kipwinger

Just read an article on The Athletic saying that TO has a ton of forwards under contract as well after the signings of Kase and Ritchie. I'm guessing Tatar goes elsewhere.

Wrong. Rule 34 dictates that if it exists, there is porn of it.

Thank god it's not South Beach. They'd both drink themselves out of the league in six months time.

I would definitely bring him back on a 1-2 year deal for low AAV. He had a solid season last year so it's not like he's washed up. He'd help our offense, have trade value, and he plays the right way. Veleno-Larkin-Vrana Bert-Suter-Fabbri Tatar-Ras-Zadina Namestnikov-Gagner-Smith/Pearson

Sounds like his dad was jacking off in the toilet and his mom jumped in front of it at the last second. How are you not getting this? My point, again, is that we won't. And I'm willing to put my money where my mouth is. Are you?

We keep the receipts dork. You implied that a top five pick was likely, not just a possibility.

Still dodging. Still a coward. Gonna take the bet or not? Put your money where your mouth is or shut up. I swear if I ever get the opportunity to meet you I'm going to buy you a beer, dump it on your head, and watch you do nothing.

Nice dodge. You gonna take the bet or not p*ssy?

2nd and 3rd rounds picks he actively traded away this year (despite not wanting to) because...wait for it...Nick Leddy and Alex Nedjelkovic make us a better team. Now add Pius Suter and Joe Veleno and Moritz Seider and holy smokes, it's almost like we're a better team. Almost.

I said we'd be a better, healthier, team next year and not get a top five pick. You had a histrionic sh*t fit thereafter. Don't try to put this on me you f*cking Martian. Let me make it clearer. I'll bet $500 dollars to a charity of your choice if the Wings have one of the bottom five records in the league next year. Deal?

Me: We won't have a top five pick next year because we have a better team. krsmith: What an idiot! How can you think the rebuild is over?!

Shouldn't he be listed as a "dynamic offensive defenseman"?

Pretty good Witkowski moment. 2nd only to when he beat the h*ll out of Mantha’s candy*ss.

If I know anything about rebuilding teams it's that they pretty much always trade 2nd round picks for 30 year old left handed defensemen on expiring contracts. Clearly nothing has changed for Yzerman and co.

I don't know why I bother with you. Yzerman traded Mantha for a roster player and picks. Traded a 3rd and Bernier for a roster player. Traded and 2nd and Panik for a roster player. Signed 3 roster players this offseason, but you think he's going to go full tank and trade Bertuzzi (and maybe Vrana) for futures? Good thinking. I didn't say we'd have "no injuries". That's idiotic. I said we'd be healthier. And we will. Because in addition to regular injuries (which happen to every team every year), last year we had to contend with a f*cking virus that gutted our team for weeks on end. That won't be the case this year. For the 3rd time, it's not that good teams won't be in our division. It's that they'll account for a smaller percentage of the total number of games we play because A) we'll play more games (82 instead of 56), B) we'll only play division teams 6 times instead of 8, and C) Because we'll play bad teams outside of our division twice each. Again, this doesn't require too much intelligence. Nobody said arbitration alone account for him wanting out. Arbitration last year PLUS no contract talks this off season indicates he wants to leave. Guys who want to play with a team tend to have contract negotiations with that team in the offseason when they're free agents. It's not too hard to understand.

Yzerman added good player and subtracted bad ones. That's how we're better. Adding Leddy, Nedjelkovic, Seider, Veleno, Oesterle, and Suter and subtracting Helm, Glendening, Svech, Djoos, Nemeth and Merrill is a pretty big net positive. I shouldn't have to explain why. We'll be healthier because half our team won't have COVID for the first three weeks of the season. It's not rocket science. The point is that Carolina, Tampa, and Florida were three of the top five teams in the league last year and we played them 24 times out of 56 total games. In other words, roughly 50% of our games were against three of the top five teams in the league. Irrespective of what our division looks like next year we don't be playing top teams in that percentage of our total games. Again, not rocket science. Bertuzzi took the team to arbitration a year ago and hasn't had any contract talks at all this year. Pretty clear he wants out of Detroit. You're being intentionally obtuse if you think otherwise. So, in conclusion, we're not getting a top five pick next year because we'll be better and tanking at this point does more harm than good.

We didn't get a top five pick THIS summer. And Yzerman has improved the team considerably. Why would anybody wager we'd get one next summer when our lottery odds are even worse? Here's the thing, we're going to have a much better record next year. Partially because we're going to be a better team between getting better personnel and getting healthier. And partially because we're not going to have to play Tampa, Florida, Carolina, and Dallas 8 times each. We'll be back to winning games against Buffalo and Ottawa and the like. Any plan that revolves around "let's tank for Shane Wright" is simply not going to happen. Nevermind the fact that losing year after year is HORRIBLE for your organization, and we're already seeing the results of that. Why the hell do we think Bertuzzi is desperate to get out of Detroit?

Again, Yzerman himself has repeatedly discussed how happy he was with Rasmussen at center. Blashill too. I see no reason why he'd start on the wing given that every decision maker in the organization likes his play at center. If it were me I'd put him with two defensively responsible wingers (Bert, Zadina) and let them take some of the harder minutes and while Larkin (with Vrana and Veleno) get a little more offensive zone time. Veleno-Larkin-Vrana Bert-Ras-Zadina Namestnikov-Suter-Fabbri Erne-Gagner-Smith/Pearson

Since the end of last season Yzerman has done nothing but gush about how good Michael Rasmussen was, especially after Larkin's injury. Safe bet he's holding down one of the top two center spots. Larkin too. Suter was just signed and seems like he'll at least get a shot there, though I'm assuming he's going to need sheltered given the defensive demands of Blashill's system. Gagner seems like a lock to take Glendening's old spot. My best guess: Larkin Rasmussen Suter Gagner

Is this guy any good?

Ovie missed almost 2 full seasons of prime/semi-prime scoring because of lockouts and covid. Any Wayniacs that wanna count his 46 will have to account for that. Give Ovie two full seasons of scoring and he's probably got 100 more goals right now and nobody would be talking about IF he breaks the record, but when. Greatest goal scorer the game has ever seen.

I meant "screwed" in the sense that we'd have missed our opportunity to land Werenski. Not "screwed" in the sense that we'd be f*cked on left side defense. I don't mind Zadina. I definitely don't think he's someone I'd be looking to trade. I just think that we're pretty heavy with left shooting "skill" wingers and I don't think Zadina is better than Vrana now and I also don't think it's unreasonable to think Raymond and maybe Berggren will pass him on the depth chart as well. As far as trading 1st rounders I tend to disagree with you on this. Assuming we improve over the next two years our 2023 1st probably lands somewhere in the 12-20 range. I trade that pick all day long for a 24 year old top pair defender.

You could do this, but I don't think it's necessary to protect the 2023 pick at all. Presumably if you're adding Seider, Werenski, Raymond, and Berggren over the next two years, plus your growth from guys like Veleno and Rasmussen, plus any other trades/ufa signings, you're going to be good enough to not worry too much about winning the lottery. I think Columbus pulls the trigger on this without any protections on the 1st. I also think they probably do it without the 2nd as well.

I think the argument would be that we could get better, sooner, with Werenski on the team and under contract. Plus, a lot can change in two years. Say he gets traded to Colorado or something and loves it there, then we're screwed. If he's available now there's a good argument to trade for him and extend him so that he doesn't get the taste of another team. That said, I've argued in the past for pursuing him in free agency so I don't think you're way off base here either.

That probably gets it done, and it's something that we could live though I'd rather Bert be going the other way. Zadina is a pretty good player, but redundant with Vrana, Raymond, Fabbri, and Berggren in the depth chart. McIsaac is probably going to be decent, but we don't need him with Edvinsson, Johansson, and Wallinder on the left side along with Werenski. I'd do it.