krsmith17

I agree that teams need offensive defensemen that can drive possession, but teams also need steady, reliable, two-way defensemen such as DeKeyser. This is not a home-run deal by any stretch, but I think it's a solid contract, one that absolutely needed to get hammered down. We certainly could not afford to lose DeKeyser, and although I thought he might take a bit of a hometown discount, I doubt we could have gotten a whole lot lower than what he signed. Look around the league at some of the number 2 / 3 defensemen (which is what I believe DeKeyser is) and see what kind of contracts they're on... Tobias Enstrom - $5.75M over 5 years. Marc Staal - $5.7M over 6 years. Jeff Petry - $5.5M over 6 years. Dan Girardi - $5.5M over 6 years. Brooks Orpik - $5.5M over 6 years. Matt Carle - $5.5M over 6 years. James Wisniewski - $5.5M over 6 years. Jay Bouwmeester - $5.4M over 5 years. Dennis Wideman - $5.25M over 5 years. Zach Bogosian - $5.14M over 7 years. Andy Green - $5M over 5 years Andrew MacDonald - $5M over 6 years. Alexander Edler - $5M over 6 years. Paul Martin - $5M over 5 years. Is there a single one of them you can say is definitively better than DeKeyser? Nope. DeKeyser needs to be paired with a number one puck moving defenseman, and then we would finally see what he is really capable of. No one is saying he's elite, and he's not being paid like he's elite. He's a solid number 2 / 3, and that's exactly how he's getting paid. Good contract, that has the potential to turn out to be a great contract...

I completely agree with that assessment. I don't even expect him to make it to the NHL, but it depends on who you ask... The hype obviously isn't coming from management, but I know for a fact there are a TON of Wings fans that have him catapulted to the top of our defense prospects list and fully expect him to become a legit top pair defenseman and elite power-play quarterback... You don't think that's overhyping?...

Agreed. I wasn't disputing your point, just clarifying a couple that have already signed.

Pretty sure Schenn, Barrie and Dumba are signed. Not sure about the others though... Edit: Barrie isn't yet.

Vili Saarijarvi would be my pick for current prospect that never lives up to the hype...

To be clear, I don't agree with the article entirely. I think re-signing DeKeyser was a must, and I'm quite okay with the contract he signed.

No, as far as I know neither side filed for arbitration...

http://www.tsn.ca/detroit-made-the-wrong-decision-on-dekeyser-1.534255

I disagree. Holland would have given him half the term and quite possibly even less salary. I bet if he were still a Wing with the same role and production, he would have received a 2-3 year, $1.75-2M AAV. Holland has always been good at extending his RFA's to bridge deals, it's the UFA's that I get worried about...

I wouldn't give up much for Shattenkirk on an expiring contract. I'd prefer to go after a defenseman with a little more term, or be sure he would be willing to re-sign in Detroit, like would be the case for a hometown kid like Trouba...

PVD, if you value "safe", "defensive", and "shot blocking" then yes, Glendening is a solid choice. However, I personally think all of those qualities are overrated in today's game. I prefer players that are capable and willing to take risks to make things happen offensively. The best defense is a good offense. I'd also rather players that use their speed and hockey smarts to position themselves so they don't have to block a ton of shots. I don't think Glendening is completely useless (like Miller and Ott), because he does have decent wheels. I just don't believe in locking up 4th line players for another 5 years at nearly $2M per, especially a full calender year before it needed to be done...

Helm is definitely not way better than Jarnkrok. This is more so a great deal by Poile than the Helm contract being a terrible deal by Holland... Jarnkrok took a major discount on salary to get longer term. I think he could have and probably should have either gotten a higher salary or taken a much shorter term. For every steal out there, I can point out a player of the other extreme...

... and on the flip side, if we let Ericsson walk back a couple years ago and he became what Hjalmarsson is in Chicago, the same people would be complaining that Holland let a top 4 defenseman with great size walk for nothing... Hindsight is 20/20, and some people, no matter what, will find something to b**** about. We should have done this, we shouldn't have done that... Regardless, I'm happy with these two contracts. Good job Holland. Now if you could just grow some balls and make a trade, I'd be thrilled...

Once both Franzen and Vitale go on LTIR, they will be right up against the cap with 23 roster players.

Okay, so it was a 2 year, $4M deal, but I thought it had already gone to arbitration. Good to hear they avoided arbitration once again.

I'm pretty sure the hearing started at 10:00 am EST. So they settled the contract through arbitration which I'm kind of surprised about. Both generalfanager.com and capfriendly.com have announced a 2 year, $4M contract. No official word from Red Wings yet though so take that with a grain of salt...

I think DeKeyser is or at least has the potential to be on the same level as Seabrook. The different in their game in my opinion starts and ends with their partners. Seabrook has played with one of the better defensemen in the league for the better part of his career, while DeKeyser has played mostly with average to below average defense partners. The Keith - Seabrook pairing has been one of the best in the league, and I believe with the right partner (Trouba or similar), DeKeyser - (offensive defenseman) could have the same sort of potential. DeKeyser is a calming presence on the blueline, and is a very good number 3 or a solid number 2 on any team. I would have liked if he had signed at more of a hometown discount, say around $4.5M per, but I think $5M will end up being a steal in a few years. I'd definitely take DeKeyser at $5M until he's 32 over Seabrook at $6.875M until he's 39... Also, comparing this contract to Ericsson's is laughable...

I've heard it's 2 years and $4M. Nothing official yet though...

They will get a little over $5M in relief when Franzen and Vitale go on LTIR. Franzen - $3,954,545 Vitale - $1,116,666 Total = $5,071,211 We are currently $867,042 over the salary cap ceiling (before LTIR), so as long as Mrazek doesn't cost more than $4.2M we're fine... edit: That's with us at 15 forwards and 6 defensemen. You'd have to think we'll go with at least one less forward and one more defenseman (possibly two). Regardless, the numbers shouldn't be that much different if we waive Ott ($800K) and keep Ouellet ($715K) and / or Sproul (RFA, shouldn't get much more than Ouellet)...

Mrazek's arbitration hearing is today. I know it's looking unlikely at this point, but is it possible they could still get a deal done before the hearing? Not sure what time it's supposed to be...

My biggest problem with the Glendening signing is that 4th line centers of his caliber (decent speed, good on faceoffs, no offensive ability) are a dime a dozen. You shouldn't have to overpay on term or cap hit for a mediocre to bad 4th line center, and we did on both in my opinion. Yes I think Turgeon will be a better option in a few years, but let's see how his first year of pro goes first. That brings me to the next issue I have with the signing. We still had another full season to get this deal done, so why not wait to see how Glendening does this season? I highly doubt his play would demand higher than he's currently getting. We could also see how Turgeon does in his first year in Grand Rapids, as well as another season for Nosek, or even Holmstrom or Ehn overseas... The Vanek signing was low risk, high reward, but that's the type of signing you make if you're trying to contend for the Cup, not a team that is trying to "rebuild on the fly"... You don't sign a veteran like Vanek when any number of players that will likely be sitting or playing in Grand Rapids could replace him. Jurco and / or Pulkkinen (once healthy) will likely be sitting again, and I'd prefer either of them over Vanek. I'd MUCH rather Mantha over Vanek, and hell, I'd even prefer play Frk over Vanek... I just think this was one of the not so obvious very bad signings this offseason. Not because I think Vanek will be bad, I think he could potentially be decent to good, but I'd much rather one of the kids have the chance to be decent to good... The kids are the future, Vanek is not. The Miller and Ott signings are the very obvious very bad signings. Not because I want Bertuzzi in the lineup, I'd prefer he spend at least one more year in Grand Rapids anyway. But if these guys are going to sit as they should (but doubt they will), I'd rather have Callahan or Frk or even Pulkkinen as our 13th / 14th forwards over those two scrubs... Although I think both Nielsen and Helm were slightly overpaid on term and / or cap, I think both players are key to this team's success. We could not go into the season with Zetterberg and Larkin as our top 2 centers. Zetterberg needs his minutes and responsibility reduced and Larkin isn't quite ready to be a true number one center yet. I do think he will be okay sharing duty with Nielsen as a 1A / 1B type situation though. Helm is a great bottom 6 center (or winger), and is one of the most effective penalty killers in the entire league. These are probably the two most scrutinized Holland signings this summer, but also in my opinion the two best. They're certainly the two best players that we signed / re-signed (yes I think Helm is better than Vanek "in his role") and in order to lock any quality player up in free agency these days, you're going to have to overpay...

Not a single person has ever said "Helm is great", without saying it in the context of bottom 6 forward. Helm is a great bottom 6 forward, arguably one of the best in the league. Stats prove this...

I've said from the beginning that I think Helm is slightly overpaid. I'm talking $500K - $1M max. My issue isn't when people say he's overpaid, my issue is when people constantly say he "sucks"... Good on you for giving Lefty the benefit of the doubt that this won't be just like the Franzen hate though. Myself, I don't have near that much confidence in him...

The difference between you hating on Helm and others loving on Helm is that you have no basis for an argument. Stats prove Helm is a very good bottom 6 player. Your opinion does not prove that Helm "sucks"...

Sproul >>> Wisniewski