Leaderboard

We need it. This team is not going to be a "powerplay is our enforcer" level team for at the very least a few seasons if not more. We absolutely need to supplement the current team with enforcers/grinders who can protect developing talent. Under no circumstance should Larkin be fighting. And it's mismanagement that there wasn't a McIlrath waiting there already. What preceded the dynasty wings? The bruise bros Probert wings. That's the formula we need to a lesser extent. IMHO the biggest mistake Yzerman has made so far was not re-signing Witkowski.

Don't agree. Since 2013 Holland and his team drafted the following: 1st line center (Larkin) Two top line wingers (Mantha, Bert) A top four defenseman (Hronek) Several "wait and see" guys with top end potential (Ras, Zadina) Several guys with middle 6 potential (Cholo, McIsaac, VEleno, Berggren, Svech) And a boat load of depth guys. I don't think any other team has drafted as well in that period of time. Particularly given our draft slots in each year. IMO the disreputable state of this team is more likely attributed to the 8 years (or so) before that when we only had about 3 first round picks and whiffed on all of them (Smith, Kindl, Sheahan). Aside from Nyquist and Tatar we basically didn't draft or develop any higher end talent (and no talent at key positions) until we landed Larkin. We suck today, in part, because of the poor drafting of 8 or 10 years ago not the drafting of the last hand full of years which has been quite good.

I see Seider as like a Chelios or a Pronger, yeah. Big strong workhorse Dman who's going to amass a lot of points almost solely due to the fact that he's always on the ice eating huge minutes. He's gonna Raffi's positional smarts, but not Raffi's offensive acumen. The later is Hronek's job going forward. You see a bust, Yzerman sees a cheap project

HYPE! LGRW!

Even I would freak out n break stuff if he drafted Timmy over Lafren

It also made opponents realize that Detroit wasn't going down without a fight (pun intended)...Now they're just docile lambs waiting to be slaughtered.

I have a feeling that many, many in this organization are going to feel the wrath of Stevie this season. By "wrath", I mean gone. Per this thread, this organization is broken or weak in almost every aspect - top to bottom. IMO -Stevie is a winner and he won't simply watch this season go down the road it has been going. I know he's preached patience, and rebuilding "will take time", but if I were with the Wings organization, my head would be on a swivel. This guy hates to lose, and not only hates to lose, the Wings are embarrassing (for Wings and Wings fans standards)...this just isn't going to fly for long. I've said it before, but I wouldn't be surprised if we see some major player, coach, and front office moves this year. Likely some player moves that are surprising as we believed said player was a part of our "core" or future. More specifically, and not saying I'd be against this move, but many Wings fans I've talked to believe AA is a part of our "core" and future. Not sure if agree with that but If rumors are true about AA and him having a bit of an attitude and "me first" mentality....HE GONE!

"Keep the flies off" - Babs

I'm not generally a fan that wants players that can *only* fight. I much prefer skill over grit. However, I tend to agree with you here. We simply don't have the horses to play a skilled game right now. We're not going to win many games. Might as well be entertained in these losses... Add some players that can muck it up, and stand up for the little talent we do have on the roster. I don't want Larkin and Mantha fighting. McIlrath is called up. Call BriseBois and trade Saarijarvi for Witkowski. F*** it! Bring in all the heavyweights...

It is refreshing having Yzerman. My attitude completely changed about him after the Biega and Perlini trades. Whereas Holland was "wait and see" ad nauseam, Yzerman has quickly shown he's willing to address needs at the drop of a hat. This is not "no different then the hollopllan" as I preached earllier this summer. Yzerman is dfferent. He's been very assertive, which is not the normal around here. Last time Holland did a Biega type deal was Kent Huskins back in 2012 if I remember correctly. I'm honestly hoping he gets wild with trades around Jan and Feb. What'd we have to lose...

Money on Blash is an assistant coach somewhere else by this time next year

I am the happiest boy in boy town No more fights for Lil Dylan. Big Dylan got this. And now the league will know our vengeance. Yzerman must really not like Ericsson

at least he's got both hands where I can see 'em.......

Givani Smith

The giving up 5-6 goal games will stop with fighters. We still might lose 3 to 1 or something, but I think the embarrassment for fans and players stops. I hate Barnaby, but I was listening to an interview with him and he pretty much says if his team was down by 2 goals there's pretty much no way you're going to stop him from going out and picking a fight with someone. That's exactly what this team needs, and it can probably be added cheaply. It's about changing the narrative of the game and building confidence. I think I'd rather see Witkowski and Brian McGrattan in Ehn and DLR's roster spots

Zadina apologists

Not really. Here's a quick head to head. I'm not super familiar with VAN's farm club so I limited it to guys already on the NHL roster and/or 1st round picks. 2013: Horvat (9th overall) vs. Mantha (20th) and Bertuzzi (58th). Despite worst draft position we got the best player (Mantha) and the better quantity. Give VAN some credit for getting a top center, but we still win especially when considering the draft position. 2014: Virtanen (6th) and Shinkaruk (23rd) vs. Larkin (15th) and Ehn (106th). This is a win for Detroit, obviously. Despite drafting twice in the first round VAN got a player they want to trade and one that is stuck in the AHL. 2015: Boeser (23rd) vs. Svech (19th). Win for VAN. Easily. 2016: Olli Juolevi (5th) vs. Cholowski (20th) and Hronek (53rd). This is laughably lopsided. Win Detroit. 2017: Pettersson (5th) vs. Rasmussen (9th). Win VAN, but look at the draft position. We couldn't have taken Pettersson and nobody drafted after him is as good as he is. 2018: Hughes (7th) vs. Zadina (6th): Win VAN, no caveats. 2019: Podkolzin (10th) vs. Seider (6th). This one is too early to tell. Conclusions: In these seven years we outdrafted VAN in three despite having worse draft position (2013, 2014, 2016), they outdrafted us in three but had better draft position in one of those (2017). Twice (2015 and 2018) did they get a better player despite worse draft position. Additionally, since 2013 six players selected by Detroit are already playing in the NHL (5 for VAN) Another three (Svech, Ras, Zadina) are likely to be in the NHL full time, (none for VAN). This is excluding Seider and Podkolzin who will both likely play in the NHL soon enough. Including Sieder and Podkolzin that's 10 NHL level players for Detroit, and 6 for Vancouver since 2013. Both teams will obviously have depth players from these years as well, I just left them out because A) they're depth players, and B) I'm not super familiar with VAN's farm club.

Very important. Just ask Cholowski and Svechnikov... Blashill mustn't have realized we're playing the Rangers tonight. Or has no idea he played in New York. When it does click, I'm sure he'll be healthy scratched...

TBH, there isn't much they can say that would royally piss me off. Team is in fact terrible. Most of the players are in fact playing like crap. Yzerman does in fact have his work cut out for him. Me personally, I'm just glad we called up McIlrath so he can play against the team that drafted him. Stuff like that is important.

HEY GUYS I CAN'T WAIT TO HEAR ABOUT NBC'S HOT TAKE ON THIS HOT MESS. GOING TO BE SO EVEN-HANDED AND SYMPATHETIC. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I agree that the way we are loosing is alarming. But it's also not something that can be fixed with a new coach. We need roster changes in the worst way, and that will take time. While the kids are progressing, the vets are become older and increasingly more useless.

Not everyone - not including myself... I'm not going to say that Athanasiou's struggles are all due to him being switched back to wing, but he's played really well for stretches at center. Why change it? Especially when we clearly don't have any other capable 2C's on the team currently. I wouldn't mind seeing... Bertuzzi - Larkin - Perlini Hirose - Athanasiou - Mantha

I tend to agree. Unfortunately after stints like this, the coach is the first to go. That's the nature of the business. It might not even be Blashill's fault, but you do it with hopes of reinvigorating the team. This exact coaching change formula was on full display last year with STL. At the end of the day, Blash is just a baby sitter like most coaches. It's not going to hurt us to fire him. Worst case scenario is more of the same. To be a dickhead, I do find it amusing that everyone was stoked to replace Babs with Blash, and now less than 4 years later the fan base is deciding "fresh voice" Blash maybe wasn't as hot as everyone thought he was...toldyasotoldyasotoldyaso

Maybe we can flip Perlini for him When is it acceptable to call this guy a thug again? Maybe all-around dirt bag is the better phrase.

Yeah I preached "maintaining the culture" for a while now That maintaining all goes down the crapper if the season continues like this. May as well have scorched the earth if this was gonna be the result anyway.