kipwinger

"Hey guys, I didn't know Patrick Eaves was back from injury!" or... "Hey guys, I didn't know David Legwand was out of Babs' doghouse!"

That prediction for last season was essentially just based on the fact that we played above our heads the year before in the playoffs, and because we were moving east. Nobody who seriously looked at our defense would have believed we were going to contend for the division. Even without injuries its not like we were setting the world on fire the first part of the season. I'd say we were worse than we appeared at the beginning of last season, and (if Babcock truly ices the best squad) we're slightly better than we appear this season.

I get what you're saying but I think you're over simplifying a bit. I mean, scouts lauded Emmerton and scouts lauded Nyquist. But it would be silly to suggest that there's no telling which of the two would be a better NHLer until they get to the big club. You could tell by their AHL careers who would be better before they ever touched the NHL. One dominated that league, and one was average. That's all I'm saying about these d-men. Jakub Kindl in his best AHL season wasn't as good as Ryan Sproul just was as a rookie. Does that guarantee that Sproul will be stud NHLer? Absolutely not. But it's a pretty good indication that he'll be better than Jakub Kindl. I don't think it's fair to say "we don't know until they get there". We know how these guys project, and we know how far along their developmental trajectories they are based on how well they're playing against their current level of competition. So I think it's safe to draw SOME conclusions from that. Not guarantees. But certainly conclusions.

Blash was already an assistant for Babs and it only lasted a year. One has to think that happened for a reason. My guess is he wanted to helm his own team, but who know?

People here say a lot of things.

I agree with a lot of what you said, and I'm not going to go through it point by point. But I would address two things. First, the reason I think that Marchenko will be quality in the NHL is because he's already played a lot of years at a professional level and seems to be able to keep pace pretty well. He was good in the KHL, he was good in the AHL, and I think he'll be good in the NHL. Provided his ankle heals, he'll be a very good defensive d-man with the ability to pass the puck forward. I'd actually compare him favorably to Vlasic as well (although I'm probably not the only one who's noticed that Quellet and Marchenko play a very similar style of game). Secondly, I think that Sproul will be the best of the bunch because he's got all the things you can't teach. Size, speed, and that shot. For a defenseman to score in today's NHL they need a good point shot. The NHL game is too structure for defensemen to wheel and deal like they can at lower levels. Those that rely on that type of scoring (guys like Smith) find it hard to transition their offensive game to the NHL. Look at all your top scoring d-men in the NHL. What do they have in common? An awesome point shot. Sproul has it. He'll be fine.

Well, I think there are a couple of defense prospects that its reasonable to assume will be good NHL players based on their skill sets and body of work so far (Sproul, Marchenko, and Ouellet). Backman and Jenson I'm less convinced of. I consider the first three a lot like Tatar, Nyquist, Jurco on offense. It was pretty clear from their AHL play that they'd be quality NHLers. How good is anybody's guess, but it wasn't a stretch to assume they'd have an impact. The other two (Backman and Jenson) are less sure, but certainly COULD surprise in the same way that Sheahan, Glendening, or Andersson did. While none of them are great (Sheahan's clearly the best) it's worth noting that NOBODY thought they'd be as good as they've been. I 100% agree with your last statement though. If you aren't Kronwall, Ericsson, or Dekeyser you should have a VERY short leash.

Agreed, which is why I said wait and see how the season turns out. But I disagree with your second point. Babs has got plenty of good young talent on defense too. But we'll never know how much better we'd be if he doesn't play them. Hence his perplexing "Kindl and Lashoff's jobs are safe" interview. We've got to remember that until injuries forced his hand a year ago he wasn't aware of what he had on offense either. When it comes to playing young guys, Babs is risk averse. Which I'd understand if our team was really good. But it isn't. So I don't see the problem in tinkering with the defense given the dirth of talent we've got sitting in GR.

Is this post meant to be tongue in cheek? I just want to know whether you're being sarcastic before I respond. Right, but we know Holland isn't going anywhere, and Babs has got some pretty good talent to work with this year. So if the outcome is yet again underwhelming, would it be the worst thing in the world to let him go and try a different direction?

FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, WILL SOMEONE PLEASE SIGN AN ENFORCER!

I agree, and I'd be really reluctant to see him go. I like his system. He believes in team defense, but he seems more amenable to offense than Babs does. Babs seems to want to win every game the way the Canadian Olympic Team did. Which would be fine if you were winning those close games, but we don't. With guys like Dats, Z, Franzen, Nyquist, Tatar, Weiss, and hopefully Mantha and Jurco (by the end of the season) there's no reason not to have a pretty good offense. So hopefully we won't be hearing "we don't have the skill to play like we used to", because this team has a good bit more skill (on the front end) than the 2008 team did.

I'd rather he not sign until we see how the season turns out. Coaches have a shelf life and while I don't know if Babcock has reached his...it's certainly possible. Why not wait to see what happens? We've got a team that should be pretty competitive. Lots of good veterans and young up and comers. If the team stays relatively healthy and still underwhelms, I'd take that as a sign that Babs' has taken the team as far as he can and I'd hand the reigns over to Blashill. If they play above their heads, or are Cup competitive, re-sign him.

First of all, none of them put up "much better" totals than Callahan in the AHL. Callahan's career high 44 pts. is better than anything Asham or Tootoo ever did in the AHL and is only 2 pts. shy of Torres' AHL highs. So who gives a damn about juniors? But, as I've tried to make clear already...who cares about their offense? Nobody is expecting these guys to produce offense in the NHL, they're fourth liners. However, unlike those other guys, Callahan is better defensively, has better mobility, and can play special teams. None of those other guys can say that. So in addition to having all their agitating qualities, offensive productivity (for what that's worth), and occasional fighting, he can also be relied upon to be on the ice without being a liability...kinda like...Prust or Maltby. Which was what I said to begin with.

Nobody's talking about his offense translating. I don't think it will either. Drew Miller doesn't produce points in the NHL either but that hardly means he's one dimensional. Like Miller (or Prust, or Maltby) Callahan can skate, play special teams, and is defensively responsible. So he's already miles ahead of the bozos you seem intent on comparing him to. I'm also curious to know why you'd think he's similar at all. He's not used in any way like those guys are. The only thing similar is that they'll fight once in a while. Other than that Mitch Callahan is nothing like those guys. When a coach as good as Blashill is using you on the PP, PK, and giving you top six minutes, and leaving you on the ice at the end of games you're surely a better player than some fourth line agitator...regardless of how often you do or don't score.

I think perhaps I'm not being as clear as I intend to be. I'm not talking about how effective he'll be in the NHL. I don't know. What I do know is that Callahan isn't considered a one trick pony. He can skate, play special teams, and is pretty solid defensively. All while chipping in a little offense. Kinda like Prust does and Maltby used to do (at the NHL level). Nobody in the NHL has ever relied on Tootoo, Torres, or Asham for anything other than being a hard hitting instigator. Will Callahan do that in the NHL? I have no idea. But up to this point he's been a lot more versatile in the AHL then you're suggesting.

I was talking about style of play...not effectiveness. Prust is a tough, agitating, bottom sixer who actually has hockey skills (defense, pk, and some offense). Callahan's style of play is closer to that than an enforcer, or pure agitator (e.g. Tootoo, Torres, Asham). If you look back at the post I was responding to, someone called Callahan a "Maltby that can fight". Which pretty much desribes Brandon Prust exactly.

Or like a Tootoo that can play hockey? (So basically Brandon Prust)

It's a figure of speech. The point is that for whatever reason, they were scoring more goals on fewer shots. Call it luck. But the point is they can't keep up that pace. Their percentage was artificially high. Better? And as we saw last year, pretty soon they stopped getting those breaks, and their goals (as well as their shooting percentage) came back to earth. But you'd be an absolute fool to think that Darren Helm is now a top-six offensive threat because a year ago he had 12 goals in 40 odd games. That'll never happen again. It's a fluke...just like his shooting percentage.

What's Callahan going to do, bleed on him? He's 6ft. and 195 lbs. There's no honor or virtue in getting mauled by a giant.

Ladies and Gentlemen, the best coach in the NHL. Lol.

If you're looking for an "elite winger" why would you look to an average center? And if we've got so many high end prospects and middling centers, why don't we package a few of them up for an "elite winger". Putting Helm on Datsyuk's wing isn't going to give Helm hands all of a sudden. It will just take the spot away from someone who does have hands...like Jurco, or Mantha, or Tatar. As for your Filppula comparison. I agree, his best year came on the wing with Zetterberg. Now go look at his career numbers. His goal scoring didn't improve much that year on the wing. His assists, on the other hand, went WAY up. So while he did have better number on the wing, it's not because he was scoring many more goals. It's because he was passing to better finishers (notably Zetterberg). Edit: I get your point, "it's worth a shot". But this is a professional sports team. I would hope we'd have a better strategy for improving our team than "it's worth a shot", or "it couldn't hurt", or "meh, what the hell". The fact that we've got the wrong personnel to address our needs, and keep trying to put bandaids over bullet holes may contribute largely to the dismal result our team has seen since 2009. Sure, it probably wouldn't kill us to try Helm there. But isn't there at least one or two other options with a higher probability of success?

36 year old Pavel Datsyuk is not some magic cure all for bad talent. If that was the case, we wouldn't be in this mess. Darren Helm isn't a top six winger. He's never been a winger, and until a year ago he's never been a top sixer. Why would you think he'd have a career year immediately after being moved to a new position? If anything, it'll be a wash. I wish this team would stop screwing around trying to jam square pegs into round holes just because Holland, or Babcock, or both have a boner for this player or that one and can't make hard decisions.

Helm rode an unsustainably high shooting percentage to the best numbers of his career and then fell off completely. He'll never post numbers like that again in his career. Take it to the bank.

Like I said, fortunately we've got a lot of the answers in the organization already. Any of Jurco, Tatar, or Mantha are more suited to top six work than Abby or Helm. Promote Jurco to the top line, Mantha to the third (once he's healthy) and get Helm and Abby on the fourth. Jurco showed a year ago that even as a rookie he's more offensively competent than those other two, and that would free up Babs to put them on the fourth where they should be. Doesn't have to be a 40 goal scorer. A 15-20 goal scorer is still an upgrade over Helm or Abby.

The Red Wings have signed defenseman Joe Hicketts to a three-year entry-level contract. Per Wings' Press Release: "The Detroit Red Wings today announced that they have agreed to terms with defenseman Joe Hicketts on a three-year, entry-level contract. In accordance with club policy, additional details will not be disclosed. Hicketts, 18, signs his first NHL contract after attending Detroit’s development camp in July and playing for the club last week at the 2014 NHL Prospects Tournament in Traverse City, Mich. In 2013-14, Hicketts skated in 36 games for the Western Hockey League’s Victoria Royals, ranking second among the team’s defensemen with 24 points (6-18-24) despite missing nearly half the season due to injury. The 5-foot-8, 186-lb., blueliner has played 103 WHL games for the Royals since 2012-13, totaling 48 points (12-36-48), a plus-14 rating and 57 penalty minutes over two seasons. He has also appeared in 13 playoff games for the club, registering three assists and 11 penalty minutes. A native of Kamloops, British Columbia, Hicketts has represented Canada twice on the international stage. He captained Team Pacific at the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge in Drummondville and Victoriaville, Quebec, in 2013 and won a bronze medal with Canada at the Under-18 World Championships in Lappeenranta and Imatra, Finland, in April 2014. Hicketts picked up a combined 10 points (2-8-10) and 12 penalty minutes over the two tournaments." If enough users commented on it, do you all think we could get Ansar Khan to do an investigatory article on the exact heights and weights of Joe Hicketts parents? It's the only info I really care about with regard to this story.