krsmith17

I've seen this floated around quite a bit, but I don't see it happening. There's a reason players are bought out every season, and not just buried in the minors, especially with multiple years remaining on their contract. First off, in most cases, it gives the team (slightly) more cap relief, and secondly, it gives the player an opportunity to play elsewhere. Burying Nielsen in the minors would give us $1.075M in cap relief the next two seasons ($4.175M on the books). Buying out Nielsen would give us $1,833,333 and $833,333 in cap relief the next two seasons, and only an extra $666,667 on the books in each of the following two seasons. That's nothing, especially when you consider much of our team will be on entry level contracts at that time. I think if he were waived and sent to Grand Rapids, he would retire rather than bussing around city to city in the AHL... And if he were bought out he would be forced to retire, since no other team would be offering him a contract... I just think in this situation a buyout is the better option for team and player... A buyout probably won't happen, but I think it's more likely than waiving him.

I agree that we should make use of our cap space, but I don't think we should be signing any big name free agents. I'd still like to see us take on a bad contract to gain assets with all that cap space. There are a lot of bad contracts out there... Johnny Boychuk - 2 years, $6M Loui Eriksson - 2 years, $6M Bobby Ryan - 2 year, $7.25M Milan Lucic - 3 years, $5.25M Andrew Ladd - 3 years, $5.5M Kyle Okposo - 3 years, $6M Brent Burns - 4 years, $6.875 I'd take any of the first three (2 year deals) on that list, if we could get a 1st round pick, plus... especially if we're buying out a player like Nielsen... If we're buying out a player, it needs to be Nielsen, not Filppula. Filppula is the one player on the team that makes zero sense to buyout, as it does nothing for us cap wise. He's on a "35 plus contract", and therefore, if he were bought out, the entire $3M would remain on the books for next season regardless. Filppula is also a much better player at this point, and he's also a player Yzerman signed less than a year ago. It's much easier to buyout a player that your predecessor signed, rather than the one you just signed... I wouldn't buyout Abdelkader at this point, but a Nielsen buyout really wouldn't be that bad. While it would be on the books for 4 years, it would be minimal in years 3 and 4... 2020-21 - $3,416,667 2021-22 - $4,416,667 2022-23 - $666,667 2023-24 - $666,667 Also, the Ouellet $216,667 buyout falls off next season, and the Weiss $1,666,667 buyout falls off the following season... Not necessarily. If anything, buying out a player like Nielsen would indicate to me that he wants to jumpstart the rebuild, and get better, younger players playing quicker... I think Veleno might need another half season or so in Grand Rapids, but there's not a question in my mind that if given the opportunity, he could fill that 3C roll next season, and be an upgrade over Nielsen / Filppula. Same goes for Rasmussen. This would be even better than a buyout, but I don't see Nielsen leaving that much money on the table...

This. Is. Not. About. Turgeon. "Kids done"? That doesn't bother me in the least. Ideally Gagner will be re-signed and switch back to center. That would leave our center depth as Larkin - Gagner - Filppula - Glendening. I'd be okay with that for another season in which we're expected to be bad. We are absolutely in a position in which Ehn should be replaceable. He should not be in the top 12 going into next season. If we re-sign him, it should be purely for depth (extra forward). That's the first I've heard anyone describe Veleno as an "offensive center"... He's more of a "two-way center", but very strong defensively. Of course a center with a 4th line ceiling lost minutes to him. Ehn would have as well. Anyone that believes Ehn is an upgrade over any of Perlini, Smith, Turgeon, Pearson, Svechnikov, Timashov, etc. is delusional. Kid is the definition of a 4th line scrub.

If Rasmussen is our 4C we're either in big trouble (terrible pick) or in great shape (best center depth in the league)... I doubt either will be the case. Rasmussen should be a middle six center / winger. Glendening and Filppula can absolutely play 4C, but Turgeon wouldn't have the leapfrog them if they're playing above him (3rd / 4th line center)... It's amazing how often you misconstrue what I'm saying. This was never about Turgeon. Like I said, if we move on from him (don't sign him), I won't lose any sleep. I don't care about having Turgeon in the lineup. I care about not having scrubs in the lineup. Maybe Turgeon isn't any better than Ehn. I don't know, and I don't care. What I do know and care about, is that there are better players in the organization that will eventually (hopefully sooner than later) replace Ehn. The last thing I'll say regarding Turgeon is, if you haven't seen how good his defensive game has been *at the AHL level* we're clearly watching very different games.

I'm very confused about where you stand on Seider. I think he could step in next season, and be *this team's* 3rd or 4th best defenseman. That, in my opinion, deserves a roster spot. Unless you think his development would be better served in the AHL. For most young defenseman, I'd agree. Seider doesn't appear to be anything like most young defensemen though... Regarding the bold, I've already agreed with this. The only thing I'm disagreeing on, is that we should add "2-3 new defensemen)...

Again, he's one of the few that would be in line for that 4th line center role. The only players that he would have to leapfrog are Nielsen and Ehn. I think if given the opportunity, he could be as good or better than either. Berggren is a winger, not a center. Maybe Turgeon is another Ferraro and never makes it. I'd just like to see him given an opportunity. He's been very good in Grand Rapids, and looked solid in pre-season games the past two years. I've never said or implied Ehn CAN'T get better, but I personally don't think he will. I've said before that I'd love to be proven wrong on Ehn, and he turn into a Glendening lite, but I just don't see it. Everything about him reminds me of Joakim Andersson. I think he'll be back in Sweden within a couple years.

You've been clamoring all season to get Seider in the lineup. Now he's a "very big question mark"? I think Lindstrom has been one of our better defensemen for this stretch. Small sample size, but I think he's at least earned a long hard look to make the team out of camp next season. I know we'll disagree on Cholowski, but I think his development would be better served in the NHL. I agree that Krug / Pietrangelo would be a mistake, but I wouldn't sign any more than one more depth defenseman. 2-3 would be excessive in my opinion...

There's no Ehn "hate". I just don't think he's an NHL quality player. He's replacement level. I'm not saying that Turgeon will be his replacement. Maybe it's Pearson. Maybe it's Smith. Maybe it's some other prospect in or outside the organization. But in my opinion, he needs to replaced *in the lineup*. I don't give a s*** if he's signed specifically to be the extra forward. For whatever reason, Red Wings fans completely overrate Ehn and his defensive game. Sure, he's decent defensively, but he's far from great, and the lack of offensive instincts leaves much to be desired. I don't think Ehn would play in any more than a handful of games with any of the other 30 teams in the NHL.

I don't entirely disagree with the points you're making, just with the conclusion you've come to. And it's not even like I think Turgeon would be this massive upgrade or anything. At worst, I think it would be a wash. At best, Turgeon could be a slight upgrade. If he isn't re-signed, I won't lose any sleep, but I'd just like to see him given more than a few games before writing him off. I think the only forward Turgeon really needs to be worried about jumping him (as a 4th line center), is Pearson, and that very well may happen (if it hasn't already)... None of the players you mentioned previously (Veleno, Rasmussen, Svechnikov, Smith, etc) are 4th line centers.

You think? I doubt it, but that would be fantastic, as long as it's long(ish) term.

Subtracting Ericsson, Daley and Goloubef would be addition by subtraction. We've had this conversation before, and like I said back then, I'm not completely opposed to adding another depth defenseman. When I say "stand pat", I'm more so talking about not going after any big name free agents. If we sign another Nemeth type defenseman, I'd be fine with it. However, I don't see how there's room for 2-3 new defensemen added to the mix. We currently have DeKeyser, Nemeth, Hronek, Seider, Cholowski, Biega, and Lindstrom under contract going into next season. I think Bowey will be back as well. That's 7, possibly 8 defensemen without adding any. If we're looking to add a defenseman, I'd love to see Yzerman go the offer sheet route, and take advantage of his old buddy in Tampa, and offer Sergachev a contract of $4.225M for 4 years (2nd round pick)...

Ehn sucks. He would not be in the NHL with any other organization, and hopefully not much longer in Detroit. Turgeon is still a bit of an unknown at the NHL level. Maybe that's for good reason. Maybe not. I don't know. What I do know, is that Turgeon is a very good defensive center, strong penalty killer and great in the faceoffs. I also know that Ehn brings nothing offensively, and based on NHLe calculator, Turgeon would have approximately 15 points this season to Ehn's 3. I'm not saying Turgeon would definitely be better than Ehn, but I do think there's a strong possibility that he could provide a little more offensive punch, while not giving up much, if anything defensively.

That's not even close to the same thing though... Like you said, Lafreniere is the best pick (player) in this draft, by a mile. That's not to say, some unforeseen injury couldn't happen (like Lindros), but that's not a reason to be skeptical. Any normal draft, I'll hear an argument for any top 3-5 pick being the best player to come out of the draft. This is not a normal draft though. At least in terms of the consensus number one pick not being your typical number one pick. No one argued in 2015 that McDavid would be the undisputed best player to come out of that draft, and although I wouldn't put Lafreniere quite on that level, in my opinion, he's the closest things we've seen since Crosby. I believe Lafreniere will be that good...

Stylistically, neither in my opinion. I see him as a more skilled / physical Mikko Rantanen. I've also heard comparisons to Taylor Hall, and Vincent Lecavalier (if he played wing), but I personally think Lafreniere will be better than any of these players...

Borderline generational. So not at the level of the Crosby's and McDavid's, but not far away. Similar to Matthews. I think Lafreniere will be a 100+ point winger, that can be depended on to play heavy minutes in all situations. A player that can drive play and dictate the pace of the game from the wing. His hockey IQ is off the charts. His junior numbers also haven't been that far off McDavid...

Exactly.

Hughes borderline generational? First I've heard that... He most definitely isn't. Where the f*** are you getting me loving Cory Pronman from? Try harder.

LOL yeah, because your run of the mill 1st round pick is exactly the same as a consensus number one, ELITE player like Lafreniere... Blah, blah, blah... Rossi is a center and centers are so much more valuable than wingers, therefore Rossi is better than Lafreniere... blah, blah, blah... Player comps are usually player type / style, not ceiling / floor. I can definitely see the Hall comparison, but I can also see Lafreniere being a much better winger than Hall. Also, neither Dahlin or Hughes were on the level of Lafreniere. No, not likely, but in the same conversation. Like I said previously, Lafreniere is a lot closer to that level than the level of Patrick, Hischier, etc. pre draft. I don't think Lafreniere will be as good as McDavid, but I do think he could be as good as Matthews.

Lafreniere is not your typical number one overall pick. He's a borderline generational talent. So yes, anyone that thinks he's not the best prospect available is dumb. Similarly if anyone thought any player was going to be better than McDavid in 2015, that would have been dumb. It's not "you dumb tools". It's kip the dumb tool. And I don't care what he thinks. Anyone is free to believe that Lafreniere might not be the best player in the upcoming draft. I believe that opinion is dumb and will be proven wrong in time.

Sure. I don't disagree that these guys have been wrong and will be wrong again on top draft picks. It's happened and it'll continue to happen. It won't happen this year though. Lafreniere is not like other consensus number one picks. He's closer to Matthews / McDavid than he is to Patrick / Hischier. The former were can't miss, elite of the elite. The latter were good prospects. Lafreniere is elite of the elite, borderline generational. Rossi is a good prospect.

I think you're getting a bit ahead of yourself suggesting that Seider should have gone number one... There are no "sacred rankings". Like I said they're a tool to use. Not the end all, be all. Take them with a grain of salt... I never once said they were "gifted talent assessors", but some of them watch 300+ games a year of these prospects. That's a hell of a lot more than any of us can say. Maybe you can see more watching one game of a player than these guys can watching 20 games of that one player. I doubt it, but maybe... Here's where you've drastically misinterpreted my stance... I'm not in any way saying that anything any of these people say should be taken as "gospel". I'm saying I highly doubt so tool on the internet knows more about these prospects than every single hockey analyst in the world. If you can find one legitimate source that says that there's even a slight chance that Rossi could be better than Lafreniere, I'll listen. Otherwise it's just the same dumb person saying dumb things...

Hindsight is a beautiful thing... But I'm sure you knew Yakupov was a bust, and that Draisaitl was going to be a beast, and Heiskanen and Makar were going to be the best players or their draft class... How do you not have a job with an NHL organization? You should apply. Just please don't apply with the Red Wings...

I don't really care a whole lot, but with who is available, probably Larkin. "The same cookie cutter personality that most pro NHLers have" is exactly what will make him the next captain, like it or not. Also, Larkin is and always has been captain material. The day he was drafted, I remember several people talking about his leadership qualities and how he will likely be a captain some day. Naming Glendening captain would be an awful decision in my opinion. I'm not one of those that believes the best player should always be named captain, but I do think that a 4th line grinder should never be named captain... What would make naming Larkin captain a "very, very bad choice"? Assuming there is a captain going to be named prior to next season, who would YOU like to see named?

LOL whatever you say...

McKenzie doesn't watch any of these prospects. What he does do, is compile rankings from each NHL team's amateur scouts. If that doesn't hold any value, nothing should. Also, whether or not you agree with guys like Pronman or Wheeler is irrelevant. Fact is, they watch a hell of a lot more of these prospects than all of us combined. I don't care if you look at scouting reports or rankings, but don't pretend to know more than those that do. Like anything, they need to be taken with a grain of salt, but they (McKenzie in particular) are valuable tools.