GMRwings1983

The Wings had three picks in the 2nd round of that 2011 draft before Kucherov went to Tampa. They drafted Jurco, Oulett, and Sproul. Yes, it helps to have higher picks. Tampa has had some of those. No, you don't need higher picks to still be able to find great players. The Wings used to be good at that too.

We traded Tampa the pick that became Vasilevsky. Could have had Kucherov as well. Seems like they don't need high draft picks to find franchise players. Is that so? Those teams all have franchise players already.

He had a better career than your boy Jan Mursak.

Any relation to Taro Tsujimoto?

How does a team with Doughty, Kopitar, Quick, and Kovalchuk have the same record as us?

Oh come on Dabura. You're telling me that our limited cap space has not had any effect on free agency the last several seasons? None? How believable is that? Neither you nor I tap Holland's phones or his mind, but it's safe to assume the salary cap situation has had some effect on his plans and which players we could pursue. Yes, Ericsson has been holding the team back. So have Abdelkader, DeKeyser, Nielsen, and Helm. That's a combined $22.6 million in cap space. You can't think of five better players that could combine to that amount of money? Ironically, Florida never makes the playoffs with Barkov and Ekblad. The NHL has enough parity where you can make the playoffs with good coaching, goaltending, and team play. We have none of those. We seem to agree the veterans haven't been that good. You say it's not a big deal because they're on their way out. While the latter part of that statement is true, I'm saying things wouldn't be as bad now as they are, had those veterans not in actuality been average players that were overpaid by their GM. I agree they need a big draft and the same in next year's draft.

Yes, the bad contracts matter. Those are contracts that could have gone to more deserving players. Maybe that's harping on the past, but the past is relevant when looking at how it got this way. Who gave out these contracts? The guy who's the current GM. That's a little alarming. If this team's salary would be at the level of their talent the last three seasons, they'd be near the bottom of the league in salary. Ericsson has most certainly been holding the team back. Nielsen and Abdelkader unfortunately don't have a year left. I didn't mention Helm or Daley. Their contracts aren't as bad as the above players. Regarding the prospects you mentioned, this forum has a habit of overhyping the prospects the Wings have in their system. I'll wait and see if these guys turn into something special at the NHL level or if they'll be the next Petr Mrazek or Brendan Smith.

It's Holland's fault the team has to rebuild with two hands tied behind its back. A rebuild shouldn't involve having so many impossible contracts that no team wants to touch (Nielsen, Abdelkader, Ericsson, etc.). We all knew there would eventually be a rebuild when Lidstrom and the Euro twins retired. Holland made it worse by overpaying everyone else. Also, how many promising goaltending prospects do we have? How about on defense? We have a few forwards who may turn into something, but overall the drafting hasn't been very good. This team's entire future is banking on this upcoming draft and the delusion some of us have of luring big name free agents to Detroit this summer.

How come the Ilitch family is so clueless and is willing to keep Holland and Blashill around as long as they want to be around?

At least it wasn't as bad as the time John Cena wrestled RVD in front of ECW fans. Now that was insane heckling.

One of the greatest wingers in hockey history. It was good always seeing him so involved in the Red Wings organization.

Well, it looks like Howard will be a Wing until he's 40, so you'll get your wish.

He seems like a nice guy off the ice, but I can't stand the guy and his propensity to magically lose his balance every time he fought an enforcer (back when there were some). He struts around like he's some tough guy because there's nobody else left in the league who is big and drops the gloves. Big freakin' deal.

When he got home he remembered that Jimmy Howard is still Detroit's goalie. He's not calling you back.

If things went against Chara, he would have quickly "lost his balance" and fallen to the ice. I can't stand that doofus. Not sure how you can say Kane was a punching bag there. He basically avoided turning into a punching bag by ducking down the entire time.

Cam Russell was maybe the bravest hockey fighter I ever saw.

Especially when you know Witkowski isn't playing. You'll just be sitting next to a bunch of empty black colored seats.

Should have kept Howard in there. Repay Montreal for that time the Red Wings forced Patrick Roy to ask for a trade. It's sad that Howard will end up staying in Detroit longer than Sawchuk or Osgood. He's like a growth on our hip.

Players probably read the trade deadline forum yesterday and are disappointed Holland didn't do more.

This is so bad that I'd rather watch Triple H wrestle Batista again. You'd think they were playing the 1977 Canadiens.

Is it too late to have another trade deadline?

So old that I remember you used to post here.

When was the last time we had a thread this long in one day? We need more trade deadline days around here. Got nothing else to look forward to.

This just in. "Columbus trades Panarin and Bobrovsky to Detroit for Howard, Daley, Abdelkader, plus the conditional 3rd round pick Detroit acquired earlier today from San Jose." Source - CNN

I haven't been this excited since we acquired Kyle Calder and Todd Bertuzzi in 2007.