Bertuzzi

[Finnish Wing 110]

Hudler and his 57 points last year were ineffective? If anything, that is even more impressive given the other deficiencies you lay on him, such as small and slow, or "easy to knock off the puck" even though Hudler is not better than Flip or Franzen at keeping the puck.

Now it's actually fixed.

[cjm502 165]

Filp and Franzen were both expected to have breakout seasons this year. Im still just baffled about all the injuries.

Edited December 23, 2009 by cjm502

[mmamolo 287]

Filp and Franzen were both expected to have breakout seasons this year. Im still just baffled about all the injuries.

That's definitely true. Both Flip and Franzen were expected to break out but had Hudler been resigned and played for the Wings this year I think the same expectations would have been placed on him. He had improved each year and it was also his turn to break out.

Personally I think this comparison is a little ridiculous. Two totally different players, filling different needs, who play different styles.

That being said, I think ppl over bash Hudler and don't give him the respect he deserved. That's not to say I liked what he did last summer but for ppl to say he had little to no impact on the team last year is just flat out wrong. He was a key cog in our 2nd PP unit and was a huge depth scorer for us. Hell, I wouldnt even call him a depth scorer (despite playing on the third line). He was 7th in team scoring and 5th among forwards behind only Datsyuk, Zetterberg, Hossa and Franzen.

[eva unit zero 271]

Fixed that for you.

It doesn't come down to Bert of Hudler. It comes down to Hudler or depth. We couldn't have got Bert Eaves and Willy if Hudler stuck around. Huds is not more effective then those 3 combined.

Eaves was signed first. Keeping Hudler would have meant no Bertuzzi or Williams, but Eaves would be here. Bertuzzi and Williams were both signed in the middle of August, after the Hudler debacle was settled and Holland had ~$3m to spend on forwards that he didn't expect to have. Eaves would still be on the team, and Bert/Williams would not.

Hudler would have been better to have around than Bert and Williams have been. Hudler has been on the full-time roster for three years.

Bertuzzi has missed 97 games in the past three seasons. Williams has missed 45. Hudler has missed 7. Average that out to "expected" injury time, and Bert would play 50 games, Williams would play 67, and Hudler would play 80. Based on per-game output last season, that means Hudler scores 22 goals and 55 points to Bert + Williams scoring a combined 32 and 83. So yes, Bert and Williams would add up to 10 goals and 28 points more, but at the expense of 20 minutes per game for other forwards, including Hudler. Figure Hudler gets 5 more, and the rest are divided among guys like Eaves. That's a higher offensive output and better defensive play from forwards.

However, Williams has been fairly consistent with his output the past couple years, and Bert has been steadily declining. Hudler has been dramatically improving every season. Hudler alone probably matches or comes close to their output, and Eaves and other depth guys (Leino playing better?) additional offense covers the rest and more.

I'm not the only one who thought this, as Holland tried his best to keep Hudler at around $3m and signed the other two after finding out Hudler was gone for this season.

Hudler > Bert + Williams.

...I know, I know, shut up with the logic.