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I see a few problems with this. First, gutting your team and trading all of your better players for draft picks absolutely guts your organizational culture. Easiest way to become an Ottawa or Buffalo or Edmonton is to get rid of every guy who would KILL to win a Stanley Cup and replace them with 20 year olds (no matter how highly skilled the new guys are). Second, we don't have anything close to a 1C in our system. We'd have to tank for a few more years (and hope for lottery luck) just to get back to where we currently are. There's almost zero chance the owners are excited about having a losing franchise for even a day longer, let alone a few more years. Look at the crowds at the LCA right now. You think the Ilitch's want to go backward? No chance. Edit: Here's what I'd do to move this team into the next tier. 1. Trade for Chychrun provided it doesn't cost Kasper or Edvinsson (Zadina, Wallinder, 1st probably gets your close). 2. Sign Horvat in the offseason (his favorite team was the Red Wings growing up and he's an Ontario guy). 3. Sign Vrana long term (he's one of the most prolific 5on5 goal scorers in the league). 4. Trade Bertuzzi at the deadline to recoup assets for the Chychrun deal and free up cap for Horvat. That's it. That's how close we are to competing for Stanley Cups next year and beyond.

f*** YOU

I don't have a "position" on Bertuzzi. All I've ever said is that I think a trade is likely given a few factors. You seem to be conflating my guess about Bertuzzi's future with some broader management strategy. If Bert wants to stay for a reasonable contract then SY should sign him. If he doesn't, trade him. I think the trade is more likely at this point. SY to front office personnel: Guys, Tyler Bertuzzi is asking for more than I think he's worth. I think I'll take trade calls on him. Front office personnel: Good, we've always hated Larkin and Hronek anyway. SY: What does one have to do with the other? Front office: Trade one you gotta trade em all bro.

I don't really have much interest in Boeser to be honest. He's a powerplay specialist who gets caved a 5on5 and is currently being massively overpaid. And as I've stated above, I'm not in favor of trading Bert just to do it. If he wants to sign what he's worth (up to this point) I'd sign him. I just get the feeling he's going to want to go to UFA and see if someone is willing to pay him more because UFAs always get paid more and he's betting on himself.

You're misrepresenting my position on Bertuzzi. I'm not advocating for SY trading Bertuzzi. If Bert wants to sign a reasonable contract in Detroit then we should sign him. I think SY WILL trade Bertuzzi though because (as I've stated) his real value is difficult to determine because of his injuries and there's not a lot of time to figure it out. Up to this point in his career Bert has not preformed better than Tomas Tatar had at the same age. So is Bert a 5.5 million a year guy? Totally. SY should sign him at 5.5mil long term. Will he sign for that? Doubtful. Is he better than that? Maybe, injuries have been a factor. Can you be sure of that before the TDL? Not likely because he's A) hurt and B) having a s***ty season. But again, you already know all this. You're smart. You're just bored and want to be oppositional because it's good sport for you. We've been in the bottom 10 in the league since drafting Rasmussen. The first year we aren't and you're suggesting we're flirting with "perpetual mediocrity". Again, you're not dumb so it's pretty clear you're doing what you always do, which is pick an absurd position and then see if you're clever enough to defend it in a debate. Ho hum.

I think there's already a deal in place (for the most part). I think Larkin wants to be paid like a point per game 1C (9+ million), which he looked like all last year until he was injured. I think SY wants to pay him like an almost-point-per-game 1C (8-8.5 million). I think they've agree to play out most of the season to determine whether he's the former or the latter, at which point they sign the deal. I don't think there's any chance he walks.

Agreed. Fact is Chiarot is just not that good. We all wanted him to be, but he isn't. The issue with sending him down to the 3rd pairing is that it puts the NHL on alert that he's worth less. I think the best thing to do would be to let him build his scoring numbers up as much as possible, and then look to deal him to a team missing a defenseman at the deadline. If we have to eat some salary for a year or 2, so be it. But this gameplan is looking real good to me: 1) Give Chiarot big minutes to get him to 25 pts by February 2) Trade him in February with 1/2 Salary Retained for rest of and next 2 seasons for a 2025 first rounder. 3) Play Walman and Osterle until we have 9 games left. 4) Bring Edvinsson up and push for the playoffs hard with Edvinsson-Seider, Maata-Hronek, Walman-Osterle/Lindstrom. And of course, if he turns it around and starts gelling with Seider, then that's a bonus.

Our offense is good enough to beat many teams most nights. And that's without Bert, Vrana, or Raymond playing at the upper end of their ability (or not playing at all). I thought we played Toronto even (or better) the other night, and I thought we generally dominated the play against Vegas last night. But our defense is still pedestrian. Better than the last couple years for sure, but not a defense that's going to shut the door. If you're not going to be a high octane offensive team you'd better have a stout defense. We don't. I realize the asking price makes all the difference in the world here, but I'd be calling on Chychrun right now and taking a REALLY hard look at the guy. Add him on the left size, and Edvinsson soon, and you'd finally have a competitive advantage at some position on the ice. For now put Walman with Seider and Chiarot with Oesterle and play or pairs: Walman-Seider (20 mins) Maatta-Hronek (22) Chiarot-Oesterle (18)