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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.

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.

The kids have reached the next level

Yeah I fully expect the money bags Red Wings to enter FA spending on Daleys and Vaneks again. They don't like losing and will always try to spend their way out if they can.

Pretty much I'm expecting to use a free compliance buyout on one of Abby or Nielsen Crazy that Ericsson's contract is no longer the one under scrutiny lol

Dabura hates Buffalo , I hate the Rangers

The contract they just gave Blashill and the comments they made at the presser certainly suggest that the Wings are not looking to be a basement team for the next two years. My guess is this year is the lowest they'd like to fall in the standings. Seems like management will be looking for considerable improvement next year and looking to push for the playoffs the year after that. Which makes me think that unless Hughes or Kakko fall into their laps, they'll take Byram with their first pick and hope that the forward group we have, plus one or two UFAs, can be dangerous going forward.

fixed it as I want luck in both years!!! lol

Round of applause for the Senators. Way to go, guys, awesome stuff.

Larkin's whole thing has always been holding the puck and skating around players. And it still is. Hughes does that and he's even better at it. And he's a much better playmaker. I go back to Karlsson and Datsyuk. It's that kind of thing. Hughes can and will skate NHL opponents into the ground, but to suggest that he's AA (i.e. basically only has his skating and some decent skill) is the lamest of lame sauce.

Nah, kip is a hater and his point is dumb. There's no separation between the skill set and the "style"; his skill set is such that he can and does do whatever he wants, whatever gets the job done. I don't know how someone looks at Hughes and says, "Yeah, ok, but in the NHL you have to play give-and-go hockey." If my scouts told me that I'd fire them on the spot, because I'd know immediately that they'd never seen Hughes play. "In the NHL you have to play within a system" -- mofos, do you hear yourselves right now? Sit yo' asses down, Kakko-lovers.

Yeah, I pretty much agree with all of this, and I'm okay with it. We need one more season of pain before we turn the corner. At this point, I'd just assume all of Rasmussen, Veleno, Zadina, Svechnikov, Cholowski, McIsaac play the 2019-20 season in Grand Rapids. Rip it up down there and be ready to become full time Red Wings in 2020-21. We'll likely be a similar (bottom 5) team next season. Hopefully we get lucky in at least one of the next two drafts...

Have you considered applying for a GM position? Because this comment just changed my entire perspective. Major paradigm shift moment. "Abby is underpaid" How did I not see it before? You may be the chosen one the LGW gods foretold of.

If they did not buy out Ericsson no way they will waste it on abby. He brings something to the team even though he is way over paid. He never was a goal scorer and since Holland over paid for him everyone expected him to be something he is not. I would buy out Nielsen's contract first.

Right, but I said his style is not conducive. Not his skill set. We clearly both agree that his skill set is elite. But the NHL is a WAY more structured game. Coaches demand that you play the system and don't free wheel. Even the best centers don't hang on to the puck and weave and bob around looking for open ice. You have to play give and go hockey in the NHL. You have to be in the right spots and play your systems without the puck. Blashill talked about it all the time with Larkin, "stopping on pucks", meaning gaining the zone, dishing, and getting open again rather than hanging on to the puck and kinda dancing around waiting to make a play. Knowing when to dumb the puck in rather than try to skate around on the perimeter looking for open ice. Hughes, more than Kakko, seems to generate a ton of his offense by hanging on to the puck and literally skating circles around the defense. He will not be able to do that in the NHL and so he'll need to change. He won't be able to do it because if the defensemen don't kill him his coach certainly will. That was my point. I still think that Hughes will go first, but if there's an argument to be made for Kakko it's that one.

That's not urine you're smelling. He's becoming a man.

The wings have always been good at controlling the narrative around the team. If they are teasing offer sheet, I'm inclined to believe it may be a real option they might exercise. Despite how rare they are.

He's a righty, he's got a good frame, he skates like the wind, and he's 23. All good reasons to keep him around for a while. Have to figure that Cholo, Hronek, Lindstrom, McIsaac have the best shot as future top 4 guys, but more and more it seems like teams are looking for good pairs that can be used situationally rather than just sticking their 4 best guys on the top two pairs. If he can stay cost controlled, finds a way to contribute on the PK, and pairs well with one of the more offensive lefties I think he's got a real good chance of sticking around and playing some decent minutes.

I think you misspelled top line power forward

why "lock up" a grinder 3rd or 4th line player to begin with?

Hicketts Ducks Wilson I liked this one from last night

They're culturally and linguistically different than what I'm used to. This scares and confuses me, which in turn makes me angry. Hope those frogs get rekt.

As mentioned by CRL in another thread Ottrado has clinched the 1st lottery percentage chance. Avs get no less than #4 Looking at today's standings with most teams @ 80 games played... and for grins ran things in the lose for higher percentage of draft choice spreadsheet. As things sit before any more games are played. Not to mention our ROW is 3rd highest so any ties in points with anyone other than Ducks/Oilers we move down in the draft. Now if everyone wins to see max points possible.....which doesn't affect our position at all @ 5 (yeah I know KRS the likelyhood of bottom teams winning is a mixed bag) Then same numbers and everyone loses except Ottawa(locked) and we continue our streak...which is the worst possible scenario. We get between 8th and 11th pick. So if we dump the last 2 games and others win.... So its boiling down to NJ, Buffalo(4pt game) and us for third spot in a big way. So we can get between the 3rd and 11th pick at this time...LOL I personally believe we are moving up in the draft but that's just my opinion/hope/wish/prayer/offering.... and LA congrats on what is looking like second best odds with your lineup...