marcaractac

In the end, the only thing that will piss me off is if Holland wastes protection on Hank and Kronwall. Which he will no doubt do if the Wings manage to make the playoffs this season.

ONCE AGAIN, you are prodding at some Jurco argument that absolutely nobody is making right now. As of right now, I wouldn't protect him either. I'm not complaining about it, I'm merely stating my expectations. I do, however, hope that he is given a look this season to determine if he does have value. Call me crazy, but I don't think that is an unreasonable expectation.

I feel like Jurco is the guy we'll lose in the expansion draft. I'm hoping it will be Sheahan or Howard, however.

Nolan Patrick

Yup. This is what I expected when watching two bad teams play each other. The longer this season goes, the more confident I am in the team having a decent chance in the draft lottery. Would be nice to win something again. Even if it is a high drag pick.

Correct. London Knights own the trademark in Canada.

25% of the season is a pretty sizable chunk. We're far enough into the season now to get an idea of what all the teams are. But I mean, look at the Pens roster. Then look at our roster. They along with Anaheim had a slow start, but even then there was no doubt they'd both be in the playoffs when the time came. While it is early, a whole lot has to change if this Wings team is gonna do much of anything. The roster isn't good, and a quarter of the way through the season, they are playing even worse. Defense and center are the most important positions of the game. This team has zero high-end players in either. That is why they can't win face-offs. That is why they are always chasing the puck. That is why they look absolutely overwhelmed for large portions of each game. We're stacked in secondary scoring. We just don't have any primary scoring. Tatar and Nyquist's production went down right along with Datsyuk and Zetterberg's decline. Larkin and AA may very well become legit top 6 centers in time. But until then, this is the new Red Wings hockey.

The wheels are falling off. Confidence is also a big thing in hockey, and this team currently has zero. It's a hard thing to get back too. Very similar to the Leafs in 2014-15. That roster was nowhere near as bad as they played, but things just went south quickly. Considering how Holland has been running this team as of late, the wheels falling off is the best thing that could possibly happen. A blessing in disguise.

And then be a healthy scratch for the rest of the season

Obviously, it would. Even Holland wouldn't lose Mantha for nothing. Especially when you consider the times' teams have asked for him in a trade and he said no.

What makes the folks at TSN think Mantha would be left unprotected?

The team looked dreadful in the first 8 games overall. I felt they played well in 2 or 3 of those 8 games tops. That game vs the Rangers stands out as an ugly one that Howard stole for us.

The Leafs have been stockpiling talent for a few years now, much like how we have been doing. They then added Marner and Mathews to the mix with a couple bad years, and are very much a team on the rise again. But they had to have the wheels fall off to get where they are now. So if it takes a bad year or two for us to get there, sign me up. The playoffs aren't much fun when we're out in 5 games. We simply make the playoffs long enough to not get to draft high. The team has valuable pieces to move at the deadline. Vanek could probably net a first rounder as is if he keeps playing the way he has before he got hurt. Wouldn't be the first time a contender traded a first for a rental.

I'm in the same boat. As hard as it is to stomach, this team needs a bottom 5 finish. Badly. The pieces are there to turn it around fairly quickly, but the playoff streak ending and getting a high-end player from the draft are two things that need to happen to steer things in the right direction again. Once that streak ends, the franchise can finally stop having to live up to it.

Foote without question. Though I am definitely not ruling out this team ending up with a top 2 pick by the end.

Took the words right out of my mouth lol

Basically what i am saying is that this roster hasn't been good for a while. And if not for babs, this streak likely would have ended 3-4 years ago. I'd go as far as to say the Wings would be a better team right now if that were the case. This is why losing this season doesn't stress me out like it would have even last year. I realize it needs to happen. I just wish the team would do it with the kids so they can be better for it next year.

Babcock dragged this team into the playoffs when Dats and Hank were both out at the same time for a stretch. Hell, there was a stretch where every single center was injured, hence the Legwand trade.

They also won six straight in that stretch. it's not like Mrazek was losing games at that time.

Stay the course. Win the lottery. be back on the rise next season.

Some goalies just need a lot of work to get into their rhythm. Kind of hard for Mrazek to find his right now when he barely gets to play. Even some of the best goalies in the league go through slumps, but Blash is always too quick to turn to Howard. Just another example of how the team is being run to do what it takes to squeeze into the playoffs for a meaningless streak rather than for the development of the young players on the team. All Blash is gonna do is overexpose Howard and destroy any trade value he may have been building up early in the season.

I believe this might be correct. Mrazek has also been known to own Ovi. But this decision to start Howard vs the caps goes to further show that Blash is full of s***.

If Trouba or Hamilton could be had, absolutely. Absolutely no to Shattenkirk or Fowler. Jersey has absolutely no reason to move Santini.

5.25 million per year is the salary of a high-end center? Maybe 10 years ago. You don't get a high-end center in this league this day and age for anything less than 8 million per. He is a guy who will spend his career as a #2 or 3 center. Nothing more, nothing less. He is Filppula-esque in every way, salary included.

Nielson is a solid 2nd line center, not a high-end center. In the end, he is a good guy for the youth on the team to learn from over the next few seasons.