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Re-building teams don't buy players out unless they the player is going to cost them a valuable asset. If we buyout Abby after this season, we are dinged with a cap hit for the next 8 years. Having his cap hit now when we are not contenders has very low ramifications. Sure it may piss some fans off, but there are no real consequences. In 4 years from now if things go as planned, his cap hit could really hurt being on the books for another 4 years. Maybe you buy him out when he has a year or so left, but not now as the penalty is too harsh, and the reward is very small.

Can confirm.

Tanking for the best odds in the draft lottery, vs. Relying on luck, letting the balls fall where they may... 2 years ago (2016-17), we finished the season with 79 points, 25th in the league. All three of the bottom feeders (Colorado, Vancouver and Arizona) got bounced out of the top three draft slots. New Jersey won the number one pick with 9 less points than us. Philadelphia won the number two pick with 9 more points than us. Dallas won the number three pick with the same number of points as us (more ROW). So basically, if we had earned one extra point in any of the 82 games that season, we would have picked 3rd instead of 9th. We would have had our pick between Miro Heiskanen, Cale Makar, Elias Pettersson, Cody Glass, etc. Instead, all of those players were gone and we picked Michael Rasmussen. I remember reading an article after that draft that two teams other than Vancouver were really high on Pettersson. One of those teams was the Detroit Red Wings. Imagine how much different this team would look right now with Elias Pettersson instead of Michael Rasmussen... Or how about a future top pair of Heiskanen - Hronek... Luck... Let's hope it's on our side this year...

Nope. He went from playing with kids to playing against the best in the world without even having filled out his frame yet. I don't know what people expect. He's gonna take a little bit longer to develop. Give the kid a break.

Not ideal, but as long as they're all one year deals, I'm fine with it. We need to make room for a lot of kids in the next year or so... Out: Vanek, Kronwall, Ericsson, Daley, Green. In: Zadina, Veleno, Rasmussen, Cholowski, McIsaac, 2019 1st round pick.

Meh you're probably right, dragon ball z is still *** thou

Rangers are quickly rising on my s*** list.

My top 10... 1. Jack Hughes 2. Kaapo Kakko 3. Dylan Cozens 4. Alex Turcotte 5. Trevor Zegras 6. Bowen Byram 7. Vasili Podkolzin 8. Kirby Dach 9. Phillip Broberg 10. Matthew Boldy Top 3 are the only 3 that have been set in stone for a while now. The other 7 change depending on the day... Regardless where we end up picking, we should get a really good player...

Man, our excitement level would skyrocket.

Hughes to Detroit. It's happening. Only have to wait 5 days for it to become official. Well, technically 78 days until "official", but you get the point...

And, just to be clear, I'm saying Hughes skates around players *and* he plays give-and-go hockey *and* he [fill in the blank with anything that involves artfully moving the puck around the ice and making plays and guiding the puck to the back of the other team's net]. Point being: "His whole thing is just skating around people, so he's in for a rude awakening" is not an actual thing.

Nielsen? Possibly. Abby? No. He wears an "A". And he wears it for a reason. Regardless of who the GM is, he's not getting bought out. In 4 years, with salary inflation, his contract wont be out of line with what 3rd liners make. No reason to buy him out then.

I like him as a prospect for sure. Hope he works on his skating/bulks up some in the off season. Not that either of those are bad, but some improvement in both seems like it'd work wonders for him. I think if he reaches his potential, he'll be a helluva player.. Especially on the power play. Would also like to see him go on a playoff run with the griffins, I think that'd be great for his confidence.

I think he's going to be a ******* monster in like two years. He's still a skinny, gangly, teenager. Give him one or two years of legit NHL caliber offseason training and he's going to be a f*cking savage. He already protects the puck really well, skates fine, net front skills are as advertised and his passing is underrated. Add to that the fact that he'll be one of the most physically imposing guys in the league to play against and you've got a pretty good recipe for success. It's certainly possible the kid is the next Martin Hanzel. But the more I watched him this season, and the more I think about how much more he's going to physically develop, the more I think we've got a potentially game changing player on our hands.

Svechnikov will not have to pass through waivers

Svechnikov will be a redwing , he’d have to go through waivers and would get claimed for sure , ehn will be a depth player and stick ... witkowski can go learn to fly a kite zadina has a shot depending how he performs in the playoffs and preseason , hirose sticks and everyone else is gone or in Grand Rapids hopefully we target young d’s this off season ill admit to knowing nothing about this guy ... https://www.eliteprospects.com/player/255979/charles-edouard-d-astous but he got named to Quebec juniors first team all star’s along with veleno(mcisaac 2nd team) But I do believe since he turns 21 this month he’s free to sign with who he wants and we should target him , nothing to lose and we need all the d help we can get

No. He's only 19. Hence why he couldnt play in GR, only juniors.

Your Abby hatred seems personal. And way over the top. And no, it would be stupid to buy him out. As much as fans complain about his salary, no one associated with the organization seems to have a problem with it. He's well liked by management, coaches, and teammates. They won't buy him out even with a year left on his contract. He's a Wing for life. Sorry haters.

Re: 2017 -- I remember reading somewhere that the Wings missed moving up to 3rd by one digit. So, like, I guess the winning four-digit sequence for 3rd overall was *that frking close* to one of ours.

(Note: I realize you're sort of playing devil's advocate, so what I'm going to say isn't me hardcore disagreeing with you.) Hughes has played against a ton of top college teams. He actually tends to play his best hockey when he's playing against older players. What Kakko is doing in the Liiga is incredible, but Hughes' body of work is at least equally impressive. Hughes' style is absolutely conducive to the NHL game; he's the most shifty, elusive, effortless skater I've ever seen (think Karlsson) and his hockey sense and playmaking ability rank among the best I've ever seen (think Datsyuk). He's a weapons-grade point-producer. The only concern I have with him is the lack of "physicality" in his game. But he's good enough that I don't think it really matters, especially if you assume he's going to be a winger. I don't think Kakko going 1st overall is completely out of the question, but I don't think he's better than or equal to Hughes. Possibly more NHL-ready, certainly bigger and more physically imposing, but not better. It's weird to me that people would have concerns about Hughes' game at a time when players like Gaudreau and Marner and DeBrincat are thriving. Then again, I get the sense the "ACKSHUALLY, Kakko is every bit as good as Hughes" narrative is coming from Canadian outlets like Sportsnet. Because controversy sells and Canadian hockey media can't help itself. tl;dr Kakko is a top checkers players, Hughes is a chess prodigy. That being said, I'd be deliriously happy with Hughes or Kakko.

That 250K is for 'truculence'. The 8 year max (7 years for UFA) will be a bone of contention in the next cba...I can see the BoG wanting both to be lowered by 2 years each.

I was pretty impressed with the open ice hit Bowey put on Marchand. I love seeing that little punk get rocked.

For me it's Toronto and that's about it. Toronto is my least favorite team with the worst fans. They were bad enough to win the draft lottery, and because of that landed Tavares, which is fine, but now we have to hear about how smart their "brain trust" was for the rest of time. Their fans are entitled whiners who seem unaware of the fact that they haven't been good in a lifetime. They make a big show of their "rivals" but move the goal posts on that the minute they lose. Montreal's their biggest rival, but that changes to Detroit the minute they lose to the Canadiens. Then they lose to Detroit and it's Ottawa or Buffalo. Basically what UofM fans do with Ohio State and Michigan State. Their "center of the hockey universe" garbage is profoundly annoying and despicable in a way that makes me almost....almost...hate the sport of hockey itself for the association. But worse than all of that, they're coached by Mike Babcock.

I didnt think it was bad either. He got 3 games for it tho. I think its more if the NHL overcompensating for future liabilities.