krsmith17

I don't think this team is coasting because they are content in just making the playoffs every year. I believe they are trying to make the playoffs every year, while they're waiting for the next wave of kids to become impact players. The next wave will include some variation of Larkin, Athanasiou, Mantha, Bertuzzi, Ouellet, Sproul, etc. and I believe they're almost ready. When they are, that is when this team will become competitive again. Missing or making the playoffs will have no barring on the direction this team is headed in my opinion...

Yup exactly, and that one would / should be Ott and / or Miller. Regardless, I still think (hope) there's a trade to happen before any of this takes place. Holland created this mess, now it's on him to clean it up...

Correct me if I'm wrong here, but I think you got that backwards kip... If we were to waive Howard and / or Ericsson, we'd retain their entire cap hit minus the $900K or whatever it is... If you bury a bad contract, only a small fraction comes off the books, otherwise every team with these awful contracts would be sending them down to the minors, with little repercussion...

nyquististhefuture, unfortunately I don't see Ouellet or Sproul cracking the top 6 out of camp, unless there's an injury (Holland would only be so lucky)... But yes, we can carry as many defensemen as we want toward the 23-man roster. Most common is 14 forwards, 7 defensemen and 2 goalies, but a team can carry any variation they want / need to based on the makeup of their team. 13, 8 and 2 is not unheard of, and could be a possibility for us to start the season if there aren't any trades made...

Zero chance that happens though. Like I mentioned in another thread, we have never lost any player of significance on waivers. There's no way we lose all 4 of Sproul, Ouellet, Jensen and Frk. I think Jensen will be waived and clear, and spend another season in Grand Rapids. I think he may try to slip Frk through at the beginning of the season, and he also has a high chance to clear. And I'd be shocked if he waives either of Ouellet or Sproul, because neither would clear, and there's no chance he would waive both...

Yeah, with those 6, I'd prefer to see... DeKeyser - Green Kronwall - Smith Ericsson - Marchenko But of course, I'd prefer to see... DeKeyser - Trouba Smith - Green Kronwall - Marchenko

I actually like those lines. The only change I would make is put Jurco in over Miller. I'd also like to have Mantha in over Glendening but there's no way that's happening...

While I get what you're saying, I still think if it came down to waiving Miller or Jurco, he would waive Miller. Jurco would get claimed, Miller definitely wouldn't. You always go the safer route there...

Frk will likely be waived, and will more than likely clear. Jurco or Pulkkinen will not be waived. You can say what you want about Holland, but he will definitely waive Ott and possibly even Miller before he would Jurco or Pulkkinen. Also, the only thing Helm's $3.85M guarantees is a roster spot. He is most likely going to fit in as the 3rd line center or winger, which is exactly where he should be. There's absolutely no reason to believe he will get top 6 minutes (unless there's injuries).

Comparisons between Helm and Cleary include... - Canadian - play(ed) for the Red Wings - shoot left So yes, this is definitely Cleary 2.0...

Credit to Holland? F*** that! Never! Holland sucks and I've heard he kicks puppies... Also, Helm is a 4th liner...

I highly doubt Helm's contract has a NMC, and I guarantee Glendening's contract does not...

Let's wait and see before we accuse Holland of waiving all these players. Maybe he has something in the works... We haven't really lost anyone of significance on waivers, so I can't really see it starting this year with a Sproul type player... In the past 7 years we have lost Mattias Ritola, Joey MacDonald, Andrej Nestrasil and Landon Ferraro. Of those 4 players, the only player I would say was a mistake losing was Ferraro, and only because I think he was an upgrade over Miller. But when it's an ever-so-slight upgrade over your number 12 forward, it's not a "huge" loss... Speaking of Miller, he was the only player we claimed off waivers in that time... Of the four that could potentially be waived this year (no way all 4 get waived), the only one I think will definitely be waived is Jensen, and I would say he has about a 95% chance to clear, so I'm okay with that. Frk could possibly be waived as well, and I'd say he has about an 80% chance to clear, so it is a risk, one I'd prefer not to have to take... Ouellet and Sproul are the one's that I'm concerned about because I'd say both have about 80% chance to be claimed... If either of those two are waived (let alone claimed), that would be awful roster management, and I'd begin to question Holland's ability to manage this team going forward... He needs to make a trade, and I'm not fully confident that he will make one, or that he will make the right one...

Again, what buds??? People are trying to create this narrative that Larkin is buddy buddy with all these Leaf players when it's not true at all... Why? Just to be negative? There's not enough negativity around here lately?... If Larkin were to leave the Wings to play with a buddy, it would be Columbus with Werenski, and if you believe he's going to leave Detroit to play in Columbus, whatever...

I don't see how Turgeon or Nastasiuk wouldn't be an upgrade over Glendening in the next 5 years...

Holland gives Blashill 14 forwards and 7 defenseman, it's up to Blash which 12 and 6 he uses. I think the only situation in which Holland would step in, is when it comes to waiver eligibility. Since that doesn't apply in the playoffs, it was most definitely Blashill's (terrible) decision to call up and play Andersson in the playoffs...

Okay? And what's your point? I said they likely became buddies since they were teammates and linemates... Since then, I wouldn't be surprised if they haven't hung out once. Sure they could have, but my point was that I don't think they were ever that close... I'm sure Larkin is closer with other players around the league, I doubt Zach Hyman would be a reason for Larkin to jump ship to Toronto...

I wasn't even thinking about the expansion draft... Does this indicate that Glendening will be one of the players we protect next year? I'm not sure, but if he is one of the protected forwards I will be pissed... Holland surely can't be that dumb though is he?...

Zone starts is one of the many different stats calculated into advanced analytics, so no, I don't think the numbers are skewed at all. Glendening is THAT bad at possessing the puck... but who needs that little black thing when you're awesome at blocking it... amirite?

The thing that bothers me the most about this signing is that for whatever reason it needed to be done this offseason... Why the urgency to lock up a 4th line plug to a 4 year contract when he still has a year remaining on his contract? Why not see what happens in another full season and worry about re-signing him next off-season if you really feel the need to? Glendening wasn't going anywhere, so why the rush? Were you really afraid that his value was going to skyrocket above $1.8M? Not likely... I like Glendening, he works his a** off every shift of every game, and I don't doubt he's a great guy to have in the locker room, especially to help the kids get in shape. But none of that makes up for the on ice product, and the on-ice product is bad... He's good at face-offs? Great, but what good is gaining possession if you're just going to lose it right away? He's good at blocking shots? He damn well better be, because he never has the puck...

Saw who at the mall?...

Holy f***ing unnecessary over-payment... What does management see in Glendening? I don't get it...

PVD, I wouldn't necessarily say we messed up not signing Quine, I just think Quine was managed better in New York than he would have been if he were still here. I think Jurco is / was a better hockey player than Quine and if we had kept Quine instead of Jurco, I think Quine would be very underwhelming in our system and Jurco would be tearing it up in New York's system, or wherever he ended up being re-drafted. As great as this organization is at drafting, I really don't think they've been the best at developing some of these kids the past few years. There are several "fringe" players like Jurco, Pulkkinen, Frk, Ouellet, Sproul, etc. that I believe probably would have been a lot better players right now if they were with another organization. Of course there's no way to prove this, just a personal opinion. Regardless, I don't think Quine was a huge loss for us, nor do I think he's any better than any of the fringe players we currently have, fighting to make this team this season...

Yeah, size should never be the determining factor in drafting, and I'd draft skill over size every time, but I don't like drafting super small players either. Take for example, Alex Debrincat, he's a hell of a hockey player, but at 5'7", I wouldn't have wanted him in the early 2nd round. He could turn out to be the next Martin St. Louis, but it's a lot more likely that he becomes one of the countless other junior phenoms that never make it due to size. Of course he'll become an all-star though since the Hawks drafted him... I prefer to draft height over weight, because weight / muscle can be gained through proper nutrition / exercise, height is a lot harder after the age of 18...

In other words, if he gets traded...