Meech wants more. He's an every day player stuck on a deep roster. Wonder how things might have shaken out had he known about Rafalski retiring. He'd have made a good babysitter for Ericsson, IMO. That's the role he played for Phaneuf in their junior days.
29 teams had the opportunity to make Meech an everyday player. They didn't have to give up any assets and would have had him at pretty much the NHL minimum.
They didn't. All 29 of them passed. Nobody even wanted him for a 7th defenseman. I don't see much weight in the argument that he was just stuck - he wasn't stuck at all. He was effectively a UFA and nobody offered him so much as a minimum contract.
He might find a spot where he can be a Jamie Rivers type of "room guy" who can sit in the press box every night and run down and dress and sit on the end of the bench if someone gets food poisoning 15 minutes before game time. That's probably his best hope at this point - he's not going to find a top 6 NHL job. Maybe he pulls a Matt Ellis and uses that "23rd man" position to carve out an NHL niche.
29 teams had the opportunity to make Meech an everyday player. They didn't have to give up any assets and would have had him at pretty much the NHL minimum.
They didn't. All 29 of them passed. Nobody even wanted him for a 7th defenseman. I don't see much weight in the argument that he was just stuck - he wasn't stuck at all. He was effectively a UFA and nobody offered him so much as a minimum contract.
He might find a spot where he can be a Jamie Rivers type of "room guy" who can sit in the press box every night and run down and dress and sit on the end of the bench if someone gets food poisoning 15 minutes before game time. That's probably his best hope at this point - he's not going to find a top 6 NHL job. Maybe he pulls a Matt Ellis and uses that "23rd man" position to carve out an NHL niche.
And? Doesn't change anything. He's good enough to play 15-20 on any team in the league and not look out of place. He's an incredibly safe player and sometimes that gets overlooked for players that are riskier in one aspect or another, but have a feature that stands out. Meech doesn't stand out. He got stuck on a team that loves its vets and has been blocked out of playing time by bigger flashier higher potential players (E and Kindl), but players that when not playing to their potential cause far more harm than Meech ever would.
It's why Miller always gets bumped out of the lineup. As a whole he's safer and steadier than Draper, Helm, or Eaves but he also doesn't have the blazing speed or timely scoring knack of the other 3. But Miller is also a player than can play on any team in the league and not hurt it.
Do you want a roster full of Meech and Millers? Absolutely not. But putting them on lines with high risk high reward players helps elminate a bit of the risk. That's the Meech/Phaneuf dynamic they had in juniors. He's a steady guy that won't make many mistakes that you can pair with a guy that might gamble a bit or make a blunder here or there. I'm looking towards Ericsson here. E needs a babysitter. As does Kronwall. And really, so does Salei if we're thinking of bringing him back as he's prone to completely boneheaded decisions.
Last edited by norrisnick: 05-26-2011 at 05:05 AM.
And? Doesn't change anything. He's good enough to play 15-20 on any team in the league and not look out of place. He's an incredibly safe player and sometimes that gets overlooked for players that are riskier in one aspect or another, but have a feature that stands out. Meech doesn't stand out. He got stuck on a team that loves its vets and has been blocked out of playing time by bigger flashier higher potential players (E and Kindl), but players that when not playing to their potential cause far more harm than Meech ever would.
It's why Miller always gets bumped out of the lineup. As a whole he's safer and steadier than Draper, Helm, or Eaves but he also doesn't have the blazing speed or timely scoring knack of the other 3. But Miller is also a player than can play on any team in the league and not hurt it.
Do you want a roster full of Meech and Millers? Absolutely not. But putting them on lines with high risk high reward players helps elminate a bit of the risk. That's the Meech/Phaneuf dynamic they had in juniors. He's a steady guy that won't make many mistakes that you can pair with a guy that might gamble a bit or make a blunder here or there. I'm looking towards Ericsson here. E needs a babysitter. As does Kronwall. And really, so does Salei if we're thinking of bringing him back as he's prone to completely boneheaded decisions.
If the Wings were to waive Miller, he'd get claimed. That's the difference. If the Wings don't sign Miller this summer, he'll get an NHL job easily. I'll say it again - Meech was available for free all year and nobody took him. By definition, he was not stuck behind anyone. He was stuck because he's not good enough to play regularly in the NHL.
Meech doesn't stand out because he's not good at anything. He's ok at a few things - ok skater, ok with the puck, ok defensively. There are plenty of those guys around, and the ones who get NHL jobs aren't 5'11". He's Lebda without the wheels.
Actually, let me correct that - he's Lebda without the wheels and with even worse hands. In 09-10 when they had all the injuries, Meech got a healthy amount of PP time - 64:17 in 49 games. That's a pretty big sample size. The Wings scored 1 PPG in that time. One. One goal in 64+ minutes of PP time with Meech on the ice. Lebda got 4:42 of PP time that year, and the Wings scored 1 PPG in that time.
If E needs a babysitter, he can get one from whatever team signs him. All the more reason to let him walk if you have to put an AHL defenseman in the lineup to "babysit" him.
Actually, let me correct that - he's Lebda without the wheels and with even worse hands. In 09-10 when they had all the injuries, Meech got a healthy amount of PP time - 64:17 in 49 games. That's a pretty big sample size. The Wings scored 1 PPG in that time. One. One goal in 64+ minutes of PP time with Meech on the ice. Lebda got 4:42 of PP time that year, and the Wings scored 1 PPG in that time.
Your evidence for Lebda having better hands than Meech is some tiny and quirky sample size of PP time? Que? Meech didn't have great hands, but Lebda has no hands at all. None.
Lebda played over Meech for one reason and one reason only. His elite speed. For better or worse, the Wings placed a lot of value on Lebda's speed. Outside of that, Meech was better at just about everything else. Better on the PP, better on the PK, more physical, stronger in front of his net, more versatile, better passer. The problem for Meech was that the Wings had plenty of players who could do the things he did, but they had no one with Lebda's speed, so he got the nod. But Lebda being higher on the depth chart was not evidence of Lebda being a better player than Meech, it was evidence of Lebda having more perceived value to the team than Meech.
Your evidence for Lebda having better hands than Meech is some tiny and quirky sample size of PP time? Que? Meech didn't have great hands, but Lebda has no hands at all. None.
Lebda played over Meech for one reason and one reason only. His elite speed. For better or worse, the Wings placed a lot of value on Lebda's speed. Outside of that, Meech was better at just about everything else. Better on the PP, better on the PK, more physical, stronger in front of his net, more versatile, better passer. The problem for Meech was that the Wings had plenty of players who could do the things he did, but they had no one with Lebda's speed, so he got the nod. But Lebda being higher on the depth chart was not evidence of Lebda being a better player than Meech, it was evidence of Lebda having more perceived value to the team than Meech.
Meech was perceived to be better at other things - when he actually got the opportunity to play good minutes for an extended period, he did absolutely nothing to show that he actually was better than Lebda.
I don't need to get into a debate about Lebda here - the point is that Meech is terrible. Disagree with the "even Lebda is better" part if you wish, but there still exists no evidence that Meech is or can be a good NHL defenseman. Or even an average one.
I remember paying specific attention to the PP during that stretch - it was historically bad while Meech was on the ice. IIRC, the one PP goal during which he was "on the ice" was scored while he was making a line change. 1 goal in 64+ minutes. Thus endeth the "he's got offensive skill" discussion.
Meech was perceived to be better at other things - when he actually got the opportunity to play good minutes for an extended period, he did absolutely nothing to show that he actually was better than Lebda.
I don't need to get into a debate about Lebda here - the point is that Meech is terrible. Disagree with the "even Lebda is better" part if you wish, but there still exists no evidence that Meech is or can be a good NHL defenseman. Or even an average one.
I remember paying specific attention to the PP during that stretch - it was historically bad while Meech was on the ice. IIRC, the one PP goal during which he was "on the ice" was scored while he was making a line change. 1 goal in 64+ minutes. Thus endeth the "he's got offensive skill" discussion.
Making statistics say what you want when reality does not agree.... that post oozes with irrational bias. By the way, that PPG was scored by Meech. Pretty impressive for a guy going for a line change! Meech looked good on the point when he was getting big minutes, like back in 2008, when he saw his highest per-game usage and averaged 24 minutes a night over a 4-game span in which Lidstrom, Rafalski, and Kronwall were all injured and out of the lineup. He cycled well and did a good job keeping the PP in the offensive zone. Put up 3 PP assists in those 4 games. Spent 23 minutes on the PP and generated 4 PPGs. Your conclusions are based on faulty premises.... and a bad memory
I think Meech being offered to any and all NHL teams for the league minimum and for no cost in assets what-so-ever is pretty damning evidence that his perceived value (at least to every GM in the NHL) hovers right around zero.
If he's a better player than that, then what are we arguing about? He's maybe a 5/6th d-man? The point is that he was an asset that we got for virtually nothing (7th rounder in '02) paid nothing (league min throughout) and he didn't pan out. So what? He moves on to try and extend his career, we move on and try to find the next Derek Meech... i.e. a dime-a-dozen player that can be found on any AHL roster.
I think Meech being offered to any and all NHL teams for the league minimum and for no cost in assets what-so-ever is pretty damning evidence that his perceived value (at least to every GM in the NHL) hovers right around zero.
That is false. Holland was offering him up at the exact time of year when there is the least amount of interest in signed players. The off-season window of interest had passed. Teams had their camp rosters set, with lots of prospects and unsigned players (meaning: options), whereas Meech was under contract, so they'd have been committed to him. And no one was going to claim him on waivers at that time of year, because then they'd not only have been committed to his contract, but they would have been forced to keep him on their NHL roster all season. Given that context, an argument that he proved to have 0 value falls flat.
So, out of the 210+ D-man spots in the NHL last season not ONE opened up all year long where claiming a guy off waivers and being on the hook for his entire league minimum cap hit was too big of a risk?
All of what you said about the timing of waivers and his contract status to other teams is correct in saying those were a hinderance to him being acquired by another team. I would add to those factors that he, simply, is not an everyday NHL player. C'mon, if he was an NHL player he would have found a way into the NHL last season. Or the 8 previous seasons that have passed since he was drafted for that matter.
I was always a Meech fan but it's obvious he is an AHL-quality guy with the organization. Brett Lebda seems to have bombed out in Toronto, maybe Meecher can get some ice time as a Leaf. I'd like to see how he'd do with another franchise. Good luck guy.
So, out of the 210+ D-man spots in the NHL last season not ONE opened up all year long where claiming a guy off waivers and being on the hook for his entire league minimum cap hit was too big of a risk?
Meech was waived in early September, and he cleared 24 hours later. After that point there were no opportunities for anyone to claim him off of waivers, he stayed in GR all season.
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All of what you said about the timing of waivers and his contract status to other teams is correct in saying those were a hinderance to him being acquired by another team. I would add to those factors that he, simply, is not an everyday NHL player. C'mon, if he was an NHL player he would have found a way into the NHL last season. Or the 8 previous seasons that have passed since he was drafted for that matter.
He has played 126 games over parts of 4 seasons, so while he's not currently an NHLer, it's like he's looking to play his first game somewhere. Last season was the first in five years that he was in the AHL all season, and that was mostly because the Wings were finally ready to bring up Kindl full-time, not because his skills degraded or work ethic diminished. I'm not going to guarantee he finds himself a full-time NHL job in the future, but I certainly wouldn't be surprised at all if he did, and I don't see why anyone else would either. Again, Lebda has elite speed that jacks up his value, but outside of that, he is no better than Meech. And if he can get a full-time job for $1.5M, I'd expect Meech to eventually be able to get one for at least the minimum. If he were as bad as some make him out to be, he wouldn't have survived in the Wings (one of the best teams in the league) system for 9 years, seeing NHL action in 4 of those.
If forced to choose one of Meech, Smith, and Kindl to play 80 games at 15+ minutes every game next season (and I'm talking no matter the level of play you can't cut their icetime or scratch them), I'd pick Meech. The other two have greater potential, but Meech is safer. But then again, I also think Meech could provide far more given the opportunity.
Your evidence for Lebda having better hands than Meech is some tiny and quirky sample size of PP time? Que? Meech didn't have great hands, but Lebda has no hands at all. None.
Lebda played over Meech for one reason and one reason only. His elite speed. For better or worse, the Wings placed a lot of value on Lebda's speed. Outside of that, Meech was better at just about everything else. Better on the PP, better on the PK, more physical, stronger in front of his net, more versatile, better passer. The problem for Meech was that the Wings had plenty of players who could do the things he did, but they had no one with Lebda's speed, so he got the nod. But Lebda being higher on the depth chart was not evidence of Lebda being a better player than Meech, it was evidence of Lebda having more perceived value to the team than Meech.
I don't buy this at all.
Lebda is a better player BECAUSE, in part, he's faster,
But he's a better player.
The Wings didn't need Lebda because he was fast. They needed Lebda. Period.
You can't take the guy's speed and act like that's all he was. Because his speed helped his defense. It helped him skate the puck up the ice. It helped him do other things better to make him a BETTER PLAYER than Meech.
Meech couldn't fight his way into the lineup on defense, for whatever reason.
To me, it looked like he was too weak and not fast enough to make up the lack of size. But that's just me.
Meech was waived in early September, and he cleared 24 hours later. After that point there were no opportunities for anyone to claim him off of waivers, he stayed in GR all season.
He has played 126 games over parts of 4 seasons, so while he's not currently an NHLer, it's like he's looking to play his first game somewhere. Last season was the first in five years that he was in the AHL all season, and that was mostly because the Wings were finally ready to bring up Kindl full-time, not because his skills degraded or work ethic diminished. I'm not going to guarantee he finds himself a full-time NHL job in the future, but I certainly wouldn't be surprised at all if he did, and I don't see why anyone else would either. Again, Lebda has elite speed that jacks up his value, but outside of that, he is no better than Meech. And if he can get a full-time job for $1.5M, I'd expect Meech to eventually be able to get one for at least the minimum. If he were as bad as some make him out to be, he wouldn't have survived in the Wings (one of the best teams in the league) system for 9 years, seeing NHL action in 4 of those.
How many games did Meech play on defense in the NHL. Seems like a lot of those games he played as 4th line forward.
I don't buy this at all.
Lebda is a better player BECAUSE, in part, he's faster,
But he's a better player.
The Wings didn't need Lebda because he was fast. They needed Lebda. Period.
You can't take the guy's speed and act like that's all he was. Because his speed helped his defense. It helped him skate the puck up the ice. It helped him do other things better to make him a BETTER PLAYER than Meech.
Meech couldn't fight his way into the lineup on defense, for whatever reason.
To me, it looked like he was too weak and not fast enough to make up the lack of size. But that's just me.
Lebda's speed made him a better defender, no doubt. Helped him get into position quicker. And while many of us always made fun of him for skating the puck all the way up ice and losing it at the half boards or in the corners, it did help keep the puck out of our zone, to some small degree. I'm not denying that (though I'm curious, in what other ways did his speed act as a force multiplier? I think that was about it). But without his speed, what was Lebda? Nothing. He didn't have size or strength, didn't have any offensive ability or vision, wasn't great positionally, didn't have a good outlet pass, wasn't a significant hitter. His value was predicated solely on his speed.
Lebda was a little like Holmstrom, in a way. Holmstrom doesn't do most things well. He does one thing extremely well (and a couple other things somewhat well). There are players who do 80% of things better than Holmstrom, but they are less valuable, because that one thing Homer does so well is so far ahead of everyone else. But is he a better hockey player than everyone who sees less IT than him? No. In the same way, I don't think Lebda is a better hockey player than Meech, he just has more value because of that elite speed. It's the one thing that, between Lebda and Meech, is great. All the things Meech does better than Lebda (PP, PK, vision, passing, physical play) are more redundant. They could be found in spades on the Wings. That's why he couldn't crack the top-6, he didn't have anything to set him apart from better players. Lebda, meanwhile, had the speed.
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The Wings didn't need Lebda because he was fast. They needed Lebda. Period.
That part is just silly, Bob. The Wings did not "need" Lebda. If that were the case, he'd still be here. He's not a very good hockey player. Many of us knew that while he was in Detroit, and after his inaugural showing in Toronto, hopefully everyone has realized it. He can be masked on the bottom pair of a good team when he is paired with a big defensive defenseman who can handle the rough and tumble stuff. Outside of that, he's liable to put up 1 goal, 3 assists, and -14 in 41 games, while playing himself into being a healthy scratch for the other 41.
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Originally Posted by Captain Bob
How many games did Meech play on defense in the NHL. Seems like a lot of those games he played as 4th line forward.
Don't know the number, but it was a lot. Another thing he had that was better than Lebda. Versatility. The Leafs tried making Lebda a forward in a dozen or so games this year and he was atrocious, and the atrociousness was independent of the Leafs being bad. He was turning the puck over left and right in the couple games I saw.
That part is just silly, Bob. The Wings did not "need" Lebda. If that were the case, he'd still be here. He's not a very good hockey player. Many of us knew that while he was in Detroit, and after his inaugural showing in Toronto, hopefully everyone has realized it. He can be masked on the bottom pair of a good team when he is paired with a big defensive defenseman who can handle the rough and tumble stuff. Outside of that, he's liable to put up 1 goal, 3 assists, and -14 in 41 games, while playing himself into being a healthy scratch for the other 41.
Just to keep some perspective because that kind of talk annoys me a bit, Lebda is an excellent hockey player. He's a marginal NHL player, yes, but guess what he has 367 NHL games and a Stanley Cup ring, there are many very good hockey players who never achieve that. Few people in terms relative to the whole population ever rise to the same heights in their professions that Lebda reached in hockey.
With regards to Meech, he's 27. Kindl is three years younger and passed him, Meech lost that position as 7th D-man and went right back to the minors. That's not a good sign, if anyone in the organization thought Meech had a future as a useful full-time NHLer that wouldn't have happened. Of course, there is a possibility that they're wrong and Meech just needs a good situation to step into but then there's dozens of guys out there who you could say the same about and you never hear from them again in an NHL context.
If forced to choose one of Meech, Smith, and Kindl to play 80 games at 15+ minutes every game next season (and I'm talking no matter the level of play you can't cut their icetime or scratch them), I'd pick Meech. The other two have greater potential, but Meech is safer. But then again, I also think Meech could provide far more given the opportunity.
This, frankly, is staggering.
You'd rather have a guy who you can safely project to put up 7 points and a -15 because he's safe. Never mind the younger, more talented players that could produce above replacement level if given the opportunity. Before giving the more talented players the same 126 games that Meech had to prove himself (he failed).
I don't think there's anything more we can discuss here. We're talking about completely different players, and I have no idea where your concept of MegaMeech is coming from because there's no basis for it in reality. I'm stunned. Dude had a lot of chances to prove himself and he didn't do anything with those chances.
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Originally Posted by jaster
Meech was waived in early September, and he cleared 24 hours later. After that point there were no opportunities for anyone to claim him off of waivers, he stayed in GR all season.
Anyone who was interested could have called up Holland and offered him "future considerations". Done deal. Holland would have been happy to get rid of him so that Fraser would have to play some real prospects in that spot. Lashoff rode the pine all year because they were stuck with Meech, for instance.
Waived or traded, he was available for free all year. And it's not like anyone is deathly afraid of getting stuck with a prorated minimum salary cap hit. If a team wanted to pick him up for the stretch run, he'd have cost them about $70k on their cap. That's nothing. Waiver/contract status is a red herring.
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He has played 126 games over parts of 4 seasons, so while he's not currently an NHLer, it's like he's looking to play his first game somewhere. Last season was the first in five years that he was in the AHL all season, and that was mostly because the Wings were finally ready to bring up Kindl full-time, not because his skills degraded or work ethic diminished. I'm not going to guarantee he finds himself a full-time NHL job in the future, but I certainly wouldn't be surprised at all if he did, and I don't see why anyone else would either. Again, Lebda has elite speed that jacks up his value, but outside of that, he is no better than Meech. And if he can get a full-time job for $1.5M, I'd expect Meech to eventually be able to get one for at least the minimum. If he were as bad as some make him out to be, he wouldn't have survived in the Wings (one of the best teams in the league) system for 9 years, seeing NHL action in 4 of those.
As you say, he played 126 NHL games and couldn't get a sniff all of last year from any of the 30 teams in the league. That's plenty of games for everyone to get a good look at him. Nobody liked what they saw.
Lebda was a top 6 defender on a team that went to back to back Finals and won a Cup. He was a 3rd pair guy, but he was in the top 6 and did a good job in that 3rd pair role. He also had 326 games of NHL experience to Meech's 126. That experience was a main reason he got such a crazy deal from Burke. Meech doesn't have anything close to that on his resume.
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Originally Posted by jaster
Making statistics say what you want when reality does not agree.... that post oozes with irrational bias. By the way, that PPG was scored by Meech. Pretty impressive for a guy going for a line change! Meech looked good on the point when he was getting big minutes, like back in 2008, when he saw his highest per-game usage and averaged 24 minutes a night over a 4-game span in which Lidstrom, Rafalski, and Kronwall were all injured and out of the lineup. He cycled well and did a good job keeping the PP in the offensive zone. Put up 3 PP assists in those 4 games. Spent 23 minutes on the PP and generated 4 PPGs. Your conclusions are based on faulty premises.... and a bad memory
One of his goals was scored when he threw the puck at the net and then skated to the bench for a line change, that was the one I was thinking of. Either way, one goal-for in 64+ minutes of PP time is indefensibly horrible.
And you're suggesting that it's more rational to say Meech is legit because a couple years ago he played well (in your opinion) for a whopping 4 games. Gee whiz.
If Meech ever becomes more than Jamie Rivers Pt 2, or if he even finds a top 6 NHL job for 2011-12, I'll come right back here and eat crow. I'm not worried about it.
you know it's the offseason when Derek Meech deciding to move on generates 40+ responses.
He was a fine little defenseman, but he didn't have a niche here. I don't know if he'll ever be able to overcome his size disadvantage, but I hope he does and that he latches on somewhere. I think he could make a fine bottom pairing guy somewhere.
Lebda's speed made him a better defender, no doubt. Helped him get into position quicker. And while many of us always made fun of him for skating the puck all the way up ice and losing it at the half boards or in the corners, it did help keep the puck out of our zone, to some small degree. I'm not denying that (though I'm curious, in what other ways did his speed act as a force multiplier? I think that was about it). But without his speed, what was Lebda? Nothing. He didn't have size or strength, didn't have any offensive ability or vision, wasn't great positionally, didn't have a good outlet pass, wasn't a significant hitter. His value was predicated solely on his speed.
Lebda was a little like Holmstrom, in a way. Holmstrom doesn't do most things well. He does one thing extremely well (and a couple other things somewhat well). There are players who do 80% of things better than Holmstrom, but they are less valuable, because that one thing Homer does so well is so far ahead of everyone else. But is he a better hockey player than everyone who sees less IT than him? No. In the same way, I don't think Lebda is a better hockey player than Meech, he just has more value because of that elite speed. It's the one thing that, between Lebda and Meech, is great. All the things Meech does better than Lebda (PP, PK, vision, passing, physical play) are more redundant. They could be found in spades on the Wings. That's why he couldn't crack the top-6, he didn't have anything to set him apart from better players. Lebda, meanwhile, had the speed.
That part is just silly, Bob. The Wings did not "need" Lebda. If that were the case, he'd still be here. He's not a very good hockey player. Many of us knew that while he was in Detroit, and after his inaugural showing in Toronto, hopefully everyone has realized it. He can be masked on the bottom pair of a good team when he is paired with a big defensive defenseman who can handle the rough and tumble stuff. Outside of that, he's liable to put up 1 goal, 3 assists, and -14 in 41 games, while playing himself into being a healthy scratch for the other 41.
Don't know the number, but it was a lot. Another thing he had that was better than Lebda. Versatility. The Leafs tried making Lebda a forward in a dozen or so games this year and he was atrocious, and the atrociousness was independent of the Leafs being bad. He was turning the puck over left and right in the couple games I saw.
Look, if you want to compare Lebda to Stuart or Kronwall or whatever, then yeah, Lebda them, of course, no, Lebda wasn't that good and wasn't needed.
But the fact is that Lebda, despite his weaknesses, was a pretty effect sixth defenseman for a team won the Stanley Cup. For a team then went to the conference finals. For a team that lost the Stanely Cup finals.
I was a guy who thought he had no busines in the NHL, but for three years, Lebda rarely made any glaring mistakes, rarely got caught in bad situations, and despite his size, he didn't do a bad job in the corners.
His last year here, he seemed exposed a little and wasn't quite as sharp.
He was a fine 6th defenseman on a team like Detroit, where 4 of the top 5 defenseman can play as your shutdown PK guys.
But in Toronto, right from the start, they wanted too much, and he failed.
I see Norris talk about Meech like he's Mr/ Safe. I think Lebda was exactly that, in Detroit, in his limited role.
Nothing fancy. Just the safe play. Never get caught. No giveaways up the middle.
Meech? Looked like a minor leaguer playing the pro game.
Jaster and NN are obviously Meech fans and having trouble coming to grips on this one.
I somehow missed the fact that Meechy had all these staunch defenders over the years.
I remember hoping the Wings got a steal. I remember hearing about how good Meech was with Phaneuf, and even some of the suggestions that Meech was the guy who made that pairing work. I remember feeling hopefull that he'd be a depth defenseman who could help on the 2nd PP.
But he never took the next step. And it's not like he didn't have the chance.
I really don't understand how Meech still is a defenseman. He sucks at D. He should be a winger. He's got som pace, just bulk up some strength and grit and he's a 3rd or 4th liner.
Meech wants more. He's an every day player stuck on a deep roster. Wonder how things might have shaken out had he known about Rafalski retiring. He'd have made a good babysitter for Ericsson, IMO. That's the role he played for Phaneuf in their junior days.
A good babysitter for Ericsson?
He couldn't outplay Ericsson for a spot on the roster, how exactly would he babysit him, unless you're talking about off the ice?
