VM1138

Booth doesn't sound that weird to me. He sounds like 60% of Michigan guys. At any rate, I wonder if he'd be worth a look? I haven't watched him for a long time, and he definitely seems like a project, but since he's being bought out he could be had for a more reasonable price. I know we have a lot of bottom 6 guys, but I wouldn't mind re-tooling that bottom six to be better at puck possession, which I think Booth might help with.

GR doesn't really need a mentor who can't play hockey anymore. There is no defense of this. If they wanted him to have an influence on kids, make him a player development coach. If they only want him in GR, let GR sign him. This doesn't work as insurance, either, because we have so many kids. And Cleary isn't better than a single one of them. He can't even skate without falling down. Sent from my ADR6350 using Tapatalk 2

Right. A talented player who is also tough is rare. Hockey's version of the unicorn. Most people just latch on to a fan favorite tough guy and ignore that they don't contribute anything else.

It doesnt hurt us at all. We always knew it was a 3 mil bonus. Nothing has changed and we still have nearly $20 million to play with, with a lot of baggage leaving and cheap replacements.

I disagree with that. A balance of player types is needed, but it doesn't matter where they are from. And the enforcers era is over. It wastes a roster spot and I'm not really sure how effective deterrence is anyway. Those fighters everyone loves keep fighting, meaning their message isn't getting across.

Who says they aren't getting a chance? You think Wings scouts travel the entire world scouring for future talent, but don't bother to check around the metro area? I know it's cool to have a local guy on the team, but you don't go out of your way to sign someone of lesser talent just because they're local. I know it's important for "Michigan boys" to feel like they're specially chosen, but maybe that's the problem. If their only shot is getting picked because they're local, they might not be good enough.

Who cares where a person was born? They sign the best available players. It could be none of the local boys were as good.

Do you really think we need another forward that bad? Another top tier scorer never hurt anybody, but we've got a lot of potentially good forwards. And that potential isn't far off. I mean, both Tatar and Nyquist were great this year. They may have a sophomore slump, but if they continue to build on that they are both bonafide top six players this season. I think that if we can only address one position, it has to be defense. Top 2 caliber, so I agree with you there. There are (as usual) question marks over next season's Red Wings. If Weiss is the player most of us think he can be, we'll be alright. That will help our offense. And if we secure that Top 2 offensive defenseman, that helps generate more offense. Puck movement and smart puck handling on the part of our defensemen is crucial to the offensive success of this team. Again, a top tier forward isn't going to hurt us, and makes a Cup more likely, but if Howard is good and we get the right defenseman, the offense might fall into place.

Smith hasn't been used as an offensive defenseman, and Kindl hasn't provided anything. I know that on paper they're supposed to be X, but in reality they're not. We need someone who is a bonafide offensive defenseman. And to all the people who think Boyle is our salvation, he wouldn't really change the dynamic of our defense all that much. He'd just replace Quincey. Maybe he wouldn't be as bad, but he doesn't necessarily make us GOOD, and that, after all, is the whole point.

His rights? Does that mean he's not locked up yet?

I think we should all admit Bettman is a fantastic commissioner. He does his job well. We don't like him because we don't really care about hockey as a business. Rather, we care only to the point that it is successful enough to keep the lights on. But he knows how to make money. But like in everything from music to movies to sports to politics, whenever something becomes a product to be tailored to focus groups and maximizing profitability, it becomes more generic and less organic. So yeah, fans don't like Bettman but he does his job.

What we need is an offensive guy. Our defense is almost entirely defense-first guys. If the player is good enough offensively, we can risk having one guy who isn't amazing at defense. Especially if Quincey and Kindl are gone. We don't need defensive guys, we need someone to get the offense going from the back end, which has been our bread and butter for over a decade. The team started going down once we started losing offensive d-men. Balance is key, and an offensive guy who isn't necessarily the best at defense is fine under the current condition of the team. Two defensemen would be nice, but only if we move one of Kronwall, Ericsson, Smith or Dekeyser. I was just assuming they're here to stay. But Holland tried to trade Smith once, so he's not untouchable. Frankly, I'd like to keep those four, get our offensive D-man for the top 4 (preferably a top guy who can give us a 1B pairing) and bring up a prospect (Oullet, Sproul, Marchenko) full-time and use a call-up for our reserve defenseman. We don't need to roll with 7 defenseman like we have been. It's convenient but it's not something we HAVE to do. EDIT: And as for "overpaying," you can't be picky when your team is stagnant or declining. Our team has at least one glaring need. Defense. You overpay if you have to. If there's only one player that fits your need, and he's in demand, you get him if you want to ice a competitive team. To a degree, of course but you all know what I mean. We can't pretend we're not in a bad spot and pass on everyone because it's a prospect or a million more than we wanted to part with.

They won't?? What was Lashoff then?Reality is, we have too many prospects. Some will be traded Realistically only one prospect makes it. Kronwall-Ericsson New guy-Smith DeKeyser-Prospect

A couple of reasons: 1) Mrazek won't get any better in Grand Rapids. Or at least, he could improve much faster playing in the NHL, even as a backup. 2) If Holland makes the moves he should make this off-season, the team won't be so terrible and the quality of our third string backup won't matter as much because a loss won't kill us to the same degree it did this season. 3) What's the point in having high quality replacements if the players they are replacing aren't significantly better to begin with?

Brodeur hasn't been good for years now. Even as a backup I don't see the point in bringing him here. Honestly, I'd rather Mrazek get the backup job. Goalies can't just jump into the starting role, and they all have to backup at some point. So the AHL argument about "getting experience" doesn't really hold in this case. Better for him to get 30 games in the NHL than 60 in the AHL at this point.

You're right. But we've got to start somewhere. Holland's spoken "wait and see" strategy just won't work. Not for 10 or 15 years at least.

Backup is our least important position. Whether Monster comes back, they bring someone else in or Mrazek comes up, I don't really care. Defense. Defense. Defense. And then maybe a top 6 forward. But DEFENSE.

How quickly people forget. Quincey looked better, but only in comparison to how terrible he looked earlier. Not to mention he makes his partner terrible, too. At best he won't hurt the team but he doesn't have any strengths we need. He's mediocre at defense, can only be paired with certain players and adds no offense. The number one problem we had was no offense from the defense. And terrible defensive decisions with the puck. If we re-sign him and promote a kid like we will have to, there will be no room to improve the defense. Basically the Cleary signing all over again. And I don't even want to think about re-signing the UFA forwards...

It was already seeming that he wouldn't make the NHL for the Wings. He rightly sees the AHL as a dead end for him.

Will default to supporting Rangers because its been 20 years since their last. It would be good for Lundqvist to actually have a Cup to justify his nickname, and it prevents LA from racking up Cup wins over a short span.

Let me rephrase that, then. A head coach of Bylsma's stature doesn't go back to being an assistant.

Even if Bylsma were fired, he's not going to be an assistant coach. He can wait a year if no one gires him. You don't go backwards in a career like this.

I somehow forgot to include "recent" in my post. I meant file and finals appearances during the Wings 95-2009 streak.

But I think Holland is realizing that his tactics haven't borne the fruit he hoped they would, and so he may be looking to change tack. Yes, Boyle is a classic Holland signing, but Holland seems to realize that those classic signings haven't paid off so well lately. I'm looking (hoping?) for him to make a big splashy move to shake things up. I think he's done with patching things and hoping for miracles.

I hope the Griffins are still playing when Mantha is done. I want him to be the real deal and not play in the minors next year, but it'd be nice to see him tear up the AHL for a week or two just to reassure us.