PavelValerievichDatsyuk

I care. I think it's something to be proud of. It's certainly not something that comes easy. It shouldn't be a goal unto itself and I don't think it is. Tanking would be something were I would embarrassed for the team and disappointed in the organization.

We need scoring. Ladd and Ericksson. Backes would be good, since he's a center, as long as it's not long term (which it would be).

I don't get this. Maybe it's management listening to P.K.'s detractors? Internal issues? Maybe it the fact that Weber is 1.143 less of a cap hit? P.K. is a player I wouldn't trade.

I feel like Hall should have brought more than Larsson. It is a good pickup for them, though since they've been looking for Dmen. I'll bet they were fishing for P.K. and maybe Weber and heard they were out of the running.

Agreed. I was just including 28th and 29th in points (his first 2 years, slipped to 53rd in 3rd year) as a "amongst the league's highest producers." Maybe that was a bit generous, though.

I think that's overstatement. People don't know him as well because he was only in the NHL for 6 years (+6 games) and the Soviet league had little coverage in North America. His NHL years were 89-96 so 90s fans would know him, but he was only among the league's highest producers for the first 2-3 years Also, I can't buy him as the best winger of the 80s. I think you have to go with Mike Bossy. Probable Jari Kurri ahead as well. Also just the problem of comparing leagues since he wasn't in the NHL in the 80s

Yeah, it is 3.8 mill per year. He was going to make 5 mill next year here, plus he lost the 2 mill off last years contract. So, he's down 3.2 mill due this decision. Why people want to think the worst of this guy is beyond me. I don't know how you know where his daughter lives, but he actually has 2 daughters; one with his current wife and one with the ex-wife according to wikipedia. Maybe the current family lives near St Petersburg. But it doesn't really matter. He'll be travelling with the team all over Russia for the league and I'm sure will be close to Ekaterinburg often. Or he has a 2 hour flight. Even though I'm sure you meant the "might as well fly from Detroit" comment as exaggeration, it is completely ridiculous. It would be one of those almost day-long flights and hence Datsyuk probably only saw his daughter in the couple months during the offseason and being in Russia he'll be able to see her much more often even if they don't live in the same town. Or maybe it wasn't just to be with the 1 daughter - he has said "to be with family" certain times. It was just the Albom article that made it sound like it was about the teenaged daughter. Anyway, the specifics are really not our business - I don't see and reason not to respect him and trust the explanation he gave. Plus his early departure has given us a great opportunity to improve the team. While I would have loved to watch him for another year, this could be better for the franchise. I see no reason for bitterness or cynicism on this.

Helm didn't get much PP time this past year. He was 14th on the team in time per game (12th if you exclude Mantha and Pulkkinen since they didn't play many games). http://www.foxsports.com/nhl/detroit-red-wings-team-stats?season=2015&seasonType=1&category=ICE+TIME&type=1&position=0 The year before that he was 15th.

Maybe they've always been hoping to be reunited.

#2 center could be Larkin

Yeah, I was surprised on the inclusion of Boedker on that list. He's never even scored 20 so I'd rather have Tatar and Nyquist playing in the top 6 or give Mantha a shot. I think Ladd, Eriksson, or Backes are my list other than Stamkos. Not sold on Okposo, but some of that is that I haven't seen him play very often. I was at a Islanders/Wings game were Tavaras was out and Okposo scored 2 or 3.

Compared to the Suter situation at least there's this interview process now. By the time Suter said we were out of the picture, all the other UFAs were gone and we missed out some other good guys. Hopefully with the interview, he'll say his decision and, if we're not the choice, then we can chase Ladd, Eriksson, Okoposo, etc. Picking up wingers would be good too, but I think that would pretty much force us to rely on Z and Larkin as the top 2 centers. Larkin hasn't excelled there yet and we don't know how long it would take for him to transition to the spot. Alternately, it seems to wear Z down too much. It would be better to only need 1 of them as centers and have the other as relief. Otherwise, we could have AA or Sheahan as a 2nd line center and I don't think that's ideal. Stamkos is pretty much the only center on the market (Staal, Backes, but both are probably in decline)

Or more recently, people on the board said Bertuzzi was listed much lower than where we picked him at and complained about the choice. He has looked quite good in GR and I don't think many are unhappy that we took him now

Our guy is 6"1' and 185lbs. http://www.eliteprospects.com/player.php?player=247137 6"1' is the league average, so he's not undersized. 202.4lbs is the league average, so he has 4 years to gain 17.4 to not be undersized.....and he's 18. As for us being a light team: http://mirtle.blogspot.ca/2015/10/2015-16-nhl-teams-by-height-weight-and.html 10 teams lighter, 8 teams shorter (I think - they're not in order, but I counted lower numbers). Plus we'll add Mantha and lose some smaller players: Datsyuk (tear) Richards (6'0" - so not that small). So I'd say we'll be middle of the pack for size. But if you mean truculence....

I think this is beyond the best case scenario. There's articles reporting that the deals offered to us for Dats' contract were even higher than previously reported. The offers he was getting was either for players whose teams wanted to unload their contracts or a price that included at least a first-round pick and a prospect. The name Andreas Athanasiou kept coming up." http://www.thehockeynews.com/blog/how-jacob-chychrun-might-have-helped-the-red-wings-land-steven-stamkos/ Okay, if Chychrun becomes Drew Doughty, then we might look at this differently. He does look like a very good player (and even played Little Ceasars Hockey, haha), but Cholowski looks to have good potential as well. This was not considered a deep draft and we only moved 4 spots down - It's not we dropped out of the elite top picks. http://www.theobserver.ca/2015/09/21/with-his-shoulder-woes-behind-him-jakob-chychrun-prepares-for-a-pivotal-second-season Chychrun fell due to injury problems. He dislocated his shoulder twice and then had to have a surgery for a torn ligament in his back that was allowing the shoulder to pop out. Though I'm not a doctor and don't know the long term consequences of that specific injury, I think a player whose already had back surgery at age 18 is something to be wary of. That's all just considering the pick swap, though. We also got an extra 2nd and I think it's pretty certain that we'll do something with our new cap space. So, if the 2 prospects together don't match the player Chychrun becomes, we have 7.5 million cap space that has the potential to sign someone equal to or above Chychrun's value. I think the odds are in Holland's favour. I guess the real question is: Would you have rather not the deal, Poel? Would you rather trade AA and and 1st? Or keep Datsyuk caphit, draft Chychrun, and likely miss out on free agency and maybe the playoffs?

For Bean's sake, I'm glad he didn't go to Boston - Imagine all the lame Beantown jokes.

I'd say too many xenophobic fans. Swedish, Finnish, etc. hockey will catch up and there will be more and more. I welcome it - it will make the Olympics more interesting.

Elliott's who I would have chosen. Apparently Bishop wants 7X7.

http://www.freep.com/story/sports/nba/pistons/2016/06/19/detroit-red-wings-darren-helm-free-agency/86116962/ Helm is going to talk to other teams during the interview period. He shouldn't be in the top 6 (unless for the sake of balancing attack over 3 solid lines - which we don't have the personnel for), but the "maybe a 3rd liner" stuff is crazy to me. Hope we keep him. Miller, not so much...

Oops, the way I quoted the passage is a little misleading. In the link it's saying that we wouldn't do that just to add depth, but then goes on saying that we might if it was to bring in Stamkos or a big piece. It's just the writer's speculation anyway. I just grabbed that section because of the reported price.

"Right now, the expected asking price to take on the Datsyuk deal is a second-round pick and a young player. Detroit isn’t doing that, just so it can go out in free agency and add depth." http://kuklaskorner.com/tmr/comments/morning-of-the-draft-trade-talk Anyone want to pay that price? LeftWInger, does that change your "must trade the contract or he should be fired" stance? I still hope something gets done so we can make a run a Stamkos.

Well, I'd say that Bishop and Fleury are just viewed as better goalies. Haven't heard much interest in Elliott either though there should be since he had a good record this past year. But beyond contracts, I think it just comes down to the fact that Bishop and Fleury each played about 60 games because they were still the #1 goalie for their teams during the season. Anyone taking one of these goalies would be looking for a number 1. Elliot split with Allen and Howard was clearly displaced. Contract is high, but I'm sure we'd keep 1 mill of the caphit in possible deals

Lucic: 18g in 14-15, 20g in 15-16 Tatar: 29g in 14-15, 21g in 15-16 Nyquist: 27in 14-15, 17g in 15-16 Lucic played in the top 6 in Boston and L.A. Tat and Ny's numbers dipped on the 3rd line. Under no circumstance do I want Lucic. Also, he can't skate and wouldn't be able to keep up with Larkin

Thought this was relevant to the Tatar discussion. Some interesting Quotes from Blashill: http://www.detroitnews.com/story/sports/nhl/red-wings/2016/05/09/blashill-aware-red-wings-change-mix/84168604/ “I would like to have a much better feel for what our lines are going to be,” he said. “And part of that, and part of what we’ve talked about as a group, is constructing a roster where guys are excited about their roles. Guys that are third-line players are excited to be third-line players. Guys who are fourth-line players are excited to be that.“And you have the right guys getting the right minutes in the top six. “This year, we just had probably too many similar players that I don’t think we ever found the best combinations for.” Also, some light on Tatar and Helm's comments at the end of the year: “We had guys on the third line who wanted to be top-two line guys, and we had so many players in that third spot that we didn’t have enough excitement for the roles that everybody was in,” Blashill said. “I think if guys had a beef on ice time, for me, it would be Tatar and Nyquist more than anybody else,” Blashill said. I'm glad that he's fully aware that the line combos didn't work last year and that he seems like he's going to change the mix. Tatar and Nyquist should absolutely be separated and be used with playmakers (Z, Larkin, AA) to maximize their potential. He gave some interviews this past year and talked about his plan for Ny-Shea-Tat to be one of the best 3rd lines in the league, but it never worked and shouldn't have seen as much time together as they did. Tat-Shea-Jurco was the 'kid line that work, because it had different elements.

At 37 with 5 years to go on his deal, I'd steer clear. I think he could go to a 'cap floor' team since his contract has started the big nose dive and 17/18 - 20/21 his actual salary will only 1 mill per despite the 5.275 caphit. Edit: He has a NMC so I doubt he'd want to go to a team just meeting the floor. I even doubt he'd want any trade.