Jakub Kindl to make NHL debut tonight against Oilers

by Casey Richey on Dec 3, 2009 12:45 PM CST in News Comment 5 comments

More photos » Jerry S. Mendoza - AP

Various sources have Kindl starting tonight for the Wings after being called up from the AHL's Grand Rapids Griffins. So far in Grand Rapids this year, Kindl has only one goal but has dished 11 assists in 19 games.

Brian Rafalski left practice early yesterday with a sore back and will be out of the lineup. Kindl was called up and will be paired with Brett Lebda while Meech/Stuart and Lidstrom/Ericsson will likely be the other two pairings. Kindl will also get time on the top powerplay unit apparently, which could be mean some points in his debut as Edmonton is ranked within the bottom 5 in Penalty Killing.

Hopefully Kindl will show the skills so often advertised and be able to show that he could vie for a spot in the near future. Kindl's first crack at the top level could lead to more playing time if injuries persist or he shows enough promise.

Also, the likely forward lines for tonight's contest are as follows (per Ansar Khan of mlive.com):

Leino-Datsyuk-Holmstrom

Bertuzzi-Zetterberg-Cleary

Draper-Helm-Miller

May-Abdelkader-Maltby

Leino on the top line? This better be a change for an increase in his performance, not a reward for his lack of.

Poll

Are you excited for Kindl's debut?

Yes, about time!

74 votes

Nah, not really.

21 votes

95 votes | Poll has closed

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Comments

Oilers

For the Oilers, the buzz is surrounding the question of whether or not they should just blow up this team and try to free up some cap space.

Low On Oil

by Hockey Noob on Dec 3, 2009 2:38 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

well

before you blow them up, can you ship us Ales Hemsky por favor?

Winging It In Motown

by Casey Richey on Dec 3, 2009 3:10 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Penner vs. Hemsky

I’d love to get either Hemsky or Penner but I’d much, much rather have Penner over Hemsky.
Penner’s making 4.25 million through the 2011-2012 season, Hemsky’s cap hit is 4.1 through 11-12. Technically we could afford either one of them. Penner is 27, Hemsky 26. Both can score lots of points with Penner having 15 goals and 15 assists already and Hemsky has 7 goals and 15 assists. The one big difference is Penner being 6’4 weighs 243 pounds and is a true PF who can skate and has amazing hands. Hemsky is 6’0 but he weighs just 191 pounds. We need a PF not another shooter.

Truthfully, it makes no sense for Edmonton to trade either of these guys unless they get a boat load of prospects (which Detroit has). To get one of these guys Edmonton would need to decide to trade them, Detroit would need to be okay giving 4 of their top 10 prospects, and Detroit would need to fit them in contract wise. I would love Penner or Hemsky I just don’t think all 3 things will happen.

by Kman23 on Dec 3, 2009 5:03 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs