101 replies to this topic

[Crymson]

Rafalski is already a thing of the past. I have yet to see him show up for the Wings in over a year.

He had 42 points and was a +23 on a team riddled by injuries. He's one of the best puck-movers in the league, and he's excellent on the power play.

You're exaggerating. Mightily.

[crotty99]

Doughty or Keith would be as close as we could get. Sadly their both untouchable.

Don't forget Mike Green.

But seriously, I really like Volchenkov, he's a good shutdown guy but like you say he doesn't provide enough Offense. Wings don't have the cap room to pick up another offensive D-man as well as Volchenkov so I'm not sure he'd be the best replacement. This is assuming he'd be making atleast 5 maybe 6 mill?

If Kronwall could step up his game then perhaps Volchenkov would be the way to go. At this point though, I'm not so sure.
Having said that, I can't really think of anyone else.

Do you think we would be better off going for a cheaper D-man, then using the money we save, go after a pure goal scorer?

Edit: Here's the list of upcoming UFAs for those who are interested, http://www.capgeek.com/ufa_finder.php

Edited by crotty99, 06 May 2010 - 02:23 AM.

[Drake_Marcus]

Don't forget Mike Green.

But seriously, I really like Volchenkov, he's a good shutdown guy but like you say he doesn't provide enough Offense. Wings don't have the cap room to pick up another offensive D-man as well as Volchenkov so I'm not sure he'd be the best replacement. This is assuming he'd be making atleast 5 maybe 6 mill?

If Kronwall could step up his game then perhaps Volchenkov would be the way to go. At this point though, I'm not so sure.
Having said that, I can't really think of anyone else.

Do you think we would be better off going for a cheaper D-man, then using the money we save, go after a pure goal scorer?

Edit: Here's the list of upcoming UFAs for those who are interested, http://www.capgeek.com/ufa_finder.php

If Lidstrom retires the Wings will have no choice but to bring someone else in. Kronwall's injury completely derailed him and Ericsson didn't progress enough this season to move up to the second pairing.

If Lidstrom stays they should wait and see who's around for trade over the next few seasons.

[king_malice]

I like either Volchenkov or Willie Mitchell, Mitchell isn't going to be putting up Lidstrom numbers at all but he has only been a minus player 2 times in his career so far once in 99 in the AHL and once in 2000 in the NHL other then that always a plus player. Another player i like is Coliacovo for STL he has been injured the last 2 season only playing 63 last season and 67 this season but had 32pts and was a +8, he's only 26 and makes only 1.4mill right now. you look at all the talk about Hamhuis this trade deadline and Coliacovo had 8 more points in 11 less GP. So if lids retires you could probably get both Volchenkov or Mitchell and Coliacovo for less then we were paying Lids

D:
Volchenkov
Mitchell
Coliacovo

What about a guy like Jordin Tootoo tough kid plays hard every shift hits,fights everything 16pts in 51 games this season and only making like 900k



Franzen-Datsyuk-Holmstrom
Zetterberg-Filppula-Hudler
Cleary-Helm-Tootoo
Eaves-Abdelkader-Draper

Volchenkov/Mitchell-Rafalski
Kronwall-Stuart
Coliacovo-Lilja
Ericcson

[RusDRW]

Cleary-Helm-Tootoo

this line would be a nightmare to play against. Speed and toughness. I like it.

[king_malice]

this line would be a nightmare to play against. Speed and toughness. I like it.

lol ya i really like it Tootoo is a guy that will scrap if we need him to and would bring it every shift, and he's not one of those goons that wont be putting up points. Id really like him and he does have one more year left i think but if Draper retired.

Franzen-Datsyuk-Holmstrom
Zetterberg-Filppula-Hudler
Cleary-Helm-Bertuzzi
Eaves-Abdelkader-Tootoo(thats alot of speed and hurt on a line)

lol i have this as my line up in NHL10 right now

Edited by king_malice, 06 May 2010 - 05:01 AM.

[FunkedUp]

Tootoo signed a 2 year extension earlier this season. Our line up probably won't be any different next year, unless Lidstrom is gone.

[king_malice]

Tootoo signed a 2 year extension earlier this season. Our line up probably won't be any different next year, unless Lidstrom is gone.

Oh ok thanks i was just looking at a UFA/RFA list and it still has him as one.

[RusDRW]

What's about Olli Jokinen? He once was a force in this league.

[crotty99]

What's about Olli Jokinen? He once was a force in this league.

No thanks.

[Carman]

Matthew Lombardi would be interesting.

Him, Miller and Helm on a line would just be sick.

[Greatness=PavelDatsyuk]

I HAVE A SOLUTION!!!

Ok, first off we trade Howard for draft picks, everyone says he sucks anyway right!

Then, we sign Adam Foote, Vesa Toskala, and Mike Modano

Also, if people still think we need scoring, we could always trade someone like Filpula, another player who everyone is always calling to be traded anyway, and sign Teemu Selanne

With that roster the NHL would have to just give us the cup, right?

[Patrick Roy]

Add me, foote, modano, forsberg, chelios, sakic, leetch, and hull come out of retirement, and we have the best 1998 NHL team in the league to go with draper, homer, lids, etc.

[Z and D for the C]

Someone new for our top 6. Marleau/Plekanec/Afinogenov/Lombardi/Stempniak

[Greatness=PavelDatsyuk]

Add me, foote, modano, forsberg, chelios, sakic, leetch, and hull come out of retirement, and we have the best 1998 NHL team in the league to go with draper, homer, lids, etc.

I like it, but would we still fit under the cap? If we coudl get them all to sign small contracts then I am totally for it. With this roster we could easily see the first ever 82 win season!!!

[F.Michael]

Playing 25+ mins a game, Volchenkov had one more point than Ericsson did this year. He won't even come close to making up for Lidstrom. Sure he would do a world of difference defensively (although he still can't touch Lids there) but he can't even put up 20pts a season. In his prime Lidstrom was putting at least 70pts a season up.

Even though Lids is a superior Dman positionally - I don't think Lids can compete with Volchenkov in the hitting/blocked shots dept.

Would be interesting though to see what a guy like Volchenkov could do in Detroit - especially if Lids hangs them up.

EDIT - Anyone else think Holland should call Burke concerning the availability of Kaberle if Lids retires this summer?

Edited by F.Michael, 06 May 2010 - 09:12 AM.

[puffy]

Anyone else think Holland should call Burke concerning the availability of Kaberle if Lids retires this summer?

I'd love to have Kaberle here. Burkes asking price is going to be pretty high though.

His no trade clause is gone, so there could be a pretty huge bidding war for him.

Edited by puffy, 06 May 2010 - 09:24 AM.

[darvesh88]

Volchenkov would be great for Detroit. He reminds me a lot of Vladdy. Not saying he is or will be as good, but I think they share the same philosophy about the defensive position. I wouldn't be worried about him only scoring a few goals a year. As long as he is doing a great job keeping pucks out of our own net, they amount of points he is scoring would be irrelevant. If we did sign Volchenkov, this what our pairings could look like:

1)Volechenkov-Rafalski: Would be a very solid unit, Rafi would have to be the trigger man at the point, which is fine because he is somewhat of an offensive d-man.
2)Volcheknov-Stuart: Would be ridiculously solid in our own zone, but I would not expect much offense.
3)Volcheknov-Kronwall: Very similar to the first pairing listed. Kronwall is fairly aggressive, like Rafalski.
4)Kronwall-Stuart: See: last few seasons for opinion
5)Kronwall-Rafalski: This would probably be my favorite pairing in the offensive zone, however, I would be worried in our own.
6)Rafalski-Stuart: Could be a good pairing. Stuart may be a little more offensively gifted then Volchenkov (not by much lol) so it is almost the same.

Honestly, I think every pairing listed would be solid. If Lidstrom retires, Volchenkov could be a strong pick up.

Where did you find 3 Volechenkovs? If you have a cloning machine the Best line up would be:

Datsyuk Zetterberg Datsyuk
Datsyuk Zetterberg Datsyuk
Datsyuk Zetterberg Datsyuk
Datsyuk Zetterberg Datsyuk

Lidstrom Stuart
Lidstrom Stuart
Lidstrom Stuart

Assuming you have a time machine a Hasek in his prime would be ideal

Hasek
Hasek2 (backup)

[F.Michael]

I'd love to have Kaberle here. Burkes asking price is going to be pretty high though.

His no trade clause is gone, so there could be a pretty huge bidding war for him.

I'm fairly certain Burke will be moving Kaberle at the draft in LA...As for the asking price - who knows?...I'm sure it'll be high, but for all we know it could be our 1st, plus Helm, and maybe some other prospect, or later round pick for this years draft.

At 32 Kaberle still has 3, or 4 solid years left in him; he'll be a good Dman somewhere these next few years.

[VM1138]

The players who are really impact players who I'd love to play here (but won't), oh and not all of them are free agents:

1) Doughty
2) Wolski
3) Pavelski
4) Keith