Jesusberg

While I agree with some parts of this - namely that Tatar is nowhere near Datsyuk's level, and won't be in the future, I have to disagree with the bold portion. If anything, I think Tatar is one of the best on this team in tight, and getting himself in between the hash marks to shoot. I think he'll continue to get there - he's shifty and he doesn't shy away from getting to the front of the net. Most of his goals on the year are in the slot, or around the net: He's not a Datsyuk, but he's got the hands of a sniper and is willing to get to the front of the net, consistently. That being said, if a forward out of Mantha, Nyquist, Jurco and/or Tatar are going to be used as trade bait, he would definitely be my pick.

I'm surprised Commodore could find a strong enough Wi-Fi signal to post those Tweets.

Honestly, I don't disagree with you on several of these points. However, in my opinion, there's very little to like about signing Kyle Quincey. Many people (including myself) were advocating a stop-gap, someone to let the kids slip into the line-up without them being overwhelmed. At the very least, those stop-gaps brought something extra to the table - Boyle and Gilbert could help the PP, Stralman and Morris the PK. What does Quincey bring? Dead serious, I don't have a real answer to that question, no matter how hard I try. To call the guy a solid #3-4 defender just doesn't ring true to me. He doesn't put up points, he doesn't hit or block many shots. He takes several, poorly timed penalties. To his credit, the guy's swept a few pucks out from right in front of the goal line, but all in all, I'd say Kyle Quincey is just... there. He exists and has the physical endurance to play "top 4 minutes" on this team, and he was given a raise? I think the real issue behind the signing is that it comes off as a panic move - it feels like it was made to just barely cling on, to "play it safe". I think playing it safe would have been grabbing Boyle, Gilbert, Morris, etc. I know those guys didn't want to be here, wanted term, etc. but grabbing Kyle Quincey strikes me as playing it scared. It reminds me of grabbing Legwand because Holland needed this team to squeeze into the post-season. I see the positives going forward - I see the youth of this team and the defensive core that is shaping up. What I also see is that Kyle Quincey is a bane on this team's blueline - he's not going to pass anything onto the kids, and he won't be adding anything positive to this team's defense corps for the next two seasons. He doesn't ruin this team's future - he just wades in the water doing nothing around it.

No offense, but did you watch Quincey at all this past season? The guy is a void. He makes his partner worse. And the GM just paid him 4.25 million. I was fine with standing pat - I wanted Boyle, but we missed out. When every one was saying, "Niskanen or bust", I was promoting several less popular options. Heck, even though they didn't get Niskanen, Boyle, Stralman, etc. Holland essentially told Gilbert to go sign with Montreal. The next best alternative is an exhaustive list of options, and somewhere near the bottom is "re-sign Quincey". It's an awful move. He really jacked this one up.

The man got a raise. A RAISE.

I could have lived with Holland doing nothing. I get that he swung and missed. Detroit isn't the destination that it once was... but Kyle Quincey is a void. He actively makes his defensive partner(s) worse. I quit. I'm just going to sit in a corner for awhile.

If I'm Jakub Kindl, I'm teaching myself how to shoot right-handed over the summer.

I definitely overestimated what he would make. Gives me hope the other guys won't be too high over 2 per.

No, because then it would get lost in the shuffle with the, "It's a shame we have Franzen, Vanek would be sweeeet" posts.

I think Pagnotta is just being mean...

There's all that fun talk, then someone goes and does this: David Pagnotta @TheFourthPeriod Detroit would like to re-sign Kyle Quincey, but he's expected to get better offers via free agency. Wings want to bolster blueline.

Honestly? Term. I would rather overpay Niskanen than Boyle on a two-year term - most people would. Niskanen's looking for his pay day, though... and maybe the team isn't sold on him being a 6-7 million dollar guy for 7 years. In all seriousness, would you be comfortable having Niskanen locked up at that price tag and term? Especially since Kronwall and Ericsson are locked up for 5 and 6 years, respectively? Factor in all the kids coming through the pipeline. I think a lot of people would be happy for 2-3 seasons, then be looking for management to begin scrambling to unload one of those deals.

I seriously feel like Detroit, Minny and Tampa are all going hard after Niskanen, Boyle and Gilbert. The "winner" is going to get Niskanen, and the other two teams will get Boyle and Gilbert. Kind of glad Ehrhoff got thrown into the mix - could make things interesting.

Not as big as some of the other names here, but it appears Detroit is going to bring back McCollum. I don't mind it, but I hope he doesn't get in the way of Mrazek playing 50-60 games. http://www.mlive.com/redwings/index.ssf/2014/06/red_wings_plan_on_signing_goal.html

No, because that would be unfair... *cough* Cap Hit Recapture *cough*

Kindl's is definitely expendable, but if I had the choice, I'd keep Ouellet over Smith. I think Niskanen represents what Smith is aiming to become. I feel as if Ouellet has the potential to become a more well-rounded defender.

While I like the idea of unloading Weiss' contract, that would leave our defense pretty bloated with long-term deals. Not much room for any of the younger guys in the coming years.

No worries - like I said, I wasn't picking at you, specifically. Rumors tend to snowball around here. Next thing you know, there'd be a lines thread with Kesler in it

Seems low to me, as well. I've seen Ouellet's name thrown into that trade too, but it's all conjecture at this point.

I'm not trying to pick at you or anything, but I'm guessing you saw this on HF boards, or someone tweeted it. That's the source as far as I know. I saw it earlier - it's essentially some guy who said he broke the news on Luongo, Schneider and Torts being fired, because he knows somebody close to the organization. I'm not sure how much validity it carries, to be honest. EDIT: This is where I saw the Kesler thing earlier: http://hfboards.hockeysfuture.com/showpost.php?p=86986955&postcount=570 I don't think you can qualify it as any kind of source.

If they really do decide to sign Niskanen to any kind of term, then I would expect them to flip some defenders in a package deal for a forward. There's just simply no room on the back-end for all these defenders.

The only issue with that, I think, is Jurco being weeded out of the line-up.

Not that I'm trying to defend Kenny here, but this seems like the first year where we're really hearing which teams are talking with which players, specifically. You would always hear about how GM's had discussions with players, sometime after the free agency period. This new window before July 1st is pretty cool - must suck for GM's trying to retain UFA's, but great for every one else.

No way. Some of Niskanen's shots would actually go into the net.

I personally would take Stralman over Gilbert (if Boyle doesn't work out), but I agree 100% with that two-year term. Every one calling for this team to get younger needs to realize that Ouellet, Sproul, Backman and Marchenko, at most, should start out playing sheltered minutes. For them to get to that "top 4" level, they're going to need to learn and that means signing a stop-gap veteran right now. Holland has made some mistakes with vet signings in the recent past (Samuelsson, Cleary, arguably Bertuzzi), but that doesn't mean this would be one. He underestimated the NHL readiness of kids who played 4 (Tatar) and 2+ (Nyquist) seasons at the AHL level. I don't think that would be the case with these defenders, yet.