. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Redspath 0 Report post Posted October 22, 2009 that just seems to be too much for Frolov! I don't think they would do it! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RusDRW 155 Report post Posted October 22, 2009 I wouldnt mind sending Leino off to anywhere for anything.. so weak on the skates, hands made of cement and a small and overly soft euro who has yet to finish a check? Abdelkader could be a solid 3line checker in the NHL he should stay. is this sarcasm? I really hope so. Otherwise, you need to switch to some other sport. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Theophany 110 Report post Posted October 22, 2009 I really don't see the need to get rid of anyone or acquire anyone at this point. Our team is solid, and of course there are areas that could be better, but we can't always have what is essentially an all star team. Ericsson and Lebda fit very well with what's expected of 3rd pair defensemen; Howard is a crap shoot currently (i.e. we haven't seen enough of him thus far), and the rest of the team just needs to get healthy and start tightening up defensively. This team is actually really solid, if you look at who we've got. Every line has at least two guys I wouldn't mind seeing on the PK (though obviously some more than others), and that really does say a hell of a lot about our two-way play. Howard is the only move I can even think of making of guys actually on our NHL roster; the rest of the team is fine and can be coached to play better. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cjm502 165 Report post Posted October 22, 2009 All Abdelkader-Leino trade rumors are 100% false. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
seeinred 1,488 Report post Posted October 22, 2009 I wouldnt mind sending Leino off to anywhere for anything.. so weak on the skates, hands made of cement and a small and overly soft euro who has yet to finish a check? Abdelkader could be a solid 3line checker in the NHL he should stay. Sounds like someone's a little insecure about another Finn possibly rising through the ranks on this team Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest mindfly Report post Posted October 22, 2009 Leino isnt the future of the red wings, deal with it you finn's!!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Cern 0 Report post Posted October 22, 2009 (edited) I personally still have Howard on a very short leash. If he dosen't sharpen up in his next few starts, I say pick up the phone. The Islanders have an overabundance of goalies right now, and while most of them are meh, as a backup they'd probably be an upgrade over the kind of play I've seen with Howard in net so far. Edited October 22, 2009 by Cern Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
