Off to the griffins game tonight.

[Richdg 267]

Going to go to the game. Time to see some of the new young guys. calle, ned, and sproul. Some have played already and others haven't. Will let you all know my thoughts when i get back.

[Richdg 267]

back from the game. Thoughts.

1. Flat beer and stale hot dog buns suck, even when those only cost $1 each.

2. jarnkrok is noticabley smaller than everyone else on the team. Guys like tatar, Mursak, and Almquist are clearly bigger than he is.

3. griffins played a terrible game. only Mursak showed any energy. Which as a smaller puck possesion team is death.

4. neither Ned or Sproul played. Might be waiting untill after they clinch?

Now, jarnkrok. I hope O spelled that right. Ok, for those hoping or thinking he will be with the RW next year, sorry not going to happen. if it does it means we are truely screwed. he isn't close to being ready. TBH, I am not sure he is ready to play at the AHL level. Granted this is/was just one game. But I didn't see anything to be excited about. he was the 4th or 5th fastest skater we had tonight. Mursak, tatar, pare, and Jurco all were faster. Didn't show much in terms of great play making either. For most of the game, he skated back and forth in the middle 1//3 of the ice. Rarely got deeper than the face off dots. Had 1 shot IIRC. Was only allowed to take 1 faceoff. he lost it badly and ferraro took the rest of the faceoff for the rest of the game.

Now I understand, this was his 7th game for the griffins? He is very young and very new to the North American game. Point is, he has a long long way to go. Which is fine. We need to know these things. is he ready, then trades and UFA are not so important. But he isn't. Which tells the brain trust what we need to do this summer. I will be very interested to see how much he grows and improves between now and next season.

[Echolalia 2,961]

Thanks for the assessment. Hopefully Jarnknrok can adapt to NA hockey and translate his skills.

[Guest DeGraa55]

Ya jarnkrok has a ways to go. No Sproul or mraz sucked. And as a team they looked horrible. I don't understand how they're leading their division(granted this was my second time there this season...looked horrid each time). Their terrible play is about equal to the wings tonight. Losing Nyquist didn't help but still.

[Nightfall 871]

Ya jarnkrok has a ways to go. No Sproul or mraz sucked. And as a team they looked horrible. I don't understand how they're leading their division(granted this was my second time there this season...looked horrid each time). Their terrible play is about equal to the wings tonight. Losing Nyquist didn't help but still.

I have been to roughly half the games this season, and they have done really well this year. The last couple years, Kurt Frasier didn't push this team. Which is why they had good talent but never made the playoffs. This year, Blashill has really changed the team for the better. The biggest issue is depth, but that is because players like Lashoff, Nyquist, and so on are going up with the big club. Overall, I would say that you answered your own question. You have been to two games and they haven't played very well both days apparently. At the same time though, they lead their division because they have played well overall.

The big test will be playoff time.

[Guest DeGraa55]

I have been to roughly half the games this season, and they have done really well this year. The last couple years, Kurt Frasier didn't push this team. Which is why they had good talent but never made the playoffs. This year, Blashill has really changed the team for the better. The biggest issue is depth, but that is because players like Lashoff, Nyquist, and so on are going up with the big club. Overall, I would say that you answered your own question. You have been to two games and they haven't played very well both days apparently. At the same time though, they lead their division because they have played well overall.

The big test will be playoff time.

I also winder if its cause of the goalie. Each time it was McCollum I believe. So I really wonder if they don't try as much for him? He let in some really soft goals.

[DSM 114]

How have Ferraro and Callahan looked out there? They lose their waiver exemption after next season. If the Wings think they can contribute at the NHL level, they will probably get call-ups next season.

[Richdg 267]

How have Ferraro and Callahan looked out there? They lose their waiver exemption after next season. If the Wings think they can contribute at the NHL level, they will probably get call-ups next season.

IMHO nothing to get excited about. Ferraro-taken 1 spot before O'Reilly is not very good. he is an average AHL player. Nothing more. Callahan could be Eaves, maybe someday. But again, not now and has a long way to go.

[DSM 114]

IMHO nothing to get excited about. Ferraro-taken 1 spot before O'Reilly is not very good. he is an average AHL player. Nothing more. Callahan could be Eaves, maybe someday. But again, not now and has a long way to go.

I just meant at the parts of the game that we don't see on the Griffins stat sheet. I know that neither player has "key player" potential. However, my guess is that in October 2014 atleast Ferraro will board the same train to the big club that Hudler, Meech, Howard, Kindl, Mursak and Emmerton all rode on. Meaning that when his waiver exemption is up, he'll get a spot as a #13/14 forward and will play on the 3rd/4th line. It worked out for Emmerton who scored only 3 more goals in 3 AHL seasons than Ferraro has in 2. I've read that he seems to have a good 2-way game, which would work in his favor as an NHL bottom 6 forward. I just really wanted to know how his play without the puck is.

Callahan on the other hand, was pretty much drafted to be a 4th liner at the NHL level. Ideally he'd have a role similar to Tootoo's. A guy that won't play every night but when in the lineup will see 8-10 minutes from the 4th line and will be relied upon to play physical and get under opponents skin. With him, I was just curious as to what kind of game he's been playing at the AHL level. Considering that most of his time this season has been spent of the 3rd/4th line, his production this season seems assuring.

[Richdg 267]

I just meant at the parts of the game that we don't see on the Griffins stat sheet. I know that neither player has "key player" potential. However, my guess is that in October 2014 atleast Ferraro will board the same train to the big club that Hudler, Meech, Howard, Kindl, Mursak and Emmerton all rode on. Meaning that when his waiver exemption is up, he'll get a spot as a #13/14 forward and will play on the 3rd/4th line. It worked out for Emmerton who scored only 3 more goals in 3 AHL seasons than Ferraro has in 2. I've read that he seems to have a good 2-way game, which would work in his favor as an NHL bottom 6 forward. I just really wanted to know how his play without the puck is.

Callahan on the other hand, was pretty much drafted to be a 4th liner at the NHL level. Ideally he'd have a role similar to Tootoo's. A guy that won't play every night but when in the lineup will see 8-10 minutes from the 4th line and will be relied upon to play physical and get under opponents skin. With him, I was just curious as to what kind of game he's been playing at the AHL level. Considering that most of his time this season has been spent of the 3rd/4th line, his production this season seems assuring.

I understood the question. From what I have seen, they really need to improve to even be NHL worthy. They both look like career AHL guys. They play hard, which is good, but neither has anything special about them. If they are on our roster in Detroit, I would consider it a downgrade in talent. Now in the cap era we will see more guys stay because they are cheap.

[DSM 114]

Now in the cap era we will see more guys stay because they are cheap.

I'm not really understanding what you are saying here... Stay as in them staying in the AHL, or stay as in players on the big club staying on the big club?

The team really can't keep young guys at the AHL level for too long because they will eventually run out of waiver exemption and then will eventually become Group 6 UFA's. They also will continually need room to bring in newer prospects to the system.

They also can't exactly keep all of their players that are at the NHL level "cheap", because they too will eventually hit UFA status and could get better offers on the open market. They may also require raises as their play improves, or as deals that they had signed when they were still largely unproven expire. Look at the Red Wings transition from 06/07 to 09/10 for evidence on how it is pretty much impossible to have all of your guys "stay" in the "cap era".

As far as "cheap" goes, young players are just about the cheapest you can get. If Ferraro is re-signed for a deal similar to Emmertons (where he'd be making close to league minumum, say around $600k/season) and they think he can be a #12/13 forward, it would save them some cap space to give some other players on the team necessary raises or sign some UFA's. If he doesn't pan out no big deal, they can waive him and let him finish out his contract at the AHL level if he goes unclaimed (a la Jan Mursak, Mat Ellis, Joey MacDonald the first time and eventually Meech). If he does pan out and find a role on the team or exceeds expectations and becomes a good regular player (a la Hudler, Kopecky, for a couple of seasons Meech, Kindl, Howard and Emmerton), you have a bargain cap hit for atleast a couple of seasons that will allow you the cap flexibility to bring in players via UFA or the trade deadline.

[Richdg 267]

I'm not really understanding what you are saying here... Stay as in them staying in the AHL, or stay as in players on the big club staying on the big club?

The team really can't keep young guys at the AHL level for too long because they will eventually run out of waiver exemption and then will eventually become Group 6 UFA's. They also will continually need room to bring in newer prospects to the system.

They also can't exactly keep all of their players that are at the NHL level "cheap", because they too will eventually hit UFA status and could get better offers on the open market. They may also require raises as their play improves, or as deals that they had signed when they were still largely unproven expire. Look at the Red Wings transition from 06/07 to 09/10 for evidence on how it is pretty much impossible to have all of your guys "stay" in the "cap era".

As far as "cheap" goes, young players are just about the cheapest you can get. If Ferraro is re-signed for a deal similar to Emmertons (where he'd be making close to league minumum, say around $600k/season) and they think he can be a #12/13 forward, it would save them some cap space to give some other players on the team necessary raises or sign some UFA's. If he doesn't pan out no big deal, they can waive him and let him finish out his contract at the AHL level if he goes unclaimed (a la Jan Mursak, Mat Ellis, Joey MacDonald the first time and eventually Meech). If he does pan out and find a role on the team or exceeds expectations and becomes a good regular player (a la Hudler, Kopecky, for a couple of seasons Meech, Kindl, Howard and Emmerton), you have a bargain cap hit for atleast a couple of seasons that will allow you the cap flexibility to bring in players via UFA or the trade deadline.

We are talking the same thing, just in a different way. If Ferraro and Callahan make it, it will be as 13/14th forwards mainly to free up cap room. If they are on the team in place of say Miller and eaves, that would be a talent down grade. But, and this will become more common, guys like that will be kepth in the 12/13/14 forward spots and 6/7 D spots to stars can be paid and retained.