Lots of d men available at trade deadline and this offseason
- holygoat

hope so.

Lots of d men available at trade deadline and this offseason
- holygoat

wont matter, babcock is a tightass

wont matter, babcock is a tightass
- Gerk

Thank god he isn't the GM

Thank god he isn't the GM
- holygoat

Doesnt matter. Almost every team is gonna think they can push into the playoffs during this short year. List of sellers will be shorter than normal.

Doesnt matter. Almost every team is gonna think they can push into the playoffs during this short year. List of sellers will be shorter than normal.
- Gerk

true.

Doesnt matter. Almost every team is gonna think they can push into the playoffs during this short year. List of sellers will be shorter than normal.
- Gerk

Toronto, Calgary and Columbus will be looking to trade 20 games into the season.

playoffs or not, there will be sellers just based on many teams cap situation next summer alone. Alot of GMs are going to have to be real honest about their teams in order to make the cap work next season.

--

as for the Wings, I like the fact that they are forced to play youth. Wings are taking time to see what they have while they still have a decent enough core to stay competitive.

We are no longer a cup contender, but I would dare to say still a likely playoff team. Let's see what these kids have back there....

Let's Drop the Puck!

I like wings fans. You guys are cool

I like wings fans. You guys are cool
- LeafsFan64

I like wings too, deep fried

Hoping for a big year from some of my wings, Datsyuk, Brunner, Zetterberg, Bertuzzi, Cleary and White. Lost Lidstrom to retirement and Hudlerto free agency. Keeper league that is now in year 34, hard to believe.

I like wings fans. You guys are cool
- LeafsFan64

I won't speak for the group on this blog, but for the most part we are a respectful lot that are realists with a sprinkle of optimism (minus Wingsforlife). I think that comes from expecting the decline in each Cup era and watching the team retool on the run to remain competitive and eventually win another. Who knows what this era after the lockout will bring, but like a few on here I'm keeping my expectations low, looking forward to seeing some of these eternal prospects under the bright lights finally and for the 20+ year, be competitive again.

I want a apology from Ken Holland, for the defense, which he failed to improve whether through trade or free agency.

If Kindl cant play in the top 6 by now then he should be considered a bust, taken in the first round.

I hope Smith can play in the top 4.

It is just sad that they tried to convince Lidstrom to come back yesterday and shows how desperate they are.

The wings take the slow and steady approach when it comes to prospects and yes they do have some great forward prospects, But are doing horribly when it comes to the defense. Have not developed a impact player on defense since Kronwall was drafted.
- wingz4life

Datsyuk will be traded for Phaneuf.

Knuble invited to camp...

not sure what I think about that, I would have preferred a dman invited to camp instead, but I do like Knuble, just not his age.

Definitely worried.

I think the Red Wings are still an above-average team, maybe good for sixth place in the West in a perfectly fair season where the final standings actually reflect the relative skill levels of the teams. But even 82-game seasons produce a lot of fluke results. Getting to the playoffs is probably better than 50-50 but far, FAR from a guarantee.

There are question marks everywhere. Brunner kills in Switzerland and in international play and has developed good chemistry with Z, but the European game -- and even the North American game at the AHL level -- is really a different animal. The scoring charts in Europe and the AHL are always loaded with sub-6-foot guys in their mid-20s and later, but the track record for those guys coming to the NHL and making an impact is very discouraging.

Smith looks great at the AHL level but his defensive ability at the NHL level has yet to be determined and he has always had discipline issues. You know how we like to female dog about all the stupid penalties Ericsson and Bertuzzi take? Smith's 90 PIM in Grand Rapids last season would have led Detroit easily, and he took them in only 57 games. The season before he had 124 in 63 (!).

Kindl I think is quite possibly playing his last season in Detroit, unless he takes a major leap forward. He's been very sheltered in Detroit (by some metrics Kindl played the easiest opposition of any regular NHL blueliner last season) and still hasn't done much. I really worry that he's not going to be able to hide any more and is just going to get shelled.

Gustavsson I have no faith in. The best thing you can really say about him is that he has a relatively small sample of NHL games and played for a pretty bad team, so maybe his numbers make him out to be worse than he is. But even accounting for those things, his numbers are still pretty bad. Better than Conklin, probably. Better than MacDonald? Honestly, probably not, or at least not by much.

This team is just built so weirdly. The top six is actually all right, but there are SO MANY bottom six forwards and not really a whole lot on the blue line or behind Howard in goal. If it holds together and some of the younger/newer guys surprise there's some hope, but I'm going to be on pins and needles all season long.

Knuble invited to camp...

not sure what I think about that, I would have preferred a dman invited to camp instead, but I do like Knuble, just not his age.
- BooBoo997

I don't hate Knuble or anything but i too would have liked a dman or two invited instead. Wings have too many forwards already with Nyquist and Tatar not even invited to camp.

The Fourth Period says Holland is looking hard to trade for a top pairing dman but i doubt he does anything...instead saying he likes his team and prices were too high.

I also keep hearing how great Damien Brunner is. next ville leino if you ask me.

has dominated the swiss league? ok.so? that means nothing when it comes to playing in the NHL. nobody can say what he will do in the NHL even when playing with Z.
- wingz4life

As a wings fan you make me sick... and you lack of knowledge is very apparent and you are continuously doubting all the wings moves (ie Brunner). First off you should notice that Kindl may not be what they had wanted from him but last year his +/- did improve and he only needs to be a rotational player with carlo. The fact you want an apology from Holland is absolutely ridiculous because if you were paying attention to the fact the wings are one of the few talented teams that will remain under that salary cap next year while needing to sign fil and jimmy to new contracts. So going out like Minny and blowing money would have been dumb for the wings. They are have made the playoffs for 21 years they are not in a position to panic. They are reloading not rebuilding there is a difference. Kronwall has be increasing his role for years and it's not all of a sudden his minutes will sky rocket. They have been molding him for the past 3 seasons. Bottom line no one can replace Lidstrom no matter who they got. They will need to do it as a whole on defense and I have faith they can. There will be a bunch of teams that need to shed cap space and a good group of UFAs in the off season where they can get a Dman. Making a split second immediate attempt to replace lidstrom would have been a Leafs move and requires more smarts that Holland has displayed. They have a deep forward group and D men that need to prove themselves. With Kenny and Babs they will always be competitive. If you're a wings fan for life then act like it and have some faith

As a wings fan you make me sick... and you lack of knowledge is very apparent and you are continuously doubting all the wings moves (ie Brunner). First off you should notice that Kindl may not be what they had wanted from him but last year his +/- did improve and he only needs to be a rotational player with carlo. The fact you want an apology from Holland is absolutely ridiculous because if you were paying attention to the fact the wings are one of the few talented teams that will remain under that salary cap next year while needing to sign fil and jimmy to new contracts. So going out like Minny and blowing money would have been dumb for the wings. They are have made the playoffs for 21 years they are not in a position to panic. They are reloading not rebuilding there is a difference. Kronwall has be increasing his role for years and it's not all of a sudden his minutes will sky rocket. They have been molding him for the past 3 seasons. Bottom line no one can replace Lidstrom no matter who they got. They will need to do it as a whole on defense and I have faith they can. There will be a bunch of teams that need to shed cap space and a good group of UFAs in the off season where they can get a Dman. Making a split second immediate attempt to replace lidstrom would have been a Leafs move and requires more smarts that Holland has displayed. They have a deep forward group and D men that need to prove themselves. With Kenny and Babs they will always be competitive. If you're a wings fan for life then act like it and have some faith
- HomestyleMelt

I don't know, he said he could trade Tatar and a plug like Ferraro and get Yandle. I think Holland has found his successor!

I don't know, he said he could trade Tatar and a plug like Ferraro and get Yandle. I think Holland has found his successor!
- holygoat

I don't know, he said he could trade Tatar and a plug like Ferraro and get Yandle. I think Holland has found his successor!
- holygoat

HAha yeah, I really missed reading wings blogs during the lockout but I didn't miss reading his poop. Goes on and on about how stupid Holland is and that's his solution, here take this middling prospect and maybe a pick for arguably your best player. Problem solved!

As for the team, they're definitely heavy on forwards and it's very disappointing to see Nyquist going back to the AHL, guy has great chemistry with Datsyuk and he seems more than ready for the show.

HAha yeah, I really missed reading wings blogs during the lockout but I didn't miss reading his poop. Goes on and on about how stupid Holland is and that's his solution, here take this middling prospect and maybe a pick for arguably your best player. Problem solved!

As for the team, they're definitely heavy on forwards and it's very disappointing to see Nyquist going back to the AHL, guy has great chemistry with Datsyuk and he seems more than ready for the show.
- tmanv

.

oh i agree he is going to be great and he will get his chance...the wings know how to mold prospects so im not too worried but i would like to see him this year. Cleary will probably be gone after his contract this year so thats his chance. I agree they are pretty set on forwards but i dont think there are any good trades for Dmen...they all want too much (ie Jbow) but this years UFA class should be pretty solid if im not mistaken and also teams will need to shed some cap space so they could land someone hopefully. No need to panic and make a rushed decision just to try and replace Lids

.

oh i agree he is going to be great and he will get his chance...the wings know how to mold prospects so im not too worried but i would like to see him this year. Cleary will probably be gone after his contract this year so thats his chance. I agree they are pretty set on forwards but i dont think there are any good trades for Dmen...they all want too much (ie Jbow) but this years UFA class should be pretty solid if im not mistaken and also teams will need to shed some cap space so they could land someone hopefully. No need to panic and make a rushed decision just to try and replace Lids
- HomestyleMelt

Yeah there will be some good players on bad contracts that can be had for better prices than what teams seemed to be asking last year. With the short season, everyone's in it from the beginning, but that also means you can be out of it before we're 2 or 3 weeks into the season and you may start seeing people go into firesale mode pretty early. Who knows.