kliq

I have zero issue with Holland talking with Smith's agent. In business you explore all options. Now if Holland signs Smith without dumping any contracts, then I would have an issue. I dont hate Smith like so many others around here. I'm not saying he is some amazing player, but like I said previously, if we could dump/LTIR Kronwall, E, Nielsen, and Howard I would be open to bringing Smith back on a reasonable contract. With that being said, I would still trade him at the deadline, I would just re-sign him July 1st after the expansion draft.

Pretty sure after the trade deadline rosters expand. I'm sure there are teams out there that passed on him because they didn't want to put someone through waivers themselves. Once that is no longer an issue, I'm sure a team out there would want him for depth.

The other reason not to protect Konwall is there is pretty much zero chance LV wastes a pick on a guy who's career could be over any time due to his knees. It just doesn't make sense.

You would have to think GM's would not want them to come out. Its just asking for fans to be upset as there is no way any fan base will completely agree with the choices. As a fan though, I want to see the list!

Agreed, Toronto's D has too many holes to for a long playoff run. If I am a TO fan, I want them to stand pat. This year is not the year to give up future assets.

Good...the more future assets our divisional rivals spend on rentals, the better for us.

Your lack of response to my point speaks volumes. I'm sorry it went above you head and made you laugh rather then comprehend.

Does the public find out who was protected? Or do we just find out who was drafted?

There was a story last year Backes told. He was sick in I believe the 2nd round, and if he couldn't play Ott was going to get his spot. With that being the case, Ott was right there to help Backes feel better. Long story short, Ott chose what was best for the team over what was best for himself.

The love for Sheahan over AA baffled me to, but then again if I listed to everything the national media said I would think Toews is the 3rd best player in the NHL.

Fox Sports had an article about the draft.....here is the Red Wings part: http://www.foxsports.com/nhl/story/vegas-golden-knights-mock-expansion-draft-roundtable-020717 Detroit Red Wings Available Age 17/18 Automatically Exempt F Henrik Zetterberg 36 $6.083M F Dylan Larkin F Frans Nielsen (NMC) 32 $5.25M F Evgeny Svechnikov F Gustav Nyquist 27 $4.75M F Dylan Sadowy F Justin Abdelkader 29 $4.25M F Givani Smith F Darren Helm 29 $3.85M F Axel Holmstrom F Tomas Tatar 25 RFA F Dominic Turgeon F Thomas Vanek 32 UFA F Tyler Bertuzzi F Riley Sheahan 24 $2.075M F Zach Nastasiuk F Drew Miller 32 UFA F Matt Lorito F Steve Ott 34 UFA F Luke Glendening 27 $1.8M D Villi Saarijarvi F Andreas Athanasiou 22 RFA D Filip Hronek F Johan Franzan (LTIR) 36 $3.955M D Brian Lashoff F Joe Vitale (LTIR) 31 UFA D Daniel Renouf F Tomas Jurco 23 RFA D Robbie Russo F Tomas Nosek 24 $613K D Joe Hicketts F Eric Tangradi 27 $650K F Ben Street 29 UFA G Jake Paterson F Anthony Mantha 22 $863K F Mitch Callahan 25 RFA D Mike Green 31 $6.0M D Danny DeKeyser 26 $5.0M D Niklas Kronwall 35 $4.75M D Jonathan Ericsson 32 $4.25M D Brendan Smith 27 UFA D Alexey Marchenko 24 $1.45M D Xavier Ouellet 23 RFA D Ryan Sproul 23 $625K D Nick Jensen 26 RFA G Jimmy Howard 32 $5.292M G Petr Mrazek 24 $4.0M G Eddie Pasquale 25 RFA Ryan Matt Suraj 7 – 3 – 1 7 – 3 – 1 7 – 3 – 1 F Frans Nielsen (NMC) F Frans Nielsen (NMC) F Frans Nielsen (NMC) F Henrik Zetterberg F Henrik Zetterberg F Henrik Zetterberg F Gustav Nyquist F Gustav Nyquist F Gustav Nyquist F Tomas Tatar F Anthony Mantha F Tomas Tatar F Justin Abdelkader F Tomas Tatar F Justin Abdelkader F Riley Sheahan F Riley Sheahan F Andreas Athanasiou F Anthony Mantha F Justin Abdelkader F Anthony Mantha D Niklas Kronwall D Mike Green D Niklas Kronwall D Mike Green D Danny DeKeyser D Mike Green D Danny DeKeyser D Jonathan Ericsson D Ryan Sproul G Petr Mrazek G Petr Mrazek G Petr Mrazek The Red Wings would likely love to save upwards of four, maybe even five defensemen with a couple of guys just starting to make an impact. Unfortunately, they’ve got far too many forwards to take care of, leaving them with the 7-3-1 scheme. Protection Lists: My thought process behind the list is preserving the most important players, even though it leaves a few key guys on the outside looking in. The Red Wings would surely love to protect Athanasiou, Helm, and Glendening, among others, but numbers don’t seem to support it. To save any of those forwards, it means exposing the likes of Riley Sheahan or Anthony Mantha. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Red Wings make a move which allows them to save Athanasiou, Sheahan, and Mantha The toughest selection was that final defensive slot. We’ve opted to go with Niklas Kronwall this time around – thinking it might be unwise to leave the 35-year-old unprotected, despite his age. Detroit would probably love to protect Nick Jensen, Ryan Sproul, and Xavier Ouellet as well, so who knows which direction they head in. – Ryan Ritchie Q: You’ve opted to switch Ryan Sproul in favor of Danny DeKeyser in Detroit. Surely, the Red Wings would love to protect both. Any chance the Red Wings explore the possibility of leaving an aging Niklas Kronwall exposed? or, is it too risky? I think the leadership of a Kronwall is too good to part with. We have seen plenty of teams struggle without the right experience on the roster, and Kronwall provides just that. DeKeyser is a hefty contract based on his production, and the Red Wings have plenty to gain from a younger, right-handed shooter like Sproul. Of the three, DeKeyser is the one who should be risked on the market.

I agree with that. I was thinking if we got him back at a low cap hit, we could send him back to the Griffins as nothing more then a depth d-man/AHL vet, though I doubt he would want to do that.

I brought up Florida because you conveniently left them out since at the time they wouldn't fit in to your narrative. Funny how they have a good week and all of a sudden you bring them up. Making a coaching change doesn't automatically make your team better and guarantee a surge, the idea that it works 99% is just incorrect. If a team is struggling and their coach is not clicking, and they replace the coach with a better coach, are they more likely to play better? Of course, but that is just common sense, your original statement of "doesn't everyone see it doesn't matter who you replace coach with 99% of time it work" is just simply wrong, especially the "it doesn't matter who you replace them with" part. Change doesn't make a team better, improvement does. What you are advocating is that change of any kind automatically leads to improvement. Do you honestly not see the flaw in that line of thinking?

Agreed. Maybe if his caphit was 500K I would consider it, but at 1.5mil he's not worth it.

They claimed him because likely Babcock and/or Lou thought he was a better option as the 7th D-man then Frank Corrado, the d-man sent down when they claimed Marchenko.

I dont want Brian Boyle. He is a UFA and will likely be overpaid, not to mention he is 32 and players like him tend to start to decline around that age. If he was 26, different story.

Pretty accurate as last year the Wings were the lowest seed in the East with 93 points. For them to get 93 points again this year, they need 37 more points. 19-5 gives them 38. I'd say the chances are pretty slim. 19-5 is not impossible in general, but for a team to play as inconsistent as they have this year and then all of a sudden turn it around is highly unlikely unless Mrazek just stands on his head for the rest of the season.

Blashill made Mrazek earn the job back which IMO was the right move. If Mrazek couldnt take the benching then he shouldnt be in the NHL. I will give him credit though, when he was at rock bottom and he worked his way out. This will make him a stronger goaltender and will be better for us in the long run.

I feel like this topic has been talked to death on here, but I'll bite. Combined with the E, Howard, Kronwall, and Zetterberg contracts, there is no doubt that we have two many long term contracts on this team, but with that being said here is what I feel about each individually. Abdelakder: I dont hate the cap hit, but I dont like the term. I wish he was signed for 4 years instead of 7. Helm: I think the Helm contact is fine as I think he is a really good third line center. I have said it before, but I like the prospect of having Larkin, AA, Helm down the middle. If we land a 1C in the draft, we shift Larkin or AA to the wing which I also like. Nielsen: Not a bad contract in general, but not a good one for us to take on. I wish Holland didnt sign him. This is one that I hope we can move, but doubt we can with the NMC. Glendening: Don't love it, don't hate it. It's 1.8mil for 4 years, not going to make us, not going to break us. Personally I wouldnt have signed him to it. Dekeyser - Fine with it. I think DD is a top 4 D-man who is playing on an average team in a 1A role with what appears to be poor coaching. That is just a recipe for failure. I think looking at total points on the season for each of these players is a waste of time considering they are all playing in a system that is just not producing goals. Put any of these guys minus Glendening on a better team with a better coach and their production would increase.

Lol

Agreed, and I believe most teams would give up a below average prospect if it meant the difference between getting in the playoffs or not getting in.

No. I like the idea of having a Larkin-AA-Helm 1,2,3 punch down the middle as we would likely have the fastest center's in the league, plus I think we can end up getting Trouba for less. With the right line-mates I think Larkin has a ton of potential.

I agree with the majority of this with the exception of the bold part. History has to play a part in suspensions. The analogy you used of "Are you going to give someone a slap on the wrist for assault just because they haven't done it before?" of course should not be the case, however, if you have a person who is a repeat offender and has assaulted multiple people, IMO should be punished more then a person who is a first time offender. I think the big issue here is that the NHL does not hand out harsh enough punishments, so players keep doing it AND they treat star players differently then the average player. I have said it before, if you want to take the crap out of the game you need harsher consequences. For example, if you want to take head-shots out of the game, make it a 41 game suspension for elbows to the head. Guarantee that cleans up the game dramatically. Problem is the NHL and NHLPA will never agree to something like that as the PA will fight it thinking it is unfair to players (which is ironic), and the NHL will not want to risk losing money if it happens to stars.

The thing for me, is next year at the deadline I could see Green getting us a first round pick, and at this point as much as I like XO and Sproul, I think a 1st rounder > XO or Sproul.

Agreed, I protect DD, Trouba and one of XO/Sproul (if we can trade Green).