krsmith17

Frk can and likely will be waived though. There's still a logjam without Frk. There's still rumblings that Zetterberg could be done, but I'm hoping that's not the case. As of now though, we have Zetterberg, Nielsen, Nyquist, Vanek, Helm, Abdelkader, Glendening, Larkin, Mantha, Athanasiou, Bertuzzi, Frk, Witkowski, Rasmussen, Svechnikov and Zadina. That's 16 forwards vying for 14 spots. Keep in mind, you want a Witkowski and possibly Frk (unless it's going to be Glendening) in that group of 14 as the two healthy scratches most nights. Svechnikov can, and likely will be sent down to Grand Rapids, but you still need to free up one more spot to fit Zadina in. A trade NEEDS to happen...

Yeah, you'd have to think Svechnikov would be part of the package. What else it would take to get the deal done, I have no idea. I wouldn't give up a hell of a lot though. Faulk would be a huge add, but being 26 years old now, he'll be nearing 30 when we're ready to contend. He's also 2 years away from unrestricted free agency. He could walk, and we're left without 2-3 key pieces...

If this is true, I really hope he makes the team out of camp. Another year in Halifax wouldn't be the worst thing, but I'd like to see him turn pro this season. The Vanek signing doesn't look too hot not eh? Unless of course this has been the plan all along, and Holland has a master plan to have Vanek, Rasmussen, Zadina and Svechnikov on the team...

Faulk reminds me of a younger version of Green. I'd be open to a trade for him for sure, depending on the cost...

No, rebuilding doesn't necessarily mean getting younger in all instances, but in the case of the Red Wings (the oldest team in the league), it most certainly should. Again, I think Kronwall should and most likely will hang 'em up after this season. Zetterberg will most likely follow suit via LTIR. Nyquist and Vanek, as well as maybe Jensen and Howard could possibly be traded at this year's deadline. Any or all of Ericsson, Daley and Green can all be traded at next year's deadline. All will be pending UFA's, and hopefully not extended beyond next season (at most one of them). Helm and Glendening can easily be moved over the next couple seasons as well. We should be a much younger team over the next couple seasons, and for a league that is getting much younger, we're headed in the right direction. Obviously a player doesn't have to currently be in Detroit to be a part of the rebuild... I'd say most of the pieces of this rebuild aren't currently in Detroit. Most are either currently playing for another team, playing in the minors / junior / college / Europe, or haven't even been drafted yet. I'm all for adding players via free agency or trade, but I want these players to either be in their prime or not quite in their prime, not players way past their prime...

We had the 8th worst power-play. Imagine if we didn't have Green... I think a major goal this coming season is to improve the power-play. Bylsma was brought in, Vanek and Green were re-signed, Rasmussen will likely make the team, and maybe Zadina. Green is extremely valuable on that power-play in my opinion. Although unlikely, Hronek could still make the team out of camp this season. If not, he definitely should by next season, and Green will still be around by then to teach him a thing or two. Again though, Hronek, Cholowski or Hicketts not making the team should be attributed to an abundance of below average defensemen on this team, not Green. You're pretty much where I was at with Daley last offseason, so I completely see where you're coming from. I do find it a little odd though, that you were all about Daley signing for 3 years last offseason, and not Green for 2 years this offseason. What changed? I agree with this, and I think a full season in Grand Rapids would be best for Cholowski for sure, and maybe even Hronek as well.

I highly doubt Kronwall will put up 27 points this season, let alone next. I also doubt he'll remain healthy for another two seasons. He has two bummed knees. He should, and likely will retire after this contract is up. I know you're going to disagree with me, but I don't care if we somehow knew that Kronwall would put up 20+ points in the 2019-20 season, I still think that spot would be better filled by one of the kids. There's no way we should extend a 39 year old Kronwall, when we're trying to rebuild this team.

Probably true, which is the biggest issue I have with Holland and this organization. There's loyalty, and then there's Red Wing Loyalty...

I agree. Regarding the bold though, if Hronek, Cholowski or Hicketts come into camp and outperform one (or all) of Ericsson, DeKeyser or Jensen, do you think the kid would or should be given the roster spot over the vet? You may disagree (I know some do), but I do believe there still is too much of a veteran bias on this team. We're rebuilding. If a kid proves to be ready (not saying any of them are), they should be given equal opportunity as the vets. We really need to start taking full advantage of the kids on ELC's, and get more out of their prime years. IF a kid comes into camp and outperforms one of the vets, I think he should be given an opportunity to start the regular season in Detroit. I'm not convinced that will happen though...

Street and Lorito are significant losses, but Chris Terry is a big addition, along with Wade Megan. I think those two will more than make up for the loss of Street and Lorito. Hopefully Tangradi is re-signed. He's been a great leader, big point producer, and body guard for the kids. I think losing him would be a huge loss for GR. I also hope they re-sign Puempel. He seemed to fit in well down there. Elson has already been re-signed. I doubt Nastasiuk will be re-signed. He just hasn't been able to do much of anything at the pro level. Renouf and Russo aren't really big losses, and one of them was already replaced by Jake Chelios. We needed to shed at least one defenseman anyway, to give more ice time to Hronek (if he doesn't make the Wings) as well as Saarijarvi and Cholowski. Coreau was a good minor league goaltender, but with the signings of Patrik Rybar and Harri Sateri, it's not a huge loss. I also think those two signings may force McCollum out as well, which isn't really a bad thing.

There's no way Ottawa gets a Matthews caliber player for Karlsson. That's my point. Karlsson will likely be traded for a good (not great) player, a prospect, and multiple picks. No pieces being elite. In the end Ottawa will lose this trade, because it's Ottawa and they lose everything, and they just handled this whole situation about as badly as they possibly could have...

I disagree. I think Green is much better than Kronwall at this stage of their respective careers. And there's much more to Green's game than just great skating. His decision making in the offensive zone is borderline elite. And the way he can quarterback a power-play is up there amongst the tops in the league. Those are things that Hronek can definitely learn from him. No, Green wouldn't be a top defenseman on any contending teams, but why does that matter? He's a top defenseman on this team and that's why he was brought back. I think most would have preferred one year, but two years isn't bad at all, especially considering he could have gotten 3-5 on the open market. The cap hit doesn't really matter much either since we shouldn't be a cap team for the next few years. He did take a discount and would have likely gotten $6M+ in free agency. No one's suggesting that moving a bad contract is "easy", but it is certainly doable. Every year bad contracts are moved, and Ericsson's isn't even that bad compared to some of the albatross contracts out there. This.

I don't see it. I think Kronwall will retire, especially if Zetterberg and Nyquist are gone. Even if Kronwall wants to come back, I think it's time to move on. Kroner is a shell of his former self and will be 38, going on 39 the following season. I think he calls it a career, a very good career at that.

Yes, Witkowski sucks, but he's the perfect 13th/14th forward. You need someone filling that role and we don't want a Zadina or Svechnikov sitting games and Glendening, Helm or Abdelkader aren't going to sit any games. We just need to hope Witkowski plays as little as possible...

So what you're saying is Ericsson is untradeable? Not getting into that again, but yes, he absolutely can be traded. And again, if you want to blame Holland, blame him for not being able to trade away any of the bloated contracts, not for signing players that are well worth their contracts...

All things being equal regarding age and contract status I would agree. The problem is, those things aren't close to being equal, which is why there's no way the Leafs would ever entertain the idea of trading Matthews for Karlsson. It would be utterly dumb to trade a 20 year old Matthews, one year away from RFA for a 28 year old Karlsson, one year away from UFA. The younger, equally as good (arguably better) center that is still under team control, holds much more value than the much old defenseman that is no longer under team control in my opinion.

Like I said in the other thread, if you want to complain about there being no spots for the kids to make the team, complain about not trading a DeKeyser or Ericsson, not for signing Green. Green (and Daley) will be great mentors for the kids over the next two seasons. Good signing.

"It's so dumb to re-sign your best defenseman / power-play quarterback"... If you want to complain about the kids being held back or the need to get younger (I agree), complain about Holland not trading a DeKeyser or Ericsson, not for re-signing Green. Green and Daley are good role models for Hronek and Cholowski to be learning from over the next two seasons. I'm thrilled Green is back for another two (one and a half) seasons, and we can trade him at next season's deadline, and get the return we missed out on last season. Kronwall will be gone after this season, Jensen may be gone as well, and maybe even Ericsson. There will be spots opening up (hopefully) for the kids over the next season or two. Good signing.

Vanek is Austrian, but I'm pretty sure he does speak fluent Czech, which could be a good thing for Zadina I guess, but not really necessary since Zadina also speaks fluent English. I actually don't think there's a very good chance Zadina makes the roster as things sit right now. However, there could still be a trade (hopefully) to open things up a little. Yeah, pretty much this. Unless there's a trade before the season starts, I think Rasmussen will be the only new kid to make the team and Zadina and Svech will play together in Grand Rapids, until the inevitable injury occurs. Which I think is fine too. I wasn't a big fan of the Vanek signing, but it's certainly not the worst thing that could have happened. The roster will really start to open up (hopefully) for the kids, over the next year or two.

I think what people may be forgetting about an offer sheet is that the player still has to sign it in order for it to go through. There's a zero percent chance Larkin signs an offer sheet from Bergevin, in the off chance it wouldn't be matched by Holland and he would have to leave his hometown team to play the next 7 years in the tire fire of an organization, Montreal... However, I don't think some other GM offer sheeting Larkin would be the worst thing that could happen. Assuming it's nothing too ridiculous (it wouldn't be) and we'd match it (which we would), it may be a better contract than what Holland would offer (at least long term). All I've been hearing regarding an extension for Larkin has been short term, bridge deals (3-5 years). I'd much rather go max term with Larkin, and any offer sheet would have to be that, assuming they're serious about getting the player. As I've mentioned before, I think we should go 8 years on Larkin, but 7 years would be the next best thing. Regardless, for good or bad, offer sheets rarely ever happen anymore, and even when they do, they don't go through. No way Bergevin offer sheets Larkin...

I agree that there's no way they trade him to Toronto, my point was just that Karlsson (one year before becoming a UFA) doesn't come close to getting Matthews. I agree that they would probably get more than Nylander, but I doubt it would be a whole lot more, because Karlsson will most definitely test the open market next summer.

Not even close. They might be able to get Nylander for Karlsson, but Matthews would be a hard no.

As much as I'd love this to be a bad thing for the Leafs, it's not. And unfortunately, no matter how hard you try, there's no way to spin this signing into a negative. They won't need to lose two of Matthews, Marner, Nylander. They'll likely lose one (my guess would be Nylander), and that will be in a trade for a top 3 defenseman. As much as I hate it, the Leafs are putting together a power-house team. Will it bring them a Cup? Time will tell, but I certainly hope not. They have one of, if not the best top 9 forward groups in the league. I don't see any team having any better center depth than Tavares, Matthews, Kadri, whoever. Their defense is bad now, but Rielly is a legit top pair defenseman and Dermott looks like he could be as well in couple years time. Gardiner is a legit top 4 defenseman. Then they have two promising prospects with top 4 potential in Liljegren and Sandin. That's all in house. They will also likely have that trade chip in Nylander to acquire a legit top pair defenseman to pair with Rielly. I f***ing hate it, but the Leafs are going to be a damn good team for the next decade, and the Tavares signing solidified that.

So what's the problem? That's more than we know about Grubauer. Point is, a veteran UFA was the right choice over giving up assets for a goaltender that may or may not be "the guy" going forward. I'm not sold on Grubauer. He put up good numbers on an elite Washington team, let's see how he does on a mediocre Colorado team.

I'd rather sign Bernier (or any of the other comparable goaltenders) than trade away assets for Grubauer. We're not ready to win now, and by the time we are, Grubauer would be 30+. I would rather any UFA or hell, even McCollum or Rybar for a few seasons than give up assets in a trade for a goaltender. Our prospects aren't ready yet, and we don't need them to be. We just need a stopgap, and Bernier is just that.