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"So you're a left-shot forward." "yeh" "You sure about that?" "Um, pretty su--" "THEN EXPLAIN THIS!" [whips out an old polaroid pic of the player where he's holding his stick like a righty] "How did you get that p--" "I'M ASKING THE QUESTIONS HERE, BUCKO!"

I'd say it's a good thing. Players that are serious and want to succeed in the league will have to appreciate that we are serious about the rebuild and finding the right piece to help bring the team back to it's winning ways.

I agree for sure. We should definitely be looking at trading for defenseman as young as possible.. although most will probably (and understandably) cost too much. I’m mostly joking with the trade part, but 8.25 per year for OEL would be a great deal was my main point. Doubt he signs it though.

Good. The Wings have clearly been re-emphasizing the need for players with good personality a lot lately. It's what led us to draft Rasmussen and Kotkansalo in the last draft. IMO, it's because of guys like Mrazek, Tatar, Hudler, and others I'm probably forgetting. All were decent players, but they clashed with the team over dumb crap. Athanasiou is looking like our next skilled player with bad habits... We now have the opportunity to draft some really good players picking so high. We need to select the "right players" so to speak. What I mean by this is: We want to select the next Zetterberg, not the next Evander Kane. Both are incredibly high skilled players deserving to be picked high, but one is a good-natured, loyal, humble, hard-working leader, and the other is a lazy, classless, showboat who cares more for his dollars than his team.

I have always wanted them to trade for OEL... I hesitate now when thinking about it. He'll be 27 this summer and we may not be back in the playoff picture for 2-3 more years (minimum). Then you're talking about a 30-year-old OEL when we are just starting to turn the corner but still probably being bounced in the first or second rounds... I just wonder if we need to skew younger at this point (with bringing in outside defense). I would be aiming to trade for someone like Trouba (24 and an RFA) or Hanafin (21 and an RFA). Both will cost less in the immediate future, as well.

You read correctly, lets hope this is the C/RW they take instead of the other C/LW. https://www.eliteprospects.com/player/241370/oliver-wahlstrom

Well yeah, they're obviously going with BPA according to who the organization feels is the best player available, not what any outsiders are saying. They thought Rasmussen was BPA last year, despite what many others believed, and maybe he was, but there's also a chance that he wasn't... I just want them to have a crystal ball and know who is the BPA. I really don't think that's too much to ask...

GO CAPS GO

Nielsen was a dumb move, not because I don't like the player but because he's overpaid and was given too much term. Helm is also overpaid and was given too much term. Abdelkader got an inflated salary because he was a 20 goal scorer and, for whatever reason, the top brass couldn't see that Datsyuk was the primary reason for his inflated stats. I didn't mind the Daley move as much but do agree that it seemed unnecessary. Much like the road we're seemingly walking down right now with re-signing Green when we really don't need him and he's an injury risk. I could see them keeping Daley after his contract is up since we should, hopefully, at that point have a D consisting of DeKeyser, Hicketts, Hronek, and Cholowski so I would understand the desire to have another veteran who has been through it and is reliable (although we could probably find someone better). Howard's contract was fine for when he signed it... couldn't have known he'd have all the injury issues and inconsistency partly because of them. If Howard stays healthy, he should net us a return at the deadline so it is imperative that we find a reliable backup who can play 40 games (Carter Hutton or Jonathan Bernier are my favorites). What's going to give me hope with Holland is if at the draft he either moves up to snag Svech or Zadina or if he stays put at 6 and gets us a solid D prospect or Wahlstrom. If he trades back only to pick Kotkaniemi it's going to feel like the same old same old and that's the last thing they need right now.

Nyquist spotted enjoying a Tigs game

Maybe just a tiny bit?