Datsyuk had this, but points off for it being against Edmonton.

Abdelkader. Since Dats can't count on Abdelkader to finish on his own, Dats aims for Abdelkader body parts to bounce it off of. Worked nicely for two goals the other night. I do have to give Abdelkader credit for at least crashing the net.

The Helm setback is obviously discouraging.

The Quincey injury could hurt us, but combined with the Perry deal I think it's made a deadline move materially more likely (there had been rumors that Holland intended to keep space available to make a pitch at Perry -- and given the big offers last summer, I believed them.) The fact that Bertuzzi and Colaiacovo seem to be out for the year adds to that chance IMHO.

If you look at us statistically, we're one of the better five-on-five teams and we've corrected most of our PK issues (although losing Quincey hurts.) Our biggest problem (other than consistency) is the lack of a functioning second PP unit. Holland's basically indicated that he doesn't want a rental -- anyone we trade for has to make sense on the roster next year too -- but I think there are both defensemen (Bouwmeester, Boyle) and a few big fish forwards (Gaborik, Ribero) who fit the bill.

Anything gained could all be lost within the next week. How weird is it to play the Ducks there, wait a day, and then play them again there. Did the playoffs start early and I missed it?

Definitely need someone to play point on the second powerplay and also a winger with a scoring touch to play with Dats. That's a lot, so if Holland can at least address one of the two it will be progress. Would love to get Gaborik to play with Dats, I would think that would be a great match. Not as big a fan of Ribero, never been impressed by him for some reason. Perry playing with Dats would have been awesome.

which is why I'm glad he signed...leaving that cap space for him would've been folly (as it's been every season since 2010).

Right now I'm also assuming we'll buy out Bertuzzi and Colaiacovo. Not playing for a year is probably enough to end Bert's career. Cola, well, it didn't work out. With Kronwall/Ericsson, Quincey/Smith, and Kindl/Lashoff, we don't really NEED a 2.5M guy. We need a top four guy to push Lashoff into the #7 role or we need Huskins as the #7.

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