krsmith17

You've posted it 20+ times, and I've liked it every time... I wish more coaches (Blashill) had the same thought process...

Looks like Sproul is getting back in tonight, which is great news. Unfortunately though, Ouellet looks to be the man coming out... Jurco still in over Ott, and Mrazek starting, which is also great news. Blash seems to be making a lot "better" personnel decisions, I just wish Ericsson would have been the scratch instead of Ouellet...

Some may be overstating the impact of that trade, but I think most people (including Holland) would / will want a do-over on that one in hindsight, whether that be now or in a few years time. Sure, Chychrun might not be "that good" now, but the kid is 18, playing(arguably) the most difficult position, in the best league in the world. He would have instantly become our unanimous top prospect if we had drafted him. Despite Chychrun's fall in the draft, he still projects to be a top 2 defenseman, while Cholowski might become a decent top 4. I don't think it's a stretch at all to think / say that Chychrun will most likely be a much better player than Cholowski. Of course it is possible Chychrun never develops into the stud he's projected to be, and Cholowski exceeds everyone's expectations, but I personally doubt it... I didn't like the trade back then, and I don't like it now, but I'm not going to keep bringing it up for the next 20 years, like I'm sure some will...

What about Jurco? Another talent issue? Or is it possible he was brought up too early / mismanaged? If we trade Green and / or Smith, I'm all for inserting Sproul. If we trade Vanek and / or another forward, I'm all for calling up Nosek or Bertuzzi. I just can't get behind calling up a player like Svechnikov too early, who has a high ceiling, but clearly isn't ready yet...

If Holland doesn't move Vanek before the deadline, he's a f***ing idiot. I assume you're protecting Green and DeKeyser? Who's your other defenseman protection used on? I'm hoping we trade Green at the deadline too, so we could then protect Ouellet and Sproul along with DeKeyser. I doubt that happens though, and I'm not even so sure Holland would leave Kronwall unprotected... I'd also try to move one of Nyquist or Tatar and Howard this summer before the draft, but I doubt that happens either. I can see it being between Sproul, Jurco and Sheahan for Vegas, but hoping they see something in Ericsson...

That is true, and this is Sproul, Ouellet and Jensen's 4th year pro. The American League is considered pro. All 3 are eligible to be drafted in the expansion draft.

Sproul, Ouellet and Jensen are all eligible for the expansion draft. We will have to protect them or Vegas can pick either one of them up...

You originally said "fire sale vets and bring guys like Bertuzzi, Svetch, and G. Smith up". I assume you meant for the rest of the season, which is more than "a couple games"... Still, I don't agree with the whole, get them up for a cup of coffee thing, unless they're actually ready. I don't think any of them are ready, with the exception of maybe Bertuzzi, and even that's questionable at this point... Sure, we could call them up and it could benefit them, but it could just as easily (maybe more likely) stunt their growth. Let them get to a point where they're dominant in the lower league, then call them up. Svech and Bertuzzi are far from dominant in the AHL, although I don't think it's as important for Bert, as I believe he projects to be more of a bottom 6 player at the NHL level...

I hope you're wrong, but unfortunately that's exactly who I expect we'll lose as well...

You still shouldn't rush kids when they're clearly not ready, especially just to bring them in to lose games... No I didn't... There's no edit in the post that you quoted me on.

I wouldn't go that far... I'd consider calling up Bertuzzi to play on the 4th line if a couple of trades are made, but I'd leave Svechnikov down in GR for the rest of the season, maybe even next season as well. He's just not ready yet in my opinion, and I don't want another Jurco situation with Svech. No way Smith is ready, he hasn't even played a single game of pro yet, and it will likely be at least 2-3 years before we see him in a Wings jersey...

This. But not just in Mrazek's case, I want to see all the kids getting more games / ice time. Continue playing Jurco, he's looked good. Get Sproul back in. Give Mantha and Athanasiou more ice time. Continue playing Ouellet and Jensen in key situations. I'm really hoping Holland trades a couple of the vets at the deadline, so there's no other option for Blash, other than to play the kids...

I've heard Landeskog in Ottawa and Duchene in Montreal... but that's just Canadian media...

I'd take a MacKinnon or Duchene off their hands... I know they were, not sure if they still are, looking for a big defensive defenseman. Surely a package surrounding Ericsson could land us one of those guys...

Kind of surprised to see Nielsen picked to represent the Wings. Was hoping to see Mantha there... Oh well...

No, it's whoever is playing better from game to game. Right now, Mrazek deserves next game, and if he continues to play the way he did last night (the way he's capable of) it will be his net to lose. He needs to earn back the starters role, and I think he will. Howard is just coming off an injury and had an awful game down in GR lastnight. He's going to have to get his game back quick if he wants a chance of removing Mrazek again...

He definitely earned the next start based on last night's performance. Let's hope he keeps it rolling and the Mrazek we all know he could be, breaks out...

Isn't "he's a career AHLer" the equivalent to "he's bad" though?... Why would it have been "easier to just waive Jensen"? It's always easier to waive the lesser player. Marchenko was lower on the depth chart, so he was the obvious guy to waive. Jensen does virtually everything better than Marchenko. He's a MUCH better skater, better puck mover, more physical (despite the size difference), MUCH better offensively, and I'd even argue better defensively... Just because Jensen is a year older doesn't mean s***. We get it though, you don't value smooth skating, puck moving offensive defensemen, you prefer big, slow defensive defensemen... We should have gotten rid of Green, Smith, Sproul and Jensen and kept Marchenko, and called up Lashoff and Renouf... DeKeyser - Lashoff Ericsson - Marchenko Renouf - Ouellet Now THAT'S a 6-man unit that can "defend the puck"...

I agree, but Fowler is lefthanded. I'd take him on this team in a heartbeat, just probably not for our first top 5 pick (if that's where we end up) in 25+ years...

If Holland trades a top 5 pick, it needs to be for someone better than Fowler in my opinion. I'd consider it, but there would have to be more involved for me to pull the trigger...

A rookie had multiple giveaways in one game over a month ago? Seriously? He obviously should have been waived that night. The bolded explains a lot though. Thanks for that... So does every single other poster... I can point to at least 20 in this thread alone where people spoke their opinion as if it were fact...

There's bias in everyone's post. What's your point? This is a message board after all... I would say almost every poster here states his or her opinion as fact more often than not. Don't take it so literal... It's well documented that I like Jurco, and yes it's my belief that he has a ton of untapped potential. Marchenko sucks. My opinion. He was the right one to waive because he's the worst of the 9 defensemen we had on our active roster. My opinion...

Well yeah, hence the reason I said "could develop" and "I'd bet"... Same as people "assuming" because Babcock wanted him, he must be good and he'll develop into a top 4 guy... I think Marchenko sucks and I don't see any potential in him becoming anything better than an Ericsson type. I'm sure some would have rathered we lose Jurco, but the difference there is, Jurco actually does have potential and a change of scenery may actually be what that kid needs... Playing in Toronto under Babcock, Marchenko won't be any better than he was for us, and that's a borderline NHLer...

I'm happy, only because there were much better players behind him on the pecking order. We're one player closer to seeing what a player like Russo can bring to the table. We know what we had in Marchenko and it was a bottom pairing guy at best. Russo (as well as others) could develop into top 4 guys, and I'd bet anything they'll be better in the NHL than Marchenko ever was / will be...

So wouldn't that make Holland ultimately responsible for the on ice product? Or Illitch?