Clowe has been paired with Thornton, Marleau, Heatley, Couture, Pavelski, and Havlat at some point during past two seasons from the top of my head, so one can of course argue that it might be a chemistry thing, but if you can't score when paired with someone like Thornton... maybe it would be better to part ways.

His best stats were w/ Thronton. Though I do not think he was there for scoring as much as a big body up front. I also give any player a pass when tied to the SJS Havlat and Heatley experiments.

Yeah, I know he has his worth and who knows, if everything falls into place for him, I think he could be a 30 goal scorer. Still, he has had injuries during past two seasons, which have severely affected his performance for a relatively long period, so that is another thing to take into consideration when calculating his worth.

The other problems are in my opinion even more severe than his lack of scoring - he is really bad at defending and he is also a really slow skater - both of which are a problem in a team which is trying to get its team defense to perform better and which is lacking team speed.

I'm not saying that Clowe is someone they'd happily throw into any package, but I'm saying that he is expendable and what he brings to the roster isn't really that hard to replace with another player - Couture and Pavelski are waaaaay more valuable to the team.

No argument on Couture or Little Joe. Just like I said earlier, Wilson has always kept him so I don't know if he is untouchable or what the deal is. Just appears Wilson is unwilling to deal Clowe. He is the only one still standing since the Marleau/Thronton era began.

True, but he is going to be UFA next offseason, so this would be an ideal time to ship him off to somewhere in exchange for some much needed skating speed and forechecking.

Anyway, the Clowe & Vlasic deal for Nash isn't going to work because the Sharks signed a 5-year extension with Vlasic, so he is staying put... probably... no NTC or NMC. Sign & trade?! They kind of did it with Setoguchi last offseason.

Hey, an opportunity like Brent Burns only come once.

Seto was for Havlat if I recall correctly... Heatley, prospects and picks were for Burns, which was their first trade with Minny last offseason.

Former standout defensemen, and co-captain for the Ferris State Bulldogs; Chad Billins has signed a 1 year contract with the Red Wings affiliate Grand Rapids Griffins. He will be under new head coach Jeff Blashill (whose brother works at the Ferris ice rink and is one of my bosses). Earlier Billins was signed to try out for the Griffins. However, they had several slots open for tryouts and several more people signed to tryout (game situation). They gave the slots away on a first come, first served basis. Billins was too late and never saw ice time. Now is his chance to prove himself.

VIDEO: One-on-one with Tampa Bay Lightning sniper Steven Stamkos - The Hockey News

watched this and something bugged me. Yes, it is amazing that these guys are raising awareness for the cause and I'm stoked that it's a Bolt at an event started by a former Bolt but seriously I hate how NHL players talk about safety issues and then go on ice w/o using their straps or utilizing visors. Kind of a mixed message...won't someone think of the children?!