kipwinger

Another reason I like Todd Richards is because young centers have tended to do well in his offensive scheme. None of Johansen, Jenner, or Dubinsky are superstars, but they've performed well under his offense, and I'd love to see what he could do with Larkin and AA. Then get a defensive coach that really understands puck possession and transition and we are set. Don't really know who I like for a defensive coach though.

I think that given the amount of roster and management turnover we are expecting right now, its a perfect time to take stock of what we have, identify what kind of team we want to be, and then make player and coaching decisions based on that new identity. I don't think its smart to bring guys in because of their names or previous experience (though I do want some experience, no rookies). For instance, if we don't envision ourselves as a Randy Carlyle type team, then we would be dumb to hire him. Regardless of his experience. We need to figure our what we have, what we want to be, and then hire the right people to make it so. Personally, I like Todd Richards. His teams play fast and aggressive and I like that given our lineup. But that's just me. There's also a connection there, he used to work with Tyler Wright in Colombus.

Gotta be better than Osgood in a broadcasting role. Anything to get him out of the booth.

I like Guy Boucher better when he played the villain in Casino Royale.

I'm not so sure they're so comparable. Frk is bigger and can protect the puck better against bigger guys so his speed is less of an issue than Pulks. Plus I think he gets his shot off quicker, but that's just my assessment. Frk reminds me of a poor mans Vanek or Moulson. Both are slow, but big enough to play in high traffic areas.

Good point. I'll retract the former comment.

Vatanen is a shrimp. No thanks. We need a workhorse. I like Vatanens shot and puck moving ability but he will always be a complimentary piece given his size. Same issue I have with Shattenkirk.

Do we even have mods anymore or what? Frank makes homosexual slurs in another thread, with no discipline associated, and now this guy's comments? I thought the rules on offensive posts were pretty clear but apparently that doesn't matter if nobody does anything about it.

Oh no, one of our depth players left and will likely be replaced by someone from GR, what will we do?

9 years ago he was 20 and is almost certainly a better player now. I am sensitive to your point about.overall team offense, but I think team offense improves as you replace the current guys with others that are relatively better. Radulov isn't my top choice as an FA, but I don't necessarily think someone with his skill set and age can't help this team for a few years.

Lots of successful teams play young guys in depth roles. I don't know why that's such kryptonite for you.

You keep saying we'd retain salary on fowler. We wouldn't. You're arguing against a made up assumption. Nuquist for Fowler could almost be done straight up. Its equal value. Sweetening the pot with one or two guys making league minimum isn't going to kill that deal, especially considering Anaheim will be looking to overhaul their roster anyway. As far as the defense of the youngsters, you're also making things up. Callahan is good defensively and is used as such in GR. Tangedi is the 13th forward and is no worse defensively than our current 13th forwards Pulk and Jurco. Months IS bad defensively, which is why I've got him on the 3rd line with 2 defensively responsible guys. If you need additional money then don't resign Helm, or retain money and trade Howard or Ericsson, or both. It doesn't matter, they'd be replaced by guys making league minimum anyway. And how's the roster worse? You've added Fowler, Radulov, Okposo, Mantha, and depth guys and you lost Richards, Datsuk, Quincey, Nyquist and depth guys. If its not a net positive its a wash in terms of points, and it makes us bigger, younger, better at moving the puck AND allows us to slot guys like Zetterberg and Kronwall properly. Also, I never, ever, said I "knew better" than Holland. Its an armchair roster, by a fan, for fun. Sue me.

As long as youre not paying him obscene money you don't need him to have a career year. 20+ goals and 50 points is reasonable and would make him the best winger on our team. I'd offer him 4.5 million for three years, if he doesn't take it then oh well. If he does, great.

And all of the "inexperienced" guys are in depth roles. Also, I don't believe that ANY of Dekeyser, Mzazek, or Sheahan will get the contracts you've advocated. WHAT?! You mean to tell me I'm not an ACTUAL GM? Well I guess I just shouldn't talk about this team at all then eh?

I said a combination of Nuquist and those guys, not ALL of them. The cap would work fine.

I don't mind 7 year deals depending on the players age and as long as the term keep the AAV low. Taking max contracts off the table basically ensures you'll never sign a quality FA again.

This is my official offseason wish list. None of it will happen, but a boy can dream. 1. Datyuk's contract+Pulkkinen to whomever for the cap relief. 2. Let Richards, Quincey, Miller, and Andersson walk. 3. Draft best available offensive defenseman. 4. Sign Alexander Radulov 3 years, 4.5 million. 5. Sign Kyle Okposo, 7 years, 5.5 million 6. Trade Gustav Nyquist and some comgination of Jurco, Ouellet, and Sproul for Cam Fowler. 7, Re-sign Darren Helm, 7 years, 3.5 million. 8. Promote Mantha and Callahan and Tangredi Radulov-Larkin-Abby Tatar-AA-Okposo Z-Sheahan-Mantha Helm-Glendening-Callahan Tangredi Fowler-Dekeyser Kronwall-Green Smith-Marchenko Ericsson *Mic Drop*

You're the only person I've ever heard call Radulov soft. Makes me think you're just throwing around pejoratives in an attempt to justify your dislike for him post hoc. Radulov is a lot of things, but "soft" isn't one. He's very tenacious and aggressive for a goal scorer. He's not likely to punch anybody, sure, but the guys ain't "soft". Maybe an *******, but not soft.

Lol. You just named 3 of the best centers on earth. There are 20 other #1 centers in the league who can't play with those guys. If outplaying those guys is your standard, then Ryan Johansen, Kyle Turris, Boone Jenner, Alexander Barkov, Brian Little, Zach Parise, etc. are all chopped liver too eh? Who do we have that's better? Sure, they're better than him now, but you've got to start somewhere. At least he can keep up with them, we know that for sure. I expect he'd get outplayed badly by the elite guys (whom you mentioned) but he'd fair well against the second tier guys. And that's all I'd want out of a 20 year old top center. If we sign Stamkos then sure, everything changes. Otherwise there's not a single center we can put on the top line who WONT get badly outplayed by Kopitar, Toews, or Bergeron. So why not see if the competition makes the kid better? I think he's got the right mentality, and that by playing against the best he'll want to be the best. Also, Tyler Johnson played against top centers as a sophomore and did fine. Not great, but fine. So why not Larkin?

I might have talked myself into a scenario where I don't mind Radulov. And that is if we subsequently trade Nyquist and something else for Cam Fowler. In this scenario, Radulov is signed at 5 million for 3 years (and only if people in Russia can verify that he's not a total dick). And Nyquist is packaged with whatever combination of prospects and/or Pulkkinen or Jurco that gets the job done. I'd still rather have Okposo, but I could live with some version of these guys as our top nine. Radulov-Larkin-Abby Tatar-AA-? Zetterberg-Sheahan-Mantha Get Radulov AND Okposo and I'd lose it. On the back end... Fowler-Dekeyser Kronwall-Green Smith-Marchenko Ericsson

No they weren't. The Illitches planned to forego selling the naming rights. They didn't want the money, and could have named the arena anything they wanted. They literally passed up millions, and paid themselves instead, to name the arena as they did. It's not like it was this OR another corporate name. It was this OR literally any other thing the Illitches wanted to name it. They chose to ignore the public's vested interest. Trying to gloss it over is disingenuous. http://www.freep.com/story/money/business/michigan/2016/04/28/detroit-hockey-nhl-little-caesars-ilitch-red-wings-arena/83650554/

I get WHY public funding is often necessary, I'm not even against public funding. I just think that if you're going to accept public funding for your teams new arena you should probably make an effort to represent and validate their contribution rather than be wholly greedy and promote your brand to their exclusion.

Lol. Uncle Mike and the great Illitch family hoodwink the public again.

Vatanen IS one of the Ducks prospects, the one they want to trade. And Trouba isn't even as good offensively as him or Shattenkirk. We need scoring from the back end. Not another shutdown guy.

Oh, more homosexual slurs. Good for you Frank. Really classy. Can this guy get banned now?