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You didn't need to say it in your post. Your opinion on Holland has been well stated over the past year. Booth is just as stupid a signing as Cleary, and then some, because when healthy, Cleary is an "every day-er" that's only one season removed from being one of our better playoff performers in 2013. Booth has had two good seasons with Florida and hasn't done jack squat in 3 years. But the grass is always greener............

Comments like these make me want to cancel my subscription to LGWs. Holland is now all of a sudden a bad GM because he didn't sign David friggin Booth? Please.

The South Korean team would get destroyed by the North. Kim Yung Un averages 14 goals a game between his trips to the moon and shooting 18 on an 18 hole golf course.

The Detroit Red Wings have long had the philosophy that prospects need to be "ripe" before they make the jump to the National Hockey League. That means after getting drafted, our prospects spend around 3-5 years between junior or overseas and the AHL before finally getting their shot in the NHL. This has proven to be successful for many years now and I don't see them drastically changing that system any time soon. I don't see there being much of a chance that Mantha makes the big club this season, despite how highly fans, media and management regard him, nor do I think Jurco will start the season in the NHL. I'm actually a fan of the Red Wing way, of over ripening players, and I like the idea of having a farm oozing with talent. Depth is probably the biggest key to a teams success in the league today, and because of our drafting, development and ripening methods, we are definitely stacked with depth in the minors. There is a reason players like Nyquist and Tatar were able to jump into the NHL with little to no growing pains, while highly regarded players drafted by other teams get thrown in the fire too early and flame out due to not being ready, and having their confidence destroyed. I'm just as excited for all these kids as anyone but I think it would be a huge mistake to throw them in the best league in the world before they're fully ready, both physically and mentally. In my opinion, on the back end, Marchenko could be ready for full time duty in the NHL, other than that I think Backman, Ouellet, Sproul and Jensen can all use more seasoning in the AHL. Up front, Jurco is the closest to being ready, but could still use another season down in the minors, along with Pulkkinen, Mantha, Athanasiou, etc. Anyway, point being, I don't think there is any harm in resigning a future hall-of-famer, veteran like Alfredsson, allowing all of our forward prospects another season in Grand Rapids to round out there game. Having these guys getting top line minutes and loads of PP time down in Grand Rapids, to me is a lot more beneficial than getting 3rd line minutes and no PP time up in Detroit. As for our RFA's that are not waiver exempt, I don't think there is any chance whatsoever that any team picks up Nestrasil, with a slim chance a team takes a chance on Ferraro, although that may be even less likely now with uncle Tony now as the assistant coach. My only fear is that we lose Callahan. The kid is coming off a career year with the Griffins, is an absolute warrior and would be a great addition to any teams 4th line. I hope Holland doesn't give any team the chance to claim him. No he's not going to put up a lot of points but I think he would be a huge loss...

Tatar had a good rookie year. But he's still unproven so I'm not sure why people think he should get his payday now. He'll get a prove it contract and that's what's best for both sides. As far as people comparing Tats and Pavs rookie years, it honestly means nothing. Peter Mueller had a comparable rookie year to Anze Kopitar, who both had had better years than Patrice Bergeron, and they all had worse years than Dany Heatley. Now two of them are scrubs and 2 are elite forwards. I'm glad Tatar had a good rookie year, now he has to prove he can continue to do that and improve.

watching his highlights I he seems like a veryyyy good first pass guy. I know we have a lot of those, but if he keeps improving I can't imagine what he could do with guys like Jurco, Tatar, and Pulikkenen on his wings. Good signing. He and Miele could end up being very good acquisitions in the near future.

Didn't you know? The Redwings org has lost its shine. no one wants to be here anymore. It's only a matter of time before the fans start leaving.

I edited it right before you replied. I had Edmonton in mind when I threw out the 6 million dollar figure.

Tatar should sign a "bridge" deal, just like most younger players. I can't stand when I see a guy come off of his ELC and get a 6 million dollar contract (not saying Tatar is getting this, or has asked for it) for one season of strong play. The rare occasion, it's deserved and the deal works out. I think there's a lot of risk, as it just sets a bad precedent, and players expect the money without really proving they're worth the contract.

Having had a better rookie season than Datsyuk's rookie season is absolutely meaningless, not sure why we are discussing it. Several players in NHL history have had better or even much better rookie seasons than Datsyuk and have gone on to have careers nowhere near the career Datsyuk has had. The opposite is true as well...there have been players that have had worse rookie years than Datsyuk and have gone on to have better careers than him. It is really a silly comparison.

Saying Tatar's unproven isn't necessarily knocking him. It's just a fact, really. We don't yet know what Tomas Tatar the NHLer truly is, or, maybe more correctly, what he will be. It's a very small sample size. Another concern - and this isn't Tatar's fault either - is that we have a wealth of up-and-coming young talents, any one of whom might be The Next Great Red Wing. Already we've got Nyquist and Tatar and Sheahan and Jurco looking like they might be Players. So, cost controlling is essential, especially if we're thinking about making a run or two at the Cup in the next three or four years.

I think that because people got a glimpse of Jurco last season, and saw some flashes of high-end skill, they missed some of the knocks on him (right now). There are still little things that Jurco is going to have to learn to reach his full level of consistency at the NHL level. I remember seeing Tatar during one of his first call-up games and watching him go offside twice in the span of a few minutes, mostly because he wasn't used to the pace/speed yet. As you mentioned in a previous post, Nyquist and Tatar were able to adjust to the NHL because they were brought in the right way, and there's nothing wrong with doing that with Jurco right now. All in all, Jurco is not a necessity at this point - but allowing him to mature properly is definitely a necessity. We're going to need that when Hank and Pavs leave, and a guy who's putting up 40-50 when he could put up 60-70 isn't going to help that. On a similar note, I think that before Mantha comes up, Pulkkinen should be the next call-up behind Jurco... but that's a whole other issue.

Pucktividi, it doesn't and shouldn't always come down to who is the better player, sometimes it has to be a more calculated decision. When it comes down to handing a roster spot to a (21 year old) kid that still has another year of waiver exemption (Tomas Jurco), or re-signing a (future hall-of-fame) veteran to a reasonable contract (Daniel Alfredsson), I would pick the second one 95% of the time. In my opinion there are a number of reasons for doing this. One being point production. In this case, both player will more than likely produce the same number of points, my guess being between 40-50. Secondly, development. I'm a big believer that a player is much better off playing top line minutes in all situations in the minors rather than getting sheltered minutes and no special teams in the pros. Another thing would be confidence. This doesn't apply as much to a player like Jurco as much as Mantha, but confidence can definitely be completely diminished if thrown in to the deep end too early. I'm sure there are even more reasons but I'm going to finish off with team depth. A veteran player like Alfredsson is brought in, while a great young kid like Jurco is buried to increase the overall depth of the team. When the inevitable injuries hit, Jurco / Mantha are great first call ups. Everyone is well aware of how highly I regard Jurco, he is far and away my favorite prospect and will more than likely be my favorite Red Wing in a few years. Hell, I'm getting a new dog in a couple months and I'm between two names, Zetty and Jurco and I'm leaning toward Jurco... I cannot wait for this kid to be up full time with the Wings, however I still believe that another year in the American League is the best thing for his development, and because of that, I'm confident that is where he will end up.

Nope, my birthday was in June, and happy early bday. The person below me has a summer birthday and never had to be in school on that day.

I don't want anything to do with the people who were a part of building a team who hasn't won a cup in 600 years. The guy that replaced them, some 20 something year old from the Sault, he sounds intriguing.

Can Dombroski just be brought in to be GM of the Wings and Tigers?

Blue jackets I would say are pretty comparable. I've always thought the Habs were overrated and they rode a hot streak to the conference finals. The bolts always seem to follow up a good year with a sub-par year. I think most of those teams are close enough to us skill-wise that either team could get the upper hand. I wouldn't call any team "clearly better than us" except boston

Regarding Tatar... Source

I wonder what "not close" means here, because the article makes it seem like "not close" is more that they haven't really started working though this process of negotiating. Tatar is overseas, Dekeyser they haven't spoken with since the draft. Holland gave each of them offers and hasn't heard anything back. It sounds like these guys are just enjoying their summer and aren't even focusing on contract talks right now. But given that my perspective is one of very limited access, who knows what's actually going on.

I'd put Mike Babcock at #1 and Darryl Sutter at #2 and "Coach Q" at #170. All Babcock does is achieve, Sutter is a mad genius, and Q has a mustache.

Before he hooked up with the Hawks though, he made it out of the 2nd round of the playoffs once in 10 years as a head coach. Losing to the eventual cup winner in a first round series doesn't really count for much to me. Babcock took out the 2003 Red Wings in 4 games with a Ducks roster that wasn't exactly stacked with stars and got them to game 7 of the Finals. in 2007 he took the Wings to the Conference finals, losing to a great team and eventual Cup winner in the Ducks . In 2008 he won the Cup In 2009 he went through the Ducks, still a very good team, and beat Quenneville's Blackhawks (the next year's Cup winner), then took the Pens (who people here don't like to admit but were a great team) to 7 games. In 2013 he took the Blackhawks to game 7 OT with a lineup that had no business hanging with the Hawks. I think Quenneville is a good coach, but I still put Babcock a notch above him.

There is no easy schedule in professional sports.