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I would add Nyquist and Jarnkrok to that list, but other than that, it's fair game.

Nyquist is 2 years older, and Kane already has a 30 goal NHL season and nearly 60 points under his belt while being fast and a tough player. If that trade is offered straight up I take Kane every single time.

Hes a potential superstar that the wings could build around for the future. Much younger than any other option. I wouldnt have any prospect off limits except maybe Smith to get him

Anyone who thinks this kid wont fight is fooling themselves. Babcock will not dissuade him and he definitely enjoys it. He said after fighting Shaw last year that he had 2 options, fight or turtle and he never turtles. The style that Smith plays will lead to guys going after him and he has to much pride to say no to all comers.

He will be told to choose his spots wisely, but he'll probably fight 5 times a year or so and be physical game in and game out.

I dunno if he'll be top 4 next season but he should see some decent PP time and put up some points. He might kill a little too. I expect a 30 point season which is good for a young dman, 5 fights and a decent highlight reel of hits. Hes going to be a fan favourite in no time

The C will surely belong to Z

Datsyuk, Kronner rotating with Parise/Suter if the wings get one of them.

If they get both Parise and Suter, Datsyuk and Kronner will get them permanently because that is too many to rotate around.

I wouldnt mind seeing Helm wear an A every now and again to show some of the lazy guys on the team that flying around and hustling every shift gets recognized

Depends on the definition of elite but I think we have at least three guys with potential to be top notch guys. Smith, Nyquist and Jarnkrok. Smith will have that star status because of his play style, and will be come a fan favourite. He'll snipe on the PP than turn around next shift lay a guy out and beat the s*** out of that guys team mate trying to defend him.

Go Knights Go!!!

Agreed. One of my good friends and former linemate is on the team gotta pull for them. I went to the clinching game at the JLC in London and it was absolutely crazy

Size is overrated. Heart, skill, and hockey IQ are more important. Stevie Y was tiny, Selanne, and a whole slew of other players enter the league every season smaller than Iron Hook and they fair just well. I know it's a plus to be big when you enter the league, but it's not the advantage in today's NHL as it was back in the late 80s and 90s. There are many a players who are big that enter the league that are just that, and nothing more, but pylons.   Iron Hook, the Sauce, and Gus will all be fine if they played 10-13 minutes a night next season and beyond.

Jarnkrok looks to be at least the third line center for the Swedish team this year with a good chance of being the second line center.

Yzerman was a third overall pick though, his skill was through the roof, Selanne also a high pick. Size is definitely not overrated, and the wings have started drafting more size because the lack of it is hurting.

I think Jarkrok would probably fair well, although he is a diver and a whiner right now, but not with 2 other rookies that are his size or smaller. The skill is important and he has it in spades, and even if you dont value size, its not that a line of Jarnkrok, Nyquist, Tatar would be small. But I would bet height and weight wise it would be the smallest in the league by a fair margin.

They need balance.

  I'd much rather see a 3rd line with Tatar-Jarnkrok-Nyquist than Cleary-Abdelkader-Bertuzzi.  

This would be terrible. We're gonna have a 3rd line of 21 year old Europeans, one of which isnt even sued to the North American style of play and the tallest is a whopping 5'11. Those kids would get eaten alive, wouldnt even get near a goalie and would have their confidence ruined

Why do people keep saying that teams will overpay way too much for Parise?

Hes a legit 35+ goal scorer consistently with a 94 point season 2 years ago. He would be worth an offer of 8 million. Do people really expect teams to offer that much more than 8 million? Thats probably his high end worth but if he signed for that much I wuoldnt be pissed about it at all.

With a 27 year old, legit goal scorer the wings need to take a run at him and even pay a bit more than usual because they need to supplement this aging core with guys who can get it done for another 7 years. Adding Parise would be the re tool on the fly everyone hates to see the wings always capable of doing

Agreed, I'm more or less trying to defend Abdelkader, I've been reading for a while all these people that want him gone, and then someone like Prust gets brought up and everyone explodes in their pants. Abdelkader uses his body just as well as Prust, has improved steadily offensively every year, and plays just as much PK time as Prust along with being on the ice for 13 less PK goals.

I would like to see them both out their, replacing Emmerton with Prust would really help the bottom six.

Prust is exactly what Abdelkader needs. Abdelkader is forced to be the toughest guy on the wings and isnt really great for that role. Hes a physical, agitator, middleweight type that if riding shotgun with someone like Prust could really go wild out there. With Prust to back him up, Abdelkader could run around and do his thing while still having a player that can play some decent hockey with him.

People on here always ***** and moan about how useless tough players are and that the wings dont need them, but I know for damn sure that a fourth line of Abdelkader, Konopka and Prust would be better than this years fourth line. That line would have an actual identity, 2 guys who will fight just about anyone and another who is a solid middle weight scrapper so they could all run around and crush guys as much as they wantand very few teams in the league could have an answer for that line.

I pretty much agree.  Like how at the deadline Gillis traded away Vancouver's 3rd line scoring potential for grinders and the team has been misfiring ever since.

It's always been a league of copy cats.  WHen Detroit wins the Cup, all of the sudden everyone wants a puck moving Dman and skilled players.  Then Boston rag dolls Vancouver on the way to winning the Cup and everyone wants hard hitting hockey players.

Seriously, we are only a few bad bounces away from being up 3-1 instead of down 3-1, but unfortunately, that's hockey.


We all know that if this team goes balls out for 60 minutes, they can beat anybody in the NHL.  That's what's bumbed me out.

Yep and they were only a couple bounces away last year, and the year before that too. Some guys go out and make their own luck by working hard, forechecking and not floating around. Detroit has too many players of this ilk it seems.

Its not a league of copy cats, its called getting balance on the team. When Detroit won the cup they had it, this team doesnt want to work for it

So, you guys want a team of grinders? Why not join fans of Boston or Nashville then - I personally enjoy watching pretty goals scored once in a while and SKILL has been the signature of the Wings since early 90s. BTW that weakling Semin scored NICE winner today, and when great tough Abdelcader scored last time? If we get Semin, at least Datsyuk won't be bored dead playing with you know whom (Parize does sound better choice to me then Semin, but a lot of teams want him). Finally,  Bert, Mule, and Holmstrom can all be considered grinders - unite them in a Red Bombers line and give the assignement to hit rather then score.

You use the defending cup champs and the team that currently looks like theyre going to knock detroit out as your examples of teams that you dont want Detroit to look like?

We had McCarty, Drake and Maltby on the '08 team. We need guys like those.

Its hilarious when people say that the wings won in 2008 with a soft, pretty boy team. That team was by far the wings toughest since the lockout and for over 70 games in the regular season had a guy dressed strictly as a fighter. They also had a good middle weight with Dallas Drake and Lilja who until his injury was pretty damn tough. Those are just scrappers though.

That teams third line was Cleary Draper Drake. Not even an ounce of skill on that third line, just guys who would bust their bags with hard work and werent scared of s***. Theyw ould crash the net constantly, throw big hits and wear down the other team. Drake was the only really "tough" one but they all played a gritty game.

The fourth line center was Helm before he had any responsibilities. All he would do was run around, throw hits and crash the net. No defensive responsibility hardly, and was just sent off his leash for 8 minutes a game. Mccarty flanked him and he was scared of no one. He didnt pretend to be some skill guy hanging around the perimeter, he was in everyones face, crashing the net etc. If Mac wasnt on that line then Maltby was, who was still stirring s*** up and playing physical hockey. When we won in 2008, Hudler was relegated to the fourth line because he couldnt play playoff hockey, now hes on the teams top line. Homer was also still more capable to be a crash and bang type in the top 6.

So yes people continue to try to tell yourselves that this team can win with a soft line up and a bunch of pretty boys if it will help you sleep at night, be that blind fan boy that thinks the team is always built perfectly but looking at history, the wings have never won with a team like this. The 2009 team couldnt close it out even and they were much more skilled. The 2006 team that killed it was out first round.

But yeah you guys are right, the wings have won before with a soft line up  

Cmon man, the last two games we played our asses off. Its just not there this year.

For whatever reason, it just wasnt there.

Lets see what happens in the next 6 months and maybe we will get a surprise. It takes a whole lot of luck and other things to line up to win a cup. Most teams will never experience the 4 I have seen in my lifetime!

Go WIngs!

It wasnt their year because ******* like Filppula and Hudler sit at teh top of the circle flicking weak wristers at a good goalie cause no one wants to get their nose dirty. Too small and weak upfront, feels like back in the day when they had to shake up and trade for Shanny to balance some of that skill out. Nashville has a bunch of guys like Bourque who just have went to the net and got rewarded. The wings used to score like this all the time but Homer is getting older, the grind line is gone and guys like Hudler are in our top 6 ( )

Wouldnt mind seeing the wings go after Ryan Malone maybe, hes been up for trade. Babcock has wanted some more bigger, greasy type players for a while and it seemingly been a weakness for awhile. Time to see if he has the balls to address it. Bertuzzi has size but hes getting old as well. Seems like anyone who plays that style is old or broken for the wings and theyre relying on all their skill and finesse which doesnt work in the playoffs (especially out west)

Hell, even throw Sheahan in on that fourth line next game in replace of Emmerton and see if he can light a little fire up there with his size.

I'll be posting the mother of all UFA lists for grinders coming up here in a few days.

Haha we do it every year, too bad Holland wouldnt just read this site!!!

There are way too many damn pretty boys trying to finesse themselves around the ice on this wings team. Zetterberg and Datsyuk are the most capable but aren't playing the perimeter. Meanwhile, Hudler and Filpulla havent cut int the middle of the ice or crashed the net yet it seems. Theres a reason Rinne can get this many shots and not allow any goals.

Having skilled guys and all is nice but there needs to be a mix. The best line for the wings has been Cleary and Abdelkader because they actually muck, grind and play playoff style hockey. They've crashed the net and generated chances. I cant believe how many weak outside shots I've seen Filppula take but its embarrassing almost.

This team needs grittier scorers. A not broken down Cleary would be a great start, maybe find a guy to replace an aging Homer as well. That gritty Maltby, Mccarty type playoff scoring is lacking from this team. People say that a 4th line barely matters, but having a fourth line getting all over the goalie is what this team needs. This team is just not greasy enough. Parise is a greasy goal scorer and would be a perfect start

This change starts with getting Hudler outta here. Cool he scored 25 goals, but so would a lot of guys given his linemates and ice time. He's soft and small, even if he crashes the net he does nothing cause he gets manhandled. UFA at years end

Replacing Holmstrom with a guy that plays his style of game is also critical. Trying to find a guy like Hornqvist would be huge for this team. Ryan Jones would be nice. He can score around 20 goals but plays a bit like Homer or Cleary as well.

Hopefully getting some of the bigger guys drafted lately into the line up will help. Sheahan doesnt seem that far off and is a big body that is capable of banging around the net and playing that style. This team needs to get some new garbage men. Babcock must be ready to rip his hair out watchign these guys dance around the outside while Rinne eats up everything.