krsmith17

Was just about to post the same thing amato. Any player that is bought out can be had for cheap. In saying that, neither Brown or Vanek interest me... Also, I am one of the biggest proponents to trade for / sign Trouba but an offer sheet is definitely not the way to do it. He could be had for a reasonable price, Holland just needs to pony up some assets and get it done...

Like I've said many times in past posts, we shouldn't be building for next year, we should be building for a couple years from now... Getting rid of a few bad contracts in one year while adding a stud defenseman would be a huge success. Of course I don't expect anything close to this to happen, but to me, it's the route "I" would personally go... I think that team on paper would squeeze into a playoff spot next year, but would be in great position to make a Cup run in a couple years time...

Summer wish list... - Trade Datsyuk to Arizona for Pronger. - Trade Ericsson (retain $1M) to Edmonton for a mid - late round pick. - Trade Howard to Calgary for a mid round pick. - Trade Pulkkinen to New Jersey for a mid round pick. - Trade Tatar, Ouellet, 2017 1st round pick to Winnipeg for Trouba. - Re-sign all RFA's. - Let all UFA's walk except Helm. - Sign Helm 3 years at $2.75M. - Sign Okposo 4 years at $5M. - Sign a veteran backup. - Draft McLeod and Johansen in first 2 rounds... Abdelkader - Larkin - Okposo Nyquist - Zetterberg - Jurco Athanasiou - Sheahan - Mantha Helm - Glendening - Callahan Frk DeKeyser - Trouba Smith - Green Kronwall - Marchenko Sproul Mrazek Backup

I'm pretty sure Nosek is waiver exempt for another year. I do hope that Holland is very busy leading up to the draft, but I doubt he does a whole lot...

Yeah, I seen that too. I'd rather trade him, retaining a million or so than buy him out though. Ericsson is a decent 2nd - good 3rd pairing guy, and $3.25M is worth that in my opinion. We just need to make room for some of these kids we have coming up through the system...

Obviously he didn't "stand out" as a good possession guy, or in any other positive way to those that continuously look for the negative in his game... Your opinion based on the ol' eye ball test against my opinion based on numbers and stats... You're right, you win...

Yeah, my biggest qualm with this contract is that there is one thing Holland has been GREAT at, and that's re-signing his RFA's to low cap-friendly contracts. This one seems a little high to me. Hopefully it's a blip and not a sign of things to come with Pulkkinen, DeKeyser, Marchenko and Mrazek...

... for Pronger, 3rd round pick and Michalek...

Pretty much how I feel as well. Sheahan walked away the winner today, but I do think he has all the tools and potential for it to be a very good deal for both sides. I don't think he "deserved" double the salary based on his numbers, but I think (hope) he will have a breakout year this year and earn this contract...

Don't get me wrong, I don't think it's crippling by any stretch, just higher than I would have expected. Especially since Holland's strongest area is re-signing his RFA's to very low cap contracts... I agree, there's no reason not to expect 30+ points next season, and that along with his faceoff ability, two-way play and big body is worth it. $1.5M would have been great, $2M is reasonable.

Significantly higher than I was expecting... I was thinking between $1.25-1.5M... He just had his worst season statistically speaking and he doubles his annual salary?...

Riley Sheahan agrees to two-year contract at $2.075M... That can't be AAV is it?

Buyout period starts today...

There is also a stat, not sure where I seen it now, so take it for what it's worth, but it was something to the effect of Smith leading the team in passes completed that lead to shots on goal and high quality scoring chances. I'm not saying his lack of production is all because of bad luck, or lack of teammates being able to finish, but it is likely a contributing factor, as small as it may be...

Smith is an unbelievably good possession player, not just on the Red Wings but league wide. He's one of our top puck moving defensemen and by far our best skating defenseman. He's just now reaching his prime and I believe we will finally see exactly what he is capable of this year. He has never put up big points at the NHL level but there's no reason to think he can't crush his career highs this season. Even if he doesn't put up huge point totals, he's still very valuable because when he's on the ice, the puck spends more time in the offensive zone than the defensive zone... Also, I'm not trying to knock Green because I think he had a much better year than most give him credit for, but for all the extra minutes he had over Smith, he finished the season with a whopping 1 single even strength point more than Smith... I know a lot of people don't think Smith has "earned" power-play time, but I think his point totals would double and the power-play would be more dangerous with Smith on one of the units...

When a player is THAT much better in virtually every advanced stat, I think it definitely holds water. I also believe that level of competition is a bit of a wash over the course of a season. You can argue that a coach tries to put his bottom pairing guys out against weaker competition, but what about all the times the oppositions coach tries to put his top lines out against your lower pairs? Home coach usually wins the matchup battle due to having last change, and every team has 41 home games and 41 road games. I think Smith would line up pretty evenly with other "top 4" defensemen around the league in regards to level of competition...

I think so too, I just hope they keep Sproul and trade Ouellet... I think Ouellet's trade value is much higher right now and Sproul's ceiling is much higher...

Too early for me. We don't know yet who would have to be protected or who could be exposed. Or even if it's going to be the same format of players from the last expansion draft. I have a good idea who I'd protect, but without an accurate list in front of me, I can't say for sure... I definitely wouldn't protect Zetterberg or Kronwall in two years time though...

Yeah man, f*** stats, they're way overrated. Smith sucks because a few fans refuse to accept the fact that he's a completely different player than he was a couple years ago. Every advanced stat indicates that Smith is a top 4 defenseman, but because you say he sucks, it must make it true... I agree that Holland trading for Trouba is very unlikely but I'm still holding out hope, just like I am with several other things on my summer wish list... I'd be okay with Fowler for sure, but that's even more unlikely than Trouba, and I doubt Anaheim would want Howard, certainly not for one of their top defensemen.

I would much rather dump any defenseman in the entire organization over Smith... aside from maybe DeKeyser. Smith is by far our best puck moving defenseman, and for a team that lacks defenseman that can efficiently move the puck up ice, Smith is very valuable. You could be right on that trade as it would make sense for both teams, Holland just needs to pay more than Sakic is willing to. Trouba is one of the few defensemen rumored to be available that I'd overpay for. Yandle is overrated and will get massively overpaid. People say that we should try to trade Green, well Yandle is just a left handed Mike Green in my opinion...

I would do whatever it takes to trade Ericsson, retain a portion of his cap hit if we have to, and go with... DeKeyser - trade target (Trouba) Smith - Green Kronwall - Marchenko Sproul That's a pretty solid defense if you ask me, and hopefully Sproul can take over for Green in a year or two as the 2nd pairing / power-play quarterback. I don't see us landing Stamkos, but if we do, that would be a massive addition giving up no assets, so who gives a s*** about losing a player or two to waivers in that case... There's obviously zero chance Larkin plays in Grand Rapids ever again. Although I'd love for both Athanasiou and Mantha to make the big club out of camp, there's a chance one or both could be sent back down to start the season... Here's how I see the players no longer waiver exempt working out... Sproul is up as our 7th defenseman. Ouellet is traded in a package. Jensen is waived and clears. Lashoff is signed to a two-way contract to play in GR. Tangradi was already signed. Miele signs a similar contract. Frk and Callahan are up as our 13th/14th forwards. Cleary takes a job within the organization. Aubry is let go. Coreau is re-signed to a two-way contract to start in GR and eventually backup in Detroit. McCollum is let go.

I disagree that we should trade Jurco or Pulkkinen for the simple fact that the value for both is at its lowest right now. However, I would add either (preferably Pulkkinen) in a package to land the top pairing defenseman. First you say that we need to trade Smith and then you say that we need to trade for a 2nd pairing defenseman... Smith is more than capable of filling that role, so why trade him? Sproul should be our 7th defenseman, Ouellet should be used as part of the package to land that top pair defenseman, and Jensen will likely be waived and clear. Frk is out of options as well and he will either be our 13th/14th forward or be waived, depending on his training camp...

I'd be okay with that but what would be coming back the other way?

That was two years ago. He also said the same thing last year and didn't... Obviously anything any general manager says to the media has to be taken with a grain of salt, but I don't think Holland would be willing to give up valuable assets to rid the team of a contract that is off the books in years time anyway. This team isn't ready to contend next season regardless of what happens with Datsyuk's contract, so having to eat that cap hit for one season wouldn't be the worst thing that could happen. If we can trade it for a reasonable price, we should obviously do it, but if it's going to cost us valuable assets, we shouldn't...

I'm assuming that comment was directed at me saying we shouldn't trade Jurco? I've always said that Jurco is going to be a very good middle 6 winger, with top 6 potential, same for Jarnkrok and Janmark. A player doesn't need to be a "superstar" to not want to trade him. To trade a player with Jurco's potential as a throw-in just to get rid of Datsyuk's contract with one year remaining on it would be poor management in my opinion. I'd hate to lose Jurco in any trade right now just because I feel his value is at an all-time low right now. However if he was part of the package that brought in a top pairing defenseman, I'd be fine with that, but not just to trade Datsyuk's contract...