I was hoping he'd have a bit of a bounce-back year this year with better health
but he's clearly done
at this point he's just taking up a roster spot that could be better used by Nyquist or Tatar
When Sammys healthy and Nyquist/Tatar waiting in the wings ... you gota think we move Miller or Cleary for a dman or something to free up some forward spots.
So far this season, it's been plainly obvious that Mursak is the odd man out. However, you have to think he's going to get some games in soon if they plan on moving him.
Given the fact that Helm i so injury prone, they can't afford to move Emmerton- especially given that he's been proving that he deserves to stay.
So we're looking at Eaves or Miller from the "expected going into the season" guys, and Cleary is rapidly playing himself into the group of "might be moved" guys as well.
Eaves is signed for next year, and if he proves he can stay healthy and play well, he's not going. Miller and Cleary are UFA; Miller has been playing decently at ES and on the PP. Cleary has been pretty much the team's worst forward. Only one of those two, at maximum, will get an extension; I've posted previously about how their spots could easily go to Nyquist+Tatar and the Wings could assemble three scoring lines and use the Abby/Helm/Tootoo 4th line I've been begging for since JULY - we saw it (and Miller/Helm/Tootoo; any questions?) against Minnesota.
Filppula and Brunner are the other UFA forwards the Wings have. Brunner is almost a guaranteed extension if he performs well (which appears to be the case so far); the only question is how much he'll cost. Filppula there will be every effort, but the Wings may be forced into trading him.
What could be possible is the following scenario:
(WARNING: LONG RAMBLING POST FOLLOWING)
Kyle Quincey has a track record as a 25-30 point defenseman. Ian White is a 30-35 point defenseman. Carlo Colaiacovo is a 30-point defenseman.
Lashoff has been playing fairly well (not great, but he works well with Kronwall). Huskins looks good and brings defensive elements that we need. These are guys who have been solid contributors who weren't part of the D-corps to start the year. This means two guys are out once everyone comes back. Assuming Kronwall, Ericsson, Smith, Lashoff, Huskins stay on the defense.
What if Flip (assuming contract problems) and one of the above defensemen (likely Quincey/Colaiacovo, possibly) and possibly pick/prospect were traded to get an upgrade on defense who is solid in both ends. Following that, Cleary/Miller (or both) plus another are traded with another one (surprise, it's the other one of Quincey/Colaiacovo, or possibly Kindl!), perhaps with a pick/prospect, to add a SIGNED (or RFA) top-six forward.
That could position the Wings for the following lineup:
Kronwall-Ericsson
Smith-??
Kindl/Huskins/Colaiacovo/Quincey-White
Maybe something like this:
First, a rumor turned message board desire:
to
D Jay Bouwmeester
to
F Valtteri Filppula
D Kyle Quincey
to
F Jussi Jokinen or F Bryan Little
to
F Dan Cleary
F Drew Miller
F Teemu Pulkkinen
D Carlo Colaiacovo
That sets the Wings up with this lineup:
Nyquist-Dats-Bertuzzi
Franzen-Z-Brunner
Eaves-Little/Jokinen-Samuelsson
Abby-Helm-Tootoo
Emmerton
Mursak
Kronwall-Ericsson
Smith-Bouwmeester (plenty of speed here)
Kindl/Huskins-White
This leaves the Wings with only four UFAs on the roster; Brunner, White, Howard, and Huskins. Defense is no longer a huge concern with the addition of Bouwmeester. Huskins would be easy to bring back or replace, and despite his much higher talent level the same can be said of White. Brunner (as stated before) is highly likely to return based on his experience and performance so far. Look for Holland to extend him soon to avoid a costly experience that might interfere with Flip and Howard. And all of that leaves Howard as the only potential troublemaker in the group. And the chances of a) Jimmy being trouble; or b) Holland giving him trouble the way he has with Hudler, Hossa, etc.; those are unlikely for a former Wings goalie re-signing the only starting netminder he's ever drafted. Actually, the second one is possible depending on how far along Mrazek is or whether the braintrut thinks Gustavsson is "starter material". But it's unlikely.