VM1138

Cordeau will just be helping during practices. Why would they replace Gus with some untested kid going into playoffs? It's illogical. Like others have said, its just musical chairs to satisfy roster rules.

Isn't he a cancer? We already seem to have complacency issues, what we need are some players who don't use their skill as an excuse to float, because we don't have a system those types of stars can thrive in. His productivity would plummet.

If we miss the playoffs, they'll just say it was because of injuries and not change anyway. I can't wrap my head around "what's the point?" Sports is about winning. That's it. I don't even have a logical explanation for it, but if you can get even one point ahead of the next guy, you do it. What's the point of reasoning it? The whole point is to compete. I don't care if we miss out on a high draft pick, the whole point of a season is to win.

This obsession with draft picks is iexcessive. Sports is about winning. Do the best you can now, sign or trade for your stars. Much more likely to meet success with a trade than a draft signing. The Wings have to draft for depth, but not for supertars. As mad as this team makes me recently, they will make playoffs, and they can go far depending on who they meet. We know they can beat good teams. We undrrachieve against weak ones, which won't be a problem in the playoffs. Just watch out for Chicago, I guess. Edit: Looking at the top 8 right now, the only real obvious threats are Chicago, maybe Minnesota could be a Cinderella team of sorts, and maybe, just maybe St. Louis.

Agreed. A cap is necessary. I'd like to see some rule to force teams like the Islanders to actually spend money. What you guys are complaining about isnt the cap, it's the rules and their enforcement.

I don't mind the salary cap, I do mind the retarded rules. Game isn't as fun. And were fake, forced, rivalries as common back then? When I started really watching, I only could watch the Wings. Games seem too predictable and scripted now with the bad reffing focused more on outcomes than calling penalties.

I don't think Illitch is tightening the purse strings. We've unloaded some big contracts and not had to give any out. UFAs were either overpayments, or potential trades wanted draft picks. Plus, the cap is dropping next year. They pulled out all the stops to get Surer, I think Holland is just being cautious.

Inconsistent play notwithstanding, I'm starting to like the lines. Even Abdelkader is growing with Datsyuk. Some really interesting combos available now. Maybe I'm starting to see the method in Babcock's madness.

That is just silly. The difference in drafting between 16th and 17th is not going to be huge. We should always prefer success now to potential success...maybe....in a few years...if we draft the right guy.

I agree on Cleary. We all trashed him because he can't handle top line minutes, but he's still a good checker or fourth liner. Bertuzzi isn't a waste of cap space. Right now, because he's injured he might be, but nobody but Datsyuk has hands like Bertuzzi up close to the net. He's not 100% all the time, we need his reach, his hands and his every-3rd-game-or-so-offense. Bertuzzi is like Holmstrom. He has a very specific role on this team. He's not necessarily a 1st liner, but he belongs on a 1st line with Datsyuk. He is what Babcock is trying to make Cleary and Abdelkader into.

Look, he baffles me sometimes. But look at how garbage this team is this year, the hodgepodge of lazy floaters and talentless guys with heart we have. Yet we're still in the playoff hunt. I'd say he's the best.

I would think they'd want Colaiacovo to get some more game time. After all, he's been out so long. But he is expendable I guess.

Didn't we overcome a 3-0 deficit to win 6-3 at some point this year? Every time we get in trouble people want to reunite the Eurotwins. But they are separate players now and for whatever reason they don't play as well together as apart.

You better hope Smith and Lashoff don't get caught in a bad matchup. A dangerous top line would tear them apart. Also, Samuelsson should play over Nyquist. I know we're all high on him here, but he doesn't bring any hustle to the lineup and he hasn't found his scoring touch in the NHL yet. Sammy, for all his flaws, at least generates some offense. And there's a strong argument to be made that Bertuzzi's hands are worth quite a bit on chaotic playoff hockey.

Well, they shouldn't. But the teams around us in the standings got better, and the Wings didn't. They will continue to be inconsistent. They probably will still make playoffs. They'd only have to muddle through the rest of the season and hope Columbus doesn't get hot, but if Holland really believed this team was going to do anything he would've made a move. He implied so himself in an earlier interview. We're sitting in the playoffs now, but teams are starting (slightly) to separate, and we keep sliding back. This team this season has lost in pretty much every game when we had a chance to catch up to a higher team or hold off a lower team. I have a hard time picturing this current squad keeping up with the playoff pushes other bubble teams will do. They just don't seem to have that willpower or urgency anymore. Again, we'll probably make playoffs, but Holland didn't make it any easier for them.

I know that any team can win it once you make the playoffs, but I wouldn't bank on dumb luck like Holland seems to be doing. I'm not giving up on this team, they could surprise us and magically click and get hot in the playoffs. They've gotten hot before (not this year, though, so maybe we're due), but not making any moves doesn't help us any. The strategy seems to be to muddle through as best they can. We've got very solid players, but we have very serious holes in every area except goal, and all the work ethic in the world doesn't matter if we can't match up against other teams.

All of these moves make me feel like Holland has given up on making playoffs. I hope I'm just overreacting.

I'd like to see a reporter ask Holland what his definition of 'transition' year is. Because to me, that definition isn't 'lets let all of our talent age and leave while we hope somebody we drafted becomes a superstar.' To transition, you need to get help. You don't just hope your young players getting good barely overlaps with your good players getting bad. I agreed that rentals weren't the way to go, buy how could Gaborik not have helped in a transition? Pominville? Our prospects are good, but we will be very lucky if one of them turns into a star. So most likely outcome is we will have a solid team for years, but without trades and UFA signings we won't be a great one. I'm baffled by standing pat this year. Last year made sense, but this just reeks of a missed opportunity. It was a good deadline for a lot of teams. These windows don't open often in the new NHL. Is the UFA class so great this summer?

Flip re-signing has nothing to do with Datsyuk. Flip won't suddenly be our number one center if Datsyuk leaves, and we can always sign a Flip replacement.

It's too early to throw Holland under the bus and question the manhood of this organization. Lots of overreacting. That being said, being in transition is not an excuse for complacency. You still have to tweak and improve what you have. You dont just sit around and wait, or else you will never exit transition. Like Holland said, we need a big star. Or two. We lost on J Bo, wanted Jagr but recognized he would be a rental. It's not over.

Agreed, we will eventually have to give up a couple of our prospects. We can't ice a team of rookies. Not a firesale mind you, but we do have some spare parts. Patterson, for instance. He would be coming in at a time when Howard and Mrazek should both be NHL starters. Where does he fit?

Jagr would have been nice, but he has a tendency of being a mercenary. No way we would be able to re-sign him. Wish we could have got him, but Holland likely has a more fitting target in mind.

Smith has also been playing against better competition than Kindl, hasn't he?I admit he hasn't impressed, but neither did Ericsson for years and he turned out okay. Also, Miller and Eaves are favored over Tatar and Nyquisy only because the latter two can be sent down until the roster limits are lifted. I don't expect Nyquist to do much, but Tatar is going to bring a lot of jump to his line. Him playing with Helm would be great, but If also like to see their hustle spread out a bit to make it more contagious.

Of those players Miller, White, Filppula and Cleary are unlikely to return. Cleary could return but he won't get a raise. And Flip could be lost if we find a suitable replacement. We have extra roster players right now that we won't have in the offseason so I don't think our cap is as dire as all that.

Maybe he is. Holland usually pulls trades from out of nowhere. Everyone is talking about J Bo and Regehr and all the time Holland is working a backup angle out of left field. I'm getting hopeful he makes a splash. Regehr sounded like he'd be a great Stuart relacement who could play with Kronwall, so I'm a little disappointed we lost out on him. But there's still a top six winger to hope for!