DRW are in a corner with almost no good way out, losing Lidstrom/Stuart. With no top 4 defensemen available (other than Sheahan possibly), Ken Holland is going to have to make a bold move to rectify this, and he already has the answer on his roster. Scotty Bowman moved Sergei Federov to D, and it would've worked out if not for Sergeis reluctance, and even despite that, we could see Bowmans smarts behind it, shot from the point, passing, more minutes etc.. Babcock should move Bertuzzi and/or Drew Miller to defense, as both are scappy, hard working, physical players who would benefit the team and themselves by doing this. This move wouldn't have worked years ago, but both are now grizzled vets with the smarts to pull it off. I realize this idea is easy to rip, but until anyone has a better idea, I think this is their best bet.

I’m not going to rip on you, but it’s not as simple as you seem to think. Federov was an exceptionally rare player. He also had a Selke to his name. He was an incredible defensive player, and that’s why Bowman tried it. He also played him with a guy who was one of the better dmen of his time.

How many times on the PP, do you see a forward on the point, and they end up getting burned for a goal? You’ve never heard an announcer say “that’s the chance you take when you put a forward on the point”? Think of that 20 minutes a game.

Not as bad as you'd think.

For one there are still very good playrs out there. Sign Kubina, Semin for instance and you're still an extremely competitive team.

Option 2 make a deal to boost your line-up with teams who have many NHL dm,en on their team like Calgary or Montreal.

Option 3, you part ways with one of your big ticket players. If nash got what he did then what would Zetterberg fetch in the market for instance?