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Would have rather seen 2.5, but maybe if he got what he wanted this time around and not hold out like he did last year, it will improve his attitude starting the year. I'm okay with it, at least he's young.

Rasmussen is making the team. Holland and Blashill have stopped just short of saying he's guaranteed a spot. I'll be really surprised if Zadina doesn't at least get a nine-game audition. I think he's absolutely NHL-ready. I think he makes the team and sticks. I think he's capable of having a Calder-caliber rookie season right now. He can score goals, sell tickets, put butts in the seats, get people excited about Red Wings hockey. The Wings want to score more goals. They think they can be a respectable team if they can get the power play working and are able to roll three scoring lines. They've said they have big plans for Rasmussen as a net-front guy on the PP and that Green's ability to feed him pucks in front is one reason why Green was brought back. Zadina would give us that much more scoring depth and could help us that much more on the power play. The Wings love Zadina. Hicketts will likely make the team as our 7D and push Jensen for the 6D spot. Hronek could get jobbed, but oh well. FWIW, Blashill has compared Hronek to Will Butcher and suggested Hronek could do for our power play what Butcher did for the Devils' power play. There's also a lot of time between now and opening night. A lot of time to swing a trade or two, which could open up a spot or two. Usually I'm on the "Wings hate kids" bus, but I'm not really feeling it at the present moment.

Yeah I don't really get the reason for the hate here. AA has that special thing like Franzen had where he can all of a sudden turn it on and embarrass the crap out of your team and steal a game. With more skill players coming in shortly I think its important to have other skilled players in the lineup for them to play with....If anything lose Helm, Abby or Glendening

I'm not sure if a lot of people have really turned on Athanasiou. For me anyway, I just see him as one of our better trade chips. I really like AA, and I'm all for keeping him, but if we can trade him in a package for a young, top 4 (potential top 2) defenseman, I'm all for that too. I don't think in any way that this is a bad deal. Even if Athanasiou plateaus and never scores more than 35 points, this is still a reasonable contract. I still think he has the potential to hit 50+ points, and if he does that in the next two years, this is a great contract, and he'll get a significant raise again in two years from now. I just honestly thought, with the fantastic job Holland does on every single RFA, always signing them to a lower cap hit than I expect, that he would have came in a bit lower. I'm not sure why some think it's a bad deal, or that it will somehow lower his trade value though. If anything I think it raises his trade value. Good signing. I like it.

AA is lazy and he sucks.

He should get 20 goals, 40 points, so I dont hate it. Most 40 point guys get 4+. He is young so he could still hit his potential and get 50-60 points, obviously that's not likely, but it would be nice if he took that next step.

The "hate" for AA is that he is so far a one dimensional player and seems unwilling to round out his game. He's nowhere near as talented as Stevie Y was and yet he understood the concept of sacrificing one's own stats for the betterment of the team by playing a 2 way game. AA hasn't and/or won't learn this and he doesn't have enough offensive skill to get away with it. Plus he was just given a raise of more than double his previous salary. He hasn't done enough or proven enough to warrant that kind of salary hike. All just my opinion of course, and I can only speak for myself. 2 years is fine, but it should have been 2.5 AAV max.

I like this signing. AA is still really young and has shown flashes of greatness at times, but I'm more concerned with the fact that we only have $6 mil left to pay Larkin and Mantha and we're not really leaving any empty spots for Zadina, who, unless he has a terrible camp, should be on our opening day roster. Is $6 mil enough to keep our two best forwards? We still have a ways to go for this off season, so a trade could be on the horizon. I will say this, I'm not Ken Holland's biggest supporter, but the guy is getting things done this offseason. Good draft, active in free agency, re-signing players. I could be wrong, but I think this is the most active he's been in an offseason since the summer we got Hasek, Hull and Robitaille.

+ 10 pts

Maybe he needed to get him under contract to make it easier to trade? Maybe? Maybe? Zadina not going to have a roster spot at this point unless someone is traded.

Why have so many people turned on AA, and what universe do you all come from that you'd think this is a bad deal?

If the kid works out it's because of Steve Yzerman and Jim Nill If he doesn't, Andersson and Holland will have to beg my forgiveness

Marc Bergevin and Peter Chiarelli are still GMs.

I’d take him on my roller hockey team

Do not want.

I feel like we say this every year thou... not holding my breath

The dumbest GM in the league has just lost his number one defenseman for what could be half of the upcoming season... We also have a number one defenseman (Jonathan Ericsson) on a great contract... We could trade Ericsson to Montreal to replace Weber at a very reasonable price. I'm thinking a 2019 2nd round pick should get it done...

This guy's been passed around like a rockstar groupie.

Click here

I don't see it. I think Kronwall will retire, especially if Zetterberg and Nyquist are gone. Even if Kronwall wants to come back, I think it's time to move on. Kroner is a shell of his former self and will be 38, going on 39 the following season. I think he calls it a career, a very good career at that.

More of this please.

We already have a Flip, his name is Frans, and he's better in the shootout...

Vanek deserves 3. Athanasiou does not. 100% on Blashill's side with his handling of AA. Until the kid learns how to win a puck battle, I'd recommend he play on the 5th line. But that's just me.