Red Wings possibilities

I read in a couple places that the Wings might be looking at Bertuzzi, but since then they've signed Patrick Eaves and Jason Williams.

A couple people I was talking to mentioned that they don't think the Wings will be the same power house next year that they have been in previous years. Ya well, I've heard that before and believe me, they will be a force!

Yes losing Hossa and Samuelsson to free agency hurts, and Hudler bolting for Russia makes them thinner up front as well. But I think the addition of Jason Williams is kind of underrated. This guy was a 58 point man with Detroit a few years back, and the season before last he scored 36 points in 43 games with Chicago. Even last year he finished he season with 47 points. Pretty decent production and certainly enough to help forget the loss of Samuelsson.

The Wings have some other guys who can fill in too:

Consider that last season Darren Helm was a playoff stud and played no part in the regular season. This is the year for the young guy to take on a role with the team regular season, and I firmly believe that Helm is a player.

Ville Leino. This guy was a solid call up last year, he's 25 and I can't remember where I read this but I believe he was the MVP of the Finnish elite league a year or two ago.

Justin Abdelkader. Like Helm, this guy made an impact in the playoffs and this could be the year he joins the team as more of a regular as well.

The other thing to remember is that the core of this team is still solid with the likes of Zetterberg, Datsyuk and Franzen leading the way up front. Those 3 guys, I don't know if there is a team out there with a better top 3. And some great support wingers to spread around them including Dan Cleary, Tomas Holmstrom, Kirk Maltby etc. Kris Draper in for character and leadership and you got a damn good team.

Their defense will still run the show with Lidstrom, Rafalski, Kronwall, Stuart as a top 4 and Ericsson, Lilja and Lebda to fill it out. Chris Osgood and Jimmy Howard will be in goal. I've always been a huge Osgood advocator and have called him one of the game's all time most underrated players. Last season was the worst of his career although he did play outstanding in the playoffs, I dont know how much he has left and I don't know much about Howard. Every year people say the Red Wings achilles heel will be in goal and they are wrong but there could be something to it this year. I doubt it, but its possible.

One other key player, I'm calling for a breakout year. I took him in the playoff pool because he's so fancy, I'm predicting a 60+ point year from Valterri Fillpula. He is a stud in the making.

So in conclusion, Red Wings good. Presidents trophy candidates and as always Cup contenders and a team to watch out for.

Leafs add another!

The Leafs signed Rickard Wallin today. He is the captain of the Swedish Elite League championship team Farjestad, and the fourth member of Farjestad to join the NHL (Brunnstrom in Dallas, Frogren and Gustavsson in Toronto).



Wallin posted an impressive 18 goals and 27 assists for 45 pts in 55 games in the SEL (keeping in mind point totals are lower in the SEL since they only award 1 assist per goal). Big Wallin is 6'3" and just under 200 lbs seems to fit the Burke mold, especially since he's considered to be a great defensive player.



Brian Burke said that he expects the 29 year old to be a great guy to have in the dressing room. I haven't seen the guy play, but judging by his penalty totals (pretty high), I'd say he's the big feisty type of Swede. I definitely see him as a possible candidate to take over that third line centre, defensive role as Burke likes to build his team "top 6 - bottom 6".

Anyway's the team will look something like this as of right now. Depth chart:

Centre:
Matt Stajan
Mikhail Grabovski
Rickard Wallin
Johnny Mitchell
Tyler Bozak
Colin Stuart

Left Wing:
Jason Blake
Alexei Ponikarovsky
Niklas Hagman
Christian Hanson
Jamal Mayers
Victor Stalberg

Right Wing:
Jiri Tlusty
Nikolai Kulemin
Lee Stempniak
Colton Orr
Mikhail Stefanovich
Ben Ondrus

Defense:
Tomas Kaberle
Mike Komisarek
Francois Beauchemin
Luke Schenn
Ian White
Mike VanRyn
Garnett Exelby
Jeff Finger
Jonas Frogren
Anton Stralman
Phil Oreskovich

Goaltending:
Vesa Toskala
Jonas Gustavsson
Justin Pogge

Leafs sign Beauchemin

Brian Burke signed Francois Beauchemin today to a 3 year deal worth $3.8 million per season.

So now you figure he's got to make some moves. Look at the glut of defense he has:

Tomas Kaberle - could be traded, but only if the return is substantial
Mike Komisarek - not going anywhere
Francois Beauchemin - not going anywhere
Luke Schenn - not going anywhere
Ian White - could be traded
Mike VanRyn - could be traded
Garnett Exelby - could be flipped but I hear they were big on him, hence the Kubina trade
Jeff Finger - could be demoted, maybe traded but not likely
Jonas Frogren - could be demoted/traded
Anton Stralman - could start the year off in the minors
Phil Oreskovich - will probably start off in the minors.

So there's 11 NHL worthy d-men.