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Not to mention he's nowhere near as good as Larkin on a much worse contract. Hard pass. But... Given that Marco is looking really really good, I'd take Pettersson for something centered around Danielson tho. Larkin, Pettersson, Kasper down the middle would give McClellan a million options next fall. Let Larkin take the tough matchups, which he's used to (and that Pettersson can't handle). Give Pettersson the sheltered offensive minutes, which he's better at than Larkin anyway. And then absolutely cook teams with something like Sodorblom-Kasper-Berggren/Mazur on your third line. All for the cost of a really good prospect that we'd no longer need. Edit: Basically look at the trade that sent Sam Reinhart to Florida. A lottery protected 1st and a good but not great prospect (Devon Levi). I'd imagine any trade for Pettersson would look something like that.

The availability and scrutiny surrounding Pettersson in itself sorta telltale sign of 'run away'...His on ice performance has been erratic these past few seasons and it's been rumored that the Canucks screwed up and traded away the wrong guy (JT Miller) and it should have been Pettersson getting shipped out (locker room drama). Sending Larkin to Vancouver for Pettersson would be a big mistake.

Larkin is getting torched on Reddit for saying something that any Red Wings fan with eyes could see for themselves the last two seasons. The TDL is a time of extreme stress and uncertainty for players on bad teams. These guys genuinely have no idea whether they're going to lose friends, or have to uproot their families, or just "fold" on the season because your GM decided you were a "seller" again this year. So to put them through it year after year after year without committing to any particular direction is completely tone deaf. It drives ME nuts to see a flawed team that neither sells nor adds. I can't imagine how the players feel about it. What even is the point? It's clear going into the deadline that we're not good enough, everyone (including SY) can see it so obviously , and yet he decides to...bring in Craig Smith? Why even bother? Wouldn't the team have been better off just keeping Veleno...a guy they all loved?

This team desperately needs a physical heart and soul guy that can play... I'm not sure who that would be nowadays... I'm thinking on a range between McCarty and Shanny

Great work Lefty!

Hope you had a nice Easter Left. Well done on the rundown, I agree with about 99% of it. Caveat, I'd make... Since rejoining Detroit SY has dominated the trades in which he appears to have been able to sit back and work the tradeblock. Not so much when he's NEEDED to get something done and forced it. To use Fabbri as an example... I highly doubt SY originally coveted Fabbri or had his eye on him. But when he found out the underutilized player could be had cheap, he took a swing. However, when all of the sudden he felt he needed to move on from Fabbri ASAP, suddenly he's tripping over his own shoes. Staying with Fabbri, besides the reactive trade for him being good, and the proactive trading him away being bad, the timeline of events surrounding the former trade alludes to the lack of a grandiose plan. Surely SY would have known that guys he wanted to make plays for, like Stamkos, would have more than likely been available in the offseason, and that he needed to clear space to make a bid for them. If he didn't, that would show a level of incompetence, and would prove their isnt a grand stradegy at play... So if we give him the benefit of the doubt and assume he indeed had the foresight to see that coming, his decision ultimately was to not clear that space at the oppurtune time to do so (The TDL) and instead reluctantly give Fabbri away for nothing a few months later... only to lose out on the asset (Stamkos) he made that move to acquire. Sure... he wanted to make the playoffs... but if he wanted to make it that badly, he shouldve added to his roster at the TDL instead of doing nothing. And I'll support that by saying...look at what Kane and Larkin just said in this years exit interviews. The team was stumbling, getting hurt, but still fighting, and then the shot-in-the-arm/support at the TDL didnt come... and it continued to falter from there. Said in not so many words by our own leaders. Back to Fabbri, one could argue he didnt know he'd have to sell so insanely low on him in the summer, or that maybe there was no market for Fabs at the TDL. But there was a market for plenty of players like him, and its beyond obvious to everyone that there isnt the same market for players in summer as there is at TDLs. To add insult to injury, its rumored he could not get the stamkos deal done bc he did not get prior approval from Illitch. Indicating more lack of planning. And in the case of Walman, he did not even attempt to waive him - and Grier and other GMs indicated that they wouldve claimed him if done so - indicating another rash unplanned decision. And as a sidenote you had the agents in the agent pole this year literally stating there is no "plan" in Detroit. MY POINT IS THIS There is no plan. There is no grand stratedgy to what he's building. Yzerman is any fan with an Xbox playing GM mode. He's reacting often in the moment without much thought to whats to come. Is this terrible horrible bad news? No. But we do need to put the "yzerplan" narrative to rest. He's been exceptional at trades when he can sit back, take his time, and evaluate the block/market. He's been bad when he buys into his own teams hype, sits back and does nothing, and then feels forced to make panic trades later because of his own inaction. Not giving him a pass. I would like to see more and better planning, and a clearer direction. Its precisely his LACK of trades as of late that have been our downfall, not his wins and loses.