Red Wings Season Preview: Kindl/Janik
by Casey Richey on Sep 3, 2010 6:46 AM CDT
in Opinion
5 comments
Picking up where we left off on Wednesday, we'll talk about two defensive players today. Today's focus is on the guys likely to be the 7th and 8th men on the depth chart for the Red Wings heading into the 2010-2011 season. However, just because they're not in the top 6 doesn't mean that nobody is watching them--especially Kindl. It's kind of a mix similar to that of Jonathan Ericsson and Ruslan Salei as Jakub Kindl is young and relatively inexperienced (like Ericsson) and Doug Janik has been playing professionally since 2001.
The development of these two players is a bit interesting as Kindl is apparently on the way up and ready to start his NHL career while Janik's NHL days are seemingly dwindling down as he has spent the majority of the past two seasons in the AHL. But, just because Janik's NHL playing time has diminished doesn't mean that he won't see any playing time this year.
Last year's benchmark: This is in terms of the guys that were the 7th-8th defensemen in the system. Given on what day of the calendar you're looking at and what guys were injured, Brett Lebda, Derek Meech or Doug Janik filled the 7th or 8th spot. They weren't a stellar group by any means and a lot will be expected out of the 7/8 guys in the 2010-2011 season as the Red Wings will likely opt to rest Salei or Ericsson at some point.
In case you missed them, here are the previews so far:
Take the jump and dive into the discussion about Doug Janik and Jakub Kindl.
Tin Foil Hat Time: Crazy Conspiracy Theory Corner
by J.J. from Kansas on Sep 2, 2010 8:46 AM CDT
in Opinion
13 comments
The Larry Brooks Piece from the NY Post detailing that the NHL is demanding concessions in the way contract salary cap hits are made with the threat that they'll refuse the new Ilya Kovalchuk contract, move to cancel the Roberto Luongo contract, and, like thuper-theriouthly threaten the Hossa deal isn't even 12 hours old yet and already there's a maelstrom among the media and the hockey blogosphere about every angle of these dealings.
What if this is an insanely calculated move?
So far, Brooks' story has yet to be confirmed by the league. While I hold Larry Brooks' integrity in high regard, thinking that his unnamed source gave him the info in good confidence, I wonder. What if this leak was a way for the NHL to actually gather reaction to this move before they make it, to see if it's worth the hassle it will cause them? The league gets to find out exactly how everybody will react and then, when they find out how negative it is, they get to say that it was never their intention in the first place. It's like a recon mission.
Even better, Larry Brooks has been vocal about his support of the Kovalchuk contract and his worry that the league will cause another harmful lockout. I don't imagine that as a reporter, he's very popular with the dark-cloaked men behind the scenes. If they deny that this was a valid story, not only have they successfully gotten the intel they wanted from the hockey blogosphere, but they've also moved to discredit a writer who has rattled a few too many cages.
Of course, this entire concept relies on the idea that the league is devious enough to carry out a plan like this. I don't believe it, but at least it was a fun mental exercise.
SB Nation Mock Expansion Draft: Save the children!
by Casey Richey on Sep 2, 2010 7:01 AM CDT
in Opinion
6 comments
Recently, the SB Nation hockey folks began a mock expansion draft, mainly to kill some time before the season begins I assume. The first step was polling fans and seeing which cities should get the two teams. Any guesses as to which two teams won? Hint: they've both already had a franchise that have moved!
The full results of the poll:
1. Winnipeg -- 28%, 653 votes
2. Quebec City -- 24%, 560 votes
3. Seattle -- 19%, 434 votes
4. Hamilton -- 11%, 250 votes
5. Portland -- 8%, 181 votes
Winnipeg and Quebec City earned the two teams (that will eventually move and establish a second team in Phoenix and Colorado each) and Gabriel Desjardins of Behind the Net (who, by the way, does excellent work and shame on you for not going there more) and the ever awesome James Mirtle of the Globe and Mail will be the GMs for these two teams. Gabe will pick the players for the Winnipeg franchise while Mirtle selects for the Quebec City.
So, I got to play the role of a general manager in a post-apocalyptic world and choose who the Red Wings would protect. Why do I say in a post-apocalyptic world? Because the apocalypse is likely to happen before the NHL ever expands to more than the number of teams there are now. But I digress.
Check after the jump for the stipulations on who we could protect, who was automatically protected, and how the whole thing worked out.
NY Post's Larry Brooks Reveals Planned Ultimatum by NHL to Players
by J.J. from Kansas on Sep 1, 2010 10:27 PM CDT
in Analysis/Reaction
0 comments
If an article posted by the New York Post's Larry Brooks turns out to be true (and so far, I have no indication to believe it's not), then the NHL is set to give the Players' Association an ultimatum regarding the treatment of long contracts given to NHL players which will impact the contracts of Ilya Kovalchuk, Roberto Luongo, Marian Hossa, and any future free agent trying to sign a long-term deal. The demanded changes are as follows:
- The salary cap hits for contracts that go beyond age 40 will not take years after 40 into consideration when calculating the average cap hit. The Kovalchuk, Luongo, and Hossa contracts would be grandfathered under the old rules, so it would only count for future contracts. For example's sake though, if it were to affect the current deals, it would make Marian Hossa's cap hit $6.13 million instead of the current $5.275. Luongo's would go from $5.33M to $6.7M.
- For future contracts, if the deal is longer than five years, the highest five years' worth of salary will carry additional weight when calculating the average cap hit. No additional details on how exactly this will be calculated are available yet.
Additionally, Brooks reports that if the NHLPA fails to respond to these demands or if the two sides cannot meet a common ground by Friday at 5 PM (Eastern), that the league will reject the newly proposed Kovalchuk contract, will move to void the Luongo contract and will "immediately open proceedings for a formal investigation into the Hossa contract." Finally, and most ominously, Brooks reminds us that the NHL's CBA gives the league broad power to punish clubs and players who are found to have violated the CBA. Join me after the jump for an analysis on what all of this means.
Quick Hits: 9/1
by AnimalDrew on Sep 1, 2010 5:00 PM CDT
in Quick Hits
0 comments
Your 2012-2013 Red Wings - One Nightmare On Helm Street reader asked me to look at what the Detroit Red Wings roster might be a few years from now...so I did. Not taking into account the obvious trade/waive/free agency acquisition - I laid out what the lineup might look like come October 2012.
Know Thy Enemy: St. Louis Blues - Graham over at The Hole In the Door's new thing is looking at all 29 other teams in the NHL and breaking them down...so it's probably going to be a regular here on Quick Hits for a while. Today, he breaks down the team that completely ruined my trip to Stockholm last year - the St. Louis Blues. (Truth be told, the trip was still great, but the hockey sucked).
Fantasy Mailbag- Darryl Dobbs of The Hockey News answers various questions regarding the upcoming (fantasy) hockey season. One reader asked about our own Jimmy Howard...and Dobbs responds by making a bold prediction that Jimmy flirts with 40 wins this season. That would be nice.
Clarifying Red Wings prospect Willie Coetzee's situation and two tidbits - George Malik of Snapshots clears the air surrounding the possibility of Willie Coetzee playing for the Griffins this year and he also discusses a pic of Brad Stuart that one of my readers submitted (I didn't know about the link until I started writing this, Casey - I swear) and also touches on Tomas Tatar's photoshoot for for Upper Deck's Top Prospects.
Red Wings Season Preview: Ericsson/Salei
by J.J. from Kansas on Sep 1, 2010 5:00 AM CDT
in Opinion
9 comments
Continuing on the Red Wings season previews from Casey's piece on goaltending Monday, we now switch focus up to their defensive pairings. Today we cover Jonathan Ericsson and Ruslan Salei, who are likely to get heavy minutes on the third defensive pairing, decent time on the penalty kill and sparing time on the power play. Jonathan Ericsson, the 26-year old, 6'4", 218-pound box of assorted leftovers from an Ikea store enters his third season as a Red Wing and the last year in his current contract, which will pay him $900,000 against the salary cap. He was drafted last overall in the 2002 NHL as a natural centerman converted to defenseman at Håkan Andersson's request after the king of European scouting watched him play the blue line on an emergency basis for one game with his then-junior Swedish team. His pairing partner, Ruslan Salei is a 35-year old 6'1", 212-pound Belarusian entering his 15th year of NHL service and his first with Detroit. Originally drafted 9th overall in 1996 by the then-Mighty Ducks of Anaheim who still had Adam Banks' number in the rafters, Salei has played for Anaheim (including both years that Babcock coached there), Florida, and most recently the Colorado Avalanche. He's coming off the end of a four-year contract which paid him $3.275 million last season to a pretty severe pay cut of $750,000 by the Wings with an additional $350,000 possible in bonuses. His last of three 82-game seasons came in 2006-07 where he also had his career-high of 32 points with the Florida Panthers. He missed significant time last year with a back injury, recording just six points in 14 games. Together, I expect these two will play more than half of Detroit's games this year on the third pairing.
Last Year's Benchmark: Last year's platoon of Red Wings 3rd-pairing guys consisting of returning Wings Jonathan Ericsson, Doug Janik, Jakub Kindl, and the soon-to-be-traded Derek Meech, as well as free agent Andreas Lilja and Maple Leafs' novelty joke-signing Brett Lebda combined for a total of 212 games played thanks to injuries to higher-tier defensemen Niklas Kronwall (48 GP) and Brian Rafalski (78 GP). I've corrected their stats to give totals for a 164-game average (two players playing 82 games each). It's not perfect, but it's close enough. Last year, our third line gave us 6 goals and 18 assists, had a plus/minus rating of -28 and sat in the box for 84 minutes over the course of the season. All of this while averaging 13:08 in ice time with 23-seconds of power play time and 52 seconds on the PK. Stats aside, I don't have to tell a Wings fan who watched a majority of the team's games that having our third pair on the ice was for large stretches last year more terrifying than hearing your girlfriend say "we need to talk... it's about your best friend." While not many expect their third pairing to be shining beacons of hope, we expect more. Ericsson and Salei will be expected to increase those numbers. Let's break them down individually.
Niklas Kronwall has Knee Surgery
by J.J. from Kansas on Aug 31, 2010 3:12 PM CDT
in News
6 comments
MLive's Ansar Khan reports that Red Wings defenseman Niklas Kronwall underwent arthroscopic knee surgery on his left knee this morning, where doctors found a lateral meniscus tear. Ken Holland anticipates that Kronwall's knee will be ready to go in time for Red Wings training camp to start September 18th in Traverse City.
Personally, I think this is fantastic news. The announcement last week that Kronwall's knee still felt weak and he didn't know why was a serious bit of concern. While no knee damage should really be considered "minor", what he has could have been a lot worse. This will probably slow down his turning and on-ice cutting for a bit, his mobility will remain good and the knee should be functional while he heals.
Kronwall's history of knee problems continues to grow and while it's hard to call news of another knee injury good news, it means that, unless another freak incident occurs with a large clod who doesn't belong on the ice, Kronwall should be able to give the Wings a fighting chance of playing a full hockey season for the first time in his Red Wings career.
WIM Fantasy Hockey League?
by Casey Richey on Aug 31, 2010 10:45 AM CDT
49 comments
Hey everyone, this is just a quick post seeing how many people would be interested in participating in a Winging It In Motown Fantasy Hockey League. A comment in a FanPost brought the idea to my attention so I thought I'd push the idea to you guys and see how much interest there is.
If there's enough interest we could even have multiple leagues. So here's some basics of what I'm thinking right now. Keep in mind this won't be set in stone quite yet, just a way of gauging interest. Have I used the word "interest" enough for you yet? Interest.
- It will be free to play
- The winner will get a $50 gift card to the NHL online shop
- Second place team will get a $20 gift card to the NHL online shop
- If there's multiple leagues, the prizes will be adjusted--I'm a college student, remember
Comment below if you're interested, I think doing a poll would overexaggerate the actual interest. Also, in the comments leave suggestions for the best place to hold the league (Yahoo!, ESPN, etc.) as I haven't played in a long time and you all may be more up to speed than I on that stuff.
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Most Commented
WIM Fantasy Hockey League?
by Casey Richey 5 days ago
49 comments
Tin Foil Hat Time: Crazy Conspiracy Theory Corner
by J.J. from Kansas 3 days ago
13 comments
Red Wings Season Preview: Ericsson/Salei
by J.J. from Kansas 4 days ago
9 comments
SB Nation Mock Expansion Draft: Save the children!
by Casey Richey 3 days ago
6 comments
Niklas Kronwall has Knee Surgery
by J.J. from Kansas 5 days ago
6 comments