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I'm with you. Tatar was very impressive, especially considering it was his rookie season. He may be only 5'10", but he plays like he's 6'2"

if we have to give up a guy like tatar or nyquist let it be for a guy like yandle or bogo

We have $10million in cap space, yes we have the room to take the chance on him.

I agree on Tatar. Beyond size and defensive shortcomings he is a really special player I feel. Nothing like Hudler except in those two characteristic (and perhaps a propensity to party). Tatar is a catalyst - he drives the play, make something from nothing, provides that spark, (and other cliches). It's that winning drive that you see in him that I think is actually rare. Babcock put as "one of the ones that drives the bus." at some point this past year.

yes, I was agreeing with you, and just adding to what you were saying. Apparantly if a dman doesn't put up 60+ points he isn't very good according to some people... and to those that want to reiterate, yes he isn't great defensively, but why should he have to be, like i said if he isn't spending much time in his own end, there's no need to worry about being amazing in his own end, that's what dekeyser/ericssonis for

So why did Suter and Parise go to Minnesota? Because they are so competitive? Did Niskanen go to Washington because they are Cup finalists? Moulson went to Buffalo because they're making so many good moves? Seems not to matter how much evidence to the contrary, there's going to continue to be the "Detroit's not a destination because of...." conspiracy theory. Oh, and Patrick Eaves? LOL He "chose" to go to the Stars? They scooped him up off the scrap heap after being let loose twice in the past year and is being paid like 500k on a one year deal. Give me a break

That one was tough. When the answers appeared, I found myself thinking, "Wow, he's that old?" a lot. I guess that means that I'm old if I find them to be young. One of these days I will be able to spell Robitaille under pressure. I can do it now, but when the clock's running, forget it!

I completely agree Kip....I think the value of Green is drastically overstated. The guy is still young and if he is healthy, he can have a long career but honestly, people are acting like we are trying to acquire Drew Doughty here. It's obvious that the caps are going in a different direction with the signing of Niskinen and Orpik. Green is the odd guy out AND Washington is right up against the cap. As Ansar points out in his article, they need depth at forward and they need to clear some cap space to go that.....so in my mind, it's a salary dump for Washington so they can address their needs at forward. That works in Detroits favor. I think a 1st rounder and a moderate prospect will do it. Once they rid themselves of the 6 million they are paying for Green they can address their need with a forward.If this is the case, I'm interested.....if they are talking Jurco, Gus or Tats....I'm not! PS Franzen could go....and then the Caps can have the laziest line in hockey with Mule and OV!

To answer both of you... 1. The Legwand trade should have shown everyone the danger of trading good talent for expiring contracts. And free agency just showed us that lots of NHL players would rather not sign here. So it would be stupid to trade a more valuable asset (Tatar) for a more questionable player (Green). There's a real good chance you lose a real good roster player for nothing. 2. Until Teemu Pulkkinen scores a single NHL point, there's absolutely no reason to assume that he's got more value to the team, or a higher ceiling, than the guy who just scored 19 goals and 39 pts. in his rookie year. There's also no reason to assume that Pulkkinen can replace his production. Assuming so would be dangerous, regardless of what your gut feelings are, or your eyeball tests, or anything else. If you're going to trade Tatar, get good value for him, or keep him. He was one of the few bright spots that our team had a year ago and he's only going to improve off his rookie year. Trade him as part of a package for a top four defenseman under contract, or a top six forward under contract, or don't trade him.

Hell, sweeten the pot and give them Glendening or Andersson for the trouble and you might bring the price down a little more. Fact is, they'd be helping us out by trading us Green. But we'll be helping them too. He's expensive, his cost/benefit ratio is probably not better than their other top four defensemen, and they need forwards that they don't have money for. If they can get a decent prospect or two and a pick OR a low end (cheap) roster player and a decent prospect, they'll be making out. If they expect to get an up and coming roster player (Nyquist, Tatar, Jurco) or a top end prospect (Mantha, Sproul, Ouellet) they're ******* nuts. I wouldn't be surprised to see him traded either. But if he was traded for Mike Green on an expiring contract then Ken Holland should be drawn, quartered, burned, buried, exhumed, drawn, quartered, and burned again for being a ******* toolbox.

This is just me being a fanboy. But I'm always ok with the idea of "going with Sproul". This kid is going to be the next Doughty. He was an absolute steal. Size, speed, shot, athleticism, smarts. I legitimately think he'll be a better player than Mantha even, but that's just me. Anyway, back on topic. Green would help, but I'd definitely not trade too much to get him. AND it would be wise to dump salary where you could to offset the acquisition (Kindl and Andersson).

He has one year remaining on his contract and we have 10 mil in cap space. You think it's better to leave the cap space wasted instead of using on a guy who could drastically turn around our PP and blueline?

Actually with the bonuses factored in (which capgeek already does) we have just over $10mil in cap space. So no were not up against the cap

Frank, no way this team finishes worse than last season. They will make the playoffs, probably around the 4 or 5 spot.

Soooo you're agreeing with me? I can't tell. I was arguing that Green would put up 55 points. aka be successful in our system.

I agree Son of a Wing. I'm a huge fan of Athanasiou as well... Hell, there are very few prospects I would want to trade lol. I know only one in like every three prospects turn out but I would be afraid we would trade the ones that turn out and keep the busts. Although that is one thing I think Holland has been great at. He very rarely gives up on prospects that turn out to be great and usually flips some of the prospects that he doesn't feel will work out for something in return.

Why O Why does everyone think that the starting point for every single trade on earth is a high end prospect or roster player with upside? None of Nyquist, Tatar, Jurco, or Mantha would go the other way in a trade for Green. Good god, just look at every other deadline deal for guys who aren't superstars. You ever see those kinds of roster players or prospects going the other way for a teams fourth defenseman? Anaheim got ONE top prospect, a mid tier prospect, and a 1st for Bobby Ryan...and he was under (a very affordable) contract. Mike Green will DEFINITELY not cost us more than that. Where do these relative values come from?

While everyone's moaning and groaning I think the wings kno they have guys like Marchenko, Ouelette, Sproul, Jensen, Pulkinnen, AA, Nosek, Ferraro, Callahan, Mantha, ready to go. That's like the best offseason upgrade you can ask for. Just one could make a huge difference, see: Nyquist.

The thing about Calgary is that while the team was declining, they had a very shallow prospect pool, so it all just kind of snowballed until they finally decided to embrace a rebuild. Wings don't have that issue. We have a very deep prospect pool, so while having a terrible year and a lottery pick would no doubt give the team a shot at getting a great, young talent (not a guarantee), with the depth in the farm it isn't necessary. The kids just need to get the experience and learn how to win at the NHL level. Just takes time. And once they get there, Holland has plenty of assets to make the moves that need to be made. All tanking a season would do is get a high draft pick that may or may not pan out.

A guy who is arguably better than Quincey just signed for less than 1/4 the price. Process that for a moment.

Or he could build a solid young core capable of winning Stanley Cups in the future while still making the playoffs and being competitive every year. Which sounds a lot harder than either of your extremes. Which he's currently and has been doing for the last few years.

I didn't say don't trade our youth. I said don't trade those specific players. In fact I made a point of saying I'm not anti-trade. I'd be more than open to trading a combination of a high draft pick and one or two of Tatar, Pulkinnen, Backman, Ouellet for the right piece. But it better be a damn good piece... I see it as a slow build and "stocking of the shelves" and not a status of neutral. We're building WHILE staying competitive and that's tougher than it sounds. We currently have the 3rd highest ranked group of prospects in the entire league AND we've got a playoff team. Only Anaheim, Chicago and Tampa Bay also have that Potential/Current talent mix. No we're not a "legitimate contender" but with the right move or two and our young core furthering their development, we could see a serious run soon. Yes I believe that.

Based on what? What has he accomplished that is anything like a rookie forward coming in and scoring 39 points? I don't expect Smith to have THE SAME accomplishments, that's dumb. But if he was as good, I'd expect him to have EQUIVALENT accomplishments, which he doesn't. Also, what does he bring that we need? He's an offensive defenseman who doesn't play defense and doesn't score many points. He had fewer hits than any defenseman other than Kindl, and he doesn't play special teams. You keep saying that he brings so much, or that he's better than Tatar. Tell me what he did and what he brings to the team. I'm dying to know.

No you're right, Oates was the probably the all time worst. I was only 3 at the time, so the other ones just pissed me off more .

This sums up your pov so perfectly. Babs played PK in how many Olympic Games?