Holmstrom

Something has got to give. The Detroit Red Wings made four signings today, two of which are forwards. This is a strange predicament the Red Wings are in. They have $17 million left in cap space and are still in on the Zach Parise sweepstakes.

Parise will likely make a decision by tomorrow, but with Jiri Hudler out of the picture, the Red Wings still need a top line winger, which might come in the form of Parise or Alex Semin (or possibly Hudler, although unlikely).

The Jordin Tootoo and Mikael Samuelsson signings give Detroit 16 forwards under contract, not including Justin Abdelkader, who is an RFA, or Tomas Holmstrom, who is UFA.

In a league where you usually dress 12 forwards a game, 16 is too many. Factor in a spot for Abdelkader and a Parise type player, and that's 18 forward spots. What is Ken Holland going to do?

Hal Gill will be out of the Nashville Predators lineup for Game Four, still battling a lower body injury. The hulking 6 foot 7 Gill would give the Wings fits, blocking even MORE shots than they already have throughout the series.

The Red Wings have also toyed with moving Dan Cleary up to the top line, for what reason? I don't know. Cleary is a third line player at best. He doesn't score and isn't a setup man, so having him up on the top line while Gustav Nyquist rots with Cory Emmerton and Tomas Holmstrom makes no sense to me. Speaking of rookies, elevel Grand Rapids Griffins were called up to be Black Aces for the playoffs.

Like every other fan, I'll throw out a crazy trade possibility or nine this time of year. As hockey fans, it's typical to lose rationality in the month leading up to deadline day, an unofficial holiday in my book. 

As Red Wings fans, this tendency is even stronger due to past deadline deals that brought Hall of Famers such as Chelios to Hockeytown. The salary cap era has stifled Ken Holland's freewheeling deals but with the Wings sitting atop the standings with over $5 million in cap space, many think a big splash is coming.

I think the Wings are going to make a lot of noise... in the summer, especially if Lidstrom and Holmstrom retire an...

The Red Wings are now riding a six game winning streak thanks in no small part to their new found success in the shootout. Detroit was able to secure their sixteenth straight win at Joe Louis by beating the NHL-worst Blue Jackets 3-2.

Detroit didn’t show much life at the start of the game and Ryan Russell of Columbus struck first at 8:51 off a rebound. The Red Wings tied it at 1 off a wicked wrister by Kronwall at 11:34 of the first. The only penalty in the first was a hooking call on Tomas Holmstrom. The Blue Jackets outshot Detroit 7-5.

The Red Wings came out stronger in the second and carried much of the p...