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Here lies Ken Holland: He was sucky and He was lucky

There's one good thing about every dumb s*** GM in the NHL thinking that "all you have to do is get in and then you go on a run". Every 8th seed is looking to buy at the deadline. Much maligned parity is good for sellers apparently.

I could maybe get behind $5.25M x 3, assuming he continues producing like he has this season and also assuming we're not going anywhere for at least another season. I don't like those assumptions, though. I guess the most scathing thing I could say about a moderately big Nyquist extension is that it doesn't seem all that necessary and there's probably a lot of room there for regret. Word. Mantha and Athanasiou are the new Nyquist and Tatar. Let's continue phasing out the old guard and continue stockpiling picks and building for the future. PICK HYPE!

This too. While I don't think that would be a terrible contract, I think it would be a terrible contract for this team to sign at this stage of their "rebuild". Since we don't know exactly what Veleno is going to be yet, I'll stick with the Nyquist comparison. There are always Nyquist caliber players at the end of the first round of every draft. Whether we hit or miss, I'd rather take the swing than not have the chance at all... GIVE ME ALL THE PICKS!!!

Keep an eye on Bobby Brink and Connor McMichael.

If we end up with a pick in the 25-31 range, I'd say there's a reasonably good chance that player develops into a player as good as Nyquist. Regardless, he will be 30 to start next season, and into his mid 30's by the time this team is ready to compete. It really would be foolish to hold on to him in our situation. I'm not sure about a "pie storm", but I'd be pretty pissed off if Nyquist isn't traded in the next month...

Also, with the forward depth in this draft class, I wouldn't be at all surprised if a Veleno type slips to the end of the 1st round again.

If what the beat writers are saying is true and a Nyquist extension would look something like $5M+ x 3/4 years, I don't want him back. He's having a career year in a contract year, as a 29-year-old. Last season he put up 40 points...

["the most annoying sound in the world" scene from Dumb and Dumber but it's "the most depressing sight in the world" and it's just Lloyd writing the names of our defensemen]

"Let's acknowledge that the Smith trade was a good one and let's discount the fantastic Tatar trade "because luck" and let's ignore that he's gotten pretty good value for middling players and let's ignore that if Green doesn't get hurt late last season we probably go into the 2018 draft with three 1sts and let's ignore that the whole problem with this team is the lack of really sexy assets/trade chips. Holland is garbage and there's no reason at all to believe he can get anything of significance in a trade this season, because he is garbage. I'm not biased, I'm just stating facts." Excellent talk. Another defenseman goes out with an injury. Been this way the past 90 years, don't know why this month should be any different.

David Backes is 34 years old, has 12 points (4 goals, 8 assists) in 38 games this season, and is a healthy scratch tonight in Boston against the Blues... No, I'm not bringing up Backes as a possible trade target... My point is, why can't the Red Wings ever make these "tough decisions", and scratch a vet??? Jonathan Ericsson is 34 years old, has 5 points (3 goals, 2 assists) in 30 games this season, and has never to my recollection been a healthy scratch in the past several seasons... I've never been one to bash Ericsson. I think he's a serviceable bottom pairing defenseman. However, scratching a 21 year old Hronek, who has as many points in his past 5 games as Big E has in the season, for the 2nd straight game, is flat out ridiculous... What happens when Daley is back healthy? Holland really needs to address this log jam on defense as soon as possible. Unfortunately the only defenseman that I think Holland would be willing to trade that I'd want to trade is Daley, and just coming off an injury, that could be a tough sell...

Don't you be talking s*** on Mountain Dew!

"That was just dumb luck!" is a pretty convenient stance. Not that I entirely disagree that the stars aligned for him on that Tatar trade. But, I mean, c'mon. "It'll be a miracle if Holland gets anything of significance" is a dumb take. If anything's working against Holland, it's the fact that we just don't have many sexy assets. It's not a matter of Holland refusing to move players, nor is it a matter of Holland losing all the trades he does make. He got a 3rd for Jurco, who was a fringe roster player and is now out of the NHL entirely. He got a 3rd and a roster player for Sheahan, who was coming off a season where he scored two goals (both in the final game of the season). He got a 4th for Mrazek when all the signs were pointing to no one wanting Mrazek *for free*. He got market value for Vanek. He might've traded Green had Green not gotten hurt.

Good call. Lazy mistake on my part. Agreed. Really, it's all about expectations/desires. If you expect or desire Holland to move out all the veterans, you're in for a world of disappointment. If you're expecting Evan Bouchard and a 1st and a bunch of other high picks, you will be angry. If you're expecting a 2nd for Nyquist and a 4th for Daley, that's realistic and it leaves some room for you to be pleasantly surprised. Personally? Holland's exceeded my expectations re: trades and returns in each of the past two seasons. With Holland himself having all but stated that this season was always going to be a throwaway season and next season is when he wants to start to see a serious turnaround, I think there's reason to be pretty optimistic. I won't be surprised if he goes HAM on this s***. Not expecting it to play out that way (re: this season's trade deadline trades), but I certainly wouldn't rule it out. Here are some (rhetorical?) question for folks: Do you think the DRW brain trust wants to go through another miserable season of close-but-no-cigar losses and empty seats? Do you think this is how Holland wants to go out? Do you think the brain trust doesn't want to shake things up? I've gotta think big changes are coming. Maybe not today, maybe not tommorow, but soon...

*a 1st, two 2nd's and two 3rd's* Great return regardless. Holland will definitely do something. No question. He just won't tear it down like some fans would like. And I'm okay with that. I'd like to see a few trades to pick up some picks / prospects, but to expect all the vets to be traded is unrealistic and quite frankly, stupid...

Unfortunately, I don't see Holland making any of these big, multi-player trades. I think the most we'll see is Nyquist, and maybe one of Howard, Daley or Jensen traded for draft pick(s). Aside from that, I expect it to be a fairly quiet trade deadline in Detroit again... Unfortunately, I think getting any top prospects, like Puljujarvi, Bean, Fabbro, Liljegren is a pipe dream... I'd be happy with Nyquist for a 1st, and Daley for a 4th...

If you took a concussion, turned it into a human, and made it the defense attorney for the NHL in its ongoing concussion lawsuit it would still be more progressive on just about every health related issue than the NFL. The NFL is like the Mountain Dew of sports leagues.

It sure seems like it is. Because I don't think this argument you're making holds much water. It seems to me like you're tying yourself in a knot to justify picking someone other than Hughes. But maybe I'm being unfair. (It's been known to happen.) That's not an unreasonable take. But, again, I think you're strawmanning here. My impression is the "McDavid Jr." narrative isn't really a thing; it feels like you're forcing this in here to help your argument. The hype machine is always going to be a thing, and, yeah, "Hughes could be generational" is definitely a thing that's out there. But I don't see many decidedly well-informed people going HAM on that point. If they're going HAM on a point, it's that Hughes appears to be the best player in this draft class -- in a tier all his own -- and he's a very special player. He's a kind of player that you don't necessarily see in every draft class. If we're going to put on our We're Smarter Than Those People Who Aren't Very Smart hats, why not cast the same skeptical light on every player in this draft class? Why is Hughes the only one we're (hypothetically) knocking down a peg? Let's be hard on Kakko. Let's be hard on Cozens. Let's be hard on Zegras. Let's be hard on everyone. Then, when we're done being hard on everyone, maybe we can agree that everyone is flawed and has the potential to be a disappointment but Hughes is probably the least risky pick...? That there are more Barkovs than there are Kanes and McDavids is irrelevant. Hughes is the best prospect in this draft class and he's the odds-on favorite to become something truly special. If I felt like a lot of people were down on Hughes, that'd be one thing. If Hughes didn't thoroughly impress me, that'd be one thing. But neither of those situations is the reality; my impression is pretty much everyone has Hughes at #1 -- and, personally, I have him at #1 on my list, based on his numbers and my own viewings. But...nearly everyone agrees that Hughes is the best prospect and is the safest bet for a gamechanging talent. If, say, the Kings win the lottery, I could maybe see them taking Kakko over Hughes at #1. But I'd be surprised. Because everyone and everything points to Hughes being The Guy, the best value for the first overall pick. Kakko is probably more NHL-ready, but that doesn't mean much to me, personally. Beyond Kakko, I agree with the consensus that there's a big drop-off. I'm not saying there won't be gems, I'm just talking about making the best bets we can with the information we have. -_______- tl;dr The Wings' most pressing need is [x]. Of the players in this draft class, Jack Hughes is the one who's most likely to become [x]. His floor is also very high, IMO (i.e. I'll be very surprised if Cozens becomes the better NHLer). I don't care about Kane, I don't care about McDavid, I don't care about Gaudreau, I don't care about Barkov, I don't care about Kopitar.

I wanted Nyquist gone at the beginning of the year for a 2nd. Now, I wouldn't take less than a 1st. He is having a great season.

Sucks that he is not back to 100%, but I’m happy that he is retiring. Can’t help but think of Franzen and how he is struggling now. Franzen tried to comeback and just kept getting concussed again, I don’t want to see that happen to Nash.