Drapez

If you're Holland, knowing the cap problems and Cleary's performance or lack there of do you sign him to the same deal WITH a no trade clause? The NTCs on this team are killing any chance to make a positive change outside of moving depth guys for late picks. How does a guy who was basically out of the league, a camp invite warrant a NTC? His discount wasn't that severe.. it baffles me. Probably Holland's biggest weakness IMO.

Lidstrom is the "Best defensive defenseman in the league" in the same sense that Zetterberg is the best defensive player on this team. Neither are factually correct for anyone that isn't obsessed with Swedish Red Wings.

Zero goals vs "Has never been outmatched". Lidstrom gets beat and its swept under the rug. But if you bring it up, people reference his past performance. The fact is, you proved my point. The only player you had a problem with was Lidstrom. Rafalski, Ericsson, Kronwall, Lebda, Meech.. its a bit redundant don't you think? BRB, drafting Jakub Kindl, Brendan Smith and any other offensive defenseman from the Q who is 5'7 and 150lbs.

Im not blaming the teams failures on one player im simply asking, does Dan Cleary warrant the contract he recieved? People get on Filppula about his deal but Cleary is nearly making Flip money and isn't in my eyes a top six player. I mean hes a player that can play in the top six while on a line with Datsyuk or Zetterberg, much in the same sense as Holmstrom is a top six player. But neither of them are goal scoring wingers who can carry a line.

Hello, my name is Homer. Lidstrom is routinely outmatched, this isn't 1997. There have been a few goals this season where Lidstrom is standing in the crease, on the outside looking in, while a player bats one in.

All things being equal, based purely on cap hit, id rather have Stuart more than any other defenseman on this team. Lidstrom isn't a $7.45 million dollar player. Rafalski, despite DEM POINTZ, isn't worth $6.5 million. In the same sense Kovalchuk isn't worth $11 million to anyone but Atlanta. Ive got a feeling Holland was under the impression that Lidstrom was leaving last season or sooner when he signed Rafalski to his ridiculous contract WITH a NTC. Kronwall isn't better than Stuart defensively and outside of the occasional center ice hit, Kronwall isn't as physical. Kronwall is obviously more gifted offensively but not nearly enough to make up for his defensive lapses. In the cap era, you cannot spend $14 million on your top pairing and expect to compete.

Most of our top guys are "Skill guys". The players on this team that would fight barely play. If you're Abby and you're playing five minutes a game in the NHL why would you want to spend it sitting in the penalty box? Unless Babcock tells him to fight, hes not going to do it.

He wasn't slashing Kane. He was blatantly cross checking him as hard as possible right on the numbers behind the net until the ref looked and Kane whined. Fun to watch but was completely unnecessary.

Ericsson was the last pick in his draft year so the fact that hes playing in the NHL says enough. But he really is as over hyped as it gets. Hes as big as Chris Pronger yet has zero physical edge to his game, outside of the occasional fight. Thats what happens when you draft for "skill". Skill is great but you occassionally need a guy who will make someone pay for standing in front of the net. Stuart and Lilja do this on ocassion and they're flamed for taking penalties. Chelios also did it before he was playing three minutes a night and couldn't afford the PIMs. Kronwall and Ericsson on the other hand are soft players. Yes, feel free to link youtube hits of Kronwall leaping in the air at center ice and killing Havlat but those hits very rarely happen in games. A player camping out in front of our teams net has a literal free for all. Anahiem routinely capitalizes on this. The Neidermeyer brothers were the worst offenders. We can't have six defenseman playing the same style as Rafalski and Lidstrom. In transition that "Quick stick" is great but once the play comes to cycling and in front of the net, Rafalski, Lidstrom, Kronwall and especially Ericsson get out matched physically. It doesn't help his case that hes 6'5..

One season isn't a "Whipping boy" and we don't need an Ovechkin, we have a Datsyuk.. All we need is capspace and a healthy team. Can you imagine this team, WITH cap space (In the neighborhood of eight million if Holmstrom and Lidstrom retires) and drafting a kid like Kirill Kabanov? Its not as much of a tanking as it is a retooling.

Im not quick to suggest that Babcock is the best coach in the league because hes not. Hes the same guy who will drive a line into the ground until three minutes left in the game and finally decide to change things. But hes certainly the best coach we've had since Scotty. Babcock isn't going anywhere, the problem is the salary cap and Brad McCrimmon. If the Wings slide into the playoffs this season, Babcock should have a good shot at the Jack Adams.

The rational in this thread makes no sense to me. We're going into this based on the assumption that the playoffs are out of reach. Out of reach by how much doesn't really matter. There isn't really a difference between missing the playoffs by two points or by thirty. Thats the beauty of the draft, if you're not in the playoffs, the worse your team performs the better you're rewarded. Now will the fans stop coming to games if the Wings finish with a top five pick this year? Absolutely not.. Will the fans stop coming if they miss the playoffs? Not at all. As a matter of fact, this team will be BETTER OFF, if they miss the playoffs. It will give Holland the justification to cut the old timers or give said players the incentive to retire. This draft isn't exactly deep but its not 1999 all over again either. There are some great prospects in the top fifteen. The argument here really is a comparison between a team like Atlanta/Tampa/Pittsburgh vs teams like Edmonton and Minnesota. Teams that tanked or just plain blew and teams that tried to make the playoffs, missed and didn't get the top end talent that comes from being worse than other teams. Lets just say for instance, that Franzen comes back and isn't effective and the team continues to slide. If they're hovering around 12th in the conference after the trade deadline, why not "rest" players? What incentive ISN'T there from moving up a few spots in the draft? This season was ruined from the get go from all of the injuries, adding a top flight, blue chip prospect to our pool while maintaining this core for next season would be amazing. Teams like Chicago will get worse next year, while we get better. If you're Holland and you're out of the playoffs, losing is the best recipe. Unless you prefer guys like Kindl over players like Toews...