He’ll join Eric Johnson, TJ Oshie and Patrick Berglund on a team with a great young core.

Here is what TSN said:

A big, mobile puck mover who makes doing things with the puck appear easy. Scouts believe his upside is huge because he’s only just started to tap into his physical presence and as he matures they believe he could be a dominant force at both ends of the ice, although some scouts say he’s only paid cursory attention thus far to the game without puck.

This from the Sportsnet.ca mock draft

  He’s a bit more of a project then some of the others above, but he has size, scoring ability, can quarterback the power play and a taste for the physical game.

And here’s what the ISS said:

In fact, with the exception, perhaps, of the 2002 Stanley Cup, recently acquired big-name free agents haven’t played a very big role in the Wings cups.

That 2002 Stanley Cup was, more than the others, a Stanley Cup won with the help of owner Mike Illitch’s wallet. The Wings signed all-time greats Luc Robitaille and Brett Hull prior to winning that year. The cup was also made possible by Dominik Hasek’s decision to force Buffalo to trade him to Detroit.

But otherwise, these teams were built the old fashioned way. Steve Yzerman? Sergei Fedorov? Nick Lidstrom? The draft. Brendan Shanahan? Kirk Maltby? Kris Draper? Trades.

The 2008 Stanley Cup winning team is yet another example of a team built by the draft. Pavel Datsyuk, Henrik Zetterberg, Niklas Kronwall, Nick Lidstrom, Johan Franzen, Valtteri Filppula, Jiri Hudler … The list goes on and on.  The Wings also made shrewd signings after the lockout, getting Chris Osgood back for a song. They also signed Mikael Samuelsson, Dan Cleary and Andreas Lilja for next to nothing. Veteran Dallas Drake was signed in the most recent off-season. The only big name free agent was Brian Rafalski — and he was brought in after Matt Schneider left for Anaheim.

And it’s also unfair to say the Wings have enjoyed feasting on other team’s salary dumps at the trade deadline. While the Wings have made many of these trades, rarely to they result in instant post-season success. The biggest trades made by the Wings (Chris Chelios, Robert Lang, Matthieu Schneider) didn’t bring instant success. In fact, only Chelios ever won a Cup with Detroit. The more cautious trades (A second rounder for Brad Stuart, future considerations for Larry Murphy, etc) seem to fit better with the team.

The Globe and Mail recently printed an interesting feature on the 1998 draft.  In the article, the Globe prints the players taken in round 1 that year, and then, based on a survey of five scouts who worked during that draft, the 30 best players available from that draft were ranked.

Here’s the original draft.

1	1	Tampa Bay	Vincent Lecavalier	C	Rimouski Oceanic [QMJHL]	710	273	329	602	507
1	2	Nashville	David Legwand	C	Plymouth Whalers [OHL]	549	121	206	327	318
1	3	San Jose	Brad Stuart	D	Regina Pats [WHL]	579	59	170	229	372
1	4	Vancouver	Bryan Allen	D	Oshawa Generals [OHL]	371	20	53	73	467
1	5	Anaheim	Vitaly Vishnevsky	D	Torpedo-2 Yaroslavl (Russia)	552	16	52	68	494
1	6	Calgary	Rico Fata	R	London Knights [OHL]	230	27	36	63	104
1	7	NY Rangers	Manny Malhotra	C	Guelph Storm [OHL]	557	65	97	162	316
1	8	Chicago	Mark Bell	C	Ottawa 67’s [OHL]	445	87	95	182	597
1	9	NY Islanders	Michael Rupp	L	Erie Otters [OHL]	263	24	20	44	276
1	10	Toronto	Nikolai Antropov	C	Torpedo UST-Kamengorsk (Russia)	446	104	141	245	453
1	11	Carolina	Jeff Heerema	R	Sarnia Sting [OHL]	32	4	2	6	6
1	12	Colorado	Alex Tanguay	C	Halifax Mooseheads [QMJHL]	609	177	362	539	311
1	13	Edmonton	Michael Henrich	R	Barrie Colts [OHL]
1	14	Phoenix	Patrick DesRochers	G	Sarnia Sting [OHL]	11	0	0	0	2
1	15	Ottawa	Mathieu Chouinard	G	Shawinigan Cataractes [QMJHL]	1	0	0	0	0
1	16	Mtl. Canadiens	Eric Chouinard	C	Quebec Remparts [QMJHL]	90	11	11	22	16
1	17	Colorado	Martin Skoula	D	Barrie Colts [OHL]	643	37	132	169	308
1	18	Buffalo	Dmitri Kalinin	D	Traktor Chelyabinsk (Russia)	466	34	111	145	289
1	19	Colorado	Robyn Regehr	D	Kamloops Blazers [WHL]	592	25	96	121	591
1	20	Colorado	Scott Parker	R	Kelowna Rockets [WHL]	308	7	14	21	699
1	21	Los Angeles	Mathieu Biron	D	Shawinigan Cataractes [QMJHL]	253	12	32	44	177
1	22	Philadelphia	Simon Gagne	L	Quebec Remparts [QMJHL]	527	208	202	410	189
1	23	Pittsburgh	Milan Kraft	C	Keramika Plzen (Czech.)	207	41	41	82	52
1	24	St. Louis	Christian Backman	D	Vastra Frolunda [Sweden]	246	21	51	72	150
1	25	Detroit	Jiri Fischer	D	Hull Olympiques [QMJHL]	305	11	49	60	295
1	26	New Jersey	Mike Van Ryn	D	U. of Michigan [NCAA]	326	27	91	118	246
1	27	New Jersey	Scott Gomez	C	Tri-City Americans [WHL]	629	132	388	520	398

In that first round, the Wings had one draft pick in the first round, way down at #25.

But according to the Globe and Mail, the Wings have cornered the market on players from that draft. Tampa’s Vinny Lacavalier is still ranked #1. But who’s ranked #2? Non other than the Red Wings’ Pavel Datsyuk, who was drafted 170 picks later. Big defenseman Jiri Fischer, drafted 25th that year, moved up 10 spots to 15. Brad Stuart, who was drafted 3rd overall, was ranked 16th (I am a big Jiri Fischer fan, but I can’t support Stuart ranking lower than Fischer). Mikael Samuelsson, drafted 145th overall by the Sharks, ranks 21st on the list. And playoff stud Johan Franzen, who was eligible but went undrafted until six years later, when the Wings selected him 97th overall, was ranked 25th overall for 1998.

So the Wings had 2 of the top 15 draft picks that year. And, had Jiri Fischer’s career not ended prematurely, the might have had five of the top 25 players from that draft on their roster. Stuart, they paid for, by trade. Samuelsson came as a dirt cheap unrestricted free agent from Sweden after the lockout. That is simply amazing.

Here are other drafts in which Detroit’s picks/players would be in the first round, if redone.

• 1989 — Lidstrom, Fedorov, Konstantinov, Sillinger, Drake, Boughner (later round)
•  1990 —Kozlov, Primeau, (Jason York in later rounds)
• 1991 — Lapointe, Osgood, Knuble
• 1992 — Neither McCarty or McGillis are worth a first, but are notable

Here come the lean years

• 1993 — Ugh, Anders Ericsson
• 1994 — Tomas Holmstrom, Matthieu Dandenault (on the edge)
• 1995 — Nothing
• 1996 — Nothing
• 1997 — Nothing
• 1998 — Datsyuk, Fischer
• 1999 — Zetterberg
• 2000 — Niklas Kronwall
• 2001 — None (Grigorenko likely would have been were in not for the car crash)
• 2002 — Filppula, Hudler (And I think Ericsson will be on the list before long

So, from 1989 to 1992, the Wings built their franchise through the draft. And then, in 1998, the restocking began. Amazingly, of the 16 players I listed as first round caliber, only Fischer, Kronwall (late first rounders), Primeau, Lapointe and Sillinger were first rounders. Plus, there were busts (Bowen, Ericsson, Wallin, Golubovsky, etc). But the Wings had 9 first round draft picks in this 13 year span, and came out with 15 first rounders.

That’s not supposed to happen to a team always ranked near the top of the standings every year. Then again, maybe that’s the reason why the team is always ranked high in the standings every year.

Dallas Drake: In June of 2007, just days before the NHL free agency period began, Dallas Drake was waived and bought out by the St. Louis Blues, a team he had captained and been an integral part of for many years. One year later, he admits he was pondering retirement if no seemingly playoff-bound team had interest in him. Fortunately for him, the team that drafted him did have interest, as well as a storied history, a great recent playoff performance, and one of the most talented organizations from the front office down to the ice. He was signed by the Red Wings, much to the chagrin of many Red Wings fans, who mostly only tolerated him because of his minimum-wage salary. Of course, that was before he stepped into the lineup and immediately gave them a chippy, pseudo-enforcer who was willing to drop the gloves for his teammates. Since then, he’s become a fan favorite, and was key in helping the Wings to close out a surging Dallas Stars team in the Western Conference Finals. He enjoyed his first Stanley Cup Finals appearance, in the twilight of his career, and after Nicklas Lidstrom’s initial skate with the Stanley Cup, got his turn to hoist the 35-pound trophy high above his balding head.

Darren McCarty: Bought out by the Red Wings in 2005 and performing an injury-riddled stint with the Calgary Flames, it appeared Darren McCarty’s NHL career had come to an end. Ex-wife woes, substance abuse, gambling problems, and bankruptcy finally appeared to snuff out any hope of a return to hockey for the former Detroit Red Wing celebrity. But after spending some time rectifying his off-ice problems, Darren McCarty was able to get his career back on track (and no, I’m not talking about his band, ‘Grinder’). He took his lumps first in the IHL and then later in the AHL before earning a roster spot with the Detroit Red Wings, a few short weeks before the Red Wings were to make their 2008 playoff debut. He’ll now see his name etched onto the Stanley Cup as a Red Wing for the 4^th time in just 11 years.

Chris Osgood: Despite having the better regular season, Chris Osgood was playing backup to sure-fire Hall of Famer Dominik Hasek when the playoffs started. But two games against a fiery Nashville team changed all that and Osgood quickly found himself thrust into the starting position midway through the first round. He filled in admirably and earned himself a healthy amount of Conn Smythe consideration with his league-leading goals against average and back-to-back shutouts to start out the Finals against one of the most dominant offensive teams in the NHL. He hoisted his third Stanley Cup tonight, and his 2^nd as starting goaltender – sort of – with his 1^st coming a decade ago.

Chris Chelios: Will piss and vinegar be in the Stanley Cup when this old goat gets his chance with the trophy? I personally hope not. That’s gross. But you can be sure to associate piss and vinegar with Cheli at every other turn. Despite being injured and later scratched in the Stanley Cup Finals, Father Time still became the oldest player to get his name on the Stanley Cup, at 46.

Henrik Zetterberg: Is there a more complete forward in the NHL right now than Hank Zetterberg? Proving critics of his Selke nomination wrong, Zetterberg dominated at both ends of the ice, all playoffs long, where he shutdown the likes of Sidney Crosby, Marian Hossa, Mike Ribeiro, Paul Stastny, and Evgeni Malkin. Okay, so maybe Malkin didn’t really need to be shutdown, but Zetterberg still proved he could cut it against the league’s best offensive stars. His performance on two extended 5-on-3 disadvantages in the Finals proved to be crucial in the Red Wings last two victories, and he got the game-winning goal to boot in the Red Wings’ 16^th playoff victory, albeit an ugly one. He finished the playoffs T-1^st in points, goals, and +/-, solidifying his place in history as a Conn Smythe winner, and as the first European forward (only the 2^nd European ever) to do so.

Daniel Cleary: This former 1^st round pick was considered a bust for most of his career. Until he put on that Red Wings jersey. In his 2^nd season as a Wing, just last year, he became a 20-goal scorer and posted career highs in all offensive categories, only to best his career high in points this season, despite missing some 20 games with a broken jaw. But what’s even more interesting about Cleary’s story is that he became the first Newfoundlander ever to win the Stanley Cup. At least Don Cherry had something to cheer about as the Stanley Cup was being skated around.

Niklas Kronwall: His story is impressive enough when you consider that he was able to stay healthy for the entire playoffs. Add that to the fact that he managed more points than both Brian Rafalski and Niklas Lidstrom as a defenseman, and finished T-1^st in +/- with Zetterberg at +16 and some buzz surrounding his name for the Conn Smythe makes sense. But it’s a good thing it went to Zetterberg, since the NHL likely would’ve engraved the Smythe with Kronvall, as they still haven’t managed to figure out he spells his name with a ‘w’ and not a ‘v’.  Even still, it’s fairly safe to say his presence in last years Western Finals against Anaheim may have changed the outcome. For those who don’t remember, Kronwall missed all of last year’s playoffs, with a broken sacrum. Yes, he was out with a broken bum.

Johan Franzen: Had ‘the Mule’ not been suffering from a little case of post-concussion syndrome, he may have been the Conn Smythe winner himself. Despite missing the entire third round against Dallas, Franzen still finished tied for 1^st in goals with 13 playoff goals in just 16 games. Those numbers are phenomenal regular season numbers, let alone playoff numbers, where scoring goals becomes a bit tougher for everyone. If his torrid scoring pace at the end of the regular season didn’t garner him notice, he surely earned a name for himself in the 2008 playoffs, where he became the target of top-defensive pairings.

Pavel Datsyuk: An internet genius once commented that the Detroit Red Wings would never win the Stanley Cup with Pavel Datsyuk on their roster. It was a stupid comment at the time, considering Pavel Datsyuk had already won a Stanley Cup with the Detroit Red Wings as a rookie in 2002, but I understood the point, despite the incoherence. Pavel Datsyuk was a playoff ghost, a bona-fide choker. First folks said he couldn’t put up any points in the playoffs, then when he did that, people said he couldn’t score playoff goals. Even after his strong performance in the 2007 playoffs, people said he couldn’t produce on the road. Well it’s safe to say that Pavel Datsyuk put all those kiddies to bed with his performance this season. He finished with 23 points in 22 games, managed a +13 rating, and had 10 goals. However, what’s most astounding is that 17 of his points came on the road. Not only is that a testament to his ability to fight through tighter road checking, but it’s also a credit to his complete game. Mike Babcock chose to use him in a varying defensive role with the last change at home, and Datsyuk responded with great defense, and a team high 55 hits. He, too, earned Conn Smythe consideration. If I knew how to say “F you, naysayers” in Russian, it would be appropriate here.

Dominik Hasek: Not much to say about the not-so-dominant dominator, other than perhaps a nod towards his class. Although its not the sort of thing you usually associate with Dominik Hasek, from the outside, it seemed Dom took his position as backup goaltender well, and didn’t create distraction nor drama in the dressing room. Props to him. But promise us this, Dom: if you plan to retire this time, make it for good.

Valterri Filppula: With the Red Wings heavy European flavor, you may be surprised that they featured a Finn on their roster for the first time just a few years ago. Valterri Filppula became the first Finnish player ever to don the Winged Wheel in 2006. Even though most people still can’t pronounce his name, he’s been a young highlight on the Wings roster for two playoff seasons running now. He scored a key goal in the Cup-winning game, and a few highlight reel goals to boot through this years playoffs, all the while playing stellar defense despite his young age.

Jiri Hudler: He was mentored by Robert Lang in his first season with the Red Wings last year, so it’s no surprise Mike Babcock wasn’t a huge fan of Hudler’s work ethic initially. But a lot has changed since then. Despite taking two ill-timed penalties in the last two games of the Stanley Cup Finals, Hudler did his best to shine on a team full of All-Stars, which is tough when you’re the size of a penguin - the ones from the South Pole, not Pittsburgh. Although Hudler only saw 2^nd unit powerplay time and pulled regular duty as a 4^th liner, he still managed 14 points, including the game winner of the Red Wings 15^th playoff victory.

Darren Helm: Luckily for Helm, his birthday comes early in the year. Otherwise he may have had to shy away from drinking out of Lord Stanley’s Cup on national television. The youngster who turned 21 in January wasn’t even a regular on the Red Wings roster pre-playoffs, but his performance in the playoffs was veteran-like. He was the fastest player on the ice most nights and scored a couple crucial goals in the playoffs to make his presence felt. He never shied away from physical contact and likely earned himself a regular spot on next year’s roster. There’s at least one guy hoping Dallas Drake retires.

Brad Stuart: Brad Stuart’s story might’ve been all about luck, if it wasn’t for his amazing chemistry with Niklas Kronwall. At first it seemed the addition of Brad Stuart to the Red Wings was going to be a story all about Stuart’s trade from a bottom-feeding NHL team to the league’s best, and riding their coattails to ultimate victory. But instead Stuart became a huge presence on the Red Wings blueline, and the other half of a feared hitting defensive unit for the Red Wings. He managed 6 points in the last 8 games of the playoffs, and was 2^nd in the league with +15.  I heard May wasn’t a great month for golfing in California anyways.

Brian Rafalski: Brought in almost immediately after Mathieu Schneider signed with the Anaheim Axis of Evil, Brian Rafalski helped resurrect a woeful Red Wings powerplay that was rather powerless for much of the 2006-2007 season. He signed with his hometown team in the ‘07 off-season and became a perfect fit for Nick Lidstrom on the top line. He finished off his hockey season by scoring the opener in tonight’s Cup-winning game. Welcome home, Raffi.

Mike Samuelsson: Poor Mikael was a throwaway on this Red Wings roster when the playoffs started. Constantly ridiculed by Red Wings fans for ill-placed shots into the logos of goaltenders league-wide, he managed to redeem himself in the playoffs by opening Stanley Cup Finals scoring and pushing the Wings to their first Finals victory in 6 years. He scored 3 goals in the first 3 games of the finals – besting Malkin, Zetterberg and Crosby in that category for the Finals. True story.

Andreas Lilja, Brett Lebda: Perhaps the story here is what Lilja and Lebda – Detroit’s bottom pairing for the Finals – didn’t do, rather than what they did do. Lebda didn’t throw an iffy hip-check that would sprain his ankle and render him useless for most of the playoffs, and Lilja didn’t single handedly destroy the Red Wings playoff hopes with a direct giveaway to the Pens best scorer in the offensive zone that would cost the Red Wings a game. Instead, both defenseman kept their game simple and contributed when they could, even if it was as a healthy scratch. But inevitably both players earned their keep over Chris Chelios, and did their part in holding off the surging Penguins in the Finals.

Chuck Norris, Tomas Holmstrom, Kirk Maltby: Business as usual for these three. Checking, defense, and butts in faces are what these guys do best. They’re the type of guys you can’t win Stanley Cups without, as the Red Wings know. These three performed crucial roles in all four of the Red Wings most recent Stanley Cups. In Holmstrom’s words, “that’s ridiculous.”

Ken Holland: The man with the skilled plan. After all, isn’t everything about the Red Wings skilled? Ken Holland proves over and over why he’s the best General Manager in the NHL. Especially now that all his critics no longer have any excuses to dole out. No, he didn’t inherit a stacked team. No, he didn’t go out and lure in all the future Hall of Famers in the free agent pool. Instead, he built a Cup-winning team with leftovers like Sammuelsson, Cleary, Drake, Downey, Osgood, McCarty, and Lilja. Instead, he had the final say in the drafting of late round gems and picked-over goods like Datsyuk, Franzen, rookie Darren Helm, and Zetterberg, and he certainly didn’t empty his pockets – or the farm – to add Brian Rafalski and Brad Stuart. Nope. This years compilation of the 2008 version of the Detroit Red Wings is definitely Holland’s doing….Or was it Yzerman’s?

Mike Babcock: Can enough be said about this guy’s coaching abilities? The Wings did well to nab him back in 2005, but he wasn’t been able to put his stamp on this team until some of the louder veteran voices had left his locker-room for good at the end of the 2006 season, however emotional their departures were. Since then, Mike Babcock has coached his team to six playoff series victories in 2 years. And in just his second time coaching a team in the Finals he was able to taste victory - which I hear tastes a lot like champagne and beer with a hint of iron. And he was able to do all of this without a soapbox to stand on. But between Trotz and Therien, I heard there weren’t any left anyways.

Steve Yzerman: No Stanley Cup role call would be complete without Yzerman. Although guys like Downey and Hartigan may be worthy of closing the list, it’s important to acknowledge the seamless transition Steve Yzerman has made from ice to office. He played his part in piquing the entire front staff’s interest in Drake and Stuart and in just his second year as Vice President of the Detroit Red Wings, Yzerman will get his name on the cup, albeit by taking a slightly different route. Fortunately, he didn’t have to do it on one leg this time.

Niklas Lidstrom will be the first European player in history to captain his team to the promised land in its 115 year history tonight, as the Detroit Red Wings have won the 2008 Stanley Cup, defeating the Pittsburgh 4-2 in the best of 7.

Though the Pittsburgh Penguins rallied on, scoring a power play goal with less than two minutes to go, Detroit won the game 3-2 on goals by Brian Rafalski, Valtteri Filppula, and Henrik Zetterberg, whereas Evengi Malkin and the injured Sergei Gonchar scored for the Penguins, who almost scored with less than a second left.

As I’m writing in the final seconds, we don’t know the exact details yet, but it is presumed that Henrik Zetterberg will win the Conn Smythe Trophy for Playoff MVP.

This is the eleventh time that the Red Wings have won the cup, tying the Toronto Maple Leafs for the second most in NHL history (the Montreal Canadiens lead with 24) , with several players on this wings roster getting their 4th.

As well, Chris Chelios is the oldest player to ever win the cup, at 46 years old.

Photos and video coming.

UPDATE: Henrik Zetterberg is indeed the Conn Smythe Winner. Penguins fans are cheering ‘Crosby!’ right now, haha.

After struggling to eliminate the Dallas Stars through games 4 and 5 of the Western Conference Finals, it was third-line grinder Kris Draper and the hard-hitting veteran Dallas Drake who started the victory rush with the opening two goals of a game 6 victory that would rocket the Wings to the Stanley Cup Finals. Mikael Samuelsson has had his own say in this years Cup finals as well.

In fact, let’s be honest here.

How many of you were calling for The Next Great One or even The Next Great Addition in Crosby or Hossa to be leading the finals in goals scored? Raise your hand if you picked one of the two dynamic Russian superforwards to lead the finals in putting the biscuit in the basket. Some of you may have chosen an alternate route, picking a Swede to be the dominant goal scorer, but we all know you meant Johan Franzen or Henrik Zetterberg. Whichever you chose, you were wrong. Undoubtedly next to no one chose the Forgotten Swede, Mr. High and Wide himself, the number one forward armchair GMs would boot off the Wings roster if they could - Mikael Samuelsson. He leads all forwards with 3 goals in 4 games, opened finals scoring with a pair of goals that put away the Pens for good in Game 1, and has possibly saved himself from being trade bait in the off-season (although all bets are off for next years trade deadline).

There were some who were questioning the Wings ability to compete with the Penguins, due to their supposed “lack” of scoring depth, yet through four rounds of playoff hockey, All-Stars such as Nicklas Lidstrom or Brian Rafalski, and top-liner Tomas Holmstrom can’t count themselves among the Red Wings Top 5 scorers. Through Saturday, Johan Franzen, Jiri Hudler, and Niklas Kronwall – a 2^nd liner, 4^th liner, and 2^nd pairing defenseman, respectively – were rounding out the Top 5 offensive crusade to Lord Stanley’s Cup. I’m guessing few hockey fans would be able to guess the Red Wings top five in playoff scoring if pressed to do so.

As any team will attest, team depth is crucial during the playoffs. The likes of Jordan Staal and defensive defenseman Brooks Orpik have provided strong play for the Penguins through four rounds of playoff hockey, despite what some may have called questionable regular seasons. Ryan Malone, on the other hand, has blossomed as a rough and tumble, bona fide second liner who has carried over his offensive success from the regular season into the playoffs, and has two playoff game-winning goals to his name. Hal Gill is another name, among others, who has stepped up his game considerably in the playoffs. And who could forget “backup” goaltender Chris Osgood playing hero for the Red Wings after coming in mid-first round to lead the playoffs in goals against average?

Guys like Samuelsson and Hudler, Gill and Staal, Robidas, and Umberger are a testament to how important those poor man’s second liners and pairings are. And it’s because of players like those that both the Red Wings and Penguins are still playing hockey while the rest of the NHL players are wondering when their GM or coach is going to get poached by the Toronto Maple Leafs. Look for the buzzword “depth” to be thrown around considerably by whichever NHL broadcast you watch tonight.

The seperation left the lines at practice looking like such:

Fillpula - Datsyuk - Holmstrom

Franzen - Zetterberg - Samuelsson

Hudler - Draper - Cleary

Drake - Hartigan - McCarty

This strategy forces Predators coach Barry Trotz to choose which line to send his checking line against.

It’ll be interesting to see how Red Wings coach Mike Babcock chooses to use his third line. With Kris Draper and Dan Cleary, it could be used as an effective checking line. However, from an offensive standpoint, Draper and Cleary’s speed and grit could free up a lot of room for the offensively minded Jiri Hudler to work his magic. Regardless, Babcock is showing more confidence in Hudler than he did in last years playoffs as Hudler was benched more than once.

The Red Wings currently lead the series 2-0, and they’re headed to Nashville for games 3 and 4.

However, with Nichol’s loss comes the gain of David Legwand for the Pred. Legwand at first was doubtful for the opening two games of the series, though Legwand has shown to coaches he’s ready to play.

Ever since Steve Yzerman retired and Brendan Shanahan signed as a free agent with the New York Rangers, the Detroit Red Wings have truly become Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk’s team. And they’ve responded tremendously, posting strong offensive numbers in the past few seasons. Now that they’ve established themselves as a pair of arguably top 10 NHL forwards, people have also started to take note of their strong defensive presence to the point where both names are being tossed around in Selke discussions. 

But which is the better choice? 

At the beginning of the season, Zetterberg would’ve likely garnered the majority vote in this debate. And he’s still arguably the better option. He has a reputation for being a go-to penalty killer, despite the fact that Detroit is likely the deepest team in the league when it comes to  great penalty killing forwards, having seven or eight great options to choose from. He rarely makes careless plays with the puck, regardless of which zone he’s in, and his play along the boards is akin to that of a gritty third-line checker. He’s known for being incredibly strong on the puck and can strip the puck with the best of them. He’s also key in the face-off circle, taking - and winning - critical face-offs game after game, where he’s taken nearly 30% of his teams face-offs throughout the year.  

Datsyuk is also a key face-off taker, rounding out the top 3 Red Wings in face-off percentage with Draper and Zetterberg. But where Datsyuk really wows is in the takeaways department. He finished the season with 144 takeaways, almost double that of Mike Modano who finished second in the NHL this year. He started out at the beginning of the season as a defensive forward flying very much under the radar. But throughout the season, he’s picked up speed and is now likely to receive some Selke consideration himself. His defensive play has become especially apparent during long stretches where Zetterberg has been out with injury, both this season and last. He rarely gets beaten one on one and is possibly the most dedicated back-checker on the entire Wings squad. He also led the league in +/- this year at +41.

What’s going to count against Datsyuk in the league-wide Selke debate, however, is how he is (mis)perceived as a skilled, soft player, whereas Zetterberg has a reputation for being a stronger, more hard-hat type of player. What’s going to count against Zetterberg is Datsyuk’s emergence and increasing acclaim, founded in takeaway stats and plus minus ratings as well as intangibles. In terms of Selke consideration, Datsyuk and Zetterberg’s PK time will likely also count against them both - a shame, as its more a testament to smart coaching and the Red Wings penalty killing depth, than it is an indication of the “Euro Twins” defensive strength and reliability. Also, few people realize how often Babcock chooses to play Datsyuk and Zetterberg against the oppositions top line in a checking role.  

Regardless of the outcome in the highly contested Selke debate, Zetterberg and Datsyuk both deserve mention among the Maddens, Pahlssons, Alfredssons and Brind’amours of the league. And the Red Wings are more than lucky to have them both. 

Abdelkader was key to the Spartans national championship last year scoring many key game winning goals. By signing the amateur tryout, Abdelkader effectively ended his Spartan hockey career to which Abdelkader replied to in his press release published by College Hockey News, “ …it’s difficult to leave Michigan State. My three years there were the best of my life, and not only from a hockey standpoint. I’m proud that we were able to win a National Championship, and was thrilled to have the opportunities that were given to me not only by the coaching staff, but also within the University. I want to thank everyone who has been incredibly supportive of me over the last three years.”

Also, it’s Abdelkader is close to signing a 3 year entry-level contract. In order to be eligible for the playoffs, Abdelkader must be signed by saturday.