krsmith17

For f**** sake... way too many weak penalties called in that game for my liking...

I'm almost happy he didn't score on that penalty shot... What an awful call... Hopefully they can win it here in OT. I'm calling Athanasiou with the winner...

Just a feeling I guess. I hope you're right and they have been showcasing him though. I mentioned trading Ericsson to Edmonton a few days ago, retaining a million for a 3rd round pick. Not sure if it's doable, but Holland should at least be making a few phone calls... I've expressed how I feel about trading for Vatanen. I wouldn't do it. I think the amount we'd have to give up to get him, wouldn't be worth it. We need a number one defenseman and Vatanen definitely isn't one. I'd much rather just keep Green for the time being...

Werenski looks really good... I wish we could have traded up for him last year...

What's your point? Maybe you should read my previous post?

I'd much rather keep Ouellet and Sproul, because both have much higher ceilings than Marchenko my opinion. Unfortunately though, I think Ouellet may end up being the odd man out. Sproul is the main one I want to keep, even if he's just the number 7 next season. I still have high hopes for him, and I think he could become a potential replacement for Green in the next year or two. Jensen, I think will be exposed to waivers, and I do think he'd probably clear.

I agree that Vatanen is a complimentary piece, and we need someone that is, or has a high probability of developing into a number one defenseman. aka Trouba. I got to say though, I find it odd that you throw the "midget" word out there, and then you call someone out today for using the word "retarded"... I do think the latter word may be more offensive, but only slightly. Both are derogatory...

They wouldn't need to. I realize this is a thread about our 50 man roster, but I wasn't just talking about who should be on that list. I'd prefer Miele not count toward our 50 man roster as well, since he's not a prospect, and he'll never play a game with the big club.

I think we need a veteran defenseman down there, so for me it's either Lashoff or Paetsch. I don't care which one. Aubry is a decent bottom 6 center in the AHL, but I don't see him ever making the NHL. I'd much prefer Turgeon take over that role with the Griffins.

If we're ponying up the assets it would take to get Lindholm, I'd prefer we spend the same assets and go hard after Trouba. But Lindholm would probably be my second option. Vatanen would be one of my last picks out of the rumored defensemen available...

I hope we keep Frk as our 13th/14th forward going into next season. If we're trading for a defenseman, Vatanen is way down on my want list, but that's just my opinion. I think he's overrated...

I'd like to re-sign Lashoff as one of our veteran defensemen. I'm not sure if Paetsch will be back or not. I'd like to package one of Marchenko or Ouellet in a deal to get a top pair defenseman, with the other playing 3rd line with the Wings. I'm hoping we'll keep Sproul as our number 7 to start the season, and Jensen will likely be waived and sent to Grand Rapids if he clears. That would leave us with Lashoff / Paetsch, Jensen, Russo, Renouf, Hicketts and Saarijarvi down in Grand Rapids. I'm okay with not re-signing Aubry or Campbell, but I hope we re-sign Miele. I'm hoping Frk and Callahan are our 13th / 14th forwards next season, and we need to make room for Svechnikov and Turgeon, as well as full time spot for Nastasiuk. We also just signed Mathew Santos to an AHL contract from North Bay, so he will likely be on the team next year as well. I think it's time to move on from McCollum and go with Coreau and Paterson next season.

There are plenty of sites out there with this information, none quite as good as capgeek (RIP)... but the one I currently use is generalfanager.com.

Minnesota drafts at 15 and we draft at 16 because they finished the regular season with less points than us.

McDavid is hands down the best rookie this year in my opinion. However, there shouldn't be much debate that Panarin had the best rookie season. If McDavid didn't have the shoulder injury, missing nearly half the season, there's no question in my mind that he would have out-produced Panarin. Don't get me wrong, 77 points (30 goals, 47 assists) in 80 games is a great feat for any player, let alone a rookie, but 48 points (16 goals, 32 assists) in 45 games is very good as well. Panarin is also 5 years older than McDavid, and played 6 previous seasons of pro hockey against men in the KHL. Panarin also played the majority of his time on a line with Kane and Anisimov, whereas McDavid played most of his time with Eberle and Pouliot. A slight difference in quality of line mates there... I think McDavid is the better player, but with the season Panarin put together, he is more deserving of the Calder, and I think he will get it for sure...

Four years is an eternity in professional sports? Seriously? In what sense? I'd love to hear your rationale on this... "The ship" is not sinking. How difficult is it for some people to understand that we are in the process of a "rebuild"? We are and have been in the process of transitioning from the vets to the youth over the past few seasons, and we've still made the playoffs every season since then. But that's not good enough. People want us to fade from the Datsyuk, Zetterberg, Kronwall era to the Larkin, Mantha, DeKeyser era all while winning Cups every year along the way. It's completely unrealistic expectations. I'm sure not a single Red Wing player, management or fan is at all happy with the end result of any of the past five or so seasons. However, the players, management and most reasonable fans understand that there is a process we need to go through in order to get back to the top. Some think we should completely "tank" and others are quite happy to see us continue to make it into the playoffs every year, continue developing the young talent, and eventually we should be in a good enough position to make some moves and turn this team back into a contender. I believe that should start this season. We should make a trade or two to upgrade our defense, continue to transition from the vets to the youth, and squeak into the playoffs for the final year at the Joe. After next season is when we should start to see some huge changes getting ready for the new, highly controversial Little Caesar's Arena. In short, I think this team has a very bright future, I am very happy with where we're headed, but no I am not content with just making the playoffs every season, and neither is anyone else...

There's already 6 pages of draft talk here... http://www.letsgowings.com/forums/topic/80989-the-holiday-tradition-2016-draft-thoughts/page-6#entry2674926 I will add though, Bean is my number one choice, and I don't think "birth place" should be a factor in what player we draft. We need an offensive minded defenseman and Stanley is the complete opposite of that. No matter how "big and mean" he can be, with 21 points in 123 games in junior, I'd pass for a first rounder... And we're drafting at 16.

As I said before, I'd like to take Lucas Johansen with our 2nd round pick and take Kenny Johnson in the 4th or 5th round as a sleeper pick... Not surprised that Bean is rising, but very surprised that Chychrun is falling. I say we go hard after him. Trade Pulkkinen or Ouellet to move up a few spots if he's still available at 10-12...

That's why I think we might be able to trade Howard to Carolina. Their number one goalie is a UFA, and may not re-sign, they need to reach the cap floor, and it wouldn't cost them much in assets to acquire him...

There's definitely not "zero chance Trouba gets dealt". He was said to be available last season and I'm sure with the right package he could be again going into next season. Whether or not we have the pieces they would want / be willing to part with is a completely different story... Winnipeg has a solid top 4 in Enstrom, Byfuglien, Stuart and Meyers as well as Morrisey ready to crack the lineup next season or the year after. I don't think Trouba is untouchable but he certainly won't come cheap... Calgary is definitely a viable option for Howard, but why would you say that Carolina wouldn't be? Lack has been decent, but he has lost a step since his Vancouver days. Ward is a UFA, and I'm not sure what he would be looking for in a new contract, but I would imagine something similar to his $6.3M. They could let him walk and trade very little to Detroit for a very similar calibre goalie and save a million in cap space... Either way, it would be great to trade Howard wherever. And hopefully we can do so without retaining any cap...

My offseason wishlist... - Trade Pulkkinen along with our first to move up in the draft, and take Bean. - Trade Ericsson (retain $1M) to Edmonton for 2016 3rd. - Trade Howard to Carolina for low level prospect. - Trade Tatar, Ouellet and 2017 first to Winnipeg for Trouba. - Re-sign all RFA's. - Re-sign Helm 5 years at $3.25M. - Datsyuk plays out the remaining year of his contract. Larkin - Datsyuk - Abdelkader Nyquist - Zetterberg - Mantha Athanasiou - Sheahan - Jurco Helm - Glendening - Callahan Frk DeKeyser - Trouba Smith - Green Kronwall - Marchenko Sproul Mrazek UFA

I am not in any way over hyping or over rating Mantha, and you saying it over and over again is not going to make it true... Just because I think Mantha should have been in the lineup over a player that is not NHL quality (in my opinion) does not in any way mean that I think Mantha is our savior, or any better than he actually is... I said right from the beginning that the biggest reason I wanted Mantha in the lineup was because I didn't expect to go on a deep run this year and I would have much preferred one of our top prospects to get the ice time, one last chance with Datsyuk and the playoff experience, over a guy that we've waived (and cleared) countless times, and has already announced that he is leaving the team to go back home to Sweden to play in the SHL... I wouldn't have said s*** if Mantha were sent down in favor of Jurco, but the fact that an awful, zero impact player was put in while one of our top prospects was sent down, it really pissed me off. Yes, I do think we could have won an extra game with Mantha in over Andersson, but I'd say the same thing about Jurco, hell I'd even say the same about Frk or Tangradi. This could have just as easily been an Andersson thread. He's simply not a good hockey player, and THAT is why all of this started.. So one last time, Mantha is a very good young hockey player, I am not over rating him, but I do hope he makes this team next year. So unless you have something different to say, drop it... please..

To say that 6'0", 200lbs. isn't big enough for a 4th line grinder role is ridiculous... Glendening is the same size minus an inch. That is the exact same size as Kirk Maltby, which is a guy I would compare Callahan's style of play to a tee... I do agree that the chance of him making it is not looking great, but it certainly won't be because he's "too small"...

Buppy, I'm not in any way saying Mantha is as good as Tatar or should have replaced him. The comparison was simply to point out that it was an AWFUL decision to take ANYONE out of the lineup in place of Joakim Andersson. I used Tatar as my example, but I could have just as easily said Datsyuk or Larkin... You think it was a wise decision to take Mantha out and insert a player that is not even NHL calibre... Cool, I disagree... I hope Mantha makes the Red Wings out of camp next season. Please don't take that as me "over hyping" him...

Yeah, sure it would be pretty cool if it were given a better name, or if it were named after one of the greats, but it's not the worst thing that could happen. Regarding the top of the dome, if I'm not mistaken, wasn't it said that they would be able to change it for different events? Like for a concert, they could have the band logo or artists name on top, maybe they'll have the Winged Wheel up there for every game as well. Regardless, no matter what it's called or what logo is on the top, it's not going to stop me from ever going down for a game and rooting on the Wings...