Alright. How good are we going to be this season?

[Guest blueadams]

CAPGEEK.COM USER GENERATED ROSTER

My Custom Lineup

FORWARDS

Johan Franzen ($3.955m) / Pavel Datsyuk ($6.700m) / Todd Bertuzzi ($2.075m)

Valtteri Filppula ($3.000m) / Henrik Zetterberg ($6.083m) / Damien Brunner ($1.350m)

Gustav Nyquist ($0.875m) / Darren Helm ($2.125m) / Mikael Samuelsson ($3.000m)

Danny Cleary ($2.800m) / Justin Abdelkader ($1.000m) / Jordin Tootoo ($1.900m)

Drew Miller ($0.838m) / Patrick Eaves ($1.200m) /

...The first line remains the exact same, which is a real shame, because there's nothing we needed more than an elite scorer to put next to Pav. I'm still holding out hope that we get one. Somehow? Most likely in vein. The second line remains similar (we hope), as Brunner replaces Hudler. The third line, at least theoretically, now gives us some more scoring depth while remaining sound defensively as Sammy and Goose replace Cleary and, I guess, Miller. The fourth line is a little tougher now with the addition of Tootoo, and overall bottom-depth is better with Miller and Eaves as your 13th and 14th forwards.

...In general, offensively, I think we're a little better. It's a better group talent-wise than we had last season. But it's also a year older. Filppula, Nyquist, Helm and Abdelkader should all improve with another year of experience, but the rest of the group - for the most part - is just another year older. Still really, really, really hoping to add that elite wing for Pav out of nowhere. 10 mil to spend. I guess it could happen. There's nothing this team needs more IMO.

DEFENSEMEN

Niklas Kronwall ($4.750m) / Ian White ($2.875m)

Brendan Smith ($0.875m) / Jonathan Ericsson ($3.250m)

Kyle Quincey ($3.775m) / Carlo Colaiacovo ($2.500m)

Jakub Kindl ($0.883m) /

...Well, essentially, what we've basically got here is Smith replacing Lidstrom, and Colaiacovo (assuming we get him) replacing Stuart. This group isn't as good as last year's. But do I hate it? No. I think it's a solid enough group. And as I day-dream about what we'll eventually do with that 10 mil-ish in cap space, I picture us being 'good enough' defensively, and having the luxury of putting it all towards an elite, elite scoring wing. Kronwall-White is a good first group. Both very talented offensively. Both solid defensively. Not big, but not soft either. Smith-Ericsson is less predictable as a second group. Ericsson really started to turn it on towards the end of last season, and there's reason to believe he'll continue to develop into a solid stay-at-home top 4 defenseman. Smith has all the talent in the world, and there's certainly reason to believe that he could develop into an important long-term piece for us back there. Quincey-Colaiacovo, theoretically, should be a very solid third pairing. Quincey struggled with us last season...but we know he's a good player, and he'll probably turn it around. Colaiacovo we've all seen too, and we know he's good. He could be a nice Ian White-like signing for us...hopefully he's not hurt too often.

...Overall, Lidstrom to Smith is a downgrade, and Stuart to Colaiacovo is probably a downgrade too. But this isn't a bad unit. It's a good enough unit to win, I think. It's a good enough unit to put our remaining resources towards a stud offensive player, I think.

GOALTENDERS

Jimmy Howard ($2.250m)

Jonas Gustavsson ($1.500m)

...Better group than last season's, of course. People forget that Jimmy was arguably the best goalie in hockey before experiencing injury issues last season. If he's healthy, we should be more than fine there. And Gustavsson is a guy everyone seems to believe has the potential to be really great with a solid defensive team in front of him. Maybe? All we need him to do is allow us to get Jimmy some additional rest without 'losing' games, and I don't think it's out of line to expect him to be able to do that.

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(these totals are compiled without the bonus cushion)

SALARY CAP: $70,200,000; CAP PAYROLL: $59,558,712; BONUSES: $462,500

CAP SPACE (23-man roster): $10,641,288

...Overall. Man. Little better offensively than last season. Significantly worse defensively. Overall, probably a little worse as a team. But still a decent enough team. Are we going to continue our playoff streak? Sure. Could we make it to the second or third round of the playoffs? Sure, maybe. Do we have a squad that could compete with the best of the West - the LA Kings - and make it to the finals? As things stand, I'd have to say "certainly not." That's unfortunate. And anything 'can' happen. But I think most rational fans would agree with that. If we want to get to that level...a lot of things are going to have to go right. The coaching is going to have to be phenomenal. The execution is going to have to be immaculate. The young guys with potential to grow are really going to have to step it up. The older veterans are really going to have to hold on. More than anything, we're going to somehow need to regain our appetite for a championship, our 'HUNGER.' And, honestly, we're probably going to need to add a real-deal stud offensive player who changes the entire dynamic of our team. Somehow.

[Guest irishock]

I'm thinking we're going to offset the worse defense by playing more conservatively. Pavel, Bert, Cleary, Z, Flip are going to do more back-checking than before.

Z/Datsyuk/Samuelsson

Franzen/Filppula/Brunner

Miller-Helm-Cleary

Tootoo-Abdelkader-Nyquist

Smith-White

Kronwall-Quincey

Ericsson-Kindl

I'd like to see these lines.

[evilzyme 769]

So you think Nyquist is going to be on the 3rd line over Brunner? Put Nyquist on the 1st line with Pavs, Brunner on 2nd possibly 3rd rolling with helmer and you have a more realistic lineup. Nyquist isn't going to play 3rd line minutes, especially this season. Who knows also, maybe brunner will become that winger we were dying for. He has the shoot first mentality and knows how to pot em.

[Nev 1,085]

Juggle the lines all you want, it doesn't solve our fundemental problems of lack of quality on the blue-line, lack of scoring on the wing, lack of toughness through the line-up, aging stars, and a hope (expectation) that 3 rookies will perform like vets to fill the gaps.

With a healthy line-up, good goaltending and good coaching we can still be a 4-6 seed. My great fear is we'll end up in the NHL poverty trap. Not enough good players to make the playoffs, too many good players to get a top-5 pick.

[RusDRW 155]

my prediction: Datsyuk tops 60 assits for Dynamo, Zetter scores 40+ for Timra while Filppula shows flashes of brilliance for Jokerit.

[rrasco 1,312]

Ummm....what season?

[arag 308]

We are going to be very very good !

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

[Z Winged Dangler 2,082]

So you think Nyquist is going to be on the 3rd line over Brunner? Put Nyquist on the 1st line with Pavs, Brunner on 2nd possibly 3rd rolling with helmer and you have a more realistic lineup. Nyquist isn't going to play 3rd line minutes, especially this season. Who knows also, maybe brunner will become that winger we were dying for. He has the shoot first mentality and knows how to pot em.

This basically.

Brunner and Nyquist are both top 6 type players and there's zero point to putting Gus on the 4th line. Sammy would be better on the 3rd line providing good 2-way play and depth scoring with Helm and Cleary. The main problem is that we can't do much with Bert other than top line, however my ideal lines would be:

Brunner - Dats - Mule

Flip - Z - Nyquist

Bert - Helm - Sammy

Tootoo - Abby - Eaves

Cleary (sorry Cleary fans) Miller as F/D tweener ala Meech

[Dabura 12,232]

Juggle the lines all you want, it doesn't solve our fundemental problems of lack of quality on the blue-line, lack of scoring on the wing, lack of toughness through the line-up, aging stars, and a hope (expectation) that 3 rookies will perform like vets to fill the gaps.

Also - lack of size up front.

Nyquist - Datsyuk - Franzen

(5'11 - 5'11 - 6'3*)

Filppula - Zetterberg - Brunner

(6'0 - 5'11 - 5'11)

Bertuzzi - Helm - Cleary

(6'3* - 5'11 - 6'0)

Tootoo - Abdelkader - Samuelsson

(5'9 - 6'1 - 6'2)

(*Doesn't play like it most nights)

Should also mention our top pairing:

Kronwall - White

(5'11 - 5'10)

Ouch.

[Dabura 12,232]

This basically.

Brunner and Nyquist are both top 6 type players and there's zero point to putting Gus on the 4th line. Sammy would be better on the 3rd line providing good 2-way play and depth scoring with Helm and Cleary. The main problem is that we can't do much with Bert other than top line, however my ideal lines would be:

Brunner - Dats - Mule

Flip - Z - Nyquist

Bert - Helm - Sammy

Tootoo - Abby - Eaves

Cleary (sorry Cleary fans) Miller as F/D tweener ala Meech

We're gonna need all the scoring help we can get. True, Cleary had a rough go of it last season, but he was injured for, what, pretty much the entire ride, right? He was good for 26 goals in 2010-11 (the season before last). That has to count for something.

[Chunkylover 26]

I know a lot of people don't like Bertuzzi at this point in his career, but I think just having him out there somewhere in the top six is something of a deterrent to opposition shenanigans. He needs to be on one of the top lines for his size and net crashing/scoring potential. I know he's streaky and occasionally soft, but you know that's what the coaches think about him.

[Z Winged Dangler 2,082]

We're gonna need all the scoring help we can get. True, Cleary had a rough go of it last season, but he was injured for, what, pretty much the entire ride, right? He was good for 26 goals in 2010-11 (the season before last). That has to count for something.

Then I can table idea #2.

Z - Dats - Cleary

Mule - Flip - Sammy

Nyquist - Helm - Brunner (stupid fast line)

Tuzzi - Abby - Tootoo

Eaves (unfortunately, cause i'd have him in place of Bert in a heartbeat)

3 scoring lines

[MabusIncarnate 5,359]

The way it's sounding every team in the NHL will finish with the same 0-0-0 record.

Glad we reopened projections about our team for this upcoming season, it hasn't been discussed for at least a day.

[Dabura 12,232]

Then I can table idea #2.

Z - Dats - Cleary

Mule - Flip - Sammy

Nyquist - Helm - Brunner (stupid fast line)

Tuzzi - Abby - Tootoo

Eaves (unfortunately, cause i'd have him in place of Bert in a heartbeat)

3 scoring lines

That's pretty sexy.

Of course, I do have a bit of alcohol in me now.

Booze makes everything better. You wanna know why these negotiations are going nowhere? No booze.

Edited August 28, 2012 by Dabura

[Jeff6851 168]

Ummm....what season?

Came to post this

[rrasco 1,312]

I really hope that is not the case, but we'll see what the PA says about the new proposal the league presented today.

In general, a lot of people think I'm negative. I like to think I'm a realist and it's not my fault that reality has negative outcomes that I happen to interpret.

[jroc86 90]

Better than most are giving us credit for.

D is pretty weak - but a stopgap UFA addition should give us a good enough Dcore to keep us competitive back there. If where that awful Kenny will make a deadline deal if were in the PO picture.

Forwards are good - if Brunner and Nyquist elevate and produce we could have the deepest offensive corps since 2009 IMO. Watching the WCF today on NHL network - Cleary was so bad this year on one leg it was too easy to forget how good he is when healthy. If he has another few good years left now that hes healthy and he can return to that level Ill be thrilled.

Heres what Id like.

Nyquist Datsyuk Bertuzzi

Franzen Zetterberg Brunner

Cleary Filpula Samulsen

Adbelkader Helm Tootoo

*Brunner, Bert, and Sammy all can go up and down those top 3 right Wings as Babs sees fit and I think theres decent chemistry throughout. I liked when we could roll 3 scoring lines and 1 horrendously fast tenacious checking line (Abs, Drapes, Helm) ... this would be a pretty comprable methodology.

[LeftWinger 5,130]

I just want the season to start on time!

In the end, the Wings are going to make the playoffs...and then anything can happen if all are healthy...of course there is always trade deadline help too...I kind of like going into the season not being favored to win the Cup, or even the Central. I got a feeling Smith and Nyquist will challenge for the Calder and as long as he stays healthy, Jimmy will again be in Vezina conversations...

We may not have landed the top UFA's ( yes, I wanted them too) but the guys we got do make our team harder to play against... I am excited to get it going!

[GMRwings1983 8,803]

Not as good as we were last season.

[Guest The Axe]

Wings are in trouble. Holland blew it on Suter/Parise. Season over from start.

[Richdg 267]

With and older, smaller team filled with softer players, playing a 50 game schedule will be to our benefit. Where would we have been last year if the season was 60 games long? #1 seed or close to it. But this isn't the same team. If I am going to be 100% honest, we are fighting for the 8th seed. 85 to 90 points and fighting through the last game of the season. Then another 1st round exit.

[Dabura 12,232]

Wanted to add, re: the original post (much of which I agree with)...

- Quincey is Stuart's replacement. Colaiacovo would almost certainly be on the third pairing.

- Basically, we don't have a replacement for Nick. Smith is gonna be a force in a few seasons (if not before then), and I've no doubt he'll ultimately grow into the #1 or #2 role, leading our D corps for years and years to come. But in the here and now, we've got no answer for that gaping hole in the earth called Nick's Absence.

- Yeah, yeah, I know - you can't replace Nick Lidstrom. But you can at least get an elite #1, which we don't have. Kronwall is great, and it looks like he's our #1...but the ideal top-pairing would be...

[Elite #1, e.g. Weber] - Kronwall.

Next best thing:

Kronwall - [solid, legitimate #2. More-or-less equal to Kronwall]

- White is a second-pairing guy. Ideally, he's not your #2. And if he is, you'd like for your #1 to be Nick Lidstrom, if at all possible. And even then, it's gonna be a little bumpy.

We're in for a very interesting, potentially painful season* on the back-end.

(*Blah blah blah lockout blah blah blah)

Edited August 29, 2012 by Dabura

[martinezsvsu 240]

id be pissed if line 1 was dats bert mule. we need to not bone dats anymore and put z sam brunner or nyq with him. just a change would be nice for him

[Bring Back The Bruise Bros 1,029]

Well, we lost Lidstrom and got Mikael Samuelsson and Jordin Tootoo.

We might make the playoffs.

[Guest blueadams]

So you think Nyquist is going to be on the 3rd line over Brunner? Put Nyquist on the 1st line with Pavs, Brunner on 2nd possibly 3rd rolling with helmer and you have a more realistic lineup. Nyquist isn't going to play 3rd line minutes, especially this season. Who knows also, maybe brunner will become that winger we were dying for. He has the shoot first mentality and knows how to pot em.

I thought about that. Putting Bert on the third line, with Nyquist (or Filppula?) on Pav's wing. That's personally how I'd like to see them rolled. But we'll have to wait and see what Babs is thinking I guess.

Nyquist-Datsyuk-Franzen

Filppula-Zetterberg-Brunner

Bertuzzi-Helm-Samuelsson

Cleary-Abdelkader-Tootoo

Miller, Eaves

Juggle the lines all you want, it doesn't solve our fundemental problems of lack of quality on the blue-line, lack of scoring on the wing, lack of toughness through the line-up, aging stars, and a hope (expectation) that 3 rookies will perform like vets to fill the gaps.

With a healthy line-up, good goaltending and good coaching we can still be a 4-6 seed. My great fear is we'll end up in the NHL poverty trap. Not enough good players to make the playoffs, too many good players to get a top-5 pick.

Sad, but true.