528 replies to this topic

[P. Marlowe]

*snif*

[Cali-Wing-Nut]

Who cares how much skill Torres has if he doesn't use it? He doesn't even care about the puck. Torres will skate right by a puck if he can get a charge in on a vulnerable opponent.

^^THIS

[RockyMountainWingGal]

Keep in mind that Rafalski was 12th in the league in scoring and played only 63 games. Look at his place at the end of the season in total points over the last 5 seasons.

10-11 - 12th
09-10 - 21st
08-09 - 5th
07-08 - 7th
06-07 - 12th

People can knock is defensive game, but he is a point producing machine. I see the same upswing from Brendan Smith as he has the same skillset just in a bigger body.

On a sidenote, I am pretty disgusted with some of the comments here. The "Don't let the door hit you in the ass on your way out" comments in specific. He helped bring a Stanley Cup to Detroit. He took a hometown discount to come play here. A little respect would be in order.

I'm with ya. Not as much appreciation for Raffy as you would think. He was a great replacement for Schneider - an upgrade. Nick and Raffy rocked together in 2008 and brought home the Cup. He may be on his last leg(s) as an elite player - yet still elite. There isn't a comparable replacement - ESP not one that can come in and be Cup-competent immediately. The 6 mill now is part of the price the Wings paid to go on the 2 long Cup runs. If he really does retire, shows you what kind of class the guy has - he could eek it out and just spend alot time on IR collecting $, but he'd rather not saddle the team - wish all players were like that. Thanks Raffy, you were fun to watch and we were glad to have you as a Red Wing for a few years at least.

Edited by RockyMountainWingGal, 24 May 2011 - 12:17 AM.

[Flipper51]

*snif*

Too sad Raffi you will be missed. This may really hurt our pp

Edited by Flipper51, 24 May 2011 - 12:11 AM.

[stuck in socal]

Just goes to show how all the good things come to an end eventually. Rafalski was a great player for both our Red Wings and the New Jersey Devils. He played the game and his position with a lot of skill, and he was a great ambassador for the NHL and American hockey. Thank you for servicing the Wings Mr. Rafalski, you will be missed out there. <3.

[Flipper51]

Raffi was and still is a world class d-man. I find it absolutely discusting to see people talk the way they do about him. Yes he went downhill a little defensively, but my god he was a top 5 pp quarterback in the league. Show some respect for a classy hometown player that gave everything he had to this organization and helped bring tremendous success since 2008

[ben_usmc]

Neither Hossa nor Hasek were RFAs. If by some unbelievable miracle L.A. or Nashville don't match a Detroit offer, they'll still be chowing down on our draft picks for the next four years.

Very good point, but it's not like we would see those late 1st rounders in our line up for another decade anyway. Not while we can still potentially sign a player like Draper to stay until he's a corpse


edit: Also where did all these Weber rumors start anyway? I feel like they have gone on with potentially trying to steal him it seems for the last 2 years. Preds may not spend to the cap, but I bet they will be a lot more willing after that playoff run this year, Come on now you really think they are going to let Weber go?

Edited by ben_usmc, 24 May 2011 - 12:45 AM.

[jollymania]

Who cares how much skill Torres has if he doesn't use it? He doesn't even care about the puck. Torres will skate right by a puck if he can get a charge in on a vulnerable opponent.

Sometimes the puck should be secondary, i don't know why this "you have to get the puck yourself" thing is starting to infest itself, stevens never went for the puck many times, he always had rafalski coming right behind the guy to ****** it up.

[ben_usmc]

I'm with ya. Not as much appreciation for Raffy as you would think. He was a great replacement for Schneider - an upgrade. Nick and Raffy rocked together in 2008 and brought home the Cup. He may be on his last leg(s) as an elite player - yet still elite. There isn't a comparable replacement - ESP not one that can come in and be Cup-competent immediately. The 6 mill now is part of the price the Wings paid to go on the 2 long Cup runs. If he really does retire, shows you what kind of class the guy has - he could eek it out and just spend alot time on IR collecting $, but he'd rather not saddle the team - wish all players were like that. Thanks Raffy, you were fun to watch and we were glad to have you as a Red Wing for a few years at least.

For sure, I bashed on him through out the last 2 seasons about his defensive play, but at the end of the day his contract was worth it, and he did alot for Detroit (including destroy his body)

[Doc Holliday]

Sometimes the puck should be secondary, i don't know why this "you have to get the puck yourself" thing is starting to infest itself, stevens never went for the puck many times, he always had rafalski coming right behind the guy to ****** it up.

It helps that:

1. Stevens is the best open ice hitter of the past couple decades
2. The team fed off his playing style to improve the team. The trap plays him and his defensive partner set up were unlike anything I've ever seen
3. Stevens didn't have to put himself out of position to make a lot of his hits. They came to him.
4. Stevens had more to bring to the table than crushing people. That was simply what he was feared for.

[king_malice]

FORWARDS
Daniel Cleary ($2.800m) / Pavel Datsyuk ($6.700m) / Johan Franzen ($3.954m)
Todd Bertuzzi ($1.937m) / Henrik Zetterberg ($6.083m) / Jiri Hudler ($2.875m)
Tomas Holmstrom ($1.875m) / Valtteri Filppula ($3.000m) / Tomas Fleischmann ($2.900m)
Justin Abdelkader ($0.787m) / Darren Helm ($0.912m) / Jan Mursak ($0.550m)
Cory Emmerton ($0.533m)

DEFENSEMEN
Nick Lidstrom ($5.900m) / Niklas Kronwall ($3.000m)
Brad Stuart ($3.750m) / Christian Ehrhoff ($4.355m) Jakub Kindl ($0.883m) / Anton Babchuk ($1.850m) Brendan Smith ($0.875m)

GOALTENDERS
Jimmy Howard ($2.250m) / Ty Conklin ($1.475m)
CAPGEEK.COM TOTALS (follow @capgeek on Twitter)
(these totals are compiled without the bonus cushion)
SALARY CAP: $59,400,000; CAP PAYROLL: $59,247,044; BONUSES: $0
CAP SPACE (22-man roster): $152,956


to me i think Lids only comes back now after Raffy retiring if 1) he thinks the Wings have a VERY REAL chance at winning another Cup or 2) he takes a bigger pay cut to bring in top end players which he may have to do in order to do the first one.

Edited by king_malice, 24 May 2011 - 01:04 AM.

[haroldsnepsts]

If Lidstrom comes back the RFA we should go after as much as i like Weber , is Doughty much better skater then Weber and better offensivly


(6'4 234 LBS)
Weber 16G 32A +7


( 6'1 219LBS)
Doughty 11G 29A +13



Both would be AMAZING but to me i like Doughty just a little more only because i think Doughty has better offensive vision, which with Raffy and possibly Lids retiring we will need

The Kings locked up Jack Johnson until 2018. I can't imagine they plan on letting Doughty go anywhere.

A team would have to make an absurdly high offer for LA not to match.

[Bring Back The Bruise Bros]

The Kings locked up Jack Johnson until 2018. I can't imagine they plan on letting Doughty go anywhere.

A team would have to make an absurdly high offer for LA not to match.

Same goes with Nashville and Shea Weber. No way he's coming here.

[haroldsnepsts]

Same goes with Nashville and Shea Weber. No way he's coming here.

Agreed.

It's one thing to pick up star players later in their careers when they're UFA's and may be willing to change teams for a shot at the Cup, but we're talking about two young defenseman who are RFA's and the cornerstones of their respective franchises.

[Bring Back The Bruise Bros]

Agreed.

It's one thing to pick up star players later in their careers when they're UFA's and may be willing to change teams for a shot at the Cup, but we're talking about two young defenseman who are RFA's and the cornerstones of their respective franchises.

Exactly. Ryan Suter is a more realistic possibility, but even then, he's been Weber's pairing for years now, I can't really imagine Nashville just letting him walk. They're gonna do all they can to get Suter back. Whether he stays or not remains to be seen. People bring up Erhoff, but that doesn't seem likely either, especially with Vancouver's run right now. They're gonna want him around for a while too.

[Doc Holliday]

Agreed.

It's one thing to pick up star players later in their careers when they're UFA's and may be willing to change teams for a shot at the Cup, but we're talking about two young defenseman who are RFA's and the cornerstones of their respective franchises.

The only reason Weber is remotely plausible is Nashville's internal cap that may force the GMs to be frugal with his next contract.

That is why I think Suter is a realistic possibility next year. He isn't their franchise, and will not be as easy to sign for Nashville as Weber will be.

[luvmnger]

It is highly unlikely that Doughty and Weber are moved. However, one name that isnt mentioned on this site and has been involved in trade rumors is Brent Burns. IMO, he'd be a great fit. Right Handed Shot. Big and Mean, etc.

i second that! burns would rock!

and we need to pilfer the unstable teams like atlanta/winnipeg/phoenix

yandle/bogozian/ekman larsson/enstrom....young and solid skills.

honestly...i feel that holland will balance out the total cap relief from
rafalski/draper/modano/salei/ericsson/miller and spread the wealth around for a balanced team with some 1-2 year contracts and bide time for THE replacements.

but his spending will make a solid team to entice lids into another season or 2.

my 2 cents.

[Datsyerberger]

*snif*

Wow, he didn't go bald.. all of his hair just migrated to his forearms.

[Red Wings Addict]

The official word is that he hasn't fully decided yet. Or hasn't made it official. The word on the street, however, is that he's done.

How many people in here are holding out on the slim chance that he won't retire?

It may not be the most popular opinion on here but you can count me as one who hopes that his body somehow magically re-strengthens itself for one more solid season.

So that's one. Anyone else?

[luvmnger]

its shocking on one hand...but we could all see it coming undone.

rafalski left it all on the ice for the wings and took some punishment to make that perfect outlet pass.

we respect that, and hope that he keeps his grin around the joe in some capacity.

thanks raffi, we loved your efforts and dedication.

now, we are drooling at the opportunity to spend the next month hashing out possible scenarios that holland will produce for us wing fans.

some of us will be furious, some of us will be joyous. but we will all be giddy to see the puck drop on next season and watch the "new" breed make a run at #12.