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Dominik could still play, I have no doubt at all. But he's really done this time, having too much fun doing other stuff in CZ. I don't see Jimmy as untouchable, he's smart and knows this is just business. Here's an issue I see with trading Jimmy this year, however. I can't see dumping Mrazek, but he strikes me as too inexperienced and emotionally "young." He can't handle the not-so-good team effort in front of him. That is expecting too much, I think. He might share a homeland, but Petr is no Dominik Hasek. He needs a solid number one in front of him to deflect the heat and pressure. Legace played very well, with Dom to hide behind -- often happens with backups, when there is an elite goaltender as the top dog. They don't always fare so well when they are in the hot seat. I am not dissing Mrazek, I love the kid. If you know me at all, the prospect of having another career, crazy CZ-goalie to love is almost more than I can stand. But he isn't there yet. That said, I love Coreau. He's a good, BIG, solid goalie -- and he's the victim of the team in front of him, just as the other 'tenders have been. Jimmy has an unfortunate tendency to get hurt seriously, when he's on a great run, statistically. That aspect of his career will be his legacy (no pun intended), I am sorry to say. Love me some Jimmeh, but it's probably not in the cards that he retires a Wing. Z must retire a Wing, however.

are you saying us Wings fans expect too much, too fast, and too soon? are we a spoiled bunch?

I know Puckloo and I are down for getting Hasek back for sure.

What's Hasek up to these days?

I dont't know, I don't see Howrd going out a Wing, as you put it, I mean look at what they did to Ozzie, letting him go just to bring him back later and helped us to that 08 cup. I mean, I love Howie, but the team hasn't been behind him and if we could trade him in a package for a top D would do it in a heartbeat. Keep Mrazek and get a solid backup, so far Coreau hasn't impressed me, yeah he's got size but seems slow. Although I agree with @F.Michael no one should be untouchable, well perhaps Z, I'd love for him to end his career as a Red Wing.

We're not trading Mrazek. He's our future. He's young and struggling at the moment that's all.

I say we bring in Jorge Alves. Serves as both tender and equipment manager....2 birds 1 stone.

These players are letting Blashill down. Poor guy spent his entire childhood dreaming of coaching his hometown team, only to inherit a roster full of jobbers and untalented AHL scrubs.

well Jurco would be happy having his old coach behind the bench, he may get utilized correctly for once. its amazing really, Green is out and the only other decent shot from the point is watching from the press box so he can learn more!

Not saying Mrazek and Price are the same but I remember a lot of Canadiens fans wanting them to keep Halak over Price after the playoff performances he had against Washington and Pittsburgh. Look how that turned out, we need to be patient like you said.

Bring him in, by all means. Grab Lidström while you're at it and we might look decent. At least in my dreams. Guess I'm getting old..

I dont think Howard's contract this offseason is as bad as some people thing. At that point its essentially 2 years 10mil, not exactly crazy money. If there is a team out there that thinks all they need is a goalie, I believe trade could be made. Buying him out would just be stupid. If we do that we then face a cap-hit from him for 4 years rather then 2.

You must keep reading....

I remember this well, his whole attitude, how he stutters and his "cap is coming, cap is coming" phrase made me laughed so hard I had to make a pic back then. Ho-ho-ho-hold your horses Ken Stark. Less hasn't been more exciting thus far, just ask Howard

That was a wild time. Had too much fun to find anything to complain about. Things got a little chirpy between wings and leafs fans on the street car back to Union Station. Such fun shenanigans.

My exact thinking as well. Plus, I think the Wings can beat any team, I just don't expect it consistently or even regularly.

This entire statement means nothing. I would hope that your not trying to say Green is the problem with the offense.

It's about time Mantha was given a real shot to show what he can do. What sucks is that it took two injuries and seeing Bertuzzi go up ahead of him before he got called up. Just goes to show it's way past time to go with the youth. Holland needs to move any pending UFAs or anyone over 30 (besides Z, let him do what he wants to) to any teams that are interested at the deadline for picks, prospects, or young NHLers if the Wings aren't in the playoff picture.

Steve Ott is absolutely part of the problem. Maybe less so now than he was at the start of the season, as we're missing some key players. But the fact that Mantha didn't make the team out of camp and Ott and Miller did just speaks to a larger problem with the Wings. To which someone will say, "Yeah, but you don't want a player like Mantha playing on the fourth line." To which I say, "He never had to play on the fourth line. When healthy, this team could roll four scoring lines. (No Ott, no Miller.) But they insist on doubling down on outdated strategies. Because DEFENSE! And GRIT! And KILLING PENALTIES! And BLOCKING SHOTS! And WINNING FACEOFFS! And VETERAN LEADERSHIP! And COMPETE LEVEL! And BOY OH BOY DOES STEVE OTT GIVE IT HIS ALL. EVERY TIME HE FIGHTS YOU CAN SEE THE EFFECT IT HAS ON HIS TEAM. BOY OH BOY. GRIT. BOY OH BOY."

He better not EVER go back to GR.

It's hard to say. Most of theses things people say they would do won't or don't work in the real world. It's not a video game. If we are gonna act like this is a video game here what I'd do. Most of my idea's have to do with free up cap space and getting draft picks. 1. Blashill gotta go, he's lost the locker room and hes is way too much of the same but a weaker version of Babs. You go after Gerard Gallant as soon as possible. 2. You let Z finish his career in Detroit. You only move him, if he wants out. But this is the last season Z is forced to play 19mins a night. 3. You show the same respect to Kronwall as you do to Z. 4. Sheahan gotta go. Take whatever you can get. AA takes his place. 5. Time to move on from Tatar or Nyquist. Svechnikov replaces whoever you move here. 6. Nielsen, Howard, Franzens, Ericsson, DeKeyser, Helm contracts almost make them impossible to move. Chances are you'll have to eat them or buy them out. Theses contracts will make the next 3-5 season very hard to sign any top FA. Realistically, you may only be able to trade DeKeyser and Helm here. 7. I'm not sold on Sproul or Ouellet. If you gotta package one of them in a deal to move someone in #6, #4, #5. Do so. Looking for draft picks here or prospects. 8. It's time for Larkin to play Center full time. Every single "future" top line center at his age is playing Center. Now time for him to do the same. You have Draper train him to win face offs day and night if you've gotta. 9. For the rest of the season, Mantha is tied to the same line as Z. 10. We need the grit. So you keep players like Abbs, Glendening around. 11. In goal I do one of two things. I trade Howard or Mrazek. I'm going after Ilya Samsonov, Juuse Saros or Malcolm Subban, if I trade Mrazek. If I trade Howard, I let the best man win between Mrazek and Coreau. 12. My goal would be to clear cap space and get draft picks, while holding onto Z and Kronwall for fandom and out of respect. No FA gonna come in and save this team. We need to draft and draft well. Along with giving the kids we do keep onto a real chance at real mins on the ice. But the cap space at least helps with the small chance of landing someone like Shattenkirk. This team no matter what is going no where fast anytime soon. Even if Mantha+Larkin turn out to be elite players. That's gonna take time for them to be elite. We are handcuffed by horrible contract after horrible contract until 2020 plus. Fans refuse to understand this or can't. To make matters harder, our top Dman is Dekeyer or Green. With no prospect in sight that may be better than them. Where once, we felt safe at Goalie is now in question. Our future top Center doesn't even play Center on most nights. In my opinion in our Conference alone, I can see 13 teams with a better future than us. That's not adding the Hurricanes who without question have a better prospects of Dman plus Faulk. Our time has come. There is no Z and Datz learning ropes with Hull. Or Kronwall learning from Lidstrom. You don't have a Stevie Y on the 3rd line. Or the number of other all time Red Wing greats to pass the torch like when Z, Datz and Kronwall came in. We've got Z, carrying this team on his broken back, with a bunch of knee jerk contracts.

The first thing and I can not stress this enough is we have to get EVERYONE to understand and agree on where we are. The team has been getting worse for 8 years and we are not bottomed out yet. It will be at least 3 more seasons-more like 4 or 5, before we are a team that can once again make deep PO runs. Everyone needs to understand and agree with this so that when we create our road map we stick to it and not take detours or try quick fixes. Once I have that now we can get started. 1. End of the season I fire the coaching staff. I hire Gallant. Not becasue he is a former Wing, but because he has a proven track record of developing young talent. The BJ's got better while he was there, he had awesome teams in Juniors while he was a head man there for 3 years, and the Panthers got better each year with him behind the bench. 2. Let it be known far and wide that we are open for business. I am looking for picks in the 2017 and 2018 draft and prospects that are close but not yet ready. The following guys are really really expensive: Z, Neilsson, Larkin, Mantha, AA Svechnikov, DD, Sproul, Oullett, and Mrazek. Everyone else is available and as many as possible will be moved over the next 18 months-summer of 2018. 3. The goal is to find and develop 2-3 players each year for the next 4 to 5 years. This is the hardest part. There is no more "over-rippening". we need guys as quick as possible. 4. Don't be afraid to trade 1st round picks if a team is willing to over pay. If the picks are outside of the top 5 the more likely I am to move the pick in the right deal. For example. The Isles know they can't resign Tavaras. we have the 6th pick. Yes I would package that pick for JT-on the condition that he resigns first. 5. Build a team that is balanced. Enough with the clones. I want RHed shots at RW and RD. I want big guys, I want fast guys, I want defensive guys, I want offensive guys, and I want tough guys. Now the more of those attributes you can find in the same body, the better.

kickazz, NerveDamage, MabusIncarnate and LeftWinger. Horrible bunch they are

So first Holland is gone, so half my problems are solved. #1 Try to snipe Anaheim or Nashville's defense scouting and development group. This team hasn't developed a real top pairing D-man in over a decade. #2 Trade the any of the following in such a way that prospects/picks come back: Abdelkader, Tatar, Nyquist, Smith, Nielsen, Helm, Howard, AA, and Jurco. These are all complementary pieces. None solve any problem Detroit has now or in the future. #3 Play the next two years as a total youth movement. The team won't make the playoffs, but high draft picks, chemistry and experience>>>>first round exits. #4 Move Blashill back to GR, he was great there. Find a coach that has already handled transitions before. #5 Continue to rebuild until the team is closer to the floor than the ceiling. Once cap flexibility has returned then start to move towards contention through FA/Trades.