Potential Lines for the 09-10 Wings!

Once it was confirmed that Hudler, Samuelsson and Hossa were leaving it seemed all but a lock that Justin Abdelkader and Darren Helm would be starting this season with the Red Wings, and even up until last week when the Wings signed Bertuzzi the latter still seemed to be the case. Now roster spots in Traverse City for the Wings will be much harder to sercure.

abdelkader

After sitting down and writing out the possible lines for the upcoming season, Abdelkader and or Helm making the team out of training camp may not be so easy. With the Bertuzzi signing it gives the Wings 11 forwards(8 wings, 3 centers) with a 1-way contract(NHL only). This leaves Helm and Abdelkader fighting for 1 open roster position during training camp and that is for center, which makes Helm the favorite because Abdelkader has been playing wing With Helm being ultra dependable during the last 2 off-seasons it is his for the taking. As a huge Abdelkader fan this annoys me a little because I would really like to see him play an entire season as soon as possible. As a Red Wings fan this encourages me also as a testament of the depth of the Wings organization. There is still a lot of time before the season starts, a player could be cut or traded, so I will update my line combo’s till then. As of right now this is what I see happening, if you have any objections please leave your thoughts for any changes you anticipate.

Forwards


	Left Wing	Center	Right Wing

1st Line	Zetterberg	Datsyuk	Cleary

2nd Line	Leino	Filppula	Franzen

3rd Line	Holmstrom	Draper	Bertuzzi

4th Line	Eaves	Helm	Williams


Defenseman

1st Line	Lidstrom	Rafalski

2nd Line	Kronwall	Stuart

3rd Line	Ericcson	Lebda

Bench	Maltby	Abdelkaeder
Power Play

	Left Wing	Center	Right Wing	Pointmen	Pointmen

1st Unit	Zetterberg	Datsyuk	Holmstrom	Lidstrom	Rafalski

2nd Unit	Bertuzzi	Filppula	Franzen	Kronwall	Williams


Penalty Kill

	Forwards	Forwards	Defense	Defense

1st Unit	Zetterberg	Datsyuk	Lidstrom	Rafalski

2nd Unit	Filppula	Franzen	Ericcson	Stuart

My name is David Swartzlander check me out on Twitter @octopusthrower

Mikey P.

Dude, who is taking this article seriously? He didn't even spell Filppula's name right.
P.s. the Leino, Filppula, Franzen is just ridiculous.

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Tim

I wouldn't mind seeing MALTBY or LILJA getting cut from the team completly. BERTUZZI is still capable of producing Samuelsson-like points. Who knows what he could do if he stays healthy and is playing along-side the right guys. He also brings much needed size and grit to The Wings. Its the kind of protection DATSYUK and ZETTERBERG need. I would also like to believe ABDLEKADER will make the line-up. I think ERICSSON is the future for The Wings defense, so put him with fellow sweed LIDSTROM. Of course OZZY gets the start in net, but what happens if/when he fails to get the job done.... then what??? HOWARD??? Not too sure about that. Goaltending is a bigger issue than most people think.

For the most part I agree with your lines but with just a couple of tweeks this is what I would want it to look like.

BERTUZZI DATSYUK ZETTERBERG
LEINO FILPPULA FRANZEN
HOLMSTROM DRAPER CLEARY
ABDLEKADER HELM WILLIAMS

LIDSTROM ERICSSON
RAFALSKI LEBDA
KRONWALL STUART

With OSGOOD, HOWARD, or ????? in net.

If I was giving out grades:

Forwards: A
Defense: A+
Goaltending: D+

David Swartzlander

Thanks for your comments Bryan, the reason that I left Draper and Maltby off of the first 2 penalty kill units, is simply because of Age.... Draper would be higher on my list if he was not 38, but at this point in there careers I feel Flipula and Franzen are better. Maltby will not see regular time in the line up this year.

As far as Bertuzzi goes, I agree that I would rather see the younger players than him, but when you sign a veteran he will play, especially in the early season. It is likely he will be injured and then the line ups would change...

Bryan

the wings have many young players that are MUCH BETTER than that fat guy bertuzzi

Oh by the way bertuzzi will not make the whole season with the wings and if he does he will be a scratch most of the time. they could send him to the griffs if it were up to me i would trade him for a dollar

This guy has not a clue what he is talking about. How can you leave Draper and Maltby off the penalty kill. you need to find a different team to pick lines for cause you have not a clue for the wings.

I forgot to put the bench section in and that contains Maltby and Abdelkaeder.

Also, Williams has played on the point in previous seasons for the Red Wings, and in the articles from when they signed him the front office said he would play the point.

Joe

Swap Helm and Draper, swap Franzen and Filpulla, swap Williams and Bertuzzi, why is Williams on the point for the Power Play? It's not like he has that great of a shot.

Rob

Where is Maltby? Last time I checked he still played for the team.

alex

bertuzzi is a dinasour, and his glory days are over. we need some young guys in the line up. Helm has proven him self in the last 2 playoff runs. i think he should be a third liner. of course, then you'd have an uneven line with no centre if you moved down bertuzzi.

Michael

I think Babcock will make a good attmept at getting Ericcson comfortable on point for the 2nd Powerplay line, and if he isn't producing there, then Williams will be moved in. Babcock has said a few times that he'd like to get Ericcson some PP time.