GoWings1905

Berman is horrible. He should stick to the NFL. The ASG for baseball is my favorite of the professional sports, but I still absolutely loathe the rule about home field advantage to the winner. It might truly be the dumbest idea ever created in sports. Especially since fans just stuff the ballot boxes and select who plays. If they have to make it mean something, then let the managers, front offices, sports writers etc. decide so the truly deserving players end up going. Game 7 of the World Series shouldn't be determined because Rangers fans voted more times for Adrian Beltre to start at third.

Castellanos MVP at the Futures Game and Prince wins the HR derby. Now JV starts for the AL tonight. Miggy MVP to complete the Tigers run?

Why do you care if Holland improves the roster? Aren't you here to sell us on the powerhouse Minnesota Wild?

Fair enough in the sense that there is still plenty of time for Holland to improve the team. As of right now, however, I don't think it is that unreasonable to call the Red Wings a borderline playoff team.

At least he used some logic and reasoning to explain his opinion. Instead of just attacking a differing viewpoint, what are the reasons you believe the Red Wings will be as good or better than last season with this roster?

If Semin only signs for a year, then I really have to wonder what Holland's intention is with all this cap space. I have a feeling the answer is nothing.

Come back, Nick.

Back to .500 finally! Never thought that would be a cause for celebration on July 7th, but it is progress. Some signs the Tigers offense may be finding their stride as well. I'm very cautiously optimistic still, but I feel like the Tigers could make a run in the second-half again and win this division.

Agreed. I really like Ryan Suter, but he also benefitted greatly from the free agent class he was a part of. I'm not sure he is worth that type of money either, but when factoring in the current climate in the NHL and the Red Wings absolute need for a top d-man, it was ultimately a price that at least they attempted to pay. If Suter comes to Detroit, this entire off-season takes a completely different feel when you combine it with the moves Holland had already made. Unfortunately it didn't go in the Red Wings favor and with Lidstrom/Stuart leaving too, not getting Suter feels like a major deflator. Yes, the avatar definitely needs a change now. I'm still in a little denial that Suter isn't a Red Wing.

Great point. Definitely agree with you in the second paragraph too. There are still some very good pieces on this Red Wings team. I'm cautiously optimistic that some moves will still be made to complement those players and maybe push the Red Wings back closer to contending. Some new blood and continuing that winning tradition will energize the fans again.

Exactly. The face of the franchise is gone too.

Faith in what? I still love the team, but they won one playoff game and got noticeably worse since then. You (not you directly; the front office more) cannot rely on the past success of the team to continue forward just because of their amazing run. Let's be honest -- the Red Wings have been a stale group since 2009 now and with three early playoff exits, fans need a new reason to feel excited beyond everything the organization has done for two decades.

We also had a better Datsyuk, Zetterberg and Franzen then. The best third line in hockey by far as well. Plus a guy named Marian Hossa. This offense, well... Sammy is back at least. The luxury of not playing defense won't work like it did in the 2009 regular season.

Exactly. How does fan excitement not play a role at all? Is anyone truly stoked to buy tickets for the Red Wings right now? I will still attend, but there is going to be minimal buzz around the team if they go into the season with this group.

Unfortunately, I don't think that is entirely unlikely. I'm with everyone else that the Wild probably aren't a true contender still, but the Red Wings certainly aren't either and are going in the opposite direction. The Red Wings had defensive breakdowns galore with Nick Lidstrom and Brad Stuart around. The offense got completely shut down in the playoffs. I'm just not buying at all this internal development plan Holland is selling.

Who exactly is Holland interested in now if he reportedly isn't in Semin? I mean they had to have other plans if they missed on Suter and Parise. Internal development with this roster maybe gets the Red Wings a playoff spot.

Excellent post. I couldn't agree more. The Red Wings can't embrace a youth movement and expect to still contend at the same time. They just don't have the resources to do so -- picking in the 20's every year for two decades isn't going to get you the talent necessary to pull a Pittsburgh or Edmonton maneuver. I believe there has to be a level of "internal development" for any team, just given the structure of the salary cap in the NHL today. However, the Red Wings still overwhelmingly have to rely on free agency/trades to obtain better talent now because they don't pick high enough in the draft ever. We're incredibly lucky the scouting department found gems in Zetterberg and Datsyuk in the later rounds, but that is hardly commonplace. The worst place to be in the NHL is a fringe team and the Red Wings are sitting there with this roster. Certainly not a championship contender, but definitely haven't fallen off enough either (yet) to pick top five. Holland is in an extremely delicate position -- maybe they believe still a couple pieces (Semin/Doan) puts the Red Wings back in the contender conversation. Or do you give up what few true assets the team has to get someone like Nash or Yandle? If the intention is to remain competitive for the Stanley Cup, then Holland has no choice but to take some risks now. This is maybe a borderline playoff team as we speak.

Not a big fan of Quincey, but the Red Wings are in no position to just let him go. Not much reason for optimism after his performance coming back to Detroit, but hopefully he improves in a full season and cuts down on the really stupid penalties. If the Red Wings were deep on defense at all, I would be fine with not having Quincey back. Unfortunately Stuart is gone and a first round pick was already blown.

They would both be in Philadelphia if it was truly only about the money.

The most ideal, maybe somewhat realistic, outcome going forward IMO would be to pursue Semin and Doan. Hopefully land one (both would be even better) to boost the top-six and fill out the forward group. That would give the Red Wings an excessive amount of forwards, but that also creates some flexibility to trade for a top-pairing d-man like Yandle. Filppula for starters would definitely be gone in this scenario, though that might be the only way at this point to really bolster the defense. Getting Nash from Columbus would eliminate our assets and then we are still looking at a very questionable defense. I'd rather have Semin (or Doan) and Yandle than Nash and Carle.

Agreed. If Columbus wants the Rangers to blow them out of the water, the price for the Red Wings will be completely insane. I can't even imagine a package that would suffice considering the Rangers have a plethora of more viable assets to offer.

I like Nash, but I think the more pressing need is a top-pairing defenseman. Maybe make a push first for Semin and/or Doan saving the trade assets to go after Yandle possibly. I don't know how else the Red Wings are going to upgrade on defense. Carle isn't the answer.

Damn, we missed on Suter mostly because of Parise. Suter probably preferred Detroit first, but the common ground of playing together was in Minnesota. Wish Parise would have re-signed with the Devils in hindsight now.

Very true, that is a fair point. I guess with a couple moves, the Red Wings could realistically get back in the conversation. I just think missing on Suter overall is a dagger -- much more so than any other team that lost out here.

I don't really buy "at least the Penguins/Blackhawks didn't get better angle." Sure, the Wild are probably a little further from contending than those two, but honestly the Red Wings aren't any closer than the Wild today. It's fine to be relieved when your biggest competitors didn't improve in a position of strength. Right now, the Red Wings aren't sitting there at all. We needed at least Suter to even stay in the conversation next season.