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Andy Pred 48

Anyone knocking on the door loudly?

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Could one of the rookies or tryouts push for a spot on d or up front?

DOWNEY has only played twice so far and to all intents and purposes hasn't really done anything, he only got just under 2 mins of ice time on his last showing. Will the Wings offer him a 2 way deal on what they have seen so far? Maybe another game or 2 before they decide.

The kid OWENS has looked a nice surprise, plenty of speed and some grit to boot. MURSAK has done well and is a close 2nd to Helm in the quickest skater in the org. Whats nice about him is that he has a scoring touch to. Think he'll get a look during the year when the injuries start. RITOLA has only played the once so far, and was pretty steady. Solid skater, but as yet not showing anything fancy to support his case for a spot on the roster.

SMITH has a +3 rating so far and has been given over 20mins a game to show what he can do, but some have said he has been smoked a few times as well. JANIK has looked solid and realiable on the back end, while KINDL hasn't done much wrong or anything to stand out either.

I feel that MEECH will suffer because of his injury. Unless he gets cleared for weds game i dont think that he'll have enough time to put

his case forward and unless a trade/deal comes along he'll be GR bound. KOLOSOV has yet to ice in any pre-season games, is he injured does anyone know? I thought that he may have an outside chance for the 7th D spot.Him and SALEI have played together for Team Belarus and would

have a good raport as our 3rd pairing maybe, both stay at home D men so maybe that would go against them being paired together for the Wings. Its an option that could be looked at if both KINDL and Big Rig struggle early on.

So half way thru the pre-season, I would put the balance for the 14th forward as Miller,Ritola,Mursak,Tatar and Owens.

The 7th D spot is set I feel for Kindl, unless the Wings go with the best player gets to play policy that they preach.

Then I would say that Janik is making a strong case for himself.

So Kindl,Janik,Smith and Meech with alot to do to have any chance of staying.

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Loudly? I don't think so, to be honest. But I don't mean that as a discredit to the way some of these players have performed.

When I think of someone knocking on the door loudly, I think of Ville Leino and Darren Helm back during the pre-season of 08-09. Even Babcock thought so with his "Helm is an NHL player" and that Leino was "the best player we've sent to minors, for sure" comments.

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Guest Heaten

I thought the kids, especially Emmerton, Mursak, and Owens all looked great. In yesterday's game, I thought i.Flip was settling in and did pretty well. These guys are going to do some damage in Grand Rapids this year. Owens is definitely a keeper! But there is no room for them right now.

Smith isn't ready though he showed some nice offensive abilities. I can't say he will be a top 2 projection, but he's got the skills to becoming a great NHL offensive defensemen someday.

Abdelkader and Miller have really stood out to me and I think they both are locked. Ritola only played one game before getting injured, but from what I heard he was "one of the best forwards" for the Wings in that game. So it sounds like he's a keeper and I certainly hope Wings don't lose him. I am almost certain he would be another player that come back and bite us in the ass as another prospect that Detroit let go (ie Quincey, Leino).

Maltby looked good but Abby and Miller looked better. I am very impressed with the line that played against Chicago (Owens-Abdelkader-Miller), that line actually put Toews, Keiths, Seabrook on their heals for extended periods of time.

I have not been impressed with Modano.

Helm and Abby are sure locks. Miller should be a lock and Ritola is knocking on the door step. It's going to be a tuff decision with one spot open when you have guys like Draper, Maltby, Ritola and Miller. I hate to say it, but I hope Draper stays injured for awhile so Holland can keep Ritola and Miller.

On defense, you can pretty much flip a coin to decide which rookie Dman makes it; Ericsson or Kindl. -- Meech already cleared waivers. Janik is much older and isn't part of the teams long term asset. So I think he's going to get cut. Janik is a career AHLer that can plug in the NHL when injuries occur. So the 6th spot is between Ericsson and Kindl. I guess the player who pisses Babcock off sits, then the other player will play til he pisses Babcock off and round and round we go.

Summary::

Meech, Smith and Janik are AHL bound.

Kindl and Ericsson will rotate.

The 12th and 13th spot is between Miller and Ritola. Maltby is AHL bound and it's hard to say what happens to Draper. I think Miller contributes more than Draper at this point in his career.

Edited by Heaten

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Guest Crymson

Could one of the rookies or tryouts push for a spot on d or up front?

DOWNEY has only played twice so far and to all intents and purposes hasn't really done anything, he only got just under 2 mins of ice time on his last showing. Will the Wings offer him a 2 way deal on what they have seen so far? Maybe another game or 2 before they decide.

The kid OWENS has looked a nice surprise, plenty of speed and some grit to boot. MURSAK has done well and is a close 2nd to Helm in the quickest skater in the org. Whats nice about him is that he has a scoring touch to. Think he'll get a look during the year when the injuries start. RITOLA has only played the once so far, and was pretty steady. Solid skater, but as yet not showing anything fancy to support his case for a spot on the roster.

SMITH has a +3 rating so far and has been given over 20mins a game to show what he can do, but some have said he has been smoked a few times as well. JANIK has looked solid and realiable on the back end, while KINDL hasn't done much wrong or anything to stand out either.

I feel that MEECH will suffer because of his injury. Unless he gets cleared for weds game i dont think that he'll have enough time to put

his case forward and unless a trade/deal comes along he'll be GR bound. KOLOSOV has yet to ice in any pre-season games, is he injured does anyone know? I thought that he may have an outside chance for the 7th D spot.Him and SALEI have played together for Team Belarus and would

have a good raport as our 3rd pairing maybe, both stay at home D men so maybe that would go against them being paired together for the Wings. Its an option that could be looked at if both KINDL and Big Rig struggle early on.

So half way thru the pre-season, I would put the balance for the 14th forward as Miller,Ritola,Mursak,Tatar and Owens.

The 7th D spot is set I feel for Kindl, unless the Wings go with the best player gets to play policy that they preach.

Then I would say that Janik is making a strong case for himself.

So Kindl,Janik,Smith and Meech with alot to do to have any chance of staying.

There really isn't space for any of them, and it's better for them to be getting playing time in GR than for them to be riding pine in Detroit.

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