kipwinger

Good riddance. The only player on the team who gets more unearned goodwill than Bertuzzi is Zadina. Zadina has never contributed anything to the organization despite two GMs and coaches giving him every single opportunity to do so. Bertuzzi had one good year when it didn't matter and one year later we're a better team without him than we were last year when he was putting up career numbers. They're both clowns. #tradedeadline2023

No, but close. The thing about market value is that it fluctuates based on economic factors (supply and demand, cap space) right? So a player's value to one team isn't the same as a player's value to another. For example, do you think Edmonton would pay Larkin 8.5 million? Not a chance. Why? Because they don't need a center and they don't have the money. But supply and demand also changes from year to year as well. This year there are no other free agent centers of Larkin's caliber (now that Horvat has signed). He's a marginally better player than Barzal and Horvat and they signed for 9.1 and 8.5 respectively. There are no other quality centers, Detroit needs a 1C, and he's still fairly young (by UFA standards). So all things considered I'd say the market value for Larkin is probably 9.5. BUT here's the kicker, there are factors that work in the other direction too. He's from Michigan, he's the captain, the organization is trending upward, and only bad teams can afford to pay him 9.5. All reasons to take a little less. I'd say 8.5 is a steal, 9 million is a good deal, and 9.25-9.5 is paying a premium. Edit: Fun tidbit, Lou Lamoriello, who just signed Bo Horvat's new contract, said of the deal "It's too long and too much money". Lol. This is the guy who signed Kovalchuk to a 17 year/100+ million dollar contract. The very same contract that necessitated the league limiting the length and AAV of all future contracts. I genuinely can't believe anyone would allow that senile old coot to run a modern hockey club.

Totally agree. Plus there's the obvious question of where you find another 1C. There are none on the market, nobody is trading one, and anybody trading for Larkin (if you don't sign him) is doing so because they're trying to win the Cup. As such, their picks are going to be late rounders who generally don't turn into first line centers. "But Kip, if we trade Larkin we'll suck and get a high pick to use on a 1C". Good theory. Except that outside of Larkin all of our best players are A) young, and B) getting better. This team is performing better than a year ago despite missing three top six players (Bert, Fabbri, and Vrana) all season SPECIFICALLY BECAUSE our young guys are good and getting better. To counteract that we'd need to trade not just Larkin, but probably Hronek, Copp, Jusso, and Chiarot too. And then throw guys like Seider, Ras, Berggren, Raymond, Edvinsson into the deep end. SUUUUUUPER good for team building and morale. Or you could just overpay Larkin by .5 million, not completely destroy your team, and use this years top ten draft pick to try and find a 1C.

When I saw GR on Jan. 4th he and McIsaac were the go-to defensive pair for the Griffins. They were sent out for every important situation. He definitely plays a very trustworthy game, if he can add some of the offense he had in Sweden he'll be a quality NHLer. But as it is he has excellent analytics and strong defensive play. Reminds me a bit of Nick Jensen in that way.

There's a pretty good chance of that I'd think. The guy's an absolutely monster. And he's still got so much more filling out to go. Our team is about to be so hard to play against in a couple of years. I love where this iteration of the Red Wings is headed.

Simon Edvinsson just turned 20 today. That's wild. He's playing amazing hockey right now too. Dude's got points in his last 5 games (give or take) and he's an absolute rock defensively. The Athletic has Detroit in their top five ranked prospect pools in the NHL (again) and this dude is a big reason why. I'm looking forward to seeing if he finishes strong down the stretch, but regardless of that he's a lock for the roster next year. You love to see it.

Goals already tonight for Vrana and Lombardi edit: 2 for Vrana

Two others: 1. The Original Six. I do not care about this at all. I'm literally never excited to see the Wings play the Rangers just because they're both "Original Six" franchises. I'm excited to watch A) rivalry games, or B) opposing teams with marquee players. Watching the Wings vs. Blackhawks right now is the opposite of must see tv, irrespective of how old the franchises are. Be honest, if Montreal is playing Chicago and Edmonton is playing Calgary at the same time which game are you watching? It's a no-brainer. 2. Gordie Howe Hat tricks: Hey guys, what if we named a solid, if unspectacular, performance after one of the most spectacular players in history despite the fact that he almost never did the thing in question? I remember last year when Givani Smith did it and then had no idea it was called the Gordie Howe hat trick when asked about it immediately afterward. That just about sums it up. Something inconsequential that only matters to dingbat sportscasters because they need to fill airtime.

Keith Olbermann did a segment on his show years ago to this affect, but he was talking about soccer. The gist was the same, if you want to get Americans excited about international sports you need to make them more "American". He wasn't talking about fundamentally changing the way the game was played as much as changing the names, uniforms, etc. But it's an interesting thought nevertheless. This was on my list. The Michigan is SOOOOOOOO lame. Youtube is full of videos of literal children doing it. It's neither difficult nor unique. It's like a "complete game" by a pitcher in baseball, it happens constantly and isn't all that hard to do. Yet whenever it happens in the NHL the media collectively lose their minds like they just discovered how to harness fusion energy or something.

Daaaaang, that's a hot take

There isn't a player in the league, including Zegras, that whines to the refs more than Michael Bunting. That dude never stops complaining. You can tell the Maple Leafs are a trash organization because a veteran team would never let a 2nd year guy to be that mouthy.

Another goal for Vrana so far tonight. Hanas with the assist. You love to see it.

Like I said, there's a way to help ourselves now and in the future. I think we need to do everything we can to move up and land an elite talent in the draft. But I'd only look to free agency for Horvat and the two holes in the roster I have listed below. The long term success of this team isn't dependent on whether we go big game hunting. It's dependent on what Seider, Edvinsson, Raymond, Berggren, Kasper, etc. develop into. I don't have any problem whatsoever going into next season with this: Ras-Larkin-Raymond Berggren-Horvat-Kubalik Perron-Copp-Vrana Sodorblom-Veleno-Fabbri Walman-Seider Edvinsson-Hronek Chiarot-??? Jusso ??? The above roster should be Wildcard competitive, assuming continued growth from the young guys and a full season of Horvat, Vrana, and Fabbri. AND you've still got really good players like Wallinder, Kasper, Hanas, Johansson, and others (Mazur, Buium, and Lombardi will be with GR) developing in the minors without having to rush them.

I'm looking back through all the Stanley Cup teams since 2010 right now and there are some REALLY unimpressive center combinations. Bergeron and Krejci had 57 and 62 points respectively in 2011. Toews and Madden in 2010: 68 and 23 points. Kopitar and Richards in 2012: 76 and 44 points. The list could go on. But I think it's safe to say two things, A) well rounded centers win just as often as high productive centers do, and B) Larkin/Horvat wouldn't even be in the bottom five worst center combos to have won since then.

I was gonna say something to this affect. I think you have to have good centers, but I think people confuse good centers with super offensive centers. Brayden Point and Anthony Cirelli is not an especially strong 1C/2C combination. Neither is Kopitar/Carter, O'Reilly/Schenn or Bergeron/Kreci. Of the last 10 or so Cup winners I'd say Crosby/Malkin, Backstrom/Kuznetsov, and McKinnon/Kadri were the strongest. Obviously the best current centers are McDavid, Draisaitl, and Nugent-Hopkins and they've got nothing to show for it so far. I don't think there's a blueprint to a Cup winning team, except that you have to have a ton of really good players. Chicago had elite defenders and wingers, and good but not elite centers and goaltending. Tampa has elite wingers and goaltending, but overall less good centers and defense. Pittsburgh had elite centers and goaltending and less good wingers and defense. St. Louis had nothing elite, but solid defense, centers, wingers, and goaltending. There's no recipe. The one thing all these teams have in common is that no part of their team was noticeably bad. If Detroit has good but not elite centers and wingers (meaning top end 70-80 point guys with a few 50-60 point guys added in) and elite defense and goaltending in a few years I don't see why they couldn't win a Cup.

Depends on what his workout habits are. Essentially you'd be getting him from ages 28-34 if you have him a max 7 year deal. Is he a Jordan Staal type guy that can play on your 3rd line, provide leadership, and still give you solid production down lineup at 34? I honestly don't know, but I do know that good teams have guys like that on their roster. Depends on his fitness level I guess. As far as the money goes, the league is growing again, so I don't see any reason why the cap won't continue to go up every year or two. Meaning, in a few years, the 8.5 (or whatever he signs for) won't be a big part of your cap. What I really really want to avoid is a Buffalo type situation where they burnt their whole organization to the ground in order to tank for McDavid and then realized that later that they had to go out and find good veteran player to teach their stud prospects how to actually play in the NHL. Edmonton had this same problem and never did learn. Best players in the draft year after year and they still get beat by less talented teams. Detroit is in a position where they can invest in the future AND the present at the same time and not be totally screwed for it. If I'm SY I'm doing everything I can to lock down a top flight center prospect at the draft this year, and then surrounding the core of Seider, Edvinsson, Raymond, Berggren, Kasper,Wallinder, and Rasmussen and the new 1C with guys like Larkin, Horvat, Chiarot, Perron (or whomever) so that they're learning from veteran guys on the ice just as much as they're learning from the coaching staff. You have to have both.

Yeah, roughly. I’m not too beat up about not getting him via trade. If he’s there in FA go after him, if not start thinking about how to move up in the draft.

Horvat to the Islanders for a (lottery protected) 1st, Anthony Beauvillier, and Aatu Raty. Definitely less than I thought the Canucks would get for him. But going to the Island seems like it increases the chances that he makes it to free agency, so that's good.

You can almost be fooled into thinking that, and then you remember it was his draft plus two season in the CHL...the best season of his career...when he scored 84 points...which is roughly 20 points shy of noted offensive juggernaut Joe Veleno's career high in the CHL. He is not good, the CHL is just THAT s***ty. It'll be a miracle if that kid ever plays more than a couple NHL games.

That play cracks me up. Notice how he turns his back to the defender at the blue line when he's trying to gain the zone? Just imagine what would happen if he did that to Seider lol.

I read the same article about the three teams interested in Bertuzzi and aside from the fact that it was by a blogger (and therefore has no credibility), in every case he proposed trading Bertuzzi for a 2nd round pick and some pud prospect with obvious flaws. Stranges' skating will hold him back, another guys was like 5'8, 165 lbs, and the third prospect is tiny, already 23, and riding a 26% shooting meager to very pedestrian NHL production. I want nothing to do with another team's castoffs. Bertuzzi blows, but he's not THAT bad. Speaking of castoffs, has anybody watched Jesse Puljujarvi actually play? I remember there were a few guys wanting to trade for that big pud a year or so ago. He's absolutely abysmal. Makes Zadina look like David Pastrnak.

His skating is "ridiculous" in the sense that he skates all goofy footed and unorthodox. He's not fast or anything. He just looks unique because his skating is weird. He's not a good AHL player even, and he's get wrecked in the NHL trying to skate laterally the way he does.

Antonio Stranges is garbage. I'd take Wyatt Johnston though.

I'm not gonna get too bogged down by who we should have drafted. What's done is done. But I will eat a little crow on Evan Bouchard. I wasn't a big fan of him in his draft year when he was rumored to be coming to Detroit, but I've caught a couple Edmonton games lately and he's turning into a really good dman. The knock on him was his skating, and I really liked what I saw there. He's not super fast or anything, but he more than keeps up and he's a very strong skater. I know the points aren't really coming along yet, but he's a solid defenseman. In hindsight I was wrong about that guy.