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That's because you're an ignorant f***... It's a disease. Bobby Ryan being an alcoholic, and then having the will power to not only get the help needed to kick the habit, but get clean, takes more "character" than you'll ever have.

Very well stated. I have family who have struggled with alcoholism and maintained respectable careers, had loving families, were great parents and grandparents, and eventually were able to seek help with what they were struggling with. It's easy for some to throw shade on something they themselves have zero clue about. That shows pretty poor character, especially when they double down on it. I'm with you, which was the point of my first response, to say let's keep things on the topic of hockey and not start this nonsense of, obviously, fanning the flames.

This has been a great thread, and it's lasted a long time. The off-season is still among us and there is still tons to talk about, so please, let's not get this thread locked of deleted.

We need to stop feeding the troll. He's a lonely dude, that much is fairly obvious. It would be nice to have hockey conversations on this site without one person dragging it all down into the mud. Having worked with all types of folks working through trauma, mental illness, behavioral health issues, it's evident he has no clue what he's talking about (as is usually the case).

A player who becomes a success in the NHL, ends up in a bad place, and then perseveres and overcomes his " demons" is worthy of more respect and opportunity then a player who never achieves his full potential at all. Judging a man by what he was, instead of who he is, is an impossible standard, because it leaves no hope for redemption.

This right here goes to show what a piece of s*** human being you are.

In terms of immediate value and resale value, I'd probably rank the signings like this: 1. Stecher - one of the better under-the-radar D-men 5-on-5 in the western conference last year and is just coming into his own 2. Ryan - great character guy can hopefully score 20 and get rewarded for his hard work both on and off ice 3. Greiss - having a 1A/1B type that doesn't eat all the hotdogs will be huge 4. Merrill - Going to be one of the best 3rd pair D men this team has had in a long time and will get us a 2nd at the TDL 5. Namestnikov - versatile guy who could come close to a career high in points if he plays with Zadina

Yzerman gets an A from me. Such a boss.

The Athletic: What Draper's First Draft Tells Us About The Direction of the Red Wings (paywall) Sounds like they got their guy, Raymond.

Oh but I'm not trying to construct an argument here. Just pointing out that yer being a dink (edit: but probably not for much longer)

LOL look who's giving advice about "strong character". The irony is palpable. f*** I love that expression.

You're a literal piece of s***. I'm not an alcoholic (I barely drink), but I know plenty of people that are / were, and to hear you say that those people "lack character" is f***ing disgusting. Alcohol / drug addiction is an illness, not a choice. Go tell Ken Daniels that his son "lacked character"...

This is the part that absolutely gets me. For YEARS people have reflexively said "The Ilitch family has done so much for Detroit". If I rolled my eyes any harder theyd fall out of my head. Almost all of the redevelopment downtown in Detroit is the product of Dan Gilbert, NOT the Ilitches. Rather than do anything at all for Detroit they've routinely fleeced the city/State to make themselves rich while doing almost nothing for downtown Detroit. Oh, and they don't bother paying their taxes either, which apparently, is par for the course amongst rich folks in America these days. F*ck them.

All 4 of Veleno, Berggren, Seider, and Raymond are playing SHL games today.

As it is now, it looks like there may be a bit of a logjam up front. If he were to add a Galchenyuk or Duclair, I suppose it wouldn't be the worst thing, but I'm fine going into next season with the current roster.

It's not so much about having it both ways. I fully understand the state of this team and the players Yzerman got. It would have been nice to get maybe 1 more Middle 6 forward at 2 to 2.5 mil for 2 years tops. I'm not terribly upset at what we got.

Thorton's about to play with HC Davos https://www.tsn.ca/joe-thornton-to-join-hc-davos-1.1539159

B+ Mostly for staying away from high dollar/long term aging players. The quality of players gotten leaves a little to be desired.

The story is as old time. All alcoholics or people with substance abuse problems cant be lumped together as having the same situation either. A ton of athletes whether its hockey, basketball, football, soccer, tennis, wrestling , boxing struggle with substance abuse. The toll these sports take on not only your body by pushing it passed its limits day in and day out, but the mind as well is the worse part. Being on the road all the time, away from family for extended periods of time would be a different kind of lonely. Its no mystery why falling to substances happen in these cases. The amount of people the struggle and deal with it without getting any help, without anyone even knowing they are struggling to me personally have character too. They show up for work every day, some even maintain an extremely positive outlook about everything too, then when work is over they suffer in silence, alone. Bobby Ryan woke one day and wanted to change himself for the better, good on him. To me it shows character for him to not only make the decision but see it through.

This is a crap response, man. You're just adding on to the nonsense that a certain troll in here started. You want to talk hockey, yet we need to read your "hot take" on what your think is going on with someone vehemently disagreeing with someone who clearly doesn't understand the content they're trying to troll others on. You don't either, given your ignorant response. Instead of trying to steer the conversation back, you just fanned the flames. Bravo. You and the troll have shown pretty bad character here.

Why cant it be both? We all have free will. Succumbing to addiction could be seen as a lack of self control, a bad character trait. Admitting one's faults and seeking help shows humility and responsibility, both positive character traits. In the end, who cares?

The Athletic interviewed some (anonymous) exec's around the league about each teams offseason so far: Execs Unfiltered: Thoughts on Hall, trades and every NHL team’s offseason so far Here what they had to say about Detroit: Detroit Red Wings The work turned in by GM Steve Yzerman and his staff was praised across the board. “I like Detroit’s signings but they’re not going to amount to Detroit winning the Stanley Cup,” said one. “I think those guys are good value for those price tags.” Yzerman spent some time in the bargain bin and turned up very reasonable deals for Bobby Ryan, Vladislav Namestnikov and Troy Stecher. He paid a bit of a premium in a competitive goalie market for Thomas Greiss (two years at $3.6 million per) but the Red Wings should be much more competitive because of it. “To be honest, the Red Wings have done a good job,” said another executive. “They’ll be somewhat competitive. They brought in character and leadership. Stevie Y does a great job.” “Detroit had a good offseason,” said a Western Conference exec. “Namestnikov for $2 million. Bobby Ryan for $1 million. It fits exactly what they’re doing. They’re not going long term with anybody. They’ve got some good, cheap players who will improve their team right away. They’ve got a couple more D. They got more assets for the deadline. They’re movable contracts.” Multiple execs brought up the character element. All the players signed seem to be oozing in character. “Stevie is very deliberate who he puts around his team,” said one. “If a player is not a culture guy or does not serve a specific purpose, they get shipped out pretty quick. I like Namestnikov. Bobby Ryan is fine. I like Stecher. I like Greiss. Those guys are pretty good.”

Ah. That explains it. I like CRL. We've talked in DMs a buncha times, just shooting the s***. He's actually a very chill, very normal dude; he's clearly playing a character with his trolling. I would argue that every self-respecting online forum needs at least one divisive heel. Back when the Wings were still contending and this place was buzzing, there were always multiple beefs. Beefing is good for business. Though, I suppose maybe now might not be the best time for a CRL type. Or, on the other hand, maybe we need a CRL type now more than ever. I dunno. *shrug* Fs in the chat for our fallen tovarishch. I *am* pissed that my Stacher post got deleted. Oh well. The gist of it was that Stecher appears to be low-key legit -- and I am here for it. (That's how bad things are right now.) Think a hardcore shutdown guy like Nemeth -- but capable of 1) potting points at even strength and 2) playing in all situations. I love that he has the shutdown chops he does while being 5'10-185. That means he's an outstanding puckmover. Some stats: https://www.nhl.com/player/troy-stecher-8479442 https://www.hockey-reference.com/players/s/stechtr01-advanced-ev.html Look at that f***ing zone starts split. Beautiful. (And, as a matter of fact, damn near identical to Nemeth's.) In adding Stecher and Merrill, Yzerman basically pulled a respectable middle pairing out of his ass. Nemeth Hronek Merrill Stecher DeKeyser Seider Staal/Lindstrom All of a sudden, we've got a blue line that looks like an Yzerman-constructed group. That is to say: We've got a bunch of big, mobile, quietly effective two-way guys. That's the formula. We've got McIsaac, Wallinder, Tuomisto in the pipeline. The 2021 draft class features a bunch of really good defensemen in Brandt Clarke, Carson Lambos, Owen Power, and Luke Hughes. Dougie Hamilton could hit the UFA market next year -- and Yzerman's going to have crazy cap flexibility to work with. I think we should feel pretty good about the future D situation.

Am I the only one who likes the guy? He's entertaining. Things have slowed WAY down around here the last couple years. He keeps sh*t stirred up. Love it.

I feel like ownership and Stevie might just be on the same page with where we're at as a team. Kind of how I read that. Why be in a hurry to spend big and risk being cap strapped in a couple years when we don't even REALLY know what we have in a lot of our recent draft picks? Short term deals are perfect for us right now.