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All hail the mighty sports cube

ALL HAIL THE CUBE

Artist rendering. This is the actual cube:

I agree that if an elite player is coming to this team under Holland it will be through the draft. My concern is paying Tatar 5-6 million for 7 years. That's a lot of term and money for a player that I don't think moves the needle. And with the current state of the team, I'm not too concerned about moving the needle anyway. So I'm all for trading Tatar, getting some assets, and signing Vanek cheap to replace him. If Vanek is worse or totally flops, who cares, we're in a rebuild anyway... and it's better to have short cheap contracts in order to remain flexible in a rebuild. If this team was competitive right now I'd be hollering to get Tatar locked in for the next 7 years, because I don't want to see another Fil/Weiss situtation, but this team isn't competitive right now.

I think you're missing my point. Whether Weiss scores 5 pts with us his first season or 100, Filppula's value as a player doesn't change. I'm not trying to get bogged down in whether Filppula or Hudler coming or going was a mistake or not. I'm trying to illustrate how non-crucial these players are. When Fil left and Weiss flopped did it kill us? No. When Hudler left and Brunner turned out to be a dud did it kill us? No. When Tatar leaves and we bring in Jarome Iginla, who flops, to replace him will it kills us? It doesn't matter because we're not a playoff team anymore. Were talking about replacing Kozlov, not Fedorov. This team will be fine with or without another Kozlov. Instead we should be focused on finding a Fedorov instead of paying and pleasing the Kozlovs of the world.

Correction: TB gave up the 4th and (conditional) 7th. They then sent Streit to Pit for a 4th. So basically they paid to get rid of him. That said, I agree we'd likely be better off if we had kept him and not signed Weiss/Richards/Nielsen.

I wasn't missing your point. We were just (kind of) trying to have two different conversations. I was trying to get bogged down in whether Filppula or Hudler coming or going was a mistake or not. I understand where you're going with your point....I just don't think that's where Holland is going. People can dream all they want about getting Stamkos or Tavares... via trade or free agency. I just don't believe that's ever going to happen. If this team is getting another Fedorov level player, in my opinion, it'll be through the draft. But, I think Holland will try to remain competitive and will not tank. So, I think it's likely that Holland will just try to replace Tatar with a similar player if he 'lets him walk.' And, as a result, I see the past mistake with Filppula as potentially relevant in the current situation with Tatar.

The fan in me hope you are right. I do agree that many of our players under performed last year. However subjectively I do not see that changing this year, once again allowing for local variation, as in some may blossom and others decline. But that equates to guessing. I don't have enough data to justify a peak, nor dip collectively. The strategian in me does not hope you are right. If we won't make the playoffs, finishing in the lower middle of the pack gives us the worst (of non-playoff teams) to land one of the generational talents that are coming up in the next years draft. If we won't make the playoffs I would prefer us being in the lower echelon with a realistic top 5 pick. With that said I would take a vacation and stock the fridge with beer if we were to be back in the race come April.

I think a LOT would have to go right for us to get close to the playoffs this year, but I don't think we're going to finish bottom 5 in the league or last in the division. Florida has gotten significantly worse, and I don't see Buffalo or Boston being much (if at all) better than us on paper either. Last season was our worst in over 25 years, and I don't think we will finish with less than 79 points this season. Virtually every player (aside from Zetteberg) had down years last year. If the majority of the team can show even a slight improvement on this past season, we're going to be a better team. That, along with the continued natural progression of the young guys, and I think we will see a spike of at least 10 points in the standings. I'd love to get one of Svechnikov or Dahlin, but I think we'll have to get lucky in the draft lottery to have a chance at one of them.

If your really going to fix it you could have said hopefully Holland trades Nyquist/Tatar and signs Vanek.

This is a rumour with nothing substantial to back it up. When it becomes more than rumour we can discuss the greatness of it. Lets not start talking like this trade is even on the table yet.

Yeah, I'll never actively root against the Red Wings, and I'm not even going to say that I expect them to bottom out, but in such a top heavy draft, it wouldn't be the worst thing getting one of Dahlin, Svechnikov or Tkachuk in next year's draft. Dahlin is already being compared to Karlsson, the way he can skate and dictate play. We don't really need any more wingers, but it would be cool to have the Svech bros together. Svechnikov could be the most skilled of the three, and has the potential to be a Tarasenko type player. If Tkachuk is as good as his brother Matthew and dad Keith, he could be a great add as well. Best case scenario (outside of winning the Cup...), all of the young guys take a huge step forward, we finish just outside the playoffs and pull a Flyers of this past season, jumping way up into the top 3 of the draft lottery.

Personal favorite at the moment

Odds, specifically #9 Scotch or Bourbon?