251 replies to this topic

[robb himself]

I meant Smith, I was talking with my brother at the same time about Merzack and typed his name instead of Smiths. My apologies.

Im only happy about White in that we have a right handed shot.

Hear me out why Im upset about some of these signings. We are assured to lose Nick next year and as such we need a veteran to lead the defense (Nick does that and some ). Once he is gone who could you look to on the D for that after hes gone?

Second is that we needed to bolster our size, Ericcson may be physically large but hes proven that hes unwilling to use it. Commie is a step in the right direction but Ericcson wasnt the answer to that issue.

Third we need blue line scorers. We have none after Nick is gone. We shall see if White can run the point as effectively as Raffy did, I know Pylon sure as hell wont.

We need two-three guys that embody two of these three traits: Speed, Strength, Leadership. Nick and Raffy held on to the first and last of those traits, Kronner the first two. E doesnt embody any, Stewie the last two. Kindl the first two.

I dunno about White and Commie till I see them in our system. We need some leaders to reassemble a core that is retiring and picking up guys cause theyre cheap isnt gonna get us where we need to go. Its a stopgap method of just getting by till later.

My other issue is that Holland still has 16m in cap space, who the hell is he trying to pick up by penny pinching on our defense??? If Huds and Flip are gonna get moved we better be getting someone that meets or exceeds Dats skills for that kind of space to be left open.

you mean Mursak?

[Hockeytown0001]

I imagine him wearing #3.

[South Dakota wings fan]

I think the D corps will be better for many of the reasons people have mentioned. They replace McRimmon. I think Commodore provides a "shut down" element we have lacked recently. I do feel bad for Kindl. He looked to be slated for that #6 spot, but now I think he ends up stuck at #7 because he is left handed. I keep scratching my head trying to figure out pairings. They say Kronwall is now the #2 guy, but does that mean he plays the right side with Lidstrom on the top pairing? Does Stuart continue to be Lids partner?

Lids-Kronner
Stuart-White
E-Commie
Kindl

or


Lids-Stuart
Kronner-White
E-Commie
Kindl

or

Lids-Stuart
Kronner-Commie
E-White

or

Lids-E
Kronner-Commie
Stuart-White

Lots of possibilites and time to figure it out. The problem last year wasn't goal scoring, the problem was shutting teams down in the third when they got a lead. I think this defense looks more capable of doing that.

Edited by South Dakota wings fan, 03 July 2011 - 09:12 PM.

[Chicktube]

They're assuming Smith will make the team out of camp. But with this move he's probably gonna have to stay in G.R. another season.

Depends on how camp goes

[mjlegend]

Depends on how camp goes

So Smith knocks out Kindl or Commodore?

[Hockeytown0001]

New defenseman White welcomes stability with Detroit

The Red Wings' newest acquisition is looking forward to a little stability after a hectic season in which he moved from Calgary to Carolina to San Jose.

Defenseman Ian White, signed over the weekend to a two-year deal worth $5.75 million, is currently at his off-season home in northwestern Ontario, near the Manitoba border, with his wife, Tess, and their children, Paxton and Gracelyn. Their daughter was born shortly after White helped his old team, the Sharks, oust the Wings in Game 7 of the Western Conference semifinal this May.

"My wife went into labor during the afternoon," White said. "But we knew it was a big game for us, and that was our focus. I played, she went to the game, and then we went straight to the hospital afterwards, and had our daughter around 7:15 in the morning."

That example of dedication aside, White appealed to the Wings because of his competitiveness, skills and the fact he shoots right-handed, one of just three players on the team to do so. (Defenseman Mike Commodore and forward Patrick Eaves are the others.)

The Wings, in turn, appealed to White, especially when they offered two years. "That's probably the toughest thing about our business," he said. "Last year was the first time we moved around like that, and I have a young family. It's nice to get some stability here for at least two years. Hopefully it's the start of a long relationship."

At 27, White is entering his prime. A sixth-round pick by Toronto in the 2002 NHL entry draft, White spent almost five seasons with the Maple Leafs before being traded to Calgary. In 401 games with the Leafs, Flames, Hurricanes and Sharks, he has 36 goals and 107 assists, with 228 penalty minutes.

In Detroit, he'll push Jonathan Ericsson for a spot in the top four, next to Nicklas Lidstrom, Niklas Kronwall and Brad Stuart. Stuart and Kronwall had a great pairing going until last season, when Stuart played first with Brian Rafalski (since retired) and then with Lidstrom. White could fit in nicely next to either Lidstrom or Kronwall, or help the third pairing be a 20-minute option.

Wherever he ends up, White sees this move as a great opportunity. "There are so many great players there to learn from," he said. "They make everyone else better. Hopefully, I can grow my game and have some fun with one of the best teams over the past few decades."

[nuts2u]

Well said. You gotta love a guy that's 5'10" and fights....that's heart and character.

Especially when you consider that he will be one of the two smallest guys on the roster (Hudler) and other than Abby the only time they take off their gloves is in the tunnel.

[nuts2u]

I meant Smith, I was talking with my brother at the same time about Merzack and typed his name instead of Smiths. My apologies.

Im only happy about White in that we have a right handed shot.

Hear me out why Im upset about some of these signings. We are assured to lose Nick next year and as such we need a veteran to lead the defense (Nick does that and some ). Once he is gone who could you look to on the D for that after hes gone?

Second is that we needed to bolster our size, Ericcson may be physically large but hes proven that hes unwilling to use it. Commie is a step in the right direction but Ericcson wasnt the answer to that issue.

Third we need blue line scorers. We have none after Nick is gone. We shall see if White can run the point as effectively as Raffy did, I know Pylon sure as hell wont.

We need two-three guys that embody two of these three traits: Speed, Strength, Leadership. Nick and Raffy held on to the first and last of those traits, Kronner the first two. E doesnt embody any, Stewie the last two. Kindl the first two.

I dunno about White and Commie till I see them in our system. We need some leaders to reassemble a core that is retiring and picking up guys cause theyre cheap isnt gonna get us where we need to go. Its a stopgap method of just getting by till later.

My other issue is that Holland still has 16m in cap space, who the hell is he trying to pick up by penny pinching on our defense??? If Huds and Flip are gonna get moved we better be getting someone that meets or exceeds Dats skills for that kind of space to be left open.

I would be interested to see your list of available players that have "two of these three traits" and most importantly, what you think we could have acquired them for.

[Majsheppard]

How is this kids foot speed? Anyone?

Nothing spectacular, but he isn't a liability as a skater by any stretch. Most would consider him speedy for a defenseman. He skates better in a forward position which surprises me.

Honestly, his positioning is usually conservative, and if he learned how to balance out his positional game a bit better (and Lids can help him with that...) He could end up being better than Rafalski many years down the line.

He has more potential than Raf ever did, however Rafalski really learned from his experiences better than White has shown.

The guy was built though to be on the power play, if he was 5 inches taller he would be top five power shots. He is active on the backend and will get power play time next to Lidstrom no doubt.

I believe he should spend the whole year with him.

White might be a Wing for the rest of his career, and he knows that. Which is why he took the cheap deal to get in the door. His next contract will be more expensive and longer term, but Holland Jim will gladly make it.

I have him as number 4 on this team in terms of dman, but with the upside to be the top Power Play guy and log many offensive minutes.

Edit: grammar.

Edited by Majsheppard, 04 July 2011 - 11:09 AM.

[echos myron]

Dear Ian,

Please bring back the stache.

Sincerely,
LGW

[Majsheppard]

I saw White a lot with the Leafs and thought he was pretty good on a lousy team. Don't know why Calgary and Carolina gave up on him but he looked good with the Sharks last year.

As for his attitude, which some said was lousy as a junior player, a writer for the San Jose Mercury wrote recently that he was the first player he ever recalled who went out of his way at the end of the season to say goodbye to the PR staff and the writers who were around.

To me, that kind of character is something you should always want to collect for a team...

Even with teams like the Lions that were always awful, as long as they didn't collect the bad type of people for players I was generally happy. I would suffer a ton of losing for players with class. Yet when every aspect of your organization just drips with class, you never have to suffer much losing.

This is why White is a great fit in our organization.

[Drake_Marcus]

So Smith knocks out Kindl or Commodore?

If Smith made the team out of camp he'd have to be at least the 6th d-man, potentially the 5th. Holland won't let him rot in the press box as the 7th man. It's much better for Smith's development for him to be the #1 guy in Grand Rapids than the #7 guy in Detroit.

The good thing about Commodore's contract is that they can carry him as the 7th guy without it being a financial burden.

Someone on RedWingsCentral forums was at a BBQ in Western Canada with a friend who's a prospect and Fischer was there as well. He said that Fischer thought Smith was about a year away from being where the Wings want him to be when he enters the NHL but that they think Smith could play in the NHL this year if they wanted him to. Apparently the Wings want Smith to get another year of seasoning in the AHL but are willing to let him play himself onto the team if he can.

Edit:
Here's the thread where they talked about the Fischer BBQ thing: http://www.redwingsc...3&hilit=fischer

Edited by Drake_Marcus, 04 July 2011 - 01:02 PM.

[robb himself]

If this is the D we are going with this season, then these are the pairs I would start with..


Lidstrom , Ericsson
Kronwall , White
Stuart , Commodore

7th Kindl


oh and by the way, what numbers do you think Commodore and White will wear?
I like #22 for Commodore but im not sure about White...obviously he cant wear his #7...

[mjlegend]

If Kenny doesn't want Smith to rot as a #7, then he probably won't want Kindl to do the same thing also. If he were comfortable giving Smith the #6 role this year, he wouldn't have signed Commodore.

So you either trade Kindl to make room for Smith as a six and put in Commodore, or else you have two 21-24 year-old sixth/seventh D, which is a huge waste of the time spent into developing both of them. Or else you do something completely out of left field and deal Ericsson and his now-untradable contract.

The above reasoning is why I think Smith stays in GR unless there are injuries. And with Ericsson/Commodore, there likely will be. I might pencil him in for 15 games this year to give him a taste but have him spend most of his time in GR.

[esteef]

Lids White
Kronner Stuart
Big E Commodore

esteef

[MGreenberg]

Ok signing, won't exactly fill in Raffi's 40+ points unless he starts playing out of his mind when he comes here. But I guess we will have to wait and see what happens.

[Cali-Wing-Nut]

I would be interested to see your list of available players that have "two of these three traits" and most importantly, what you think we could have acquired them for.

My list would include trades and not FA deals. Knowing Holland wouldnt make a deal that didnt benefit him more than the other team its moot.

If it were me, Id do what I could to get Byfuglien. Wrangling him away from Winni would require a trade like Mule and Fip and some considerations. There are a lot of teams that are trading right now and Holland is just aqquiring guys through free agency. Hell the Guppies seem to be at a trading post with the Wild right now, I can hardly fathom there isnt a team with a D man that is in the top thirty for points that wouldnt trade for a guy or two from our team. The cap is there at this moment to do such a thing.

If its realistic, IDK but thats what Id be doing.

[dawings1905]

My list would include trades and not FA deals. Knowing Holland wouldnt make a deal that didnt benefit him more than the other team its moot.

If it were me, Id do what I could to get Byfuglien. Wrangling him away from Winni would require a trade like Mule and Fip and some considerations. There are a lot of teams that are trading right now and Holland is just aqquiring guys through free agency. Hell the Guppies seem to be at a trading post with the Wild right now, I can hardly fathom there isnt a team with a D man that is in the top thirty for points that wouldnt trade for a guy or two from our team. The cap is there at this moment to do such a thing.

If its realistic, IDK but thats what Id be doing.

Thank god then that you aren't the GM. Mule, Flip and considerations for Buf? Are you crazy? I would hate to see the team you would ice for us. JMO.

[Cali-Wing-Nut]

Thank god then that you aren't the GM. Mule, Flip and considerations for Buf? Are you crazy? I would hate to see the team you would ice for us. JMO.

Mule is injury prone, Flip is well flat. Buff is a guy that is strong, fast and shoots great. Thats the type of guy Id be going after due to the pending retirement of Nick. We need a superstar caliber player. Buff didnt do as well in Atlanta but look at the team he has to play with.

Id like to know who you think is a reasonable replacement for Nick in 2013. We are gonna need an upper echelon player to fill that huge gapping hole.

Lets just say Id like to see a blockbuster trade and fill out the surrounding players to bolster that persons strengths. Not to the poin t of say the Lakers to Kobe or Pitt to Crosby and Malken but a player that can play 20+ minutes a night and average close to a point every other game.

We were stripped down for rebuilding the D and instead did small aesthetic redesigns, stopgap measures and nothing that will reform our core.

[pvilleguru]

Buff would have been a good player to get to replace Rafalski. He's not what we need to replace Nick.