Which Rookie has the best chance at cracking the line-up next season?.

[king_malice 17]

Id like to see Tatar step up good speed,great hands and scoring touch. If cap goes up by 2 mill this line-up puts us just under i think

Franzen-Zetterberg-Holmstrom

Hudler-Datsyuk-Bertuzzi

Cleary-Filppula-Tatar

Burish-Abdelkader-Helm

Draper

Lidstrom-Rafalski

Kronwall-Stuart

Lilja-Ericcson

Kindl

[InKennyWeTrust 126]

Right now, I'd say Kindl just because of the possible needs at defense. If we don't re-sign Lilja or if Ericsson has another sub-standard year, Kindl has the shortest path.

[Wings_Fan_In_Exile 3]

What kind of year did Tatar have? (I shamefully do not follow the AHL). I'm excited about this kid, but is he close to NHL ready or "over-ripe" as Kenny calls it?

Edited June 2, 2010 by Wings_Fan_In_Exile

[Konnan511 1,736]

Tatar won't see a single game next season. Kindl and Ritola are out of options so they'll both be in the line-up. /end thread.

[king_malice 17]

What kind of year did Tartar have? (I shamefully do not follow the AHL). I'm excited about this kid, but is he close to NHL ready or "over-ripe" as Kenny calls it?

Ritola-73GP 42PTS -3

Tatar-58GP 32PTS +8

[Guest Lidstromboli]

Tatar won't see a single game next season. Kindl and Ritola are out of options so they'll both be in the line-up. /end thread.

pretty much

[rick zombo 3,739]

Tatar won't see a single game next season. Kindl and Ritola are out of options so they'll both be in the line-up. /end thread.

Exactly. Mursak will probably see some call-up time with the big club, maybe Emmerton.

[Drake_Marcus 890]

I'd love to see Tatar make it but he's only 19 so he'll have to force his way onto the team in the preseason first... Holland won't give him much wiggle room to play with because he has so much time left to grow in GR.

[CAredwingsfan91 28]

theres no such thing as a rookie on the red wings roster oh wait HOWARD AT 80 YEARS OLD!!!

[stevkrause 1,247]

Exactly. Mursak will probably see some call-up time with the big club, maybe Emmerton.

dead on.

Tatar will not see a SINGLE minute of NHL, regular season ice time until 2012 at the earliest...

[king_malice 17]

I just hope Tatar doesnt come in and rip it up in pre-season and then gets sent back down probably will kill his confidence in himself.

[Guest Lidstromboli]

ill enjoy watching tatar in the pre-season

Edited June 2, 2010 by Lidstromboli

[newfy 695]

I really wanna see Emmerton get some games next year. He's got the hockey sense to be a great player he just needs to put it all together.

[Andy Pred 48 337]

Kenny and Babs have both said in the past that the best players will get to play, so we'll wait and see if they back this up. For those of you who ahve stated that Tatar will not see a min let alone a game this coming season, don't put your house on it! The Wings front office are big on this kid and they will bring him up for a stint this season, just to see how he handles it. By all comparison's, (Hudler with speed) and that will do for me. All this let them learn in the A for a few years, well some kids it will help, but occasionally you get a guy where you have to give them the ball early. I think Tatar falls into that catergory.

[king_malice 17]

Kenny and Babs have both said in the past that the best players will get to play, so we'll wait and see if they back this up. For those of you who ahve stated that Tatar will not see a min let alone a game this coming season, don't put your house on it! The Wings front office are big on this kid and they will bring him up for a stint this season, just to see how he handles it. By all comparison's, (Hudler with speed) and that will do for me. All this let them learn in the A for a few years, well some kids it will help, but occasionally you get a guy where you have to give them the ball early. I think Tatar falls into that catergory.

I totally agree i think guys like Helm and Abby it was good for it let them complete there game at both ends,but Tatar is a sniper and you can only get so much better playing against other AHL guys, then you have to step up and run with the big dogs. whats that saying something about if you wanna be the best.......well i think that applies to Tatar, i might say one more season in the AHL if he cant make it this year is fine but next season i think its time to get him in young. Thats really the only problem i have with the Wings, letting guys stay in the AHL to long

[Echolalia 2,961]

Abdelkader is technically a rookie still, right?

[13dangledangle 965]

Tatar won't see a single game next season. Kindl and Ritola are out of options so they'll both be in the line-up. /end thread.

I picked Tartar because the other will already be here.

[MCleveland89 122]

Abdelkader is technically a rookie still, right?

He's technically awesome, I know that much.

[Guest Lidstromboli]

Abdelkader won't be considered a rookie next season

[eva unit zero 271]

Kenny and Babs have both said in the past that the best players will get to play, so we'll wait and see if they back this up. For those of you who ahve stated that Tatar will not see a min let alone a game this coming season, don't put your house on it! The Wings front office are big on this kid and they will bring him up for a stint this season, just to see how he handles it. By all comparison's, (Hudler with speed) and that will do for me. All this let them learn in the A for a few years, well some kids it will help, but occasionally you get a guy where you have to give them the ball early. I think Tatar falls into that catergory.

Two Red Wings since the 98-99 season have started their NHL careers before the age of 20. Jiri Fischer in 98-99 at 19, who was on path to become a star defenseman, and Jiri Hudler in 2003-04 at 19, who is a top-line scoring forward just entering his prime. The last player to start his career before the age of 20 with the Wings? Martin Lapointe in 91-92. Prior to Lapointe? Keith Primeau in 90-91.

The "Bowman age" which began in 92-93 changed that a bit, as did the fact that starting in the early 90s first rounders were not necessarily guys who could step right on to the roster and contribute because the Wings picked so late most years. So a guy who can make the team under the age of 20 on a Wings team with solid depth at most positions is absolutely astounding.

[Rivalred 630]

Leino!!!

[GROwl 5]

Short term = Kindl has the 1-way contract that will most likely land him in Detroit this season.

Long Term = Tatar has the most potential, but will likely stay in GR for most of the next 2 years due to waiver exemption.

[McAwesome 754]

I voted Kindl because, as others have pointed out, he has the shortest path. He will be part of the opening day roster, likely as the 7th D-man, and he will likely be on a regular rotation along with Ericsson and whoever is signed to be the 6th defenseman (either Lilja or his replacement). Ritola will be the 13th/14th forward depending on signings and training camp, and may crack the line-up once or twice barring injury problems. Tatar will most likely spend the whole season in GR, even if he tears it up, because there are guys with tenure over him that are due for a call-up (Mursak, Emmerton), but he may make the decision difficult based on training camp, look at what he did last year, basically played his way onto the Griffins at 18.

[SweWings 45]

Two Red Wings since the 98-99 season have started their NHL careers before the age of 20. Jiri Fischer in 98-99 at 19, who was on path to become a star defenseman, and Jiri Hudler in 2003-04 at 19, who is a top-line scoring forward just entering his prime. The last player to start his career before the age of 20 with the Wings? Martin Lapointe in 91-92. Prior to Lapointe? Keith Primeau in 90-91.

The "Bowman age" which began in 92-93 changed that a bit, as did the fact that starting in the early 90s first rounders were not necessarily guys who could step right on to the roster and contribute because the Wings picked so late most years. So a guy who can make the team under the age of 20 on a Wings team with solid depth at most positions is absolutely astounding.

Agreed. A lot will depend on whether Tatar has a good training camp but I really hope he makes the team; it's fun to watch a young guy develop, especially a guy with so much offensive talent like Tatar.

Btw, that "Jiri Hudler is a top-line player" thing will get you into trouble, like it always does. But at least I agree with you, not that it matters much.

[Buppy 1,720]

Two Red Wings since the 98-99 season have started their NHL careers before the age of 20. Jiri Fischer in 98-99 at 19, who was on path to become a star defenseman, and Jiri Hudler in 2003-04 at 19, who is a top-line scoring forward just entering his prime. The last player to start his career before the age of 20 with the Wings? Martin Lapointe in 91-92. Prior to Lapointe? Keith Primeau in 90-91.

The "Bowman age" which began in 92-93 changed that a bit, as did the fact that starting in the early 90s first rounders were not necessarily guys who could step right on to the roster and contribute because the Wings picked so late most years. So a guy who can make the team under the age of 20 on a Wings team with solid depth at most positions is absolutely astounding.

Going a little far to say Happy 'made the team' as a 19 year old. He played 12 games as an injury replacement. Then 4 games the next year (technically two years later with the lockout). He didn't really make the team until '06-07. Helm being a playoff regular at 21 is more impressive.