He said he received one offer, from the Wings a couple of weeks ago.

Well that’s disappointing. Maybe it was a 2-way deal? I don’t want him in Detroit unless he’s on the visiting bench.

Posted by Nate A from Dark side of the moon on 07/29/09 at 05:52 PM ET

Not much enthusiasm there.  He sounds much more enthusiastic about returning to Columbus, which surprised me.

Posted by George James Malik from South Lyon, MI on 07/29/09 at 06:16 PM ET

George, why does that surprise you?  He despised Babcock when he left and he clearly feels the Wings owe him something.  The BJ’s offer him a chance to be a mainstay on a young team.  I’m not surprised, the guy is a loser, why should he be excited to play for a class organization like the Wings and have to earn his keep?  Why not get it handed to him like his last two stops.  How insulting if you’re Ken Holland, even the fat girl at the end of the night won’t go home with you.

Posted by bababooey on 07/29/09 at 08:06 PM ET

I never understood why Wings fans hated Williams so much.  They Hudler-ed him basically (before there was Hudler) by keeping him in the minors for so long, and then giving him little-to-no playing time when he did come up.  He was wicked in shootouts, as well…

I think JWill is one of those players that would do so much more in DET where he’d have less pressure, than in CHI or ATL or CBS where there’s pressure on him to score and produce.

I’m not hell-bent on having him back, but as a Wings fan I don’t know that I’d mind it necessarily.  I’d certainly take him over Samuelsson any day.

Posted by Primis on 07/29/09 at 08:08 PM ET

I think JWill is one of those players that would do so much more in DET where he’d have less pressure, than in CHI or ATL or CBS where there’s pressure on him to score and produce.

Fair enough, but do you really want a team FULL of guys how underachieved on other teams in the hopes tha they’ll blossom in Detroit?

I mean, do you want a team full of Samuelssons?  Because I’m not sure a team full of Samuelssons is the way you want to go…

I mean, we already picked up Andy Delmore for (i assume) his right handed shot, hoping he can return to form, right?

I for one won’t be comfortable if half the team is hopeful rebuilds…

Posted by Garth on 07/29/09 at 10:05 PM ET

I never hated him - I was disappointed at how he played after Torres blasted him, but not surprised because concussions can take a very long time to recover from.

And it doesn’t surprise me that he would like to play in Columbus.  He played pretty well for them, and they have a team on the rise where he would be more likely to have a space than on Detroit’s more crowded roster. 

He’ll find a spot somewhere.  He’s hardly an old washed-up player.

Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 07/29/09 at 10:50 PM ET

detroit should be looking at guys like afinogenov, or even bertuzzi. kenny wont let us down

Posted by zettersyuk4 on 07/29/09 at 11:01 PM ET

I wouldn’t mind seeing Mike Grier in the red and white.

Posted by mike from austin on 07/29/09 at 11:14 PM ET

We dont need Bertuzzi, he’s terrible.

And I would rather have williams than sammy or malts any day.

Posted by DrW from Royal Oak, MI on 07/30/09 at 05:25 AM ET

even bertuzzi. kenny wont let us down

He will if he signs Bertuzzi…

Posted by Garth on 07/30/09 at 07:16 AM ET

Fair enough, but do you really want a team FULL of guys how underachieved on other teams in the hopes tha they’ll blossom in Detroit?

I mean, do you want a team full of Samuelssons?  Because I’m not sure a team full of Samuelssons is the way you want to go…

Using your definition, Cleary would fit that as well, and yes I’d absolutely take a team full of Danny Cleary’s any day.

You have to remember, for every Samuelsson or Ray Whitney the Wings got, there’s a Dan Cleary, or a Chris Osgood, or even an Igor Larionov.

Why all the infatuation with Grier?  The guy’s pretty much past his NHL-capable days… I actively do NOT want to see him in Detroit.  This isn’t 3 or 4 years ago.

Posted by Primis on 07/30/09 at 07:30 AM ET

I mean, we already picked up Andy Delmore for (i assume) his right handed shot, hoping he can return to form, right?

Why is everyone scared of this? Delmore is a GR player, no doubt about it. Even if Lilja is out for the year, I think there are probably still at least a pair of guys that would be higher on the depth chart for call-ups than Delmore.

Posted by Nathan from Jonny Ericsson's ice cream truck on 07/30/09 at 07:53 AM ET

Cleary would fit that as well, and yes I’d absolutely take a team full of Danny Cleary’s any day.

Danny is an exception. He was a high pick and touted to be a star & tore it up in the minors.... so his 180* turnaround after being a walk on try out in Detroit can’t be used as a case study.
Admittedly didn’t watch any CBJ games other than against the Wings, but JWill didn’t seem to stand out to me in any way. I would guess Kenny shot a pretty lowball offer dovetail that with the conditions when JWill went buh-bye & I doubt he’d accept the job.

Posted by MOWingsfan19 on 07/30/09 at 07:56 AM ET

Using your definition, Cleary would fit that as well, and yes I’d absolutely take a team full of Danny Cleary’s any day.

And by your interpretation of what I said, it would be half Dan Clearys and half Ray Whitneys.

I’m fine with a Dan Cleary or a Brad Stuart, but I wouldn’t want the team stocked with them.  You pick up a guy like that, give him a chance without any pressure, without being expected to carry a team or be a top pair defenseman and see if he blossoms.  If he does, you give him a nice contract.

But to have a handful of guys like that, each one ends up with more pressure to perform, and who knows how many of them play well and how many crumble?  And if they DO crumble, you’re screwed.

Why is everyone scared of this?

I’m not scared of the Delmore siging.  At all.  I think it’s a decent pickup and I think it’s a good idea.  You know Detroit has to be at least a little worried that they’re depleting the GR ranks, and they want someone that they might be able to call up and/or keep up as a seventh defenseman.  I’m sure they’re not enamored with the idea of having a prospect like (such as Derek Meech this past season) sitting in the press box most nights when he could be getting ice time and improving on a daily basis in Grand Rapids.  With Delmore, they have a veteran who’s getting a new lease and who likely really wants to prove himself again.  He’s someone who could be used as a 7th man, subbing in when there’s an injury.

Thing is, if Lilja is healthy and can play, you’ve got Meech and Lebda who could be odd men out.  Lebda’s been playing constantly for a couple years now, would he be happy as the seventh man?  And after last year, how confident would you be in Meech?  Maybe you send Meech back down to GR and let him play fulltime, trade Lebda and have Delmore as your inexpensive 7th.  That way you don’t have to give up on Meech, but you don’t have to play him once in ever ten games, and every second game he plays being as a forward.

And if he simply IS a GR player, then he’s a veteran presence who can help the development of the younger defencemen.

Posted by Garth on 07/30/09 at 09:03 AM ET

i would take bertuzzi over williams any day, on a 1 year basis. bertuzzi shows flashes of his old self frequently. along side either pav or z, theres no way hes scoring less than 25.

and i hate to say it, cause i love him to death, but holmstrom looked absolutely terrible in the playoffs. hes definately slowwing down. and why has there been no known interest in afinogenov??? he is a very gifted player with an upside of 60+ points!!!

he has had injury problems the last 2 years, but how can we pass this guy up in favor of williams on a 1 year deal???

Posted by zettersyuk4 on 07/30/09 at 01:27 PM ET