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At this rate he'll be 6'7" 275 lbs by the time he's 25. Niceee

Secondary scorers who have consistently performed like respectable first-line scoring wingers. Nyquist 2014-15 Nyquist 2015-16 Nyquist 2016-17 Tatar 2014-15 Tatar 2015-16 Tatar 2016-17 And? ...And? It would be a problem if they were getting paid like Kane, Crosby, Stamkos, McDavid, Ovechkin. Fortunately, they're not. Nyquist's cap hit is $4.75M. Tatar is coming off a value contract and is reportedly asking for Oshie money, in terms of the cap hit. Which makes sense, as he and Oshie are roughly the same player. Speaking of Oshie, you know how much money the Caps have tied up in Oshie (their 1RW) + Kuznetsov (their 2C)? Oshie (age: 30) is $5.75M against their cap until 2025. Kuznetsov is $7.8M against their cap until 2025. That's $13.5M every year for the next 400 years. How many times has Oshie scored 40 goals? How many times has Kuznetsov scored 40 goals? How many of their past several seasons were spent on a middling post-Lidstrom Red Wings team? How much has playing for some powerhouse Capitals teams boosted Kuznetsov's impressive point totals? Food for thought. Why not all six? Unload Green ($6M) and Mrazek ($4M) and Sheahan ($2.075M) and, when the time comes, LTIRetire Kronwall. BOOM! Cap space. Look, I'm not firmly opposed to trading Tatar. Actually, there's a part of me that's kind of hoping he gets a one-year deal and we end up trading him. Having two prime slabs of trade bait in Green and Tatar could, potentially, accelerate the rebuild in a big way. It could establish the rebuilding effort as a "rebuild-on-the-fly" effort that might actually have more than a snowball's chance in hell of succeeding. Next year's draft class is shaping up to be really good; if Holland could somehow turn Green and Tatar into two additional 2018 first-round picks... And even if we don't get any additional 1sts, I'm guessing we still get a solid return. (And it's not like there aren't players I wouldn't take over a first-round pick.) And that's the only thing, really. If we're trading Tatar, I want a really good return. I don't want "Well, Tatar's just a secondary scorer [who ranks 31st in goals scored over the past three seasons and can score 25 goals on a team that can't score goals] and we have Svechnikov, so, basically, Tatar is holding us back and he needs to go." Fortunately, Holland wouldn't be so cavalier. (...Right?) If Tatar gets a multi-year deal, it's going to be a good deal (assuming his shoulder isn't A Thing). If Tatar gets a one-year deal and we trade him, it's going to be a good return. I have my problems with Holland, but I'm sure the gravity of this situation isn't lost on him.

It's not even that accurate of a comparison. Tyler Johnson is better. I'd rather have him on this team than Tatar. And this goes back to my original point. Tatar should technically not get anything more than Nyquist money. But reluctantly $5 million would be "okay". Why is Johnson better? Has a much higher PPG (0.68 vs 0.56), the same exact Goals per game ratio (0.28), BUT. Johnson is a Centerman, kills penalties (5 SH goals in his career so far) as well and has a proven playoff track record. 42 points in 47 playoffs games (holy s***).

I agree that Johnson is the better player and more versatile, etc. I'm more saying that players take less per year if it's a really long deal like 7 years. And if Holland says "hey, this guy get 5" then the agent says "fine, if we get a 7 year deal." If it's a 4 year deal (just a guess) it's a different beast and the comparison will be skewed a bit. Maybe Johnson would be at 5.5 if it were a 4-5 year deal? But, yeah, Tatar shouldn't be near 6. P.S. Tatar's actually has higher goal and point totals the last 2 years. This is due to the fact Johnson's had some injury problems and missed 13,15 games in these years. That won't help. A good comparable for a shorter deal is the one Galchenyuk signed a few days ago (3 years, 4.9). In their careers Tatar has 99g,194 pts in 345 games, while Galchenyuk has 89g, 202 pts in 336 games - pretty close.

I would be extremely uncomfortable signing Tatar to that long of a contract. He isn't multi-dimensional and there is no telling if he is capped at around 45-55 points per season or if there is more potential there. It's a hell of a risk to add another long term lucrative contract to a team that already needs to dump a few of those types of deals. I'm just saying, he is a piece that might be able to be used in a package to get a top 2 d-man. That only works, though, if he is signed to a shorter term contract at a reasonable price (4.5-5 million).

Lol i didnt even notice that. Clearly an impromptu photo and Homer had to borrow a jersey

I think of the Red Wings like a company that just fell drastically short of their annual goals. Sales went down the crapper and a few middle of the pack salesmen had to be let go (Smith, Vanek, Ott). Now theres a corporate reshuffle going on, and management has some young, fresh out of college, go-getters (Larkin, AA, Mantha) theyre going to lean on to bring a fresh/new direction. And in the middle of this coporate restructuring, one of the middle of the pack salesmen, that didnt get cut in the first round of cuts, just demaded a huge pay increase on significant term, and is threatening to bolt to a competitor if he doesnt get it. That employee just topped my list of 2nd round cuts. I can replace his sales numbers for the coming year with a quick message to Thomas Vanek on linkedin.

While agree with you, kickazz and others that this helps Holland's side of negotiations, the Johnson deal 5 X 7 years. They're almost definitely not talking about a deal that long so you can't make a straight comparison for cap-hits. A long deal like that is equivalent to offers of less years and a higher cap hit. Hopefully that gets his agent away from that supposed 6 mill mark, though.

6 million........yikes, probably not.

If we're using Johnson as a comp. Then Tatar should get $4.5M.

There it is! Tyler Johnson just signed for 7 years at 5 million per. There is your comparable. Tatar should get no more than $5 million per season. If he doesn't agree with that, adios, trade him.

1) He may have meant if they don't feel I'm worth a longer deal they probably don't feel I'm worth keeping. 2) He has proven he's a good goal scorer and is in his last year of rfa status. Generally those guys get similar deals to what a ufa would get. 3) Abdelkader was in the same situation and the deal got done quick. 4) The idea that these guys owe the team something and they should keep their mouths shut publicly if they're unhappy is ridiculous. You don't think every other player in the NHL tells their GM they want X contract or they walk? Just because Tatar did it in a paper in Europe doesn't make him a bad guy or greedy or whatever problem you have with him over it. It makes him honest. I'd rather have some guys who speak up than have everyone give the same bland cliche answers every time. Sent by my minions via telepathy

Pre 2000s party animal Dave

1980s black magic or 2010's conspiracy theorist Dave?

He went to College. I guess even hockey players get the freshman 15.

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.

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

Of course! Holland just loves re-acquiring his players. PSH! Same old Holland.. terrible management. /s

They lost 4 of their top 6 forwards. Owen Wilson probably has a decent shot at making the team.

We already do. They just won the cup

Wake me up when there is a game featuring Tippet vs Hague. That'll be one for the ages. Screw Ovi vs Sid

Yes, you are correct, he most likely will be a 4th line forward this fall at the age of 22. Making him the youngest player on the team behind only Larkin. Do you think he will remain there for the rest of his career? Checker? Yeah he can check. He can also score. He's been a scorer at all levels. His first season after being drafted he posted over a point per game season. The next season he put up 98 pts in 68 games, including 43 goals. This last season in GR he looked much more adapted to the pro game and posted 37 pts in 48 games, including a record setting playoff run in scoring. But yeah... he's just a checker lol. All those scouting sites you follow from behind your computer screen... Guess what? They were wrong. I know this may come as a shock to some people, but the Red Wings scouts ARE better and are privy to MORE information than whoever is compiling the 'reports and mock drafts' you are reading in your den. They took what they believed was the best player available despite your hand wringing and god bless em for it lol.

It is

You could say it's.... FAKE NEWS Being serious, Chelios has always been a PA guy and he wants to get involved so more power to him. Team stunk it up all over the ice last year, so losing any coach won't hurt too bad.

Chris Chelios doesn't do what Chris Chelios does for Chris Chelios. Chris Chelios does what Chris Chelios does because Chris Chelios IS Chris Chelios. But yeah I think it's a conflict of interest to work for an employer and the union for that employer at the same time.