Central Division

Discuss the Central Division here.

I'm soo happy my fav team got 2 vote out of 2 since I feel they are the team that compete the hardest in the league year round.
They might be old but I feel Lidstrom is showing the world how they can compete and what they are made of. So when the playoff come arround don't be surprise if there leading the nhl in pts.

The Detroit Red Wings win the Central division for the NINTH time in ten years, and has won 13 out of 17 seasons that the Central Division has existed. They have never finished lower than second in the division, and have continued their string of excellence as an organization.

They will face the Phoenix Coyotes in the first round, and should get past them in six games.

Shea Weber just got a 7.5M$ deal from the arbitrator. That's quite a bit, but weber is damned important to that team

that seems about right, for what he has done and what the players in his class are getting paid.

Could this affect doughty? Or to a lesser extent schenn?

I think the big thing is what it will do to the Preds next year. They have to sign Rinne and Suter, Rinne will probably be at least $6M if he has a similar season and Suter will be $6-7M or even the same as Weber, some people believe that Suter is the better player, and he is younger. Considering that the Preds offloaded a lot of contracts and never spend the big bucks it is quite possible that they will have to move one of these 3 players in order to keep costs down.

Oh, and not to mention that Weber will be an RFA again, that will be a nightmare to deal with.

They need to pay the money to keep those guys in town. They can't afford to keep letting players leave. Moving Franson, to me, looked like a way of keeping future costs down. It looked like it was a preemptive move to keep Suter, Weber and Rinne in Nashville.

I think Doughty will get at least $7M, I don't see Schenn over $5M (if he's even at that price yet)

Schenn plays like a guy that shouldn't even be getting $3.5-4M

derek wrote:Schenn plays like a guy that shouldn't even be getting $3.5-4M

Schenn went very unnoticed that season, but I kept my eye on him. He did nothing but play well. Solid season, deserves $4M for 2 yrs then we'll see where we he plays after that.

I say 2 years b/c if he flops, you're not stuck paying him for a long time.

I don't think he has the offensive upside to make more than 3.5M, he had 22 points last season and was -7, usually to get more you need to do more than just be a defensive player(I have no clue how Komisarek got $6M or whatever Burke threw at him).

Players with comparable point output:
Bieksa - 22 points, +32, 4.5M cap hit
Foster - 22 points, -12, 1.8M cap hit
Greene - 23 points, -23, 3M cap hit
Rosival - 21 points, +6, 5M cap hit

Big contract differences but the main difference between these guys and Schenn is that they have been in the league longer. I would go as far to say that they each have qualities that are better than him, besides maybe speed when it comes to Greene and Rosival. Maybe in a few years he will be good enough to get something higher.

I'm hoping he signs for as low as $3M, but I think it'll take $4M to get it done.

Wade Belak was found dead today in a Toronto hotel room

saw that, looks to me like they need to improve their drug program...

No talk of what the cause of death is, but I used to be a fan of the WWE, and the NHL is starting to feel like that...

if they're really trying to make the game safe, they should think about removing fighting from the game. They would definitely need institute harsher penalties for on-ice shenanigans if players aren't allowed to "stand up for themselves and their teammates", but I think it can be done. If they can do it in football, they can do it in hockey.

Hockey is the only sport where fighting is not only a 5 minute penalty, but actually encouraged. Automatic suspension in the other 3 major sports in north America. Don't get menwrong though, I do enjoy a good dance, but how many playoff fights do you see? When the games matter most, nobody even dresses guys that drop the gloves.

exactly, and there aren't any fights in the olympics either and those two examples (including yours about the playoffs) are the best hockey we see.

I only agree with removing fighting from the game if the NHL institutes harsher penalties for "agitators" or "goons" or any other term used to describe cheap shot artists.