Meech on waivers

[GMRwings1983 8,794]

The end of the "Mebdeech" era is offically over with Lebda going to Toronto at a laughable contract and Meech being waived.

The peasants rejoice!

I thought it was Lebeech?

[Booster313 138]

I hope he leaves and becomes the second coming of Chelios! It would just be the perfect irony. Everyone knows that Quincy is the next Pronger, and Leino is shaping up to be the other Malkin in PA!

Edited September 8, 2010 by Booster313

[chrisdetroit 189]

Correct me if I'm wrong (most likely am), but this move is just so we can send him to the minors if he clears waivers. Most likely he will still be on the team the entire season, save him being claimed. He'll just spend it in GRap or with the big club if there are injuries, but since he cleared waivers he can just be recalled and sent down freely.

I doubt it. Somebody will claim him. He's a decent defenseman who can also play forward and he's cheap. There are lots of teams out there that have to fill their team out with AHL players and would rather have a guy like Meech.

Chicago maybe?

Now that would be funny....

[Booster313 138]

I doubt it. Somebody will claim him. He's a decent defenseman who can also play forward and he's cheap. There are lots of teams out there that have to fill their team out with AHL players and would rather have a guy like Meech.

Chicago maybe?

Now that would be funny....

I think that Detroit has all but guaranteed him the opportunity to be traded if he is not going to play full time on the Wings.

[SouthernWingsFan 854]

Meech can destroy anybody in here in a Boggle Tournament or a rousing game of Trouble!

[Rivalred 630]

Son of a Meech.... Best of luck and I do hope he lands somewhere he can play.

[Hockeytown0001 7,652]

So long.

[Guest CaliWingsNut]

Mlive

"I put Derek on waivers to see if a team wants to claim him and give him an opportunity,'' Holland said. "If he clears, he'll come to camp. There's still a month (before the start of the regular season), things change, there's injuries. His fate has yet to be determined.''

No offers, No interest was shown in a trade.

[Booster313 138]

Son of a Meech.... Best of luck and I do hope he lands somewhere he can play.

LMAO at your quote...

[eva unit zero 271]

Meech is a longshot to make the final roster, as his situation would basically be as follows:

The top-six is set for now. Kindl is almost a guarantee to make the roster, pending his camp performance.

Meech is not much different from the performance level of Ericsson, Salei, and would likely be the #8 defenseman given a normal 13-8-2 roster. The only problem is that the Wings have about two teams' worth of forwards they have to sort through and decide on, and there's a fairly decent chance of a 14-forward roster.

Zetterberg, Datsyuk, Holmstrom, Franzen, Filppula, Bertuzzi, Hudler, Modano, Cleary. There's the top 9 and most of the team's forwards.

For the fourth line, we have the following options signed who are not waiver-exempt:

Patrick Eaves, Justin Abdelkader, Darren Helm, Drew Miller, Kris Draper, Kirk Maltby, Mattias Ritola.

Maltby will likely start the year in Grand Rapids. Draper, Helm, and Abdelkader are basically guaranteed roster spots. So that leaves Eaves, Miller, and Ritola at forward and Meech on defense competing for those final two roster spots. At least one will be a forward, to meet that "13" mark, and that will probably be Eaves. So Meech, assuming he goes unclaimed, has to prove he is more useful to the team than both Miller and Ritola,

Ritola it should be pretty clear, although the fact Ritola is an untested prospect getting his first and possibly only shot with the team definitely gives him some extra votes. Miller is the more difficult task. Although with the addition of Modano, the presence of Cleary, Eaves, Helm, Abdelkader, and Draper on the roster... Miller provides quite a bit of redundancy, skilled or not. So that does work against him in proving he deserves to be on the big club and not to be waived for the third time in less than a year.

Meech provides a skilled offensive defenseman with excellent speed and a decent defensive presence. While he's not nearly the same level, the Wings only have only had one defenseman who can be described that way; Brian Rafalski. There have only been a couple of Wings defensemen with Meech's speed or better who played for the Wings in the past 20 years; Paul Coffey, Jiri Fischer, Brian Rafalski, Brett Lebda. Perhaps there's one or two more in that group that I'm just not remembering, but it's still a pretty exclusive group.

Meech also plays more physical than most defensemen of his size and style, and is capable of switching to forward without any difficulty in the transition. His versatility is remarkable and could definitely score points towards a spot on the Wings. As far as if he is claimed, there are many teams where Meech would be the #5 or #6, and some where he might even be in the top 4. So eiher those teams don't feel Meech's style fits their lineup (swift, puckhandling offensive defenseman with limited physical game) they have their rosters basically set and don't think a minor grab like Meech is important enough, they simply aren't paying attention, or they are one of the handful of teams that wouldn't be able to easily fit him into their everyday lineup. Think of Quincey, and the fact that Meech outplayed Quincey the entire time they were in the Wings system. Quincey has been playing top four since leaving and has done well. How will Meech do if claimed by a similar team?

[thedisappearer 291]

and some where he might even be in the top 4.

Name one.

[CenterIce 83]

Meech cleared waivers.

Detroit D Derek Meech cleared waivers, meaning he will fight for a spot in training camp.[/Quote]

http://twitter.com/kausatoday

[eva unit zero 271]

Name one.

I did say MIGHT. Under that premise, of course, he might be top 4 on the Avalanche. He outplayed consistently Quincey as a Wing, why not as an Av?

[Datsyerberger 279]

I thought it was Lebeech?

I thought it was just Leech.

[mjlegend 155]

Mebda.

I've always been kind of disappointed in Meech because he was a great, complete player in his last year of junior and then couldn't struggle his way beyond the 18th skater's role in seven years of pro.

[Nev 1,085]

Eva, you forgot Dandenault.

Anyways, I always felt sorry for guys like Meech, he's clearly not good enough for the NHL - don't hate him for being what he is. Its not like he's a Yashin or somesuch.

[titanium2 867]

So on the Red Wings we got...

Lidstrom-Rafalski

Kronwall-Stuart

Ericsson-Salei

Kindl

Man on man GR's blue line is pretty clogged. I guess Piche and Ehrhardt will have to wait another year before they get some solid GR time.

Janik-Pyett

Smith-Lashoff

Meech-Kolosov

Amadio-Ehrhardt

Piche

[wings1110 184]

maybe we can him and ritola or miller somewhere as a package deal for a draft pick. at least we get something for them unlike another dman that we got rid of (cough cough) quincy

[achildr1 255]

Drett Mebda.

Meech is in no way, shape, or form a top-4 d-man on any NHL team. Lilja would be a top-4 d-man before Meech and I personally cannot stand Lillypad as a player. If lilja didn't get much more than a sniff, it goes to show what other GM's think of Meech.

[eva unit zero 271]

Mebda.

I've always been kind of disappointed in Meech because he was a great, complete player in his last year of junior and then couldn't struggle his way beyond the 18th skater's role in seven years of pro.

The team he is on plays a part in that. Most teams would be happy to have one of Lidstrom, Rafalski, or Kronwall. Meech was the 7th defenseman, playing behind all three AND Stuart. He's had far less opportunity than the average NHL prospect because of the Wings' defense.

[Guest Crymson]

maybe we can him and ritola or miller somewhere as a package deal for a draft pick. at least we get something for them unlike another dman that we got rid of (cough cough) quincy

Ah, yes... another complainer who has no idea what he's talking about. Let's go over it one final time, shall we?

-Meech had performed excellently during the defense injury spell in '08.

-Quincey had been given every chance to prove himself, including most of the '07 playoffs. He hadn't shown any notable offensive or defensive prowess.

If you're able to invent a time machine, feel free to go back and tell Holland this information that he couldn't possibly have foreseen. However, I caution you against doing so, as you could obliterate the space-time continuum. If you don't have access to time-bending machinery, I suggest you simply sit still and accept that Quincey's development couldn't have been foreseen, and accept that when he was put on waivers, he was worth about as much as Meech is now.

Alternatively, you could continue your mindless complaining. However, I don't recommend it.

Edited September 11, 2010 by Crymson