237 replies to this topic

[Wingzman91]

Seriously, if you think Eaves is the guy to go, Draper will retire here, Ritola should be given the chance, Miller earned his spot.
The question is do you think Ritola can put up similar numbers to Eaves on a 4th line situation, i think its entirely possible.
If we needed a higher spot to fill on lines 2 or 3 i'd say keep Eaves. But we need a grinder and a return on an extra player, Eaves has the best return with minimal impact.

[Heaten]

Agreed. Can a mod change the title to "Speculation on my part: ..."

There is substance to his theory.

As their exhibition schedule ends, it appears Mattias Ritola could be out of the forward mix. If that's the case, MLive.com reports, Ritola won't be long on the unemployment line. Among several scouts watching the Wings in Friday's exhibition victory was Pat Verbeek of the Tampa Bay Lightning -- whose boss is former Wings star and exec Steve Yzerman. Ritola played Friday in place of Todd Bertuzzi, who had a backache.
Read more: http://www.sportingn...x#ixzz11ENugynx

[blgillett]

I couldn't agree with you any more he's not going any where and don't get me wrong I love Draper and think he can still skate but I would love to see Ritola get a chance this year and he will just not with the Wings. I also feel Draper will be over paid for some one that will be sitting the bench most of the season.

Draper isn't going anywhere. He will play ~50 games and not be a liability. It would be good to see some younger players, but he will be on the fourth line playing <10min a game. I don't see how this time would help a prospect develop more than being in GR for 82 games playing 15 min a night.

[brett]

how do you guys figure draper is going to get so much playing time? 4th line abs helm and miller. with eaves working in. i dont see much need for draper unless abs or helm is injured or having a bad stretch. draper will be a healthy scratch most of the time well he would be if i was coach

[blgillett]

He not! The only way he will see time is after a couple injures that the way I see it but its not up to me its Babs decision to make.

[RedWingsFan13]

Meh, no big deal. In the long term we have MUCH better prospects waiting to join the big club.

[cjm502]

how do you guys figure draper is going to get so much playing time? 4th line abs helm and miller. with eaves working in. i dont see much need for draper unless abs or helm is injured or having a bad stretch. draper will be a healthy scratch most of the time well he would be if i was coach

Right now the 4th line is penciled in as Abdelkader-Helm-Eaves with Miller/Ritola and Draper being our 13th and 14th forwards. It is also very likely that at any given time we will have one or more injured forwards so Miller/Ritola and Draper wont be sitting around much.

[matemate]

Zetterberg - Datsyk - Hudler
Franzén - Filppula - Cleary
Mursak - Helm - Eaves
Ritola - Abdelkader - Miller


No Homer, no Bertuzzi, no Modano.


How I would absolutely love to see this team.

[titanium2]

This is how I'd love to see this team:

Ovechkin-Datsyuk-Radulov
Franzen-Zetterberg-Alfredsson
Ruutu-Filppula-Ruutu
Michalek-Krejci-Hudler

Lidstrom-Kronwall
Stuart-Weber
Suter-Rafalski

Miller
Howard

[Hank Dats 'N Homer]

Zetterberg - Datsyk - Hudler
Franzén - Filppula - Cleary
Mursak - Helm - Eaves
Ritola - Abdelkader - Miller


No Homer, no Bertuzzi, no Modano.


How I would absolutely love to see this team.

i like winning games so im glad this isnt our roster...

[Booster313]

I hope not because he has really stood out throughout the preseason.

He stood out for being a no-show. He only played in 4 games due to an ear ache. When he did play he was limited to under 10min and under 5 on one occasion. He had 1 assist and was -1. Ritola has shown nothing that the Wings can't get from someone else. Will he play well somewhere else? Maybe but these are the tough decisions that we have to make now with the CBA. The fact is this years Red Wings are better without him and than with him. The Draper argument may be a valid one but Draper embodies the Red Wings philosophy of taking care of your veteran players, it's the reason FA's want to take a discount to come here, and the reason our own players don't leave for larger paychecks.

[redwingfan19]

must say, I have been far more impressed by tatar, mursick, emmerton, owens, etc than I have ritolla..... I think his time with the wings may be over....

[Booster313]

He will be like Franzen in 2 years if he stay

If this were the case do you really think the Red Wings would let him go?! Come on... no offense but I love how all these armchair GM's know better than the Wings brass. Believe me, if the Red Wings thought they were making a huge mistake they wouldn't let him go, they'd make a tough decision with Draper or Miller.

[Konnan511]

Ritola to be waived or traded by Tuesday

Detroit Red Wings forward Mattias Ritola played his third game in three nights. He was battling for the last forward spot on the roster but hasn't done enough to earn it.

It appears he will be waived Tuesday unless he is traded.

General manager Ken Holland said the team's final cuts will come Tuesday. The 23-man roster must be set by 3 p.m. Wednesday.

Ritola must clear waivers to be sent back to the Grand Rapids Griffins.

Veteran Kirk Maltby also appears destined to be waived. He, too, would start the season with the Griffins if he clears.

Defensemen Derek Meech (waived last month) and Doug Janik and goaltender Joey MacDonald must clear waivers to be assigned to Grand Rapids.

Drew Miller appears to have locked up a roster spot.

Edited by Konnan511, 03 October 2010 - 10:42 PM.

[kylee]

How exactly has Miller already peaked in terms of his ability to generate offense?

my thoughts exactly. cant we waive maltby and keep ritola and miller on the wings?

[Zeowingsfan]

my thoughts exactly. cant we waive maltby and keep ritola and miller on the wings?

Maltby was always going to be waived, and besides we can only have 23 players on the roster.

[stevkrause]

Zetterberg - Datsyk - Hudler
Franzén - Filppula - Cleary
Mursak - Helm - Eaves
Ritola - Abdelkader - Miller


No Homer, no Bertuzzi, no Modano.


How I would absolutely love to see this team.

I never jumped into the crazy negative rating game, but man are you lucky the mods removed negs... this post may have set an LGW record...

[DSM]

It's just the nature of the beast. If Ritola had made the team, his position would have been to fill Meech's seat in the press box anyway. Kind of hard to build off of that upside that way.... Detroit is so deep up front it's rediculous. Between Maltby, Tatar, Emmerton, Mursak and Owens, Kenny is going to have to draw straws when it comes time to recall a forward. Let Ritola go to a team where he'll be able to make an impact and PLAY.

[stevkrause]

It's just the nature of the beast. If Ritola had made the team, his position would have been to fill Meech's seat in the press box anyway. Kind of hard to build off of that upside that way.... Detroit is so deep up front it's rediculous. Between Maltby, Tatar, Emmerton, Mursak and Owens, Kenny is going to have to draw straws when it comes time to recall a forward. Let Ritola go to a team where he'll be able to make an impact and PLAY.

The fact that Verbeek was in attendence the other night leads me to believe that we may see the first Detroit-Tampa trade under the Yzerman era... if not for Ritola, there's also a very good chance they were looking at Maltby for a waiver wire claim when he gets passed through Tues

Edited by stevkrause, 04 October 2010 - 01:47 AM.

[mindfly]

People need to realise Miller is one of the better PK men in the league, getting rid of him would be a disaster for the wings' PK.