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E and Nielsen are my top 2 choices. I'd trade them both in a heartbeat for zero return.

E, Abby, Nielsen. They don't bring anything to the table that a younger, cheaper player wouldn't.

LTIR. If Hossa can be allergic to the end of long front-loaded contracts, so can Zetterberg.

Hyped for hockey to start again blah blah blah miss drinking barley pops and yelling at my tv blah blah blah all the usual stuff... My hype level for this team? Solid 5. Part of me believes last year was an epic s***storm of everything that could go wrong going wrong. The whole thing was strangely bad. This gives me hope we can rebound in a big way. The other part of me believes we truly do suck. So idk how to feel. Solid 5. Im sure my opinion will swing wildly in the first 10 games. After that things will get more clear. This team is on short leash with me. If we come out flat in the first 10 im gonna start building my folder of tank gifs and start a Rasmus Dahlin thread.

I would money on it that this is just a negotiation ploy....you never know, but I'm not worried.

Fake News! Zero chance that happens.

By now you've all read the article where Z basically admits the contract he signed was a sham to circumvent the cap. Option A) Of course, if he retires, the Wings get stuck with 2 years of the recapture penalty at around $5.5M/year. Option B) If he suffers another back injury, they could 'Pronger' him to LTIR and bury that cap hit like Frazen. I would say this is a BIG "IF" right now since he flat out admitted that everyone involved lied/cheated/stole when it came to fitting this contract in the salary cap. An attempt at LTIR would surely be met with INTENSE scrutiny. No one mentions Option C) BUY OUT. If he's bought out, the Wings can spread the cap hit over 4 years at 2/3s the cost. Disregard this.. As I was researching the content for this post, I learned of the F'd up formula used to calculate the actual buy out payroll and the buy out cap hit.. (Buy out cap hit - explained HERE) Numbers and stuff: Henrik Zetterberg is 38 years old at the date of the buyout Salary remaining: $2,000,000 The buyout ratio is 2/3, which results in a total buyout cost of $1,333,333 There are 2 years remaining on this contract The buyout will be spread out over 4 years The annual buyout cost is $333,333 The buyout cap hit is displayed in the far right column SEASON SALARY INITIAL CAP HIT ACTUAL COST SAVINGS BUYOUT CAP HIT 2019-20 $1,000,000 $6,083,333 $333,333 $666,667 $5,416,666 2020-21 $1,000,000 $6,083,333 $333,333 $666,667 $5,416,666 2021-22 $0 $0 $333,333 -$333,333 $333,333 2022-23 $0 $0 $333,333 -$333,333 $333,333 Wait, there's more: How about Option D) He can be loaned to a team in another league. (SEL, anyone?) Completely legal in regards to the cap and saves us minimum salary + $375K against the cap. So, $650,000 (minimum) + $375,000 - $6,083,333 = $5,076,333 as a cap hit. A meager savings, but a savings nonetheless. OK, feel free to pick this apart and let me know what I may have misinterpreted. http://www.detroitnews.com/story/sports/nhl/red-wings/2017/08/21/report-wings-zetterberg-likely-play-seasons/104808640/

We're also the second oldest team with an average age of 29.269. Imagine how different all three of those numbers would look if we replaced Kronwall, Ericsson and Howard with Ouellet, Sproul and Coreau. We would probably be a slightly worse team (not much), which would be a good thing anyway. We also wouldn't have those veterans for Blashill to needlessly lean on, and it would give the kids more of an opportunity to sink or swim...

Okay, okay, I get your point. No need to triple post... But yeah, I get what you were saying now, and I agree. I'd do that trade, but maybe have lottery protection on the first round pick, and retain some of Ericsson's cap hit. I'm not sure if Winnipeg would have much interest though unfortunately. I'd start looking at lesser established defensemen. We wouldn't have to give up near as much, but of course, there's always the risk of them not panning out. I remember leading up to the '15 draft, I wanted to trade up for Werenski, and then the following season I wanted to put in an offer to Columbus for him. Oh, what could have been... Then leading up to the '16 draft, I wanted to trade up for Bean, and now want to put in an offer to Carolina for him. Do it Kenny!...

Gag.

Sorry, I really wasn't specific. We are on the same page. I more then anything want Holland to trade for a top end D-man. Ill use Trouba as my example, but it doesnt have to be him. If we could trade a Nyquist, or Abby, or Helm etc. for a guy like Trouba, I would do it in a heartbeat, unfortunately I dont think there is a chance in hell that a team would give up a young D-man like that for anything but a young high end forward (ie. Larkin, Mantha, AA). Of the 3, I think AA easily has the lowest ceiling, and if we have to trade one of these three for a guy like Trouba, AA is the one I would want to trade. So the point I was trying to make, was now that this AA situation is not going well, hopefully Holland will risk trading a young player to get another young player at a position we have a greater need at. Any chance Winnipeg takes AA, 2018 1st round pick, E for Trouba? We get the young stud D-man we need and dump some cap Winnipeg trades for a young forward, and gets a potential lottery pick.

It is interesting that Z wants to leave as soon as Kronwall's contract is up Don't blame him. First losing Datsyuk then losing Kronwall. Losing old teammates does suck.

for what little cap room they have, not what he should be getting. Would you take a job that pays you 2/3 of what you should be making based on your qualifications?

If Zetterberg says his back hurts too much and a couple doctors back him up, I don't know how the league can argue it. Medical experts vs. "we don't believe it?"

Win the lottery.

You got to be a dick to beat a bigger dick. Holland must go. Does anyone still wonder why Babcock left?

No, the only dick moves made this off-season have been made by Holland.

It could be a negotiation ploy however if Holland calls his bluff, I see AA going to Russia, think about it, more money, more playing time, and we he gets back he could go to another team that uses him correctly and does not have a s***ty coach.....if he leaves I will no longer be a fan of this team until Holland and Trashill are fired. Good thing we have abby and E on this team. Ridiculous

Even if I'm not happy with the management decisions and things like that, I'm always just excited to see what we do have and what it can do. Like someone else said, this mostly revolves around people like Mantha, AA, and Larkin. But honestly anyone of Nyquist or Tatar could have a random big season or take an unexpected step forward. This applies to a few others as well I think, and that sort of stuff just feeds my optimistic side some excitement. To me the league has just gotten a lot less predictable over the past few years, and that really benefits us Wings fans in our current spot I think.

Despite our epic playoff streak ending, we're still one of the greatest franchises in sports history. Most sports fans can only wish and dream of just an ounce of our success over the years. Red Wings till the day I die. 10!!!

This for me as well. I miss hockey. Looking forward to see if Larkin, Sheahan, DeKeyser and Mrazek can rebound from bad to awful seasons, and to see if Mantha and Athanasiou can build on solid seasons. Also looking forward to keep an eye on a few promising prospects. I'll be watching as many Griffins games as I can, to see if Svechnikov and Hicketts can take another step, and what Hronek can do in his first full season. I'll also be keeping a close eye on a few players in junior as well, mainly Cholowski, Sambrook, Rasmussen and Smith. I'm hoping to get down for a game as well. I'd love to get down for the season opener against Minnesota, but that's not going to happen. I'm thinking maybe December or January...