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Chris Johnston ‏@reporterchris Mikael Samuelsson is returning home to Sweden this season after signing with Djurgarden. Veteran winger played 699 NHL games. http://kuklaskorner.com/tmr/comments/mikael-samuelsson-signs-with-djurgardens-if Bye Sammy!

If he did that I don't know why you'd want to trade him though. A year from now you'd hope that Sproul would be on the team and contributing, along with one of either Marchenko and/or Ouellet. The only way trading for Yandle makes sense is if it's this year...or if you are sending a left shooting top four (Smith) the other way. And if that was the case you could probably get him for something like Smith + Pulkkinen + pick and not lose a 25-30 goal scorer. If Tatar scored 25-30 goals this season I'd consider trading him, but only for a top four who is under contract and shoots right. Someone like Shattenkirk.

Not going to point fingers, but ppl around here were mad at Holland for not chasing Gleason. Bought out by the Leafs now. Glad Holland didn't pull that trigger.

Holland shows loyalty to players that show loyalty back to him. It sets a good precedent, especially to young players within your organization who at some point need to make a decision to either stay and sign a long term contract, or to jump ship for more money. Obviously it won’t work 100% of the time, but I think it is no coincidence that the Wings very rarely lose star players when they want to retain them. As frustrating as the loyalty can be at times as a fan (ie. Cleary) I believe long term it helps the organization. Obviously you are being sarcastic in your comment, but Samuelsson left after the 2008-2009 season. Holland shouldn’t show him the same loyalty he showed Cleary. Cleary has played here for years, never left, sacrificed his body, and even stayed after being offered a 3 year 9 million deal with the Flyers (I believe). Holland promised Cleary last year that he would sign him for the 2014/15 season, if Holland doesn’t make that signing, he pisses off a lot of players. Not a message I want sent to players like Tatar, Nyquist, Jurco, Mantha, Dekeyser etc.

Gardiner? He plays in every situation, ranked 2nd among his entire team in minutes/game and is relied on heavily for his offense and puck moving ability. Dekeyser is a good player who we need but Gardiner plays a much larger role on his team.

Well, Bill Peters joined in July of 2011 (i.e. he arrived post-excellence) and his services were much in demand this summer. Not to mention, we've lost about 40,000,000 other key people over the past two or three years. The Wings might not be the class of the league anymore, but I think that, on the organizational level, being a Red Wing still means a lot, even if you weren't around for any of the glory days.

No one ever knows much about any of the assistant coaches Babcock picks out, until 3 years later when they're the most desired coaching candidates in the league.

Nill, you sly dog.

Fancy stats suggest the deal is a steal: Why the Tomas Tatar deal is a win for Detroit Red Wings [Prashanth Iyer, The Washington Post]

I don't need no stinking analytics! When your team can punch people in the face, thought becomes irrelevant.

Are you currently dating Mark Mowers by any chance?

You and me both! National Champ Hiller is. And while I'm talking about NMU, I found out that the Starbucks founder Howard Schultz not only went to NMU he lived in the same room I did, 304 Halverson Hall.

Tatar knows what direction this team is going.......

MOST IMPORTANTLY... he ain't getting traded.

Well three puts him right into his prime, and if he were to get low-balled, he has an arbitrator to fall back on. I see the appeal of a 3 year deal. This signing is a solid one in my book as I think Tatar will turn out to be very consistent and solid for the team.

He proved more than sheahan has, and more than nyquist had when he signed his deal so I understand it. Nyquist will get a better contract than Tatar after this year. I predict 4 million for 4 years or 5 for 5

Each time he scores a hat trick, free "Tatar" tots for everyone at the JLA.