Leaderboard

He's 20 and leading our team in goals. I think he'll be ok. Development isn't a straight line.

We really need a stud Dman on this team. There are none on the roster and none coming up. I think we will see a slow trade deadline for us, and then if we miss the playoffs, a much more aggressive than normal Holland at the draft. Especially with the weirdness of the expansion draft coming. I expect a lot of extra dealing and swapping on all teams parts. Might be time to pony up for a Dman if one becomes available.

I protect: F - Nielsen, Zetterberg, AA, Mantha, Nyquist, Tatar, Helm D - DD, Green, Sproul (though I give strong consideration to XO) G - Mrazek I protect Helm over Abby because despite what some may think, I think Vegas takes on Helm's contract, Abby's I cant see them wanting due to the term. I wouldn't protect Kronwall, with his knees being what they are, I cant see Vegas taking him. My top choice would be for him to recover 100%, but from what I read its a chronic issue that is not getting much better. Plus if he is taken, it just helps us cap wise. As for Green, I protect him because he could end up landing us a 1st or 2nd rounder next year. I am just hoping that Vegas takes either Howard or E, I would even be okay with Sheahan. Best case scenario is they take E, we trade Howard, trade Franzen's contract to a floor team, and Kronwall officially goes on LTIR. Those 4 things happen and we are good cap wise. Yes, I realize this is wishful thinking, and wont happen lol but one can hope. Not to mention within the next 18 months we lose the cap hits for Green, Miller, Ott, Vanek, Smith and Vitale (about 14.3 million). The reason I care about Franzen's contract is because LTIR only goes so far, and I have a strong feeling that both Kronwall and Z will end up there at some point and I would rather make room now opposed to scramble later. Does anyone know if this is done live on TV? Or is it done behind closed doors and we find out the results after the fact?

I think Miller was ironically the guy that assisted Jurco on his first NHL goal lol. It was a beautiful pass.

Jurco has shown he can play well in this league before. Giving up on someone so young would not be a wise decision.

Its definitely easier to get a franchise player from the draft if you're picking in the top 5, probably moreso these days because they don't get traded or go to free agency the way they used to in the 90s, but you can certainly find franchise guys deeper down. Zetterberg, Datsyuk, Getzlaf, Perry, Keith, Chara, Bergeron, were all drafted outside the top 10, and that's hardly an exclusive list. Of course there's a certain amount of luck that also goes into finding hidden gems, but the more times you roll the better your odds are. That's why I generally approve of trading down for multiple second round picks in deeper drafts. Imagine if the Wings ended up hitting that diamond in the rough this upcoming draft in the second or third round and pick up the next Duncan Keith or Shea Weber. That team three years down the road with veterans Larkin, Mantha, and whoever else you want to pick up to compliment the team has the potential to be real solid. And there's no requirement that the Wings even miss the playoffs this year in this scenario.

Again, you side step the question. Do you actually have a point youd like to make or are you just going to avoid discussion until no one takes you seriously?

These are all the top 5 draft picks that have played for championship teams dating back to the 1998 draft, that were relevant in some way to the Stanley Cup winning teams (that means some guy who was drafted in the top five but didn't contribute the year the team won the cup OR the players he was traded for didn't contribute the year the team won the cup I didn't include in the list). Usually when talking about tanking we think top 1 or 2 picks but I'll be a bit more generous with my definition and look at top 5. Pittsburgh: Crosby, Malkin, Fleury, Jordan Staal, Ryan Whitney (traded for Kunitz) Chicago: Toews, Kane, Cam Barker (traded for Kim Johnson and Nick Leddy) LA: Schenn, Doughty Bruins: Kessel(traded for Seguin, Knight, Hamilton.) (Seguin was the only one to play in Boston's championship year. He scored 22 points in regular season, 7 points in playoffs.) Carolina: Andrew Ladd (scored 11 points in regular season, 5 in playoffs), Eric Staal Anaheim: Vishnevskiy (traded for Carl Stewart) Tampa Bay: Vinny Lecavalier, Alexander Svitov (Traded for Sydor) Detroit: none Looking at the above, Pittsburgh, Chicago, LA, Carolina, and Tampa Bay all had at least one self-drafted top 5 pick making an impact for their respective teams, although Carolina and Tampa Bay were essentially one top 5 pick and a supporting cast established from other sources, while the other three were multiple top picks. Anaheim, Boston, and Detroit all didn't have much top 5 representation in their cup championship rosters. So at least in recent history its definitely possible to construct a Stanley cup team without relying on tanking. Three teams tanked hard and long (lol) and drafted guys that all became core players. They won multiple cups. Two teams may have tanked long and hard, but only ended up with one difference maker, and only won once each. Three teams had essentially no self-drafted top five help and won once each. So Stanley Cup winning teams are a bit more likely to have come from the result of tanking. Having said that, its hardly a guarantee, as Edmonton, Toronto, Atlanta/Winnipeg, Columbus, Islanders, Colorado, Vancouver, Florida, Nashville, Calgary, Buffalo, and Arizona can tell us. Out of all the teams to tank in the time frame I looked at there was a 5/17 success rate (So ~29% of teams to tank won a cup). Those teams who didn't have any representation in the top 5 had a 3/13 success rate (~23% of teams to not tank in recent history won a cup). Again it slightly favors tanking. And to be fair, you can break down the data in a bunch of different ways and get different results. Maybe tanking is only top 1 or 2 picks. Maybe its 10. Maybe tanking just means missing the playoffs. Maybe you want to look at all players drafted since 1990. Maybe you want to look at just post salary cap. So take the above with a grain of salt cuz I imagine the numbers will sway when you tinker with the variables. TL;DR: At least in recent history the data seems to favor tanking, but not by a whole lot.

I dont think its because of the streak, the streak seems to have unfortunately become a scapegoat around here. IMO Mike Illitch is someone who believes that every year you ice the best team possible. It was this line of thinking that led to our last 4 Cups. The issue is that in the cap world, things are more complicated, and I don't believe for a second that Illitch would allow for a total tear down of the organization, streak or no streak. Dont fool yourself into thinking that if we miss the playoffs this year, next year we are tanking. Or if Holland is fired, next year we are tanking. Its that old school philosophy of fighting until the absolute last second and giving it everything you got. Detroit has always been a team that has been built on low end picks, UFA signings, and trades (well years ago), since the dead wings we have never been a team that has built its self on sinking to the bottom. I am not agreeing or disagreeing with this philosophy, but based on the way the Wings and Tigers are run, I feel its pretty clear. I would rather have an owner who thinks like this, then an owner who only cares about making money.

I actually would like to see if that old kid line of Tatar-Sheahan-Jurco can get the chemistry going again!

So we didn't need to waive Miller the whole time.

What is with you always trying to bring up Nyquist when Tatar is being talked about? Tatar sucks this year. There is literally no one on this world who might agree that Tatar is playing well. And since you brought up Nyquist (for some reason). Tatar has only 1 goal in the last 5 games and Nyquist has 2 goals in the last 5 games. Nyquist has 24 points in 47 games and Tatar has 22 points in 47 games and had the luxury of playing on the first line with Mantha and Zetterberg while Nyquist has been playing on the 3rd line primarily. I'm sorry but you just walked into this one and I'm going to definitely stand against false narratives. Hell even Abdelkader did a better job when he played with Zetterberg than Tatar did. You've got to look at the stats, and linemates and you'll see why people are "bagging on him".

So for all those complaining that we should have gotten a 7th rounder in return, no team wanted him for nothing which I hope proves that no mistake was made on managements end.

Hey everybody! ...moment of silence for my boy Drew Miller, may the waives that took you, bring you to safe shores. Can you believe that 4th line of us? Abby Glendening Helm, wow... for realzies? Talk about amazing. A bit hard to follow Blash's changeups mid game, but our lines looked really strong. DeKeyser looked a step behind for the whole game and was a bit of a surprise to see him on that first shift in the OT. Blash if you're reading this, please try and switch Green, or any other right hand defenseman for that matter, to the left point from time to time and you'll see magic happen. Much better flow and puck movement all around, specially Helm and Jensen. How come there's no AA on the PP? although he almost showed up on the PK with a breakaway. Great effort all around, but still a long way to go. Our future looks bright and starts to take shape, it's just a matter of time for it to burst. Got a couple of "that jersey is sick effing amazing" about my 91-92 Stevie Y, and felt proud about it. Next stop is Boston, go get 'em much needed 2 points boyz.

Much respect to Miller, but it's definitely good that he's gone now. Good for Jurco that he was kept despite playing the least of our roster players. Hope he get some time over Ott or maybe Sheahan (though he's been better) this season. To dig up an old debate - remember when LGW was arguing Miller vs. Eaves? The debate was that many thought they were the same player and we should only keep one. Eaves has 17 goals (would lead our team by 5) and 29 pts. this year. Eaves has been hampered by injuries, but has done well for himself.

We got 8 seasons out of the guy and we got him for free. A less appreciated Holland move. Miller works his tail off, hard not to like the guy, just too much talent coming through the pipes to keep him up with the big club. Im sure this is devastating for him, this has been his home and team for almost a decade. I hope he gets claimed and stays in the NHL. Lots of Canucks fans hoping Benning scoops him up to play with Ryan. Im not opposed to that in the slightest.

Considering the Wings picked Drew off the waiver wire years ago, it was a pretty good pickup, IMHO. No way Ken would have gotten anything for him in trade though. Rival GM's seem to have played more hard ball with Kenny than other GM's I think, because they don't want to be the one that sets the Wings up for another huge playoff streak (or extend the current one). We can thank Drew for his service, but to throw Kenny under the bus for not getting return on him is, IMHO, quite misguided. If he gets picked up, good for him, and best of luck against the other 28 teams he faces. If not, he can help to develop the next generation of PK stalwarts in Grand Rapids.

Wonder if Babcock claims him

Surprised to see this, but pleasantly so. Drew has been a good team player and a strong asset on the PK. However, I am glad Kenny rightly is not displacing someone better suited from the top 12. This could bode well for the future if Kenny is now thinking this way.

As much I like Miller, but this is a good sign. It means they let Mantha and AA stay in the lineup. And it is huge because it may mark the end of the "tie goes to the veteran" - era.

Isn't at least a start? *shrug*

I actually like the Pens/Flyers rivalry (battle of Pennsylvania)

Hey there everyone - I've been absent lately due to my schoolwork as well as my work on Detroit Sports Nation. Just so everyone knows, I'm still around and will be moving forward, but I'd really like to thank NerveDamage and MabusIncarnate for their work on our GDT's this year. You guys are the real MVP's. I'll still be around to make a GDT every now and again, but I think I speak for everyone when I say that we all truly appreciate the work they've put in to make LGW the great site it is. Thanks again and LetsGoWings!! Mike (aka Hockeytown0001)

6.3% of making the playoffs, eh?

Many things wrong with this. One: Can't offer 8 years. 7 years is the max. Two: Can't offer $20M signing bonus (unless spanning multiple years). Max is about 14 million, depends on the cap. Three: Trouba being a potential Norris winner is a stretch. Offensive skills seem only decent at best. Four: Trouba right now is not worth close to $8M. That'd make him the 2nd highest paid defenseman in the NHL. Five: Compensation for that would be 4 1st-round picks. Trouba is not worth close to that. Six: That would create some serious cap problems for us. Seven: Offer sheets are stupid. There is a reason why almost no one makes them.