Rice

Has anyone considered that the $9-10 million figure would be his salary, not his cap hit? As fans, all we should care about is the cap hit. Richards made $12 million this year with a $10 million signing bonus and his cap hit was $6.66 million.

Don't forget Janik and Excelby...  None will be playing for GR... so wtf.  WHY DO WE NEED ANYTHING BUT A SCORER!??!

Just because they have defensive depth doesn't mean they can't make an upgrade. Kubina would've been an upgrade over Kindl and Commodore.

That's like saying, "They have 14 forwards, why do they even need to make a trade?!"

At least The Core is intact.

This isn't a rumor. There's video evidence:

Why are people suggesting that trading for Selanne if he's only going to be here for the playoffs isn't worth it? It's always worth it if you win the Stanley Cup. Do you think Boston really regrets trading for Kaberle? Of course not.

Selanne is an elite forward that would help this team win the Cup.

So trade a top6 for a top 6 and 2 kids with tons of potential. Emmerton is a legit NHL'r.

Stuart and Hudler have no value to sellers.

Why is anyone saying the mascot is just as stupid as the fan? It's silly string... all the guy had to do was laugh and pull it off.

What I see here is your stereotypical Boston "hardass" trying to look like your sterotypical Boston "hardass."

And one thing I forgot in my long post, the Wings will probably want to trade Brad Stuart to a Californian team before the deadline. He has a expressed interest in wanting to go over there to be closer to his family, and San Jose and possibly Anaheim have been interested in acquiring him. The challenge will be trading him, as the Wings will not get a return (besides $3.75m in cap space) if he reaches free agency.

No chance. Stuart is probably their best defensive defenseman. They're not going to trade him to a rival like San Jose or LA that they might see in the playoffs. I think Holland would rather lose him for nothing than do that.

I figured this would be about the FSD intro music. I'm so sick of it.

If Eaves were a locker room cancer, they would have let him go this summer.

He probably hasn't been playing that much due to injury and because Miller is playing well.

[font="'Book Antiqua"]And Tim Thomas had been playing his career in the ECHL and Finland. Hudler posted a 57 point season and led the league in points-per-minute, playing 12 minutes per game on the third line. Suggesting it's impossible for him to hit 80 points if given a TRUE top-six opportunity with linemates equal to or better than what he had in 08-09 is ludicrous, at minimum.

Have you ever considered that the third line role was been a good thing for his production? He was playing on easily the most stacked team post-lockout. The Wings could roll out Datsyuk, Zetterberg, Franzen, and Hossa on lines one and two. After that, there wasn't much defensive pressure on Hudler's line.

Just because he had great production playing 12 minutes doesn't mean that production would carry over equally if he were playing 20 minutes.

80 point players are 80 point players. They produce with what they've got. They don't need 30 different factors to go in their favor to produce at a high level. They make their teammates better, not the other way around.

If Hudler were a foot taller, 30 pounds heavier, playing in a league with 1985 scoring levels on a line with Wayne Gretzky and Gordie Howe, and averaged 25 minutes a game I'm sure he'd get 100 points (but only if you prorate his 13 games between January 15th and February 20th)!

As of 2005, nobody thought journeyman minor-league goalie Tim Thomas would be a starter in the NHL. Now he has two Vezinas, a Conn Smythe, and some are arguing him as a HHOF candidate and one of the best goalies ever.

Selection bias. There are a hell of a lot more journeymen players that stay journeymen than become Tim Thomas.

I would get rid of Franzen before Cleary and Hudler.


He has more value in a trade, he's the oldest, he's likely to retire within a few years due to injury, and he's lazy. He could be a traded for mid to late 20s top-six forward to serve as the core of the team going forward along with Flip and Huds, as Dats and Z are clearly aging and we all know they won't keep it up forever while Flip and Huds should be just entering their primes. Having a bunch of solid 18-20 year old prospects who might become top-sixers doesn't do any good for the next five years because it'll be like Flip or Hudler in 2007; maybe you'll get some decent secondary scoring on the PP, but you won't be seeing those guys as core players for years. People think Nyquist is going to step in this year or next and score 70 points; that is not happening.

Eva… Hudler is not a part of this team's core. He's gone either during this season or after this season. He's never going to score 80 points, either -- regardless of how many 10 game segments of his career you prorate.

Just caught this on Twitter:

@Buccigross John, count on the DRW being in the running -- if not in the lead -- to land Parise next summer.

For those that don't know, Bill Roose works for the Wings and Buccigross is an ESPN anchor.

I wonder if this is inside info or just speculation.