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The Four Nations tourney was a disaster for teams, despite how obviously successful it was for the league. The NHL asked these guys to play in playoff caliber games in the middle of the season. Guys get absolutely f*cked up in the playoffs every year, specifically because the games are so intense and the league thought it was a good idea to do that IN THE MIDDLE OF THE SEASON! Charlie McAvoy was injured for the rest of the year. Matthew Tkachuk was injured for the remainder of the regular season. Larkin and Raymond experienced obvious drop-offs afterward; maybe due to the intensity of the games, maybe due to injuries sustained, maybe due to the fact that they were asked to play in extremely high profile games right before making a playoff push. In any case, they weren't the same players after the tourney as they were during or before it. But what killed our season was the back-to-back against Columbus. We were sitting in a Wild Card spot with points in hand against Ottawa. If we'd won those games (or even one of them) we'd have been like six points up with a game in hand. Instead we walked away with nothing AND got absolutely spanked. It was deflating and we never recovered. I also think the lack of moves at the trade deadline killed us again. I seriously don't think SY pays enough attention to the mental/emotional state of his players. You can't ask guys like Seider and Larkin (or the goalies) to get absolutely mauled all season long and then do nothing to help them down the stretch. It kills them, year after year. Imagine busting your ass every night (and getting the hell beat out of you too!), all while laboring under the hope that maybe your GM will get you some help at the deadline. And then nothing happens...again...year after year. You absolutely CANNOT compete in the modern NHL with the defense we just iced for a whole season. SY says the team HAS to be better defensively and then moves on from Walman, Maatta, and Gostisbehere while icing a roster with Holl, Peter, and Gustafsson. HOW??? Like, HOW was that going to make us better defensively? There were many critical moments during the season when a variety of Red Wings, from management to the coach to the players, had opportunities to step up and make something happen. Instead we got a HUGE dropoff from our best players after the 4 Nations, back to back losses to Columbus, a humiliating final game against Montreal, Craig Smith at the trade deadline, and Holl/Petry/Motte playing big roles on a historically bad PK.

To be fair to stevie, im not convinced anyone else could do better. Hes hit on his 1st round picks (the ones you NEED to hit on) and his trading ability is actually very good. But i am seriously confused by, and disagree with, his lack of direction. As well his coaching choices. You can be the Scotty Bowman of GMs, but an inability to acquire the right personel or lead this team in a distinct direction will sink even the best. So basically i dont think hes a bad GM/hockey brain, but I do think he has made serious mistakes at this point. Mistakes he may come to regret.

Idk if you've noticied, but SY has become increasely more chippy and irritable in his EOY media availbities each year... IMO. And I get it... same fuqqing questions. Same fuqqing answers. And last year I was mad he fence sat, but I still had sympathy for him. I could at least rationalize why he did that. We were close... This year I have no sympathy. And if he cops a fuqqing attitude with the media again then fuq him. He doesn't seem to have a pulse on the morale of his team, and he's also quickly losing the narrative with this city. Folks are turning on him in a big way. The tigers and pistons and lions are all excelling in big ways... and its making the wings look like a joke more than ever. Weve waited for the wings and folks are done waiting. In the 90s classic hit film Toy Story, human character Andy famously says: "i dont want to play with you anymore" And that's the current sentiment about the Wings. Yzerman - you no longer have enough rope to act like an arrogant genius. We want some humility and some sorrys at this point. Otherwise, the bashing from woodward sports, 97.1, podcasts, boards, is going to drastically increase. And when it finally goes silent it will be bc we stopped tuning in. Get ur fuqqing crap together and do something.

I suppose if they refuse to report, Yzerman might be able to "waive them for purposes of contract termination." We've seen that done a few times in the NHL. I do believe someone would claim Tarasenko, but Holl has been waived this season a couple of times, and has cleared. Waiving him saves the team $1.15M, so they'd be on the books for $2.250M still. If they bought him out, it would cost them $1,133,334 for 2 years totaling $2,266,668. So I guess the decision is which is best for the team, $2.25M against the cap for one year, or $1.133M for each of the next two years... I say just buy him out if nobody wants him, in two years the cap with be $104M compared to $95M next season, the extra $1.133M wouldn't hurt them whatsoever. That way you are just done with him. In Tarasenko's case, a buyout would cost $1,583,334 in each of the next 2 seasons, or a total of $3,166,668 compared to waiving him (if he cleared) costing them $3.6M for all of next season. Again, in 2 years the measly $1.583M even coupled with Holl's $1.133, totaling $2.716M is peanuts against a $104M cap. I think Holl is more likely to get bought out than Tarasenko, but hopefully neither of them are in the organization next season. He'll need to cut cap somewhere if he wants to pursue ANY high end UFA.

The Wings now sit at 12th overall. Their final 2 games are against Jersey and Toronto, two teams that are in the playoffs and might not care too much about losing to the Wings. I don't see them climbing into the top 10 unless they move up in the lottery. It's time to move that pick for a player to help this team. If that is before the draft or at the draft, it's time. Moving one 1st round pick for an impact player will not hurt this franchise in the draft moving forward. You might even score a young talent that'll step right in, forget the vets. Acquire a younger forward that will help turn this franchise around, picking 12-15 this draft is not going to do that anytime soon. Buyout Tarasenko and Holl, trade Rasmussen and Berggren, throw the kitchen sink at Mitch Marner.$13M+ minimum! Get Ekblad here, even if it cost $8M+! Those are the only 2 UFA's I wanna throw money at. ( I am sure there are more out there that would help, but these two are tops on my list.)

The 4nations derailed both Larkin and Raymond... be it injuries, sulking, fatigue, whatever the were no the same afterwards. I'm not sure if any other players in that tournament fell off as hard as they did. I agree unless we can add a legit player like Marner or Ehlers... it's time to trade Larkin. We also need to change our management philosophy it's an absolute joke that Cossa and a couple more kids aren't up these last 4/5 games to get a taste of the NHL.

Our mistake was letting Jim Nill walk. Stevie is too conservative... we've missed out because of it. When we had lots of cap he failed to weaponize it first picks. That just the obvious.

I was thinking Berggren and their 4th back to them for just Howard. If they want a RHD, I'll give them Tuomisto. BTW Wings win 6-4 tonight vs. Dallas. I watched the 3rd period, where the hell was that team through March? Ugh!

I remember @The 91 of Ryans mocking me for starting a Truscott thread a while back lol... WELL WE GOT OUR MAN ya dirty lobster fisherman! I don't know that you, I, or the Wings are going to be that impressed with Truscott. Sure he's a former 5th round pick and played a top role for UofM, but that Wolverine program has also fallen off a bit under Brandon Naurato. There's a reason he only got an AHL deal. I suspect he's more of a Lashoff than a Dekeyser... However he seems like a real character guy. Multi year captain at UofM. Got his degree. Is pursuing graduate school. Won the HCA "unsung hero" award this past season. And Naurato talks pretty glowingly about his leadership on and off the ice. I could see him with an A or a C on his chest for the Griffs pretty quickly, but might never win a contract from the Wings. That said, im certainly rooting for the kid. ------------------------------------- I like your idea about Isaac Howard. Howard was a beast for MSU this year. And all the Tampa fans are discussing trading him with their lack of roster spots for him and him not signing his ELC to recommit to MSU for another season. It may be a trade that is easy to work. Brisebois and SY's close relationship... Nightingale being a former Wings AC... his wings teammates in Savage and Augustine at MSU... TBL needs cost controlled RHD and draft picks.... To TBL: RHD Anton Johansson + Detroit's extra 3rd from NYR (TBL doesnt have a 3rd) To DET: The negotiating rights to RHD Nick Perbix + LW Isaac Howard Anton Johansson has impressed since arriving to the Griffs this year with 5 pts in 9 games from the backend. Traditionally a more large (6'4") stay at home Dman. Detroit wont need him with Seider already established and ASP coming up behind him, but he might be perfect for Tampa. A prospect they can actually use, unlike Howard. Perbix has quietly been very good for tampa, but they cant afford to keep him, so hes going to hit the market this summer anyway, and would be a great young placeholder until ASP is ready. And Brisebois certainly prolly wants some draft capital. We have an extra third. They have no thirds. Sure Howard was basically a high 2nd - but thats the price for only negotiating rights. Git er done kenny