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Agreed. Something we're missing a bit I think is the fact that the Wings tend to let the smaller guys over-ripen more. It's no coincidence that Nyquist and Tatar both maxed out their waiver exemptions before sticking with the big club while Sheahan and especially Jurco seem to have carved themsleves an NHL niche a little prematurely by Wings standards. Matha has elite size for a scoring winger. This alone should speed up his development.

It was a pretty large consensus that our biggest weakness this year was our group of defencemen. Fan Solution: Trade two rosters defencemen (Kindl/Lashoff) Let Quincey walk, promote youth and rookies. I really don't see that improving our chances.....

This Niskanen talk is just silly. If you can add a legitimate top 4 defenceman for free you do it. I've never understood why people say this. So because he's not the final piece to put us in contention we shouldn't add them at all? How do you ever expect to get to contention?? I see you said it's because you don't want to lose young players for nothing but that just doesn't make sense. Depth is positive, not negative. Besides I think they learned from the Quincey waiver/trade debacle.

I think at some point people will have to accept the new caphits thanks to the new CBA. The days of guys like Niskanen taking discounts to come here are gone, 5,5 annually is a bit of an overpayment for a top 4 guy yeah but at the end of the day you have to overpay to get the players you want. Niskanen would be a tremendous help and could give our blueline a much needed different look next season. I know people are thrilled with all the talent on the backend but at the end of the day we all know not all of them are gonna make it, so why not use only cash for Niskanen and use some of the higher upside prospects to get a big bodied forward ?

Exactly. Too much is a good thing if the over abundance of players are either really good or very promising. Niskanen simply gives this team more assets to use to fill other holes in the lineup. I'm actually hoping the pens make a decent run (but falling short) this year just so Niskanen gets lots of experience and learns how to win. That way if Holland does get him, he can bring that experience and hunger for a cup here with him. Even without Niskanen, there is no way all the defense prospects we have will crack the lineup. There is no use worrying about that. In the end, it is a good problem to have.

When it comes down to it, 2 of the kids can fit in at 6/7th dmen. they'll get to earnt heir way up the lineup like anyone else. example: if the time comes marchenko breaks out and becomes and absolute stud, ericsson because expendable. keeps the team young while improving (plus gets another Righty in the top 4). thats how I think it should go. give a couple kids a chance at once. if they steal someones job, they get it. I already see smith growing into a kronwall type over the years. which is why I think smith should be untouchable barring a situation he can be packaged for someone like weber (which will never happen)

Yeah. As if any of those rednecks know how to use twitter.

nyqvististhefuture: i could be wrong but i think you underestimate the circumstances around contract valuation. Keith and Niskanen are pretty unfair in terms of comparison for several reasons. A) 5.5 million in 2009 > 5.5 million in 2014 B) takes less to resign a player than to pick them from UFA C) Less pressure when signing an extension mid season rather than off season talks (no competition) D) home grown talent vs talent who is looking for a home to grow. After all that i still think most would agree that Keith is obviously better (including at the time he signed the contract) but to say Niskanen is not worth the money solely based on comparison to Keith is unfair. I agree that it is risky to be tied down to a somewhat "unproven" player however this complacency has got us where we are which is bounced relatively quietly. I'm not saying i want Holland (i love Holland) to be a Holmgren or anything but even with ALL Holmgren's questionable moves, his team is still arguably as good as ours. In regards to Niskanen i think he could be a good pickup, he basically adds Quincey's late season improved defense with slightly less than Kronwall's point production all while not being 5'10" and 180 pounds and has a RH shot. As a disclaimer i am still on the fence about Niskanen, i could easily argue in favor of him or against him while making valid points either way. This is why I am glad my decisions about hockey are not what will be putting food in my mouth.

For every game like this he has, he'll have another where he costs his team the game

aw, no quotes? Ain't that the Juck ******* Pott!

I didn't honestly expect him to be bought out, but hoped. As long as he isn't on the team come the fall I'll be happy, I don't give a s*** about his cap hit, or his production. At the end of the day, he's a lazy guy who's a monster on the ice and is softer then Hudler. That little midget got in peoples faces and tried to play a heavy game despite being 5'8, Franzen can't be bothered to finish more then a check per game, even in the playoffs. Great he scores 8 goals in a 3 game span and then has 1 the next 25, I'd rather have a guy who scores less and brings some energy or ANYTHING else. Watching clips of Franzen from the Cup runs in 08 and 09, and even to a degree 10 and 11, he's a different guy. The last 3 years he might score goals, but watching him play makes me ill.

If I may ask. Why stop those quotes? I mean yes they are overused. But they're FACTS. Proven facts. Look at ken Hollands track record...it's exactly who he is and what he is doing. Now can he change? Yes. Will he? I'm not sure only time will tell.

A clown?

Every player makes mistakes. Obviously some more noticeable than others. Datsyuk turned the puck over a few times in the series as well. Do we hate him now to? Face it. Hating on Mule is the hip thing to do right now. Cleary and Sammy haven't been playing, so there had to be someone else to blame for all the teams problems. Franzen worked hard in that series. But because he didn't score, he will be seen as lazy. There has been times in his career he has no doubt not worked hard. These playoffs were NOT one of them.

It ended up being a turnover but "lazy"? It was a hard saucer pass, that would have led to a breakaway or at worst a 2 on 1. Krug had to make a great play at the line to knock the puck down or Helm was gone. Even Datsyuk, who was unquestionably our best player made worse passes in the series than that one.

Some of you clearly are not understanding that buying Franzen out would be one of the worst decisions a GM could make when they can easily TRADE him for picks or something else, c'mon folks think here.... At $3.95 million a year, Franzen is a steal, and he can easily be traded for his average 25 goals / 50 points a year (.31 GPM / .61 pts PG). His concussion messed him up this year, but 41 pts in 54 games is pretty good for his paygrade. Do the math yourselves, go to capgeek and see what's available in UFA for $4 million. See how easily he can be traded for that price tag. Buyout talk is just plain retarded and shows a complete lack of understanding the mechanics of contracts and team building. http://www.capgeek.com/ufa-finder/

I think it's pretty safe to say NY's bandwagon is pretty much groaning under the weight of all the Wings fans that jumped on it last night.

I can't pick which thread to rage in, there are so many options. Literally every match up did not go the way I wanted it to in the first round. I feel like I am personally being trolled by the NHL. Because it's all about me, and I know Gary stays up nights plotting ways to gaslight me.

If Babcock was sick of management he wouldn't have stuck around for a decade. He also wouldn't say he's willing to stick around on a year to year basis. I think its also silly to think he's not PART of management. No decision is made on the roster without his input. Tootoo was the only person even considered for a buyout. If he isn't bought out, then the 2nd compliance buyout isn't used at all. If, hypothetically, Franzen did get bought out he would in all likelihood be one of, if not the best free agent forward in this years entire crop.

They already have...

They've tried Franzen there but its not really a great fit. He has the size to do the job, but he's more effective shooting the puck than he is screening the goalie and trying to deflect it. The best net front presence the Wings have right now is Bertuzzi but he's too much of a liability elsewhere to take a regular shift.

I don't know where people keep getting the idea that Holland and Babcock don't get along. Every time the topic is raised to either one of them the re-iterate how well they get along. Babs has stuck around for 9 years here, with Holland in charge for every single one and he's never complained about him. I also think its pretty crazy to think any GM makes roster decisions or moves without first discussing it with the coach and the rest of his staff. He's already said he will keep coaching the Wings year to year and if not them, he'll go to U of M. I'm also not sure where everyone is getting the idea that Franzen is regressing or that he's not as effective now as he was in the past. He put up .76 points per game this year, which is slightly above his career average. He will end up regressing before the end of his contract but so far there aren't any signs that is imminent. The idea of buying him out is ridiculous, the only reason to do it would be to acquire someone better and given the look of this years FA market, its not all that unlikely that Franzen would be the best forward available.

Damn, dude, well said!

Obviously you were drunk off your ass.