GoWings1905

Considered me shocked a team with Luke Glendening on its second line and an entire 4th line that shouldn't be in the NHL is getting badly outskilled.

Worse. By a lot too considering Holland's moves this off-season. Even with Pavel's retirement, I was cautiously optimistic that the Wings would play the young guys more and Blash would improve his usage from last season resulting in a better team. All of that is shot now. I think the Wings have a legitimate shot to finish last in the division.The scary thing is next season will be the most competitive they will be over the next five years because of Holland.

When this is the best deal you made in the off-season, you know you aren't doing a good job.

Ken Holland is the worst. I knew when he traded Pav's contract it was going to end up spent on more bad contracts. I think his plan for the Red Wings is to officially tread water, linger in mediocrity and cling to a playoff streak. He has no direction for the organization. I would have MUCH rather eaten Pav's final year, done nothing today and just let the young guys play. I can't even fathom what this roster is going to look like on Opening Night now and who won't be on it because Ken Holland brought back Helm, Miller and signed Thomas Vanek. AA and Mantha might as well go to Grand Rapids right now. Just awful. If there's anyone left defending this guy, I would love to hear the rationale behind it. Draft and develop my ass. More like let your kids rot and then lose them for nothing or give them terrible usage so we can watch a bunch of mid 30's guys play instead.

That would be the most Red Wing thing possible. Talk about change, bring back Darren Helm and Drew Miller.

He was a top five prospect in many rankings for much of last year. He's exactly what the Red Wings don't have in the pipeline right now. Much more upside with Chychrun than a project like Cholowski. Trading Pavel's contract does nothing for the Red Wings if you don't use the cap space or even worse, spend it poorly now. It was only for one year and the team isn't going anywhere regardless.

Not to be too much of a downer, but I'm thinking the playoffs might not be a problem the way things are looking. With better usage next season, I think both of them will bounce back nicely.

I'm honestly dreading Friday with Stamkos not an option now. This is worst case scenario for the Red Wings. Holland with cap space and no appealing options that are going to drastically alter the direction of the franchise in the near future. I wasn't even fully onboard with pursuing Stamkos, but once Pav's contract got moved, it was Stamkos or bust for me. Now we just potentially gave up a future first pairing d-man in the draft when they could have sat on Pav's money for a year, let the young guys play and continue stockpiling prospects. Instead we are staring at David Backes for five years or some other terrible contract when that is the last thing the Wings need at this point. For once Holland, please do nothing. Kick every single tire, but I truly hope nothing happens. Give me Larkin, AA, Mantha, Tatar and Nyquist in larger roles next season.

I disagree with the bolded part -- the drop off in Nyquist's goals was due to the fact the power play was a dumpster fire. He was still producing near the same level at even strength, despite poor usage and compounded by having much less talented players than him get the top-six minutes instead. If Gus doesn't produce getting Helm's or Richards' deployment all season, then I am more inclined to believe the notion that he regressed. It's befuddling though Blashill would decrease the ice time of his top two goal-scorers and then bemoan the fact your team can't score goals. I just think expectations are the biggest foes of Gus and Tatar right now. They probably aren't the next generation of superstars like when Z and Pavel took over. However, 30-goal scorers in their primes aren't easy to find and with better usage going forward, I believe both will get back to that level. I really hope the Wings aren't thinking of dealing either of them at this point, though I fear that might be the case.

Abby has spent the better part of five years with Z and/or Datsyuk -- it wasn't like he just got time with them when the decline hit. It comes back to usage. Abby has been forced into a top-six role almost by default. I won't deny that he brings certain elements to the team that no other forward does, but that comes back to management having too many players of the same mold. In a perfect world, Abby goes to the third line and gets less time at even strength and on the power play. I don't think he is particularly valuable in either of those areas for the minutes he receives. He was -16 and had terrible possession numbers. Nyquist and Tatar both inexplicably got the short straw from Blashill this past season. Nyquist played 1:30 less per game coming off a year he had 27 goals. Tatar played two minutes less after scoring 29 and HSJ had the nerve to give them failing grades. The Wings couldn't score goals and the response was a top-six that included Abdelkader, Helm, Richards and the ghosts of Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg. If you give Gus Nyquist the proper deployment next season, he's a 30-goal scorer. Part of the reason the Abby deal is perceived poorly is because Holland has given out so many bad contracts lately and he added to it by giving Abby seven years when he is already 29 years old. There's no way he was going to get seven years on July 1 from some other team. Even if you want to debate the 'bang for the buck' right now, how is that contract going to look when Abby is 36 with the way he plays the game?

Abdelkader also played three minutes more per game too and spent practically all of that time with Z and/or Datsyuk.

Sproul needs to at least get a shot out of training camp. I don't care so much if they lose Jensen, but it would be a tough pill to swallow if Sproul never gets a real opportunity on a team that has gotten nothing offensively from their d-men for years.

I don't -- at least not for Stamkos' price tag. I want Backes even less and that strikes me as more likely than Stamkos happening. I'm also in the sign Okposo camp.

Definitely a step in the right direction. For an organization that has been adverse to change lately, this is at least acknowledgment by Holland and company that the status quo won't cut it anymore. I will know we are really heading somewhere if Holland lets all of the pending UFA's walk on July 1.

Without his best forward and second best d-man no less. Jim Nill has done pretty well for himself too. Kenny hasn't upgraded the blue line in five years though, so we have that going for us. And a pointless playoff streak.

Is having his coach drastically reduce his minutes ideally part of the opinion?

Blash also said Joakim Andersson was up for insurance and PK and then he played every game and never on the PK.

Probably better than any of the guys I mentioned besides maybe Abby and he's getting ~20 minutes per game.

The Wings lost in five games to Tampa Bay in the first round. Hard to get more blown out than that. I'm not saying Mantha doesn't have room for improvement. But the Red Wings played Brad Richards, Darren Helm, Henrik Zetterberg and Justin Abdelkader in their top-six during the playoffs. I think Mantha's ability to put the puck in the net would have been a valuable asset, regardless of his defensive shortcomings. I would rather watch Mantha "potentially fail" at this point more than running veterans into the ground and getting no results anyways. Time to let these young guys learn by playing more in the NHL.

As others mentioned, 2009 was the toughest loss for me as a Wings fan. Game 7, chance to repeat, watching Crosby skate around with the Cup on your home ice. That one stung for weeks. I still maintain if Pavel Datsyuk was healthy that series, the Wings win in five. I honestly believe the Pens were nowhere near good enough to beat the Wings otherwise.

Great post. The Red Wings are so obsessed with every single guy dedicating themselves to playing 200 feet of hockey and they wonder why they struggle to score goals. You don't have to be defensively responsible if the puck is at the other end of the ice. Plus it would make the Red Wings more exciting to watch. This low-event, no creativity hockey isn't exactly putting fans at the edge of their seats.

Eh, why not? The locker room is reportedly a mess anyways. For real though, I would pass. Just give AA and Mantha the top-six time instead.

When was Jurco's chance? He played with Luke Glendening and Drew Miller on the 4th line. He may ultimately be a bust, but I'm not going to judge a skilled forward based on that usage.

It will be Abby thanks to his insane seven-year deal. I think Larkin is the next captain though whenever Z goes.

I agree with you -- I wanted Smith paired with Kronwall after they played together in the Boston series in 2014. Not sure I would want Smith anywhere near Kronwall now, though. I think Smith needs a partner that can let him do his thing offensively and Kronwall is too slow to cover up for him anymore. I know there is a lot up in the air yet with the defense, but I would like to see a DeKeyser-Smith pairing going forward. The scary part is that even losing Quincey, the Wings still have a logjam of d-men next season and they have never even given XO, Sproul, Russo or Jensen a serious look yet. We don't even know what we have in any of them because players like Ericsson and Quincey have been blocking them from the NHL. I think Ericsson will be impossible to move, even if Holland got out of his comfort zone and tried. A 32-year-old, overpaid, turnover prone d-man signed for four more years isn't going to fetch much interest. I think the Red Wings are more likely to see Smith as the trade piece, which I think would be a huge mistake.