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I know that Holland doesn't want to give away too much in order to clear the contract, but look at it this way, if NOT losing someone like Pulkkinen and a 2nd round pick lets say is more important than not having a chance at Stamkos, then he needs to be fired. He'll probably be successful in trading Howard, but he won't be able to trade Ericsson, so unless he gets rid of Pavel along with Howard, there is 0 chance at landing Stamkos...or any UFA that will make this team better. You get one chance to land a player like Stamkos. Like I said, if keeping Pulkkinen and a pick that may never make the NHL, then he has to go. Not saying thats the deal, but in order to get the free cap hit, Pulkkinen and a pick is MORE than enough. If they are talking Mantha or AA, then there better be a prime player coming back. Pavel - Pulkkinen - Pick is plenty enough for any cap cellar team. If Holland wont give that up, fire him. If teams expect more than that, then I guess we're screwed for ANY quality UFA.

poel, seriously stop with your s***! You have no idea what you're talking about... As has been pointed out several times by much more knowledgeable fans, we don't "need" the cap space. Sure, it would be nice if we could trade Pav's contract, but we're actually in good shape to be able to eat the hit for one season. Holland isn't going to trade the contract if he has to offload any high end prospects, let alone the ludicrous offer you just posted...

Zetterberg could also potentially go on LTIR for the remaining couple years if his back flares up again... I think Holland is playing the media to possibly lower other teams asking price. He doesn't need to trade this contract, and he's letting other teams know that, and that he's not giving up any high end assets to get a deal done. Regardless, I think Pav's contract gets moved in the next few days.

Isn't all of Toronto's young guys just "wishful thinking" too? Or does that only apply to us?

Blocking Poel helps. I've done it ages ago. In the end, people keep comparing pav's contract to others that have been moved. Difference is, these other contracts involve cash that is owed. Pavel's does not.

Like many have pointed out on the site, it's not a matter of "if." If it was life or death, we could give someone Mantha and they would take the contract in a heartbeat. If the asking price doesn't come down from teams, he doesn't move the contract. It's as simple as that.

Who says we can't hold out longer? You? We got tons of kids this year at small contracts coming .... Marchenko ouellet sproul mantha Larkin athanasiou jurco pulkkinen , were not in a desperate state to shed datsyuks contract For what to get stamkos? There's zero guarantee he would even come here so we're not giving up a top prospect ... That's ludicrous We got quinceys 4 million off the books ... If we want to shed more salary Kenny can work the phones instead and get rid of Howard and Ericsson first , I'd much rather he got rid of those deals first than even think about shedding datsyuks contract

Who said he impressed other GM's? That you Darren Helm? You making up stuff again? No wait, I'm Darren Helm.

He could be saying that to get the asking price down from teams.

What if the asking price is Mantha with Datsyuk's contract? Still fire Holland?

Come on, realistically, no one is going to take Ericsson off our hands. The guy has been brutal at times with his inconsistency, and that contract isn't going to do anyone any favours. If you ask me, KH is kinda f***ed here by this whole situation. Yes he hasn't helped himself with some of the deals he's made (or lack thereof) but like, Datsyuk leaving creates a huge problem. Look at it this way: 1. If he sits and eats the $7.5m cap space, he's going to get torn to shreds because he's responsible for not being able to move that space and then we'd never even have a shot at competing to sign Stamkos, or for that matter, one or two of the better free agents out there. E.g. Backes. 2. If he is able to clear it, he'll have to give up someone he doesn't want to, and considering the fact that there's only one reasonable team that can take on that contract now, the price will be relatively high. So there'll be considerable backlash if he ends up having to give up say, Jurco plus a pick. And then what if he strikes out in free agency? No Stamkos, no Backes, no Okposo etc etc. Really, I think Howard needs to be moved this offseason, but again, that's going to be even harder now with the expansion announcement coming. I'd love to see Ericsson shipped out, but again, who's going to take on that contract and give us a good return? Ideally, I'd like tos ee the kids play. Give AA, Mantha, Ouellet and Sproul full time jobs and hand them the reigns. If we miss the playoffs then so be it. but having Datsyuk leave a year early with an already declining Zetterberg makes this decision to turn the page somewhat easier.

NerveDamage, yes I do believe it's possible to sign Stamkos without trading Datsyuk's contract. There are always other options, but of course ridding ourselves of that dead cap space would be the easiest route. If we can't trade the contract though, it is very possible to trade Ericsson and Howard and still be able to go after the biggest UFA fish. As I've said before, Howard to a team like Calgary for a mid round pick and Ericsson to a team like Edmonton ($1M retained) for a mid to late round pick... Those two moves alone would give us $8.5M in cap space, along with the few million we'll have after we sign our remaining RFA's. As for Helm, he's the only UFA's that I'd personally like back, and if we can sign him for under $3M, that would be great. I'd have one of Helm or Sheahan as our 3rd line center, depending on what our overall roster looks like come October...

I just dont see why a team wouldn't make a trade for the contract, if the team is in the other conference (ie. not competing for a playoff spot) and needs to get to the cap floor. I understand teams trying to get the best deal possible, but if Holland doesn't budge if its only bad offers are out there, then a team is going to pass on get something for literally nothing. Some team could get a player like Pulkkinen and a low pick for just taking a contract and terminating it. Too not make that deal as a GM of a team like Arizona is just bad business if its that or nothing.

Thanks for everything Pav.

Some thoughts: - I'm confident the contract will be dealt. I don't think Pulkkinen has a future here and it'd be great if he was a part of the package. If Jurco has to go, so be it. - It's clear that Richards won't be back, which is the right move as far as I'm concerned. - I could stand to see Quincey walk, though I thought he played well last year. - I think Miller needs to be let go. - Helm isn't a top 6 player on this team. It'll be really interesting to see what takes place with him. - Backes and Lucic are going to be looking for 5+ years, so it's best we stay away. Their game will likely decline after a couple more years. - I'm not really into speculating about Stamkos, but adding him to the lineup would instantly put us in a better place than last year. - Matt Martin is a guy that this team needs in the bottom 6. Hits hard, can contribute offensively, and generally plays a disciplined game. One of the reasons Tampa was able to win in 5 was because they established a forecheck that got the defense in trouble and they were able to muck it up in the corners and win puck battles. Martin adds these elements. - I'm open to the idea of trading Nyquist or Tatar. Not sure what Holland would be looking to get in return.

why? if anything he might want to wait until the interview period so he can see if stamkos is even interested in coming to detroit

because at the time of signing the contract, datsyuk was still an elite player. according to holland, datsyuk did not want to do one year deals. which as datsyuk said in the mitch album article says was a mistake and that he should have taken the one year deals holland has made a lot of mistakes the last few years, but the datsyuk situation is not one of them

Lmao I don't think so. In this country if Holland says a lie like that , Datsyuk and the former agent Greenstein could sue his ass for false information to public. If you watch the full press conference (50 minutes long though), Holland also mentioned that Datsyuk confided with Henrik Zetterberg about it in 2013 as well. That's way too many names Holland would be "bulls***ting" about. It's sounds like Datsyuk, Greenstein (old agent who Pav dropped), Milstein (new agent), Holland, and Hank knew about the situation for years now. I'm not blaming Holland for this at all. I think Datsyuk should consider himself lucky that the organization didn't take action against him for not honoring the contract. Instead, he left on a good note and Holland thanked him for his time here. That's that.

Everyone should watch this. NHL network did a great job. https://www.facebook.com/NHL/videos/10153547227477466/

KH as usually is lowering expectations and he'said not doing enough to re-tool this team - kind of tired of his approach. Hopefully he's not going to bring Hudler back for his 2nd tour...

So basically: Pasha wanted a five year contract, got a 3 year with the option to go home before the 16/17 season and that's exactly what he's doing right now. People shouldn't be surprised that Holland is taking a hard stance through the media, can't just say please take the contract. Of course 7,5 million are a lot of money but the fact is it's only for one year and it's not a cup or bust year for the Wings. Glad he mentioned, that he won't give up a high draft pick or one of the top 2 talents (Larkin, Mantha).

I suggest we move Datysuk's contract and Jimmy Howard to Buffalo or Calgary Flames ... two teams looking for a solid #1 goaltender and have lots of cap space.

I suggest everyone watch this video.

My question is, why did Tatar have to do more with 'less'?... Do you think it might have to do with the coach trusting Nyquist more? Nyquist seems to be relied on more at the end of games when up or down by a goal. Is there a reason for this? Their production is virtually the same from year to year, and throughout their careers, they're basically the same age, same size, pretty close on the same style of play, the difference is negligible... To say either one is far superior over the other at this stage of their careers is ridiculous. They're both very good secondary skilled wingers...