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I have to say, I think this "attitude" problem is being overblown. The guy wants a long term deal, it's not like he is saying "I just want to sign for one year, and be out of the s*** hole of a city". He is saying he wants to be here long term. If you just watched guys like Abby and Helm get their deals and you could score 20 goals in a season, would you not also want that? Sure they were UFA's, but final year of being an RFA is somewhat comparable. Tatar has all the leverage here and I hope we sign him OR trade him for a top D-man. You need to score in the NHL, and Tatar is the best player we have at that and is still young. Lets trade him, AA, and a pick for Trouba! Hey I can dream lol. We need cap room......Holland, start working the phones.

Beats being bitter, and bitchy all the time. Like being on the cycle 24/7.

Holland will make it work. You know it, I know it, everyone knows it. The situation is not "Holland was under the impression that Tatar and Athanasiou would sign for peanuts, so he went out and signed Daley and Witkowski, but then Tatar and Athanasiou didn't want to sign for peanuts, and now we're probably going to lose Tatar or Athanasiou." I repeat: Tatar is arguably our best player not named Zetterberg. He scores goals. The hardest thing to do in the NHL is score goals. Again: over the past three seasons, only 30 players have scored more goals. He's shown he's good for at 20 goals and 45 points. The same can't be said of the vast majority of our forwards. He's shown he's a very good possession driver. The same can't be said of the vast majority of our forwards. He's shown that he can do what he does in a demanding, non-sheltered role. The same can't be said of the vast majority of our forwards. Tatar and Nyquist are our top wingers right now. They've established themselves as respectable first-liners. With a better power play and a better supporting cast (especially on the back end), they're probably 55-60 point players. The jury is out on Larkin, Mantha, Athanasiou. Svechnikov is totally unproven at the NHL level. There's no guarantee that any of these players will become a perennial all-star. Trading Tatar for futures so we can "develop [insert younger forward]" makes no sense. We can keep Tatar and still develop younger players. Remove Tatar and we're short a top-line winger (and a mentor for younger players), and it becomes that much harder for our team to manufacture offense and score goals and win games. Tatar routinely goes up against top players and holds his own. Do we want to throw a kid into that role? Even if he can handle it, is that what's best for the kid? Is it what's best for the team? Does it push the rebuild forward in a meaningful way, or is it just change for the sake of change? Tatar and Nyquist are not problematic. Our most fundamental problem is that we lack top-tier talent. That's not on Tatar and Nyquist; they are what they are, and what they are is very good.

I agree. We shouldn't be looking to trade Tatar and / or Nyquist for draft picks and / or prospects, unless that prospect is a high end defensive prospect, similar to the Drouin for Sergachev trade. Not saying that Nyquist / Tatar equal Drouin, but I think either in a package could get a similar type player. There are teams out there loaded with defensive prospects, and lacking offense. I'm sure there could be a deal made, but for whatever reason, Holland is unwilling / unable to pull off such a trade. We will continue to build through the draft and free agency. Who needs trades anyway? We like our team...

Did I miss something?? Tatar filed for player-elected salary arbitration, but that wasn't unexpected. I'm going to "unironically" quote HSJ: http://www.freep.com/story/sports/nhl/red-wings/2017/07/05/red-wings-tomas-tatar-arbitration/452176001/ Did everyone catch that titillating truth bomb there at the end? Tatar is arguably our best player not named Zetterberg. I rate him as a legitimate first-line winger. That he's reportedly seeking $5(.5)M x 5 years is encouraging, as he would be justified in asking for more and he would surely get more on the open market. So, if anything, it appears he's (not un)happy in Detroit and is even willing to take a bit of a hometown discount to stay. ... What a bum!

Nelson sat down with Craig Custance of "The Athletic" this week during development camp for a Q and A. https://theathletic.com/74290/2017/07/09/sunday-q-and-a-todd-nelson-and-his-jam-it-down-their-throat-coaching-philosophy/ Great read. I really like his aggressive coaching strategy. Although, it may have more to do with player personnel than anything else. Blashill coached a very similar style in Grand Rapids, but for whatever reason, has gone into a defensive shell with Detroit. I'd just like to see this heavy forecheck, all out attack style of play implemented with the Wings.

The "attitude" is so overblown. Abby, Helm, Glendening got handed 4-7 years at good money with little negotiation, they play hardball with Tatar who can actually produce offense without playing with two high end linemates. I'd be pissed too, and so would all of you if your boss pulled that Sent by my minions via telepathy

I assume you're referring to this: http://kuklaskorner.com/tmr/comments/tatar-hopes-to-avoid-arbitration Firstly, it's a translation. I don't speak the language, but I assume a degree of nuance has been lost in translation. Secondly, players tend to be more candid when talking with non-North American press in the offseason. Seems like we get this kind of thing every summer -- [Red Wing] says something in a foreign-language interview, it's interpreted by a loud minority of fans as a Gutless Declaration of Gutless Discontent (Gutless! Absolutely Gutless! Gutless! Gutless! Gutless!), and...nothing comes of it. Because it wasn't a big deal in the first place. Thirdly, he's not wrong: if he gets a one-year deal, it would probably be his last season in Detroit, because a one-year deal is the final outcome of an arbitration process, unless the organization and player compromise at some point during the process. I don't think it'll get to that point. I don't think it even gets to arbitration. Fourthly, like I said in my previous post: ~$5M x 5 years is a very reasonable ask. If the two sides are butting heads, it's probably because Holland wants/needs just a little, *tiny bit* more wiggle room, because we're that hard up against the cap and Tatar is technically still an RFA and Larkin and Mantha are due for big raises soon.

(Now watch me be completely wrong. Tatar gets a one-year deal and we trade him for a stud defenseman at the deadline.)

Hards are trade.

Nothing wrong with Tatar wanting a long-term deal, but it's the seeming ambivalence about playing for the Wings that bothers me. "If I don't sign a long-term deal, this is probably my last season in Detroit" is a lot different then... "I'd like to sign a long-term deal, I love playing in Detroit and want to be here for the foreseeable future" It comes off like he's butthurt about going to arbitration again, and he's passive aggressively suggesting that, if he doesn't get the deal he wants, he'll jump ship as soon as he's a FA. This is not the first time he's made comments like this and it doesn't display a whole lot of loyalty to the franchise who drafted him. Both he and Mrazek come off to me like business first, team second guys. Which if a perfectly acceptable way to conduct yourself, but don't be surprised then when the franchise displays more loyalty to players who express a desire to stay in Detroit. Nyquist and Tatar were at one point supposed to be the future core of this franchise's forward unit. Neither has achieved that, and they both look more like permanent complimentary pieces that would work better supplementing an already established core. So it irks me a bit when a guy like Tatar starts making statements like this. Your not Zetterberg bro, and no one is going to cry if you choose to leave, so take your thinly veiled threats and shove em. Your replaceable, and in fact I'd rather have a guy who has a strong desire to remain here in your spot. Mrazek and Tatar both need to move on after this year. Hopefully we can find a trade for both. Draft more Swedes, the Czechs never seem to work out.

Agreed with all but he bold part. Tatar played quite a bit with Z, Mantha, Nyquist... as well as on the powerplay. That's about as high end as it could be on this team. It is weird that negotiations are going so slowly with a guy that can actually score goals though; especially on a team severely lacking goal scorers. There's got to be something more going on behind the scenes that we're not hearing about.... then again, it could easily just be the media/fans making mountains out of molehills.

I could see this happening if the wings struggle again this year and the griffins have another good run.... Wouldn't be opposed to the idea.

You are correct sir. Somehow managed to mix those years up. 94-95 should be on the list as well lol

Was going to say the same thing....95/96 was the year for me....I was thinking they were going to steamroll through the entire playoffs. I think a big part is due as well to the fact that they were 40+ years from the last cup win at that point and it looked like it would come to an end. The year before against the Devils could have been a choice as well....but heading into the playoffs I didn't have the same feeling (perhaps because it was a shortened reg season...they always feel different). Shocking though because they only lost 2 games through the first 3 rounds and then got swept in the finals (this may have been the birth of the trap where teams starting seeing this as a way to win)

I get what you're saying, however he won't walk away... he'll get flipped at the deadline While haters will make you think it's Holland's fault, and apologists will blame Tatar's attitude, the reality of the situation is that Tatar wants to get paid/knows he can get paid, knows he can play on a better team and probably win elsewhere. Not every player in the league has to be a martyr for the team they currently play for. If you were a talented forward headed into your prime, would you want to spend those years mired on a team with an identity crisis?

Tatar will get an arbitrated 1 year contract for around what he wants. If the season goes bad again as most expect, he, Mrazek, and Green should all be traded for picks at the deadline.

It's not in favor of old one-dimensional vets... I think the point is that in the short term you can supplement their scoring with vets like that. Signing Tatar to a long term, 5.5 million+ contract is a mistake, just like several other player contracts currently on the books. It's not 3 years ago and Tats and Nyquist have slumped 2 of those 3 years, so what would you have them do? You're right, fire Holland and Blash because under Holland we've handcuffed ourselves to bad contracts and under Blash, players have regressed 2 years in a row. It's a sad state of affairs, but regardless, I'd rather trade Tatar and sign a proven vet who can put up the same amount of points for a year or two while Svech, Rasmussen, Smith, etc get more experience in GR. Same goes for trading Nyquist unless he can prove he can bounce back and raise his ceiling slightly.

Would you be ok with your boss paying you less than you're worth? Take out the trash and fire Holland and Blash!!!!!!

Tatar and Mrazek can both get gone.

Aaaaaaand... he's back https://sports.yahoo.com/chris-chelios-returned-red-wings-030012521.html Wanted to explore the option of working with the PA but had to resign first so there wasn't a conflict of interests. Decided it wasn't a good fit so he's back in his old position.

A big man who can keep up with Larkin and AA is a good thing.

IT'S ALL I GOT WHAT MORE DO YOU WANT FROM ME Offensive defensemen

Trades of this magnitude should not upset fans. But when you look at what Holland has done over the past several seasons, it's hard not to nit-pick every little move he makes. That's beside the point though. The only reason I'm a little (and I emphasize little) upset over this move is, because he let a 23 year old Paterson walk to bring back a 27 year old McCollum. I don't care about the conditional 7th, but Paterson had pretty respectable numbers in the ECHL, and plenty of room to grow, while McCollum has been average at best, and is what he is at this point. Just doesn't make much sense to me. Maybe Paterson was another guy with "attitude issues" and McCollum is a "good character guy"...

no I hope I will, but I doubt it. Bigger David Clarkson, not what they needed at 9.