dirtydangles

not a complete fatass like hitchcock or gallant... just sayin..

RIP hero. We could use a little probert on this current team.

I loled.

nice. good experience. can't believe he accepted an Assistant gig after being a head coach so recently. good for us I think. Has experience with young players too.

I'm afraid that if we give Sheahan time it will be as a 4C and he should spend time developing his scoring because we can't afford for him to have a ceiling of 4th line centre at this point.

You can't offer sheet Weber. Here's why: If you offer sheet weber long term big money the preds match and he is a pred for life and doesn't hit UFA status next offseason If you offer sheet weber for a one year deal you risk 4 first rounders for 1 year of Weber (he still has to re-sign) If you don't offer sheet weber, he probably hits UFA status next offseason because the preds won't be able to sign him unless we help by giving them an offer sheet to match. Boom, done.

eventually the cap floor won't be affordable for some teams and then we will have issues. this removes the parity that the nhl tried to get towards.

why not go for some future top tier dmen rather than established ones? would cost less and we could get a couple maybe. I posted rundblad in another thread, maybe we get a few young dmen almost nhl ready and see how it goes. we went for schultz after all....

We could overpay MDZ or Carlson in the 1st,3rd compensation bracket (3.4-5mill) and see what happens. Go with a 4.9mill cap hit. I'd give up a 1st,3rd for one of those studs.

Ericsson could really just benefit from some belief/confidence. He just doesn't seem vocal enough, he needs to believe he's a stud and he will be. He needs to try to be the anchor in his d pairing no matter who he is paired with. He just tries to play second fiddle too often.

I think one way to solve this is to have players' existing cap hits inflate with the cap ceiling so that there is still a slight increase in cap but not enough that you can go blow a butload of money at once on one player. For instance, this offseason Z's cap hit would have increased to like 6.3 or something rather than 6. He still makes the same money he signed for but his cap hit increases. This would deter players from signing huge lifelong contracts because their cap hit can inflate but they still get the money they signed for.

Pretend you are Ken Holland, and pretend you actually want to go with a youth movement in, say 2 years when the rest of our old guys are gone. This is the way our core likely looks: Fwds: Zetterberg (33) Datsyuk (35) Filppula (30) Helm (27) Nyquist (24) Franzen (35) Dmen: Smith (25) Kronwall (33) Ericsson (30) Goalies: Howard (30) Which of our prospects would you expect to be ready and which spots would you fill through other means? I think in 2 years we will see for sure: Jarnkrok, Sheahan, Tatar, Pulkkinen out of our forwards I don't see any dmen ready for another 1-2 years beyond this (unless Sproul or Ouellet are studs). Lashoff might get a look but I don't see him as anything more than a 6/7. Almqvist is a hit or miss it seems. So I think we would have to address our D via FA or trade. How do you guys see the future? Am I being realistic? Just want to forget our current troubles and look to a greener future...

I'm gonna suggest this again. I know people won't like it because they want immediate help, but they also don't want to give up Fil in a trade (which won't happen when trading for a top dman). I think we should try inquiring about David Rundblad. He is young and inexperienced but would be a great partner for Smith for years to come. He would cost less the Yandle for sure. Thoughts?

The wings have been beaten out in for top players in Free Agency by the wild. Never thought I would say those words. The general thought by every non-wings fan is that we have an aging core and few players want to come to Detroit and get stuck here after Z and Dats decline. I see this being a continuing issue as they are only getting older over time. My proposed solution is that we need to trade some of our aging assets now why they still have value for younger promising players to bring back some youth to this team to draw UFAs here long term. I don't see why Weber's decision would be any different next season (the Pens will be in on him as well as the Flyers which are both younger teams). I think by signing some players in their prime (Semin, Mueller) and trading some older players (Franzen) along with pieces of value (Filppula) we can get some young talent back on the Wings. What do you think our image has become and how/would you change it? Would you wait it out and see how our prospects develop? Or make changes now? Would you consider a huge shakeup?

Nyquist played 22 games last year. That was more than enough time to s*** the bed. Fact was, he was poised on the puck, made a lot of slick plays and looked good out there. Just needed more strength and weight so he didn't get pushed around by top dmen along the boards. Thats the only knock on him at this point.

*Bump*

Nyquist has already shown he's a top 6 forward with limited playing time. Jarnkrok will be a 2C at worst (Fil likely or Z if lucky). Tatar can at least put up hudleresque numbers. Brunner - who knows. Smith will be top 4 unless he hits a major snag in his development.

can we keep the discussion on track? discuss prospect development and who you think will make it?

lol i don't have sand in my... your point is exactly what I'm saying. I'm not trying to complain I simply am trying to look at timelines to see whats coming up. sorry if you thought it was a complaint.

how about going after a guy like rundblad for cheaper than yandle. thinking more long term...

Ouellet and Sproul are looking like top 4 dmen, but are likely 3-4 years away from nhl duty. Almqvist gets a shot this season in GR. Backman and Jensen could be close to getting a look in GR. Id say our prospect strength is pretty spread. Its just our forwards are 1-2 years away whereas our dmen are 3-4 years away from coming into fruition.

agreed to an extent: LA will want young prospects and a high pick likely seeing as their roster is pretty well set. only thing is our hand is forced because we already have jimmy and gus signed so teams will know we are looking to move him right away.

Holland will trade for one of these dmen: DEFENSEMEN Matt Carle ($5.500m) / Victor Hedman ($4.000m) Eric Brewer ($3.875m) / Sami Salo ($3.750m) Mattias Ohlund ($3.607m) / Brian Lee ($1.150m) Marc-Andre Bergeron ($1.000m) / Brendan Mikkelson ($0.600m) Book it.

2C + probably. I think all we can afford to offer is Franzen, Ericsson/Quincey, Tatar, 1st. That won't get it done.

detroit is the premier destination for 35+ players.