Comments on: Stuart Wing

By: oldfart

oldfart — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 16:31:27 +0000

Silly me… I thought Stuart Wing was the guy who bought the Islanders and handed out those huge contracts.

By: the_hockey_bandit

the_hockey_bandit — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 09:35:59 +0000

Unfortunately, Detroit relies a lot on their defense to start the rush and regulate the point to keep the play going. Without their top four defense men it is very difficult to get the newbies accustomed to running the point, protecting the blue line and feeding the forwards. Any team would have trouble without their top four defense men. As soon as Rafalski and Lidstrom return this "troubles putting the puck in the net" thing should take care of itself.

I will say that one bright spot has been this young player Ericsson will be a big player if he continues to progress and refine his craft.

If it was up to me I would have tried to find someone to fill in for Cleary though. That is a big loss on forward lines, for both ends of the rink. Hopefully when he does return for the playoffs he will be able to pick up where he left off.

By: BruMagnus

BruMagnus — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 09:34:44 +0000

Agreed.

The Wings have never needed their first 3 rounds of picks anyways.
They'll just snake some mystery European player in the last round who'll be their next superstar.

By: BruMagnus

BruMagnus — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 09:29:51 +0000

awww. she sounds cool!

By: mmamolo

mmamolo — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 08:21:36 +0000

The Stuart trade was exactly what the Wings needed. They have some depth up front and now they've got depth on the blue line. After what happened with their defencemen last year in the playoffs the Wings needed another top four d-man for this years drive. True it would have been nice to acquire another top six forward, especially with the Wings recent troubles putting the puck in the net but with what was out there and the price tags that would come with such players I think Detroit was fine not making any such moves. After seeing the price that was paid for Hosse I am so glad the Wings were not in the hunt. I am however surprised at the how little Brad Richards went for (which is probably mostly due to his remaining two years at 7.8).

The only thign that bugs me about what the Wings have done is that at the beginning of the season they chose not to sign Danny Markov for two years at approx. 3-3.5M/yr. They kept just over 5M in cap space and in acquiring Stuart, with a prorated salary of under a million. Add in the Mccarty signing and they still have upwards of 4M in cap space. In my opinion, since cap hits are prorated at the deadline there's no need for any team to keep more than 2-2.5M in cap space. For deadline deals these equates to acquiring 8-10M in salaries. Detroit could have kept Markov and still acquired Stuart if they chose to at the deadline, or could have focused solely on a forward instead of Stuart.

Once Detroit's injuries resolve themselves they should be in much better standing for the playoffs.

By: dcz28

dcz28 — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 02:07:48 +0000

Not really they said they wouldn't trade any top prospects which they didn't and they only gave up a 2nd round pick for this year's draft (still have their 1st round pick) with the 4th in 09…plus they can re-sign him if they want him and let Lilja walk.

By: dcz28

dcz28 — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 02:03:56 +0000

I laughed when i heard the Pens paid that much for Gill. My mom (who is a Pens fan) wasn't impressed with either deal the Pens made today. They have to find a way to sign Hossa now after giving up that much for him.

By: dcz28

dcz28 — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 02:01:20 +0000

I like this deal all things considered. Foote went for a 1st and a conditional 3rd if they re-sign him, Hal Gill went for a 2nd and 5th (Pens got screwed)...all the others that went for 3rd picks or later were all below Stuart in terms of value and what they bring to a team so a 2nd round pick this year and a 4th in 09 isn't too bad at all and the Wings will have a chance to sign him if they want without giving a conditional pick.

Now they can let Lilja walk at the end of the season if they sign Stuart.

Once fully healthy the Wings defense will look pretty good with:

Lidstrom - Rafalski
Kronwall - Stuart
Chelios - Lebda/Meech/Lilja

Too bad the Wings didn't get Satan too...that would have been perfect to add a sniper like him to the Wings, Oh well.

By: Habs_Cup08

Habs_Cup08 — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 23:48:00 +0000

Well go into your bedroom, lock yourself in the closet, and CRY ABOUT IT BECAUSE NO ONE ON HERE CARES IF IT MATTERS TO YOU!

By: AntropovGoodIToldUSo

AntropovGoodIToldUSo — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 23:28:45 +0000

Good pick up, seems like a high cost though which is something the Wings said they wouldn't do.