archimet

I agree 100%... We have some good forwards in the pipeline and have to have room for them...

I saw a Tweet yesterday, the source escapes me but it was a typically-credible source, that said that Lightening players he had spoken to suggested that Lacavalier was still effective below the dots, but struggled to get up and down the ice. That's consistent with the 'slow pace' others have been reporting. The Black Hawks won the cup thanks in no small part to their speed. The Wings took the Hawks to 7 games, thanks in no small part to our speed and will to win. I really don't think Vinny would have been the right fit for us... Especially on a 5 year contract. Remember, we have Jarnkrok and Sheahan knocking on the door. They're both centers.

Don't worry. It's being reported as 5 years and only $23.5 million.... So much better than 5 X $5mm wouldn't you say?

The Wings have tons of young talent and are a well-positioned to continue their unmatched excellence for years to come. However, after Datsyuk and Zetterberg, they lack star power. Howard, Kronwall, Franzen, Filppula are very solid players, but they are not stars. A handful of the young talent may rise to become stars, but they have a long way to go... and nothing is guaranteed. If you want the Wings to become contenders year-in and year-out, Kenny's challenge is to land a 'star' defensemen... and a 'star' forward (or two) who can complement Zetterberg's talents... and help convince Datsyuk to stay in North American beyond next year. Bouwmeester is undoubtedly a solid player, but he is not star caliber. He would have made the Wings a better team, but not a serious cup contender. Plus, his cap hit (virtually the same as Datsyuk's) would have handcuffed Holland and made it virtually impossible for him to turn this Wings team into a serious threat for the Cup... not only this year, but for years to come.

Not sure I agree. The owners asked players to essentially stay in the same CBA system except at much worse levels... Owners asked players to kick in about 25% of their contracts; become ineligible for free agency until late in their career; and otherwise give in to the owners... While the players at least showed some initiative and proposed an alternative arrangement designed to start propping up the financially-stressed clubs. Did the players go far enough? No... But did the owners suggest anythng of merit? Absolutely not. Same system... worse conditions for players. The owners offered zero; nada; nothing in return for total capitulation from the players. The owner's position seems to be that since Columbus is losing a bazillion dollars a year, the salary of every single player in the leagure should be limited to a salary-level that guarantees Columbus break-even... Nevermind that under that solution the rich clubs like Toronto and New York just get richer and richer and richer. The players are limited to the lowest common denominator, while the owners make more and more money. It's the same insane argument that American workers have compete with slave labor in China and that's just how it is... because I (the owners) say so...

Hmmm... plain stupid? Ryan Sutter and Zach Parise just signed long term contracts worth approximately $100 million each. But I suspect Wild owner Leopold new damn well that the owners were going to ask for an immediate rollback. Is it stupid for Sutter and Parise to resist having their salary rolled back by $20 or $25 million dollars? Or should they be freed from their contracts to be free agents again. I suspect some owner would pay them nearly the same amount AFTER a new CBA. Same for our good friend Sidney Crosby... Do you really think he took maximum market value to sign long-term with the Pens? No way. Yet, I'm sure Mr. Lemiuex knew damn well that the owners were going to ask for a rollback at the time he signed the contract with Crosby. If the owners want to rollback, then any player who signed a contract in the last year should have the option of cancelling their contract and becoming a free agent again... Including players who extended their contract. It's the owners who won't honor the contracts they just signed... not the players.

My guess is that Weber agent solicited offer sheets to force Nashville's hand. After seeing the owner's proposal in the CBA they know that it's in their best interest to get a long-term deal BEFORE the new CBA. This way Weber gets his $100 million security before that option is taken off the table.

Any team with Datsyuk, Zetterberg and Helm down the middle and Howard in the net has a great shot of winning on any given night. We need a solid veteran D, a decent season from Smith, and good health on the back-end and we'll be fine. We can't replace Lidstrom, so I won't even discuss that. We're going to be harder to play against with Tootoo and Samulssen replacing Hudler. I expect a better year from Franzen because of Tom Renney (players coach). We actually have better balance up front with the addition of a bunch of RH'ers: Brunner, Sammuelsson and Tootoo. Hopefully Eaves will be back because he'll help on the PK. We have more speed with Brunner and hopefully Eaves back in the line-up. I can go on... but for my money... we just have a different team now. We're not stacked like we have been for the past 15 years. But there's not a bad player in the lineup. And if it doesn't work out, we still have a ton of cap-space to add some real firepower at the trade deadline. Or, if the cap drops significantly because of the new CBA, there will probably be some pretty good players available as teams like the Bruins, Wild, Cunucks, Sharks and so on have to shed salary. Maybe I'm just an optimist... but I'm looking forward to next year.

Agree with almost everything you wrote... Which is rare for me because I like to debate just for the sake of debate. All things considered, I'm excited about next year. Sure, I'd love to see Semin join the team and get back to his 40-goal form. But I'm also ready to see Brunner, Nyquist and Smith...

Agree 100%. I kind of like where the team's at right now... assuming we get at least one solid veteran D. The whole league is writing the Wings off... But I think the league's in for a big surprise. If Babcock... with Renney... can get these guys to dig in and compete... I like our chances. Everyone on the team knows they'll have to bring more to the ice every night because Nick's not there to bail them out any more. I'm actually pretty excited to see what Brunner, Nyquist and Smith can bring to the team.

It's funny how everyone on this board whines about getting younger... But when there's an opportunity of inserting Brunner and/or Nyquist into the top-6, everyone screams that Holland's an idiot and should sign Semin and Doan. Doan wants term... four years... He wants this to be his last contract. That means one less spot for the likes of Brunner, Nyquist, Tatar, Pulkkinen, Jarnkrok, Jurco... And a couple more years of whining about how the wings have to get younger. The same goes for Semin... If we sign him and he works out, and the wings sign him long-term next year, that means zero top-6 openings for a number of years... Unless of course you see Datsyuk, Doan and Franzen as the third line in 3 years.

Tom Renney will probably be a bigger influence on Franzen than the trade rumors. I fully expect Franzen to put up 35-40 goals this year barring an injury and a lock-out.

I agree. It was Nashville's time to win. Your Preds were seriously motivated. Many were picking them to win it all. Detroit came into the playoffs struggling and Nashville did what a good team does... they never let Detroit get on a roll.

The two most likely D available in trade are (1) Yandle and (2) Bouwmeester... Yandle is a legitimate top-pairing D and has a reasonable cap hit of $5.25MM. He might also help land Doan if he makes himself available. Boughmeester is around $6.8 and might be considered a top-pairing D, but is at least a top-4. There's a good chance that Kindl would be involved in either trade (I'm assuming there's no way they'd include Smith)... leaving the need to add at least 1 veteran D (maybe a right-hander like Jurcina? Kubina? Rozsival?). A trade for Yandle or Bouwmeester would also likely include a forward, or two, reducing the logjam upfront. Lots of interesting possibilities.

Totally disagree... If you were a player would you do that 'again'? Not a chance..... I read something this morning that a number of teams are waiting for this exact scenario... They figure that current cap-teams will have to shed some good players in Sept - Oct to reach the new cap (if it's lowered) and there will be some bargains... Sorry, but I don't remember where I read it, but they suggested the Wings might be considering the same option since the FA market is so thin and the trade-market is so expensive...

And while we're at it.. why don't we throw in 35 from Brunner... the Swiss scoring champion. I smell 400 goals this year!

Add Doan, Semin and Yandle and we're 'fairly' solid... That's kind of funny.

Edmonton is the poster-child for why it's nearly impossible to win with a team comprised entirely of 20 year olds with a ton of skill. Only the rare talent can perform at a very high level on a consistent basis against NHL-competition before they've even physically matured.

Don't see how having two players over 35 means we can't check out our younger players. Even the Edmonton Oilers have Ryan Smyth and Khabibulan.

Do you have anything positive to say about anything? Please, just one thing...

I was looking forward to a rational discussion of 'what to do next'... Unfortunately I won't get the chance in this thread... You are an IDIOT. Shultz, Parise and Suter were all FREE agents... meaning they held ALL the cards. THEY could DECIDE where THEY wanted to play. They ALL CHOSE to play where they chose to play for PERSONAL REASONS... that no GM could impact. Schultz wanted to play in Canada (nothing Kenny could do about that) and with the last last three #1 overall picks in the draft (do you really want Kenny to go there?) Parise's family (especially his father and his fiance') wanted him to play near home... Likewise, Sutter's family wanted him to play close to home (family in Minnesota and farm in Madison... a couple hundred miles from Minneapolis)... There was zero that Ken Holland could have done to overcome the family connections... Zero... Because family is more important to Parise and Sutter than playing for any team... even the Red Wings. Get some perspective and stop the hating. Enjoy the Wings... even when things get a bit more challenging.

Not sure I agree... We have 'young guys' like Kindl, Mursak and Emmerton who it's time to either fish or cut bait... We have some 'young guys' that are potentially solid NHLer's, or more, and need playing time... Smith, Nyquist and maybe Brunner... And we have other 'young guys' waiting for their turn: Tatar, Jarnkrok, Sheehan, Jurco, Pulkinnen and so on... There are zero 'young guys' left in the FA market that are worth pushing aside any of the 'young guys' the Wings already have. Mueller... maybe, but he's injury-prone. Brule, maybe worth the risk, but at whose expense? The rest of the FA market are not 'young guys'... That's the whole point of Free Agency... you're not a 'young guy' anymore. The only riskless choice at forward... Doan... is 35.... Maybe Arnott at 37... As for the risky options at forward: Semin is 28, Kostitsyn is 27, Huselias is 32 and so on. But will Semin take a 1 or 2-year contract? Probably not. I wouldn't if I were him. So are you willing to commit $30 million to Alex Semin for 5 years? I might, but it's not my money, and I don't get paid to make sure the wings are both competitive AND profitable over the long-run. Everyone's been screaming, "give the 'young guys' a chance'... Well... next year we'll see what they've got. Should be exciting! In my opinion, the options left in free agency are: (1) sign an 'old' D, or 2, for stability (and to give us a solid chance to make the playoffs)... Colaiacovo, Rozsimval, Kubina, Hannan, Jurcina... (2) try to convince Semin to take a 1-2 year contract (unlikely)... and if he decides to leave Phoenix, go after Shane Doan. Frankly, the better option is the trade market, either this summer... or at the trade deadline. But if we do that, we'll lose one, or more, of our 'young guys' we all want to see play...

Parise's agent canceled all meeting today. Holland, Illitch and Babcock did not meet with Parise.

Don't forget that they added a couple RH shots: Tootoo and Brunner And speed: Brunner

Still have the flexibility to start Nyquist and Brunner in Grand Rapids. There's not guarantee Eaves will be ready to play. My guess is that Emmerton and Mursak will have to work hard to earn their way onto the team.