Hudler, Filppula and Brunner

[Johnz96*]

Much better goaltending? Have you seen Howard's numbers this year?

And yeah, Calgary gets scored on more. Hudler is part of that problem. He's lead all forward in ice by a healthy margin. 50 more minutes than the next forward.

Are you serious???
Have you seen the Flames' goalies' numbers?

 

[ArGarBarGar]

Pulled this from one of Malik's updates yesterday. There was some speculation around here over whether Holland let Flip go and pushed to go in a new direction or if Flip priced himself off the club...well, I think we have a better idea of what happened now. Considering Flip came back to see if an offer was still on the table, I'm betting the money was at least close to what he eventually got from Tampa.

It doesn't change anything, but it seems the first preference was to keep Flip, and that Holland put forth a pretty solid offer to do so.

I would have preferred if Holland took a legitimate effort to make changes knowing how players performed during the season, instead of the player walking away and Holland having to make changes because of that.

 

[Winger98]

I would have preferred if Holland took a legitimate effort to make changes knowing how players performed during the season, instead of the player walking away and Holland having to make changes because of that.

By the same token, maybe he wanted to keep Flip because of how he's played in Detroit. I give Holland credit for at least moving decisively to try to fill a hole when his first option fell through.

 

[Henkka]

Pulled this from one of Malik's updates yesterday. There was some speculation around here over whether Holland let Flip go and pushed to go in a new direction or if Flip priced himself off the club...well, I think we have a better idea of what happened now. Considering Flip came back to see if an offer was still on the table, I'm betting the money was at least close to what he eventually got from Tampa.

It doesn't change anything, but it seems the first preference was to keep Flip, and that Holland put forth a pretty solid offer to do so.

Yeah, I have seen a some news article rumour, that they offered a contract with 4.75M caphit. Maybe it was that 7-year offer. That would make sense, then Yzerman outbids it with higher caphit, with a shorter contract.

And because Filppula hit the free agency, Weiss was the plan B for it.

 

[ScottyBowman]

Half our team can _only_ compete in the corners. I don't know if Brunner is worth his salary, but he's not a complete waste for a team desperate in need of scoring.

So then if half our team can't compete against the boards, then why bother adding a cream puff. Believe me, there is nobody on this Wings team right now that is as soft and worthless as he is along the boards. He doesn't even freaking try. He's a complete joke.

You must have missed the whole 30 games with 1 goal last year and his current streak of 1 goal in the last 12 games. He scores 2-3 goals in 2 games and then is completely worthless.

Can't play defense.
Can't score consistently.
Can't pass.

Stop this Brunner nonsense.

 

[Bench]

If we're going to lament about a soft winger it should be Semin. At the time I figured he at Datsyuk must not get along, but with recent news they hang out after games, well, no idea why Holland wouldn't hook them up. Semin even leaked he wanted to play with Datsyuk.

 

[InjuredChoker]

If we're going to lament about a soft winger it should be Semin. At the time I figured he at Datsyuk must not get along, but with recent news they hang out after games, well, no idea why Holland wouldn't hook them up. Semin even leaked he wanted to play with Datsyuk.

man don't bring that up.. best forward on canes every time i've seen them this year and only e. staal was equal last year.

 

[jaster]

So then if half our team can't compete against the boards, then why bother adding a cream puff. Believe me, there is nobody on this Wings team right now that is as soft and worthless as he is along the boards. He doesn't even freaking try. He's a complete joke.

You must have missed the whole 30 games with 1 goal last year and his current streak of 1 goal in the last 12 games. He scores 2-3 goals in 2 games and then is completely worthless.

Can't play defense.
Can't score consistently.
Can't pass.

Stop this Brunner nonsense.

You're missing the point. No one thinks he doesn't have major weaknesses. He certainly does. But the fact is, one of the few things he was good at was puck possession. He could hold onto the puck in the offensive zone. And that's one of the biggest problems with this current team, puck possession.

It's all part of the challenge of putting together a balanced lineup. Not everyone can be a two-way player with a well-rounded game. So you make sacrifices. We dumped Brunner. In some ways that helped us. In other ways, it hurt us.

 

[Sadekuuro]

Semin even leaked he wanted to play with Datsyuk.

He did? I missed that. I was already pissed we didn't give him a look.

 

[Bench]

He did? I missed that. I was already pissed we didn't give him a look.

I think Semin's agent was dropping those hints. Could have been a negotiation tactic, but I doubt it. They were in some tweets from a Washington beat guy, if memory serves.

It is on record he liked playing with him a lot at the World Championship.

 

[Sadekuuro]

Well, Pavel has said he wanted another Russian on the team, Babcock wanted another top six forward, and we could've had him on a short term deal for nothing except money.

So naturally... we didn't even look at him?

 

[InjuredChoker]

Well, Pavel has said he wanted another Russian on the team, Babcock wanted another top six forward, and we could've had him on a short term deal for nothing except money.

So naturally... we didn't even look at him?

one (reliable) russian hockey writer reported that wings inquired semin from his agent.

fwiw.

 

[Sadekuuro]

Okay, well, good... but we still should've signed him.

 

[ricky0034]

Well, Pavel has said he wanted another Russian on the team, Babcock wanted another top six forward, and we could've had him on a short term deal for nothing except money.

So naturally... we didn't even look at him?

Holland probably bought into all the bad myths about him

seems like the risk averse thing he loves,pass on the Russian guy everyone says mean things about and go for the "safe" option of a Samuelsson retread

 

[Frk It]

You're missing the point. No one thinks he doesn't have major weaknesses. He certainly does. But the fact is, one of the few things he was good at was puck possession. He could hold onto the puck in the offensive zone. And that's one of the biggest problems with this current team, puck possession.

It's all part of the challenge of putting together a balanced lineup. Not everyone can be a two-way player with a well-rounded game. So you make sacrifices. We dumped Brunner. In some ways that helped us. In other ways, it hurt us.

This is some good perspective.

Right now this team really could use some more guys who are offensive-centric, or could help out with puck possession. If you watch our games, we get dominated at even strength in possession all the time.

Really wish we would have kept Brunner-Andersson-Nyquist together as the 3rd line, after the nice little playoff run we had with them helping out. Or if nothing else, gone with Tatar-Andersson-Nyquist to start this year out. But Cleary really threw a wrench in that plan.

 

[Johnz96*]

This is some good perspective.

Right now this team really could use some more guys who are offensive-centric, or could help out with puck possession. If you watch our games, we get dominated at even strength in possession all the time.

Really wish we would have kept Brunner-Andersson-Nyquist together as the 3rd line, after the nice little playoff run we had with them helping out. Or if nothing else, gone with Tatar-Andersson-Nyquist to start this year out. But Cleary really threw a wrench in that plan.

Holland did by re-signing him.

 

[vladdy16]

Brunner isn't in the same league as Hudler. Brunner is truly one dimensional, Hudler has 2 weaknesses(neutral zone speed/defense, and getting picked on in the defensive zone) and pluses across the board otherwise.

I made it obvious over the half decade it was happening, and still feel the same way... a Red Wings team that embraced Hudler as a piece of the puzzle would be much more fun to support, and arguably would be much more successful.

Hudler has one of the most unique skill sets in the NHL, and is a world class playmaker with an offensive IQ akin to Igor Larionov. To me that trumps the fact that he didn't fit into the current coaches system.

The Red Wings missed their chance at developing Hudler(and to a lesser but significant extent, Filpulla) as a bridge between Datsyuk and Zetterberg, and the new crop of prospects(nyquist,tatar), and ended up losing out on Hudler, right as he was headed into his prime, was comfortable taking on a leadership role, and supplied a seasons worth of evidence that his game was progressing in areas that were noted as a reason for his insufficient playing time in Detroit. In the salary cap era, that's not an opportunity an organization can afford to miss.

Calgary is a mess, but I've enjoyed watching Hudler play for Hartley. I'm skeptical that Hudler can keep his pace through the middle part of the season, but I think it's been obvious watching him since leaving, that the Red Wings created an unnecessary hole in their lineup and that Hudler's weaknesses are overblown.

Hockey is a game that rewards creativity, intangibles and rhythm. Hudler's time in Detroit highlighted the coaching staff's inabiltiy to embrace these factors of a hockey game/season.

 

[vladdy16]

And this may be a total case of confirmation bias(something which Hudler was subjected to throughout his time in Detroit), but the post Hudler era in Detroit looks exactly how I expected it to.

 

[HIFE]

Brunner isn't in the same league as Hudler. Brunner is truly one dimensional, Hudler has 2 weaknesses(neutral zone speed/defense, and getting picked on in the defensive zone) and pluses across the board otherwise.

I made it obvious over the half decade it was happening, and still feel the same way... a Red Wings team that embraced Hudler as a piece of the puzzle would be much more fun to support, and arguably would be much more successful.

Hudler has one of the most unique skill sets in the NHL, and is a world class playmaker with an offensive IQ akin to Igor Larionov. To me that trumps the fact that he didn't fit into the current coaches system.

The Red Wings missed their chance at developing Hudler(and to a lesser but significant extent, Filpulla) as a bridge between Datsyuk and Zetterberg, and the new crop of prospects(nyquist,tatar), and ended up losing out on Hudler, right as he was headed into his prime, was comfortable taking on a leadership role, and supplied a seasons worth of evidence that his game was progressing in areas that were noted as a reason for his insufficient playing time in Detroit. In the salary cap era, that's not an opportunity an organization can afford to miss.

Calgary is a mess, but I've enjoyed watching Hudler play for Hartley. I'm skeptical that Hudler can keep his pace through the middle part of the season, but I think it's been obvious watching him since leaving, that the Red Wings created an unnecessary hole in their lineup and that Hudler's weaknesses are overblown.

Hockey is a game that rewards creativity, intangibles and rhythm. Hudler's time in Detroit highlighted the coaching staff's inabiltiy to embrace these factors of a hockey game/season.

Nicely said. Of the 3 up for discussion unquestionably Hudler is our biggest loss. It seemed at the time, "well we're not winning championships with him....close the door and a new one will open." But that door hasn't opened yet for the Wings.

From the first drop of last season Hudler was on fire. 27 points in 42 games is not to be taken lightly in today's NHL. I get to see only a few Calgary games but from that alone it can't be said enough how deeply important Hudler is to their team. His quickness, intelligence, is on a whole next plane that is improving the entire Flames system. 1st line, 1st PP minutes and he's a danger every shift. Calgary is at the moment reaping the reward of all the time and effort we put into developing Jiri. I understand we weren't getting far with Huds, but we would be a better team with him today, 100%! In hindsight getting rid of Hudler may end up being a bigger blunder than many here imagined.

 

[Hckytwn]

Yeah didn't Brunner pretty much sign with New Jersey, For about the same amount that Detroit offered. What was up with that.

Lead the team in goals early-on as a rookie, get benched. Lead the team in goals in the playoffs, get pushed to the third line.

Sure, maybe he should've had thicker skin, acted professional, been willing to pay his dues, etc... but it's not that hard to understand why he didn't want to play for Babcock. (Honestly, maybe we should take a hard look at the way Babs handled all of them, Fil and Huds included--and perhaps Smith and Franzen too.)

 

[Syckle78]

I was with ypi until you until you said Franzen. Franzen definitely isn't on Babcock.

 

[mindfly]

I think it's safe to say the wings would've been better off signing Filppula to the contract he has in Tampa, than getting Weiss to his current contract.

 

[Retire91]

I watched the lightning game last night filp was outstanding. First star of the game material. Looks like a totally different player.

 

[Chance on Chance]

I watched the lightning game last night filp was outstanding. First star of the game material. Looks like a totally different player.

I don't think he liked Babcock, I think he was gone unless we overpaid him by a million

 

[TheLerk]

If we would have signed Fil, everybody would be complaining why we did it because he would probably not have produced like he has in Tampa.

He is in a new environment with a different system and players on that team actually WANTS to shoot the puck, Fil is a playmaker and in his recent years in detroit, nobody wants to shoot the puck. Including Fil himself.

Well, we acquired a shooter in Alfredsson, so I guess if they would have had good chemistry Fils numbers would be up. Otherwise things would be the same.