krsmith17

Not a good start...

http://www.mlive.com/redwings/index.ssf/2015/05/red_wings_believe_johan_franze.html "I'm told he's working out every day. I expect to see him return in training camp. I expect to see him playing hockey next year. Until I hear otherwise, that's how I'm going to proceed." - Ken Holland

Mantha is looking really good tonight. Maybe rejuvenated playing with those two. That line looks great. Also, I f***ing LOVE Bertuzzi. Kid is unreal. May not be anything more than a 3rd line winger at the NHL level (I think he has top six potential...) but he's the type of player you win with.

Mantha - Larkin - Pulkkinen starting the game together...

All I heard on Nosek is that he will miss at least the next two games, and Larkin will be centering a line with Pulkkinen...

I don't ever want to see any team win back to back Cups again, nor do I want any team to ever win more than 2 Cups in a decade... unless of course it's the Detroit Red Wings... F*** The Chicago Blackhawks...

I agree Helmethead, but he is 20 years old, he'll be 21 before the season starts, which is still very young.

To think Mantha is a bust at this point is crazy. People see his point totals from his last year in junior (57-63-120 - 2.11 PTS/G) and then compare it to his first year pro (15-18-33 - 0.53 PTS/G) and think he's fallen off, which really isn't the case at all. A point every other game is very reasonable for a first year pro, the problem is, people had their expectations set way too high for this kid and expected him to rip up the AHL... some even expected him to rip up the NHL last year... Fact is, most every player that makes the jump from junior to pro go through a tough transition in their first year. There's not a doubt in my mind that Mantha will still become a legit top 6 winger in the NHL. I still believe he will be a 30-40 goal man in the NHL in 3-5 years... I watch a lot of Griffins hockey and I'll be the first to admit that he doesn't skate his ass off every shift, but I think that's more to him picking his spots than it is his lack of work ethic. Pretty much every single player in the Detroit Red Wings organization is a two-way player, I honestly hope they don't make this kid change his game too much, taking away from his offensive output. Keep him on a line with Larkin for a full season next year, let them gain chemistry and watch them both explode offensively. Once they're ready to crack the NHL, add a player like Helm to their line, and you won't have to worry about Mantha not back-checking. Let the kid do what he does best, put the puck in the net...

I honestly wouldn't be at all surprised if the Griffins win 4 straight, taking the series in 5. I think we're much deeper up front (GRG - 3.5 GF/G vs UTI - 2.2 GF/G) and better on the back end as well, but we lose in the goaltending battle (GRG - 2.9 GA/G, UTI - 2.2 GA/G). We have much better special teams (GRG - 25%PP, UTI - 14.8%PP / GRG - 84.1%PK, UTI - 77.2%PK). Markstrom is the better goalie, but since those first two goals against McCollum, he has looked very solid. They finished 3 points ahead in the regular season but with the additions of Larkin and Bertuzzi, I think that puts us over the top.

McCollum is playing great. The team as a whole is playing much better than last night though.

I don't get why you would think that Glendening would "follow Babs"... He's under contract with the Detroit Red Wings. He can't just decide to pack up his gear and move to Toronto, nor would he even if he could. There has been a lot of joking about trading Glendening to Toronto for Kessel or a 1st round pick or whatever because of how much Babcock loves him but he isn't going anywhere. I'm sure Holland and Blashill appreciate Glendening's game just as much as Babcock. He's here to stay and for good reason, he's a great 4th line shut down center.

I'm not sure of any free streams. I use hockeystreams.com, which I pay for and you can also pay for a stream on AHLlive...

Not worried. It's been all Griffins so far. McCollum's not going to steal any games but he needs to at least give them a chance... Way too many odd man rushes for Utica though...

The argument isn't "big name players", my argument is "all-star, franchise type player"... They will NOT be moved... No way Yzerman lets Stamkos leave, be it waivers or trade...

No, you're absolutely right to say "we don't know who is going to get moved", but where you're wrong is suggesting that there is even a remote possibility that any of Stamkos, Kopitar, Seabrook or several others will not get re-signed. There is absolutely no chance. These teams would trade away half of their team before they let any of these guys walk. And if you're suggesting trading for any of them, A. what exactly do you think it would cost? B. do you honestly think Holland would make the trade? and C. would it be beneficial for us to trade away a couple roster players, a couple top end prospects (Larkin / Mantha) / draft picks for one player? I don't think so... Like I said before, Brent Seabrook, never going to happen. Erik Johnson, hell yeah, I'd make a phone call...

I'm not sure where you're getting the idea that other teams are putting "babies on the ice and they (for the most part) do just fine"... I don't think that's very accurate. For the most part I believe that if a player is drafted anywhere between 1-5, depending on the team drafting, the type of player, the league he played in previous, how deep the draft is, etc., etc. he MAY be ready right out of the gate. After that, between 5-10 are usually ready in the second year after being drafted and anyone after that is a crap shoot. We haven't drafted in the top 10 since 1991 when we selected Martin Lapointe 10th overall, so our draft picks usually need 2+ years of developing. Of course there are always the exceptions with some later first round steals, or early first round misses, but I think that's a pretty fair guideline to go by... Also, the average age for NHL rookies league wide, since 2000 has been between 21-22 years of age. Since 2000, 44 18 year-olds have made their NHL debut, 124 19 year-olds, 323 20 year-olds, 323 21 year-olds, 330 22 year-olds, 283 23 year-olds, 186 24 year-olds, 128 25 year-olds, 73 26 year-olds, 114 27+ years-old... I'm not sure the success rates on these players, but I think that would be very interesting... My guess would be, aside from the "can't miss" players picked in the top 3-5, the players that make their debut 21 years-old and later have the higher success rate than the players that crack the league prior to their 21st birthday. I have nothing to base this on however, purely speculation on my part...

I remember in the first game of his second conditioning stint with the Griffins he was playing in a lesser role with (I think it was) Hoggan and Porter (he and porter split center duty). Then in the second game he was moved up and playing with Pulkkinen and Callahan, if I recall corrently... I know he had a couple points (both goals?) in those two games and I remember one that he scored seconds into one of the games (game 1 I believe)... Anyway, I do hope Blash gives him a fair shot in training camp, along with a few of the other guys...

I am very excited to see what Blashill can do with this team. But what I am most excited about is there are no guarantees where players will line up on the roster... Will Ericsson remain on the top pair? Will Smith get a look on the power-play? Will Weiss have a chance at the 2nd line center spot? Will Jurco be in the top 6(9)? Will Pulkkinen be utilized better in the offensive zone (left side faceoff circle), Will Abdelkader / Helm remain in the top 6 (not necessarily saying they shouldn't...)? Will Ferraro / Callahan get a look on the 4th line? A lot of question marks... Going to be an exciting training camp. Can't wait!!!

Top 6 go-to guy in Grand Rapids >>> Bottom 6 support guy in Detroit - (in regards to what is best for his development) Develop this kid the right way, don't rush him like we did Jurco. I understand that there is a huge difference between Larkin and Jurco, but Jurco was also a year older than what Larkin will be going into camp this season. He wasn't ready and neither is Larkin in my opinion. Let's see what he can do in the next few weeks, but even if he puts up a point per game, I still say he should start next season in the American League...

I'm as excited about this kid as anybody but I'd definitely prefer to see him spend a year down in Grand Rapids. We've been doing it (developing our prospects) right for so long, I don't want to stray from that. I do think he is our future top line center and I don't want to set him back in his development by rushing him to the bigs. People need to remember that he is still only 18 years old (will be 19 by training camp). It's not even that I don't believe he is physically ready, or that he is not skilled enough, for me, I want to make sure he is mentally ready, and I don't think many teenagers are. Let's just see what he can do over the next few weeks in the Calder Cup Playoffs before we anoint him and trade away our third line center... My prediction is he puts up a few points but doesn't dominate like many think he will. I'll say 5-7 points in 10-14 games... Either way, I was looking forward to Sunday nights game, this just adds to the excitement. Go Larkin! Go Griffins!

Do you really think it's even remotely possible that these teams are just going to let their star players walk?... Chicago WILL re-sign Seabrook, Tampa WILL re-sign Stamkos, Los Angeles WILL re-sign Kopitar, etc, etc... In saying that, one interesting name that I have wanted on this team for a few years now is Erik Johnson. I would give up a significant amount to get him here...

I doubt any team gives up this years 3rd so it's hard to say. It could be year 3 before we see that draft pick and any of the teams could be up or down in that time.

I didn't say anything about a defensive defenseman not being capable of being a top pairing guy, hell that's the only reason Ericsson is currently in that spot. But what I am saying is that I don't see Marchenko ever becoming anything more than a 3rd pairing defenseman. Does that mean he will never play above the third pair? No. That means skill wise, he is not a 2nd and definitely not a top pairing defenseman at the NHL level. You're seriously comparing Marchenko, a 205th overall pick, that has a whopping 14 games of NHL experience to Seabrook, a 14th overall pick, that has played in over 750 NHL games... They are in no way similar. Seabrook is one of the best two-way defenders in the game, Marchenko is our 3rd or 4th ranked defensive prospect in our system... "Defense wins championships. Our defense needs to be better overall"... But we shouldn't be drafting a defenseman in the first round? We need to draft BIG forwards... It absolutely does mean something to have played in Europe for 4 years prior to coming over to North America. It means that he has been playing pro hockey against grown men since he was 17 years old. Whether that's in North America or Europe is irrelevant, and like it or not, the KHL is a much better league than any junior league in North America. Sure, it's a completely different style of game but the skill is absolutely there, and it's not easy to defend over there as a teenager playing against men. You just named 5 players, and 2 (Jarnkrok & Janmark) of the 5 may still have a shot as regular NHLers. Anyway, I'm done with this. I think we need to concentrate on defense, you disagree. Moving on...

Great post b.shanafan14. I feel exactly the same way.