The Justin Abdelkader Watch Thread

[redwingfan19 293]

how does this guy not have his own watch thread? I wanted to post this in the modano thread since it has turned into an grit debate thread but figured we could start a abby thread.

Anyways... apparently abby has been taking boxing lesson this summer. I think he knows he is going to be handling most of the fighting next year so it's good to see him getting prepared. either that or he is going to knock out holland for not signing him yet..... j/k

scroll down to the bottom to the locker room and click on the first video and fast forward to about the 1:30 mark

http://www.wlns.com/Global/category.asp?C=756&nav=menu25_4

I think we are going to be in for a real treat watching abby next year. Hopefully he can run around like buttercup hit everything in sight and be able to kick some ass in the process. Still hoping that abby is the third line center if no mo. He's underrated offensively and with more ice time and playing with hudler/cleary/bertuzzi he could put up solid numbers for a third liner.

Discuss.

[Guest mindfly]

I just don't see him as a scorer in the nhl, and therefore i'm not exactly intrigued seeing him on the wings' third line if Modano doesn't sign here...Hudler and Cleary deserves a better center imo.

[titanium2 867]

Jan Mursak took boxing lessons a couple summers ago just to stay in shape.

[titanium2 867]

I just don't see him as a scorer in the nhl, and therefore i'm not exactly intrigued seeing him on the wings' third line if Modano doesn't sign here...Hudler and Cleary deserves a better center imo.

We don't really know how good Abdelkader's shot is at the NHL level. He won't ever shoot the puck like Modano but how good can he shoot? Hopefully he's way better in that area than we know.

[redwingfan19 293]

I just don't see him as a scorer in the nhl, and therefore i'm not exactly intrigued seeing him on the wings' third line if Modano doesn't sign here...Hudler and Cleary deserves a better center imo.

well he can score at the AHL level, and he can score a big goal or two for the wings. He has good enough hands and a shot where he could score 15 - 20 goals a year playing with better linemates. miller, eaves, and helm all had 10 or so goals last year and abby has a higher ceiling than all those guys. franzen and cleary didn't score much at the NHL level either until they got a chance.

[hooon 1,089]

I'm not convinced he'd be better than Helm between Hudler and Cleary. Helm's speed gives him tons of potential as a setup guy, but definitely Abby is the more offensively capable. If Mo doesn't sign, it'll be interesting to see who gets that third line.

I definitely want to see Abby take that next step this year (Helm too). They both showed flashes of awesomeness all season and during their playoff runs. With more ice time for either of these guys they are going to be scoring more.

But to me, if Babs is expecting Hudler to put up 70 points this season, I just don't see him doing that with Abby, or Helm for that matter.

[StayClassy 38]

I could see Abdelkader becoming something like a mini Lucic for the WIngs.

[redwingfan19 293]

I'm not convinced he'd be better than Helm between Hudler and Cleary. Helm's speed gives him tons of potential as a setup guy, but definitely Abby is the more offensively capable. If Mo doesn't sign, it'll be interesting to see who gets that third line.

I definitely want to see Abby take that next step this year (Helm too). They both showed flashes of awesomeness all season and during their playoff runs. With more ice time for either of these guys they are going to be scoring more.

But to me, if Babs is expecting Hudler to put up 70 points this season, I just don't see him doing that with Abby, or Helm for that matter.

tough to say who would do better, helm does has the speed, but I don't know if his hands will ever catch up to it. Abby has the size to power his way to the net and create space, so it's really a toss up to who would be better as the third line center.

As for hudler, only way he score 70 pts is if he plays in the top 6 all year and gets PP time which he most certainly will.

[Heroes of Hockeytown 694]

franzen and cleary didn't score much at the NHL level either until they got a chance.

They didn't become top six guys until they caught a break with some injury situations, but they did already show some good hands before their big breaks with the Wings. Franzen scored 12 goals his rookie year and 30 points in his sophomore season. Cleary washed out with the Hawks before he did much of anything with them, but had a couple 30 point seasons with the Oilers before coming to Detroit.

After just one season in the NHL there's obviously not much to say about Abdelkader one way or the other, but I don't expect him to be given anything -- both Franzen and Cleary showed potential early in their careers, and had to bust their asses and work their way up from the 4th lines to get to where they are today.

[Zion 93]

No vids? How about some VIDEO FRICKIN' EVIDENCE on this "Watch" thread.

For fug's sake.

For the record: I love Fritters.

[BUHdactyl 23]

I'm not convinced he'd be better than Helm between Hudler and Cleary.

My thoughts exactly. I love Abdelkader but I think Helm would be more useful on the 3rd line. The only reason I would consider Abby over Helm is because Draper/Miller-Helm-Eaves was such a fun line to watch.

If you really think about it this team is quite stacked, and Abby will do great no matter which line he plays on, but lets be real here - Everyone is getting a huge boner for Abdelkader when he hasn't really proven anything. He hasn't had the chance to because he's only been called up a few times. I think next year he should be on the 3rd line for sure, but this year - his first full season with our team, he should start as a 4th liner. Big, gritty, tough and full of heart - he's better suited for the 4th line than Helm, the wicked fast center who throws his weight around and only needs to work on his shot to be a SICK player. Abby and Helm are both great candidates but I think Helm has proven that he is too talented to be stuck on the 4th line. Abby will have the chance to prove the same thing this year and I think without a doubt he will.

Hell who knows, maybe he will show up and outplay Helm and if that's the case put him between Bertuzzi and Cleary and watch the destruction unfold... All I'm saying is that it'd probably be best to start him on the 4th and make him earn his way up the ladder rather than just hand him the 3rd line position. He obviously has the determination to earn his spot so why not let it happen naturally?

No matter what happens it will be interesting that's for sure and I'm pretty excited to see what kind of player Abby will be as an NHLer. I see some people are hoping for our own version of Lucic, and I can't say I'd be disappointed one bit if that were the case. He certainly looks to have the potential to become a player of that caliber, and the fact that he's a local guy only makes him that much more awesome.

[DangleDangleBeach 16]

i would like to see the lines like this if modano doesnt sign...

holmstrom-zetterberg-datsyuk

franzen- filpula- hudler

bertuzzi abs cleary

draper helm eaves/miller

then maybe we could sign andy sutton for that last d spot

liddy raff

stuart kronwall

sutton ericcson / kindl

[TheDetroitRedWings 286]

Yeah, he always shows up in the post season. But obviously there's something Babcock sees (or doesn't see) in Abby that keeps getting him sent down to GR every regular season.

Edited July 25, 2010 by TheDetroitRedWings

[king_malice 17]

Abby is a good fighter, but like he said he gets to excited and gets off balance and goes down easy kinda like Ericcson, and for the people talking about Abby's shot he does have a pretty good one but he is like a few guys on the Wings Flip,Dats and Abby always dish instead of ripping a shot. Dats pisses me off sometimes cause when he shoots most times it finds a tip,post or the back of the net he has a ggreat shot and needs to shoot more. But i hope Abby is a full-timer this season

[robb himself 143]

I heard a rumour a couple days back about Detroit sending Abdelkader + Stuart to LA for Jack Johnson and a 2nd rounder...

im not sure how I would feel about that trade...

[Guest mindfly]

I heard a rumour a couple days back about Detroit sending Abdelkader + Stuart to LA for Jack Johnson and a 2nd rounder...

im not sure how I would feel about that trade...

Would love that trade, but it's not very Kenny Holland'ish

[robb himself 143]

yeah I was kinda on the fence about it...but I sure would love Jack Johnson on the wings...maybe instead of Abdelkader we could send Miller+Stuart+3rd rounder for Jack Johnson and a 2nd....

I like the look of that a little better

[Guest mindfly]

Yeah he played his college hockey here, i bet he is very high on the wings and could develope alot here

[king_malice 17]

I like that trade but i hate the fact the Johnson is a FA next season

[Jesusberg 1,256]

yeah I was kinda on the fence about it...but I sure would love Jack Johnson on the wings...maybe instead of Abdelkader we could send Miller+Stuart+3rd rounder for Jack Johnson and a 2nd....

I like the look of that a little better

I think Abdelkader's def got more upside than Miller, though, even with the 3rd included they still might want Abs. Stuart's also grown on me a lot and I'd hate to see him leave, even with J.J.'s upside. I dunno how I'd feel about that trade.

[blgillett 48]

Stuart has grown into are 2nd best D on the team! Don't want to loose him.

[WorkingOvertime 536]

My thoughts exactly. I love Abdelkader but I think Helm would be more useful on the 3rd line. The only reason I would consider Abby over Helm is because Draper/Miller-Helm-Eaves was such a fun line to watch.

If you really think about it this team is quite stacked, and Abby will do great no matter which line he plays on, but lets be real here - Everyone is getting a huge boner for Abdelkader when he hasn't really proven anything. He hasn't had the chance to because he's only been called up a few times. I think next year he should be on the 3rd line for sure, but this year - his first full season with our team, he should start as a 4th liner. Big, gritty, tough and full of heart - he's better suited for the 4th line than Helm, the wicked fast center who throws his weight around and only needs to work on his shot to be a SICK player. Abby and Helm are both great candidates but I think Helm has proven that he is too talented to be stuck on the 4th line. Abby will have the chance to prove the same thing this year and I think without a doubt he will.

Hell who knows, maybe he will show up and outplay Helm and if that's the case put him between Bertuzzi and Cleary and watch the destruction unfold... All I'm saying is that it'd probably be best to start him on the 4th and make him earn his way up the ladder rather than just hand him the 3rd line position. He obviously has the determination to earn his spot so why not let it happen naturally?

No matter what happens it will be interesting that's for sure and I'm pretty excited to see what kind of player Abby will be as an NHLer. I see some people are hoping for our own version of Lucic, and I can't say I'd be disappointed one bit if that were the case. He certainly looks to have the potential to become a player of that caliber, and the fact that he's a local guy only makes him that much more awesome.

How do you figure that Helm is better suited for a scoring third line than Abby? IMO Abby has better hands while Helm is perfectly suited for a dump-and-chase/cycle offensive style with his speed and pressure. Helm has shown that he is a great PK'er and a good energy forward, but I don't think anyone expects him to be an offensive-minded forward. I think Draper (in his prime) is a great comparison for the player that Helm can be.

In the AHL, Abby scored at a higher rate. Abby scored at a rate of .73 while in the AHL this year (with 86 PIMs). In comparison, Helm's best AHL season had a point-per-game of .67- this is worse than Abby's first AHL season.

I don't mean to imply that Helm cannot be a competent third line center, but I believe that Abby has to tools to be better offensively. Hopefully he can put it all together this year and earn/keep the third line center position. I think both Helm and Abby are excellent assets for the Wings (who I want to stay for a long time), and hopefully they can both surpass our expectations.

[HankthaTank 1,100]

Any day now Abby.

[blgillett 48]

There was talk that he would sign this week sometime. So much for that!

[hooon 1,089]

Just sign to at least give LGW a new thread and something to talk about, sheesh its getting pretty boring around here. Someone start a Crosby sucks thread or something, anything, please.