Buppy

Yeah, probably quitting now to allay suspicion after he originally said two years. Though a full year of stories telling what a true viking warrior he is to heroically endure the torment of playing might do the trick too, so there's hope yet.

Rod Langway was no offensive juggernaut. Not saying he'd be a lock for the HHoF by any means, but it's not unreasonable to think he could have had a chance. He had just turned 30, so probably had at least a few more years of "prime", maybe could have won a Norris. Would have had to maintain a high level for a bit longer than would be normal, but nothing crazy. 6-8 more years, ending up with stats similar to Langway, another couple Cups, win a Norris or at least be a finalist a few more times. He would have been a realistic candidate.

Peter Griffin version. Alternative suggestions, in no particular order: Happy Birthday by Unenthusiastic Office Workers The Hot Dog Dance from Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Hulk Hogan's Real American entrance music Slayer - Seasons in the Abyss Air Supply - Every Woman in the World Whatever song Starlord is singing during the dance off against Ronan the Accuser Eric Johnson - Cliffs of Dover

I like how we're all open to the notion that all this Z stuff isn't just posturing for a LTIR claim. He may not want to play any more, but I'm sure he could. Sheahan might argue otherwise

From the team's perspective, two years would be ideal. Start negotiating the next contract after the first year. Small chance he will do anything this year to drastically change his long-term hit, and might even have a down year and not cost any more at all. It's practically like signing him for 10 years. Of course, for Larkin (and his agent), the 4-6 year range gives him the most money, and being a 22-yo almost-already-face-of-the-franchise he'll get what he wants. Awful for the team unless he's truly committed (and stays so) to being team-friendly.

This seems like a good spot to jump back into this thread for the first time since page 4. Nothing to add really. Seems pointless. I wish I could talk to Thomas Paine though. My sycophantic devotion to reason is the root of my contempt for humanity. Wonder what he'd have to say about that. I'd guess something stupid, since he was human and all.

Not at all. Goalies are too flakey and the difference between good and bad is not enough to justify spending that much.

One thread was allowed to get overly political, and now we have to deal with this s*** for the rest of our lives. I guess we can always hope for a nuclear war.

Like you should go back to harassing goats on bridges. Your proposal is worse than his, considering it's not at all the type of package that Carolina is reportedly looking for. I think Faulk would be a good addition, and I wouldn't be worried about re-signing him, so I'd be willing to pay a bit more...even overpay a little. But if you want to mock KRS for lowballing, you need to make a better proposal than "old guy they don't want, young guy they don't want, and pick-too-far-in-the-future-to-know-if-it's-any-good". Given the return Carolina is reportedly expecting from Chicago, I don't have much hope of any good deal for a defenseman any time soon. Damn you, Chiarelli!

You'll never turn, I'm sure. Probably still think Brendan Smith is a great prospect with a ton of potential. But LGW will turn on anyone. Everyone, eventually.

Nice deal. Getting $3.3 now, he probably would have wanted way too much on a long-term deal. At 24, he's probably about as off as he's going to take, so there shouldn't be anything to worry about with his next deal. Early bold prediction, Mantha's going to be the next AA. I'll guess fans will start turning on him by February. Sooner if Ras and/or Zadina make any early noise.

That's the point. Kind of a hockey version of "Would you rather".

Too easy. Suter only has 7 years left, and his hit is like $300k less. How about Suter and Parise, full term for both, but they take back Nielsen, Dekeyser, and Kronwall?

You mostly. He's only been there two years and was injured for 2/3rds of one of them. Starting to decline for sure, but he's been good in Montreal.

Same AA debate going on in multiple threads, and I can't decide which idiotic extreme I want to debunk more. :\ We need some new rumors or something. How about a hypothetical: If you had a chance to get Weber from Montreal super cheap; Nyquist + Daley; BUT you knew ahead of time that Weber would play out all 8 years remaining on his contract...do you do it anyway?

For a guy calling someone else out for strawman-ing, you're reading an awful lot into the (para)phrase 'AA can turn it on and steal a game'. Funny that all this recent, and mostly unwarranted, negativity toward AA has become a comparison to Franzen of all people.

Anyone could be a healthy scratch if the team thought there were better options. That said, Helm and Abby are likely considered around the middle of the forward group rather than near the bottom like most fans would wish. Ras, Zadina, or any other prospects aren't going to jump them sight unseen, no matter what fans think. Glendening is on the brink. Someone needs to step up to take the 4th primary PK spot, or the 5th if we go with Abby, but that isn't so hard to imagine. The prospects we have now are not the Mursaks, Jurcos, and Pulkkinens of the past. Ras is known as a two-way player, and Zadina is said to have a decent defensive game. Bertuzzi was a two-way player and PKer at lower levels. AA, despite his flaws and all the negative opinions, spent time at center and on the PK last year. He could be a solid PKer, not necessarily via his defense but rather with his counter-attack abilities. Barring a trade, it's probably more likely that a kid, Zadina or whoever, will need to wait for an injury, but Glendening could easily fall out of the top-12 this season. Took me a minute too, but ZZ=Two Z='Tuzzi

We have $10M in space. Or more like $8.5M after Hicketts and Rasmussen.

As if we would have drafted Vasilevskiy. If we want to second guess 2012 and how it's effected our goalie situation, we should talk about how we took Paterson three spots ahead of Matt Murray.

Lol. Speed and talent.

Why have so many people turned on AA, and what universe do you all come from that you'd think this is a bad deal?

Question is why exactly Chicago is balking at that. Is Carolina expecting something big like a 1st or top prospect in addition to Saad, or is he the main piece and Chicago just doesn't want to give him up? Neither would surprise me. The latter would be a good price, and give some hope that we could make something work. They'd likely ask for Mantha, but maybe we could sell them on Nyquist or AA plus some decent secondary pieces. Like most people I'm not all that high on Faulk anymore, but in our situation we can afford to overpay a little.

Math suggests otherwise. Few would have guessed he'd have the season he just had. You at least have to wait to see how he does, how he feels, what the doctors think. I'd rather have him mentoring the kids than Green. As of now we have four kids who could be ready by 19/20. Cholo and Sulak haven't played significantly in GR yet, Hicketts is Hicketts, and Hronek doesn't look any more promising than Sproul did at the same stage. Barring any major changes two of the four should have a spot by default. Wouldn't surprise me at all if that's more spots than we need. If we did need another, Kronwall's is only one option. Rebuilding doesn't mean getting younger, nor does a player have to be in Detroit to be part of it. The age of anyone who isn't likely part of the future foundation is irrelevant, and anyone who is still is even if they're in GR or JRs or wherever.

The only thing you might fault the Wings on is the fact that from 2001-2015 we selected only two defensemen in the 1st round, and only two in the 2nd as well. Five defensemen picked 73 or higher in 1.5 decades. Only 33 picked overall. Our success with the later picks is about average. Very small chance of an impact player in that range, so missing on even 28 in a row isn't all that unlikely. Of the higher picks, all of them except Saarijarvi so far have at least made the NHL. Above average in that regard, below in finding an impact player. But with just five picks between 19 and 73, it's not notably bad luck. Go just one year further to include Kronwall and we'd be above average, same if either Cholo or Hronek becomes something. In short, I don't think there's any cause to question our scouting or development, but maybe our draft priorities for a stretch. Kronwall played 79 games and scored 27 points last season. Tied for 62nd in the league in defense scoring. If he has another similar year and wants to come back after he would and should be welcome.