Changes for Wings for Game 5

There's a lot of blame to go around in Detroit right now. Sure, most people (outside of Detroit) thought that Nashville would beat the Wings in this series. Nashville is younger, deeper, has an elite defensive pairing (Weber/Suter), and one of the top two or three goalies in the game in Rinne. But there is no reason for the Wings to have lost both games at home when they have been dominant at home all year long.

People want to blame Howard. Yeah, he over committed on the Predators' second goal. But Lidstrom, White, and Hudler all followed the same guy into the corner leaving more open ice than I've ever seen. Meanwhile, Filppula should have been covering Klein, who ended up scoring and just stopped covering him in the neutral zone. That was just a terrible play by the entire team. And yes, Howard should've stopped the goal that didn't count and could have made a great save on the Preds' first goal. But Howard isn't the problem. Howard isn't an elite goalie, he's a good goalie. He makes 2.25 per year currently. He shouldn't be expected to outplay Rinne - he's not that talented. He should be expected to keep Detroit in the game and give them a chance to win on every night. And he's been doing that.

Detroit had a lot of shots last night, but in my opinion there weren't a lot of quality chances there. Rinne may have made a couple saves that made me say wow, but that was it. If the Wings want to beat an elite goaltender like Rinne they have to generate more rebounds, more screen shots, and more high quality side-to-side chances that are difficult for the best of the best (which Rinne is) to stop. Right now, most of Detroit's chances have been coming from the perimeter as Nashville has done an excellent job of plugging up the middle of the ice and the front of the net.

This is where players need to drive the net. Franzen and Bertuzzi are both big enough that they should always be doing this. Zetterberg, Datsyuk, Filppula, Hudler, Cleary, Nyquist and the rest need to do the same. Believe it or not Nashville isn't an overly big team. They aren't an overly physical team. They aren't beating the Wings up whatsoever; they're just playing hard, defensive hockey.

The Wings have enough in their arsenal to beat Nashville, but they just aren't doing what it takes. Franzen especially has been disappointing to me as he got a monster contract because he's big and supposedly clutch in the playoffs. He needs to use his size to drive the net and take over a game instead of just being angry. Turn that anger into good hockey.

If I were Babcock I'd change up the lines to look something like this:

Nyquist - Datsyuk - Bertuzzi
Filppula - Zetterberg - Cleary
Abdelkader - Franzen - Hudler
Miller - Emmerton - Holmstrom

That gives the Wings three lines that should be able to score. Being able to role three scoring lines will wear on Nashville's defense who have a lot of inexperience after Weber/Suter, especially since they're currently missing Hal Gill.

Changes may need to be made to this team this summer - and are likely coming - but there's no reason this current group should go out in five games to a foe who is deeper but more or less is equal.

The Wings have two days of rest, which should give them enough time to figure out what they need to do to win. We'll see.

P.S. Babcock is a great coach, but he needs to play Nyquist more. He's our only young skilled guy and he's looked dangerous at times recently with limited minutes.

The Trades That Didn't Happen

As the trade deadline passed today, I found myself more interested in the rumors of deals discussed than in most of the deals that actually happened.

Among the most interesting was San Jose supposedly offering up Antti Niemi for James van Riemsdyk. I don't understand how San Jose could do this as Greiss and Niittymaki don't really seem like a goaltending tandem for a contending team. Maybe they were planning on taking Bobrovsky back, but that still seems like a silly idea. Not to mention Philly would have looked awful to have taken another major salary in goal.

I also wonder if Dallas knew that Vancouver was willing to trade Cody Hodgson. If so, they may have offered Ott+. Hodgson is exactly the type of player that I'd have to imagine Dallas was looking for today: a young, skilled top-six forward.

And then of course there's the Rick Nash fiasco. What a mess there is in Columbus right now. I feel bad for the fans, as Columbus could really be a strong hockey market in my mind.

In my mind, a lot of these players whose names were whispered or confirmed to be on the market may be moved around the draft. Of course, the new CBA could also put a stop to that. Still, I think there'll be some blockbusters in this summer, much like last summer (M. Richards, J. Carter, D. Heatley, B. Burns).

Just for fun, here are the names I wouldn't be surprised to see moved around the draft: Rick Nash, Corey Schneider, Steve Ott, Brendan Morrow, Paul Stastny, Jonathan Bernier, Sergei Bobrovsky, Ryan Clowe, Ryan Malone, Marc Methot.

Quick Hits: Pre-Deadline Edition

• Jeff Carter for Jack Johnson and a first is easily the deadline's first blockbuster trade, and in my opinion is a mistake by both Los Angeles and Columbus. 

• Even if Carter has matured, he rarely played with Richards in Philly so there won't be much chemistry there - the two are just great teammates. Carter has also expressed many times his preference is playing center, which he won't get to do in LA. Carter needs to play center with a playmaking winger like Ales Hemsky or Patrick Kane to have the most success IMO. 

• There are plenty of advanced stats out there (not to mention the very basic plus minus rating) to show that Jack Johnson simply isn't as good as advertised. And if LA doesn't make the playoffs, Columbus is stuck with next year's first round pick. This looks bad after Philly was able to draft Couturier with the pick they got from Columbus for Carter. 

• Still, if there's one reason to be excited in Columbus it's that Johnson will be very optimistic and will have a lot of positive energy. The dude loves hockey, and loves America. Columbus deserves more players like that. 

• Phoenix acquiring Antoine Vermette surprised me as I didn't realize they had enough room in their budget to make a big addition.I think that's a really solid move for a team that just continues to surprise. I've been thinking all year LA would end up in 7th and either Colorado or Dallas would end up in 8th in the West, but now I think Phoenix will likely hold down one of those two spots.

• I'm not at all a fan of Detroit giving Todd Bertuzzi a two-year extension. The dude has his moments, but he's becoming less and less of a factor for a team that needs their top-six forwards to get younger.  I really can't imagine how he'll even be a regular in the lineup in two years for the Wings. 

• A small trade that I think would make a lot of sense: The Maple Leafs sending Keith Aulie to St. Louis for Ben Bishop. I don't think it'll happen or has even been discussed, but that trade would make sense for both teams in my opinion.