krsmith17

I was thinking he had another year left. What does that contract look like?

How did we get Connolly?...

IF Datsyuk were to come back, what would our lineup look like?... Bertuzzi - Larkin - Mantha Athanasiou - Datsyuk - Zadina Hirose - Nielsen - Rasmussen Abdelkader - Glendening - Helm Turgeon / Ehn Veleno and Svechnikov start in GR. I guess I don't hate it... I'm completely impartial to Datsyuk coming back. If he does, cool. If he doesn't, cool...

Nielsen is probably on the same level as Datsyuk at this point in their respective careers. As most of us have already mentioned though, if we can get rid of Nielsen and his 3 years, $5.25M contract, and sign Datsyuk for one year, it would be a worthy tradeoff. de la Rose will likely be on LTIR, but even if he is healthy, he shouldn't be on the team next season. Glendening is a good shut-down 4th line center, a role I doubt Datsyuk would be capable of filling at this point in his career... Larkin, Mantha, Athanasiou, Bertuzzi, Nielsen, Helm, Abdelkader, Glendening are the only real "locks" on the team going into next season. Hirose, Rasmussen, Veleno, Zadina, Svechnikov and Ehn all have a shot. Again, if we can trade Nielsen, I'd be all for one last year of Datsyuk, but for me, I'd just assume play the kids than bring back a 41 year old Datsyuk...

Yes, that's exactly it. A junior player is eligible to play in the AHL if they will be 20 years old by December 31st of that season OR has already played 4 seasons in the CHL. Because Veleno was granted exceptional status, he's already played his 4 years of junior and can play in Grand Rapids next season. I think he has a real shot to make the Red Wings roster out of camp next season, but wouldn't be surprised to see him start with in GR. I think he'll get a good look in Detroit at some point next season though.

The Canes have a good, young, up and coming team, that are a lot of fun to watch. To say you can't watch the series because you don't like the jersey's is absurd... By the way, the logo is a "hurricane", not a f***ing rose... They may not be the most aesthetically pleasing jerseys, but they're not that hideous to not be able to watch the games... The only thing I don't like about that current team is their sideshow post game celebrations, but I'm not going to go full Don Cherry and rant and rave about it...

It's official, Yzerman is the best Red Wings GM of all time! I hope so. I hope the f*** not...

Hanging out with his boi Werenski... He'll be a Red Wing in a few years...

There must be some miscommunication or lack of editing there. I'm pretty sure that should read "Milstein said the Coyotes SKA own Datysuk’s rights until July 1, 2019, when he becomes an unrestricted free agent"...

Accurate.

So where would Datsyuk hypothetically fit on this team? Who's on his line? Zadina?

Pretty much how I feel about the whole situation as well. Datsyuk is not going to be the same Datsyuk that left us 3 years ago. He'll be 41 years old this summer. I wouldn't complain about a one-year contract, but I don't necessarily want it either. Either way, I don't expect him to come back to the NHL. He's done.

I'd love to see someone (maybe Savard?) ragdoll that piece of s***...

Brayden Point isn't worth two 1st's, a 2nd and a 3rd round pick in my opinion. Not when those 1st's could be lottery picks. I don't really want Callahan, I just want the asset(s) that come with acquiring him. He would be a salary dump. Nothing more, nothing less. Arizona got Lawson Crouse (picked 11th overall the year before) for taking on Dave Bolland's contract. If we could get a pick and / or prospect for taking Callahan's contract, I'd do it for sure. I'd do it, but I think we could get a fair bit more than that... I don't think swapping a late 2nd for a late 3rd is a steep price to pay for a team that's looking to go for it again next year. We could maybe even get more than that...

I really hope Yzerman makes use of the cap space and trades for Ryan Callahan. He could be our Vanek replacement (token right-handed depth winger) for the season... Realistically, if that trade were an option, what kind of return could we expect? Tampa's 2019 1st round pick for one of our later 2nd round pick's?

for shame...

For Shame!

Yeah, no way he plays 82 games (if he were to come back). I'd be fine with that though because I think Veleno could be ready for some spot duty this season.

No. Datsyuk's contract ended two years ago. There was only one year remaining when he bolted for the KHL in 2016.

Great to hear. This is exactly how I feel Yzerman should be approaching things. No need in rushing things. There's already a very strong foundation in place built by Holland, continue on that path. We need a strong draft coming up in June, make a few shrewd moves over the next year or so, and this team will be back on top in no time.

I don't really want him back, but on a one year contract, the cap hit wouldn't really matter much. It could be $5M for all I care. We have the cap space this season. It's next season where we'll need to free some up to sign Mantha, Athanasiou and Bertuzzi. I'm not sure if Athanasiou is a long-term solution at center, but I'd like to give him a little more time there as well. Veleno is likely a year away, so Datsyuk as a one year stop-gap wouldn't be the worst thing. But yeah, Nielsen would have to go... No way you go two years on a 41 year old that hasn't played in the league in three years...

Umm, where are the options for "No" and "Hell No"?... LOL I just said basically the exact same thing in another thread... I don't really want him back at this point, but I'd take him over Nielsen for sure...

The Datsyuk chapter has closed. We've already turned the page on a new era. No need of bringing back a 41 year old Datsyuk... Same goes for a 38 year old Kronwall... In saying that, if we could somehow trade Nielsen, I supposed bringing back Datsyuk on a one year contract wouldn't be the worst thing...

Yeah, okay... Probably. Only logical reason I guess...

In a vacuum, no it's a very reasonable contract. For a rebuilding team that is years away from contending, it's a terrible contract.