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That does look strange. Even though those $1.8 million are his take-home pay, after tax, I don't think $2.5 million before American taxes would become less than that after taxes.

Kronwall's getting a little bit of powerplay time, so he should get some points there. But obviously Lidstrom and Rafalski get to play for the majority of all powerplays, so there's limited opportunities. And it's impossible to be a point-producing defenseman if you're not on the powerplay. At even strength I think he has started the attacks pretty well with good passes. Somebody said that Lebda is outplaying him, but I don't see how that's the case offensively or defensively. Just look at that goal the other night. Yes, you're supposed to take away the pass alternatives on two-on-ones, but good defensemen cancel out both the pass and the shot. Lebda just backed off.

I'm surprised not more people have heard it. I hear it all the time, especially in the short commercials they have for Wings coverage.

Defensemen typically get their points on the powerplay. 5-on-5 most of the points tend be assists, usually stemming from that "good first pass" the Wings always look for when assessing draft picks and free agents. As such, I don't think it matters that much who Lidstrom's paired with at even strength. Maybe a little, given that Rafalski will probably handle the puck more than Markov did or Lilja ever should. Lidstrom will still get all the PP time he can handle.

What I meant, and I didn't express this very well, was that we have no idea what his attitude regarding all this is. He hasn't said a word that hasn't been filtered through his agent, who of course is going to put a PR-spin on things, i.e., it's not him, it's his line mates. Plus, a lot of things get lost/distorted in translation. As to his play, if he brings it he does, if he doesn't, bye-bye. It's not a personal insult to us, and I don't understand why people are judging his character based on a couple of blog entries. Perhaps he didn't understand what kind of effort was required. It'll take more than a few scrimmages to turn that around -- if he comes to camp again next year and is out of shape, then yeah, not NHL material.

Who's thrown a fit? I doubt he's said very much to anyone about anything given that the only ones who seem to be able to communicate with him are Datsyuk and his agent. On the contrary he's been very open with his plans, and I can't say I blame him. I'd rather play for more money in my own country than in a second-rate league where I don't know the language. He doesn't owe the Wings or us fans anything; he's not in camp because the team is trying to be nice to him - he has something they want (or at least they thought he did). If he doesn't have what the Wings need, fine.

Perhaps. He's still untested in that regard. But even if the Prongers of the league will focus on Zetterberg in this scenario, there will still be a Beauchemin to handle Hudler as opposed to an O'Donnell. I think 40 points is a reasonable expectation for him at this point -- Holmstrom-like numbers.

I think another part to his 15 goals is that, while playing with inferior talent on the fourth line, Hudler also played against inferior talent on the other teams' fourth lines. It comes down to what situations Babcock placed him in, and I don't think he'll do as well against other teams' top 2 lines. I didn't review the goals, so some of them might have come against better opposition, but I still don't expect him to score more than 15-20 goals even with increased ice time.

Am I the only one who thought Sutter's elbows might have been a little too high leading in to Cherapanov's head? I haven't seen the games, so I don't know why he would "have it coming." The hit just looked dirty to me.

That doesn't have to be the end of it, though. I know that in the past, plenty of players have signed contracts with Swedish clubs only to renege on them to sign with NHL clubs -- Fredrik Olausson, for example. That may have changed with the new transfer agreement, which I know nothing about, but I doubt it. I wouldn't blame him if he left, though. Would the Wings still hold his rights? I think he's good enough to catch on with an NHL club -- there's just no room here -- so I would hate for him to give up on an NHL career altogether. I'd rather see the Wings just relinquish his rights than stand in the way of him playing altogether. He did get better over the year as he adjusted to the smaller rink size.

The first mini-brawl: The second fight: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4X0zGN_zUA&NR Seeing that elbow to the head, though, I can't help but feel that Kindl deserved it.

My question is, if he doesn't sign a contract this summer, will Detroit lose the rights to him? I was under the impression that they had to sign him this summer to retain his rights, but I might be wrong. If that is true, though, would he be free to sign with any team the following year? That would be unfortunate.

Where did you hear/see this? I can't find anything from any American, Canadian or Swedish news outlets suggesting that he's coming back. Would it be for the playoff run or for next season? Remember that he has a history with concussions. That's why he left for the not-quite-as-physical second tier Swedish league in the first place.

I (another Pavel fan) wouldn't go for it just for the fact that Datsuyk is a few years younger and plays the game in a way that isn't as destructive to his body. Even when Datsyuk gets older, he'll be a great player because his strengths are his vision and puckhandling. In a few years, Smyth will be well into his 30s, and his body will be too battered for him to be anything more than an excellent role player. Look at Shanahan's development since he became a Wing, that's what I see happening to Smyth (and in his prime, by the way, Shanny was way better than Smyth). Pavel, however, will last. Not that it matters, with unrestricted free agency coming down toward 27, but still...