kliq

Not sure why you say this with such disdain. Babs comes across to me like a guy who has goals and loves a challenge. He's won a cup in Detroit and won Olympic Gold, there isn't really much left for him to accomplish. Taking a team that has been the laughing stock of the league for years, arguable the hardest team to coach because of the intense pressure of the fans and media and guiding them to a cup, that is likely a challenge that motivates him. Call it ego, fine but the guy has earned the right to do what he wants. Who are we to judge him.

We dont need anymore #3 or #4 d-men, our team is filled with them. I dont think Holland has failed to acquire something that we dont need. What we are missing is a top pair guy. These guys just don't get dealt. It is so easy to sit on this side and point the finger, but in reality I dont know if anyone could pull off a trade for one of these types of players as nobody is looking to move one. Like I said earlier, Edmonton had to trade Taylor Hall a 1st line winger, first overall pick, potential Art Ross nominee to get a possible #1 in Adam Larsson.

Completely agree. There is a way to debate your point, as at the end of the day this is a discussion board where we all share our opinions, but some people are just trolling and trying to piss people off.

For the record, I am not advocating Blashill to be fired. I believe that when a coach comes up from the AHL there are going to be growing pains just like with a player. With that being said, I dont think blaming him for his mistakes is uncalled for either. At least he is making his mistakes at a time where we are not contenders, so at the end of the day they are really not that big of a deal. We are not talking Ausmus/Tigers 2014.

I agree with this up to the last line, you give yourself a "3 year max" on signing free agents and you are going to lose every unrestricted free agent you have. Bye bye Larkin, Mrazek, AA, Mantha etc. once they become UFA's. I completely agree with the trade thing, as far as Shattenkirk goes, I could see Holland signing him. Free Agency has been one area where Holland tends to go all in. He seems to be able to make moves when he has to, the Datsyuk trade is the perfect example. If Howard is taken in the expansion draft, and we dont re-sign Miller/Ott/Smith/Vanek, I think we would have the cap space to sign him. If not, I could even see him signing him then trading away Green for picks.

I just want to make sure that I understand exactly what you are saying. Are you saying that McKee would be better then Ott in the NHL right now December 2016? Or are you saying that in a few years, McKee would be a better option then what Ott is right now?

Ignore the troll, he's trying to get a reaction out of people. In addition to that, the NHL does drug test each player twice a year.

Nobody has said that another coach will make this team a contender. The criticism most have about Blashill is the way he is coaching, his win/loss record is actually not that bad sitting 2 points out of the playoffs. Are you even watching the games this year?

Bertuzzi was a power forward that had a crap load of injuries.I think a combination of the Moore incident, injuries, and getting older led to his decline. Physically, Mentally, and production wise. I would not argue for anyone in baseball, I think most of the players in the 90's were on something.

I think the main reason for the production is the chemistry between Zetterberg and Mantha. Its not Mantha doing it alone. He has really impressed me though.

Didnt get a chance to see the game, did Larkin play on the 4th line?

Not to mention, when Blashill took over the entire roster went through a regression. I believe it was about 15%.

Keep trying Bill.

Your saying this like its fact. Did he admit to this? I dont remember him being suspended or caught. Or is this just speculation on your part.

Other then the "secondary" part, I agree with you. I think Larkin, Vanek, Nyquist, Tatar, Zetterberg are all capable of scoring 50 points. The problem is we have nobody that will get close to 80-100 points. Our team is average.

You never answered my question, so I will ask again........ what do you consider acceptable numbers from secondary scorers? The bold tells me you are missing my point, so I will say it again....Our issues are simple, our top/elite guys all regressed simultaneously before our young guys were able to replace them. I don't understand your comments about those guys never being true contenders, when as the core of this team they won a cup and almost won 2. The only thing I can assume you are insinuating is "post Lidstrom" which would be 2013 on, but I dont think any of them were in their prime 2013 on.

Out of curiosity, what do you consider acceptable numbers from secondary scorers? Nyquist has 14 points in 25 games this year, which puts him on pace to score 46 points this year. Obviously not elite, but I consider just shy of 50 points acceptable for a secondary scorer. Are you expecting 60 or 70 points out of secondary guys? Tatar is hurt, he has nobody to blame but himself for not healing in the summer, but you cant use his production this year as a measure of his skill. If we are a team filled with 3rd/4th liners, have the worst coach in the league (you didnt say this, but others have), have an awful GM, and have AA, Abby, Helm, Howard, Marchenko, Smith and Betuzzi hurt, I have a hard time understanding how we are only 4 points out of a playoff spot with TB having a game on hand. The answer, people exaggerate how bad we are. If all these things were true, we would be dead last in the standings. I know we are not that good, I am not pretending we are something we are not, I am just sick of the hyperbole. Our issues are simple, our top/elite guys all regressed simultaneously before our young guys were able to replace them. Put a prime/healthy Datsyuk, Zetterberg, Kronwall, and Franzen on this team and we are contenders.

The 1D position is one that IMO is the hardest in all of sports to acquire. They don't hit UFA anymore, they don't get traded as EVERYONE wants one, and drafting them is extremely hard as most of the elite d-men are late round picks due to their late development. Look at the 2008 draft as an example, 4 of the top 5 picks were D. Doughty, Bogosian, Pieterangelo, and Schenn. Half of them are nowhere near 1D. So even tanking to get a top 5 pick is a HUGE risk and guarantees nothing The answer? Draft a lot of d-men and hope one develops into a stud, or make a trade where you are not going to be fleeced. Just look at the price Edmonton paid for a guy that COULD be a 1D, they gave up Taylor Hall. This is not an easy answer. Damn you Suter!

I dont even think this is true, we are just missing a top pairing. Throw say Keith/Seabrook on this team, then our second pairing is DD/Green, third pairing Sproul/Smith and I think we have a damn good d. Everyone is playing a pairing higher then they should.

Zetterberg and Mantha are playing great together. Why take a kid off the line of a vet that he is clicking with, and can learn from. Z may have slowed down, but the skill and knowledge is still there.

Maybe his goal is to tank, if thats the case then they look good lol.

I'm sure some will post because of a lack of talent, but I dont buy that. While we may not have any elite players anymore, we still have a ton of secondary talent on this team. Its not like non elite players are not capable of having chemistry. Plenty of 2nd and 3rd lines in the NHL are capable of having a good passing game. The first thing that strikes me is that we seem to change up the lines every game, or every other game. Look at the chemistry Z and Mantha have formed, it wasn't like that game 1. You need to let these guys play together and practice together for more then 1 or 2 games. The only other thing I can think of is coaching. If players are being coached incorrectly and given poor direction, this is what happens.

So you would scratch a 100% health Nyquist and Tatar? You feel Sheahan, Bertuzzi, and Jurco make this team better?

Lets assume for this poll, come the trade deadline the Wings are hovering around the playoffs. I didnt include the option "re-sign now" as I thought that would be stupid considering we would then have to protect him.

I have to disagree. I can't say he is bad at something he never does. To be fair, who is a winner in the trading department in the past few years? Unless you are trading with Cirelli, trades now a days are pretty much insignificant. Other then Subban/Weber, the Seguin trade, and the Hall trade I can't remember off hand a trade of significance in years. Trades now a days are typically just rentals.