frankgrimes

Thanks for the input personally I think with all the tools pro athletes are having these days, bulking up strength and weight wise can be done more effectively than ever. Or do it the Stamkos way and attend the Gary Roberts school in the summer. But waiving the guy and losing him for nothing, without looking at him wouldn't be smart maybe he surprises or at least plays ok and another team would give up something for Almquist.

Exactly even if it would be very dangerous if the NHL could at least make one buck they'd be forcing the players to go, thanks god the NHLPA would have had something to say about it. My point hasn't changed, personally if I were a player I would not go.

I think Almquist will get his fair shot next season, if the guy produces they are going to keep him if not, they might trade him. That being said he still has to do some bulking up, the guy is too small.

I hate to bring up that comparison, but I could easily see the Wings taking a more bostonlike approach, which means lots of depth and quality scorers without being elite. Moulson certainly would fit that category but if his agent would do a deal worth "only" 5 million for him, he should be fired. Keep in mind after Vanek Moulson is the younger second best goalscorer on the market. So if teams want him to have to look at north 5 million and guess what? I'd rather pay that for him and try to sign Girardi instead of paying 7,5 + for Vanek. After reading some Islanders posts the asking price would be Tatar, Mantha + 1 st - there is no way Holland is going to pay that for an unsigned Vanek heck I wouldn't even pay that for a signed Vanek. Two good prospects + 1st is overkill. Swapping Vanek for a star defender would be nice but again which star defender is available ? Maybe Cam Fowler ? The Ducks aren't going to be a cap team next season so maybe take advantage of him and overpay for that guy, he is young and getting better every year, he would really help our rebuild. Two problems with being sellers this year for me are (I'd love to see us being sellrs mind you): 1. according to experts the draft is not very good/deep --> contenders will pay more but only for A level prospects or our untouchables 2. the cap is too tight so even if teams want to pay most contenders aren't having a lot of capspace add to that that capfloor teams arre for sure going to wait till july 1 before doing something and we are looking at two very boring trade deadlines. I feel for the guys of TSN there won't be a lot movement

Yeah it's exactly that, Holland and others will be just be asking about the price. Vanek is not the difference between the cup and no cup this year, he would fix a big hole for sure but only for around two months, the guy is a pure rental and his agent already hinted at them wanting to test UFA. Why wouldn't they, he is the biggest UFA and teams will be lining up with a lot of cash for him. If trading for him includes a first + prospect - which it sure will - stay away and make him an offer in the off season. Personally I'd much rather have a reliable top 4 defenseman + shutdown guy. I'm sure Vanek and his agent will be asking for something way abov 50 million for seven years, so yeah not interested and I really don't think he would want to come here and be part of another rebuilding/tooling team. This guy went from Buffalo to the Isles - nice team but incompetent FO and piss poor owner - so I think he wants to go to a contender or team on the rise. Lebrun said on TSN Callahan is looking at north of 6 million for at least 6 years. Which means, paying him around 39,5 million to get the conversation started that's a steep price.

Well the kids are awesome and I agree with a lot on that article but I m so sick of the "when the injured guys are back we are a better deeper team " newsflash every damn team will be better if their injured guys are back. Being sellers would be the right thing to do, given contenders are willing to overpay.

One thing to keep in mind: Babcock may not even want to be back, he knows teams will be lining up for his services. if Bylsma fails again the guy could be coaching Crosby, Malkin or another team on the rise.

Tippet is a great coach and easily one of the best in the league, but he often stated that he doesn't want big market pressure . It's simple amazing with the can do with a limited payroll his system just works. What Cooper has done with the Lightning is also just wow, even without Stamkos this team is still in the playoff race and Mr. St. Luis is playing the hockey of his career.

The title and poll are misleading a bit here. Would you be okay with this roster != would you be okay if the young guns are taking over for the dead weight So I'll answer the roster question because obviously I'm always okay, with giving young guns a chance. No, I would not be ok with this roster at all reasons: - fourth line is still a joke, you can't have that in the East - it's easily fixable so no excuse for not fixing it - defense would be still only have 3 good players Danny, Kronwall and Ericsson - unacceptable - offense: Jurco is a rookie so putting him on the top line might be a little too much pressure and I don't know, if he is ready for that kind of duty - goaltending: I would keep monster but I know it wont happen, guy will get a starting job somewhere and deseringly so If all cards are falling off and nothing is available, at least fix the fourth line and personally I'm against brining Alfie back, the team has enough leadership and I want to see him retire as a Senator. The roster looks a bit better than this years edition but not by far and with the amount of capspace at least some stopgaps should happen.

Wish him all the best but glad, he's gone. This team nees bigger bodies. I'm sure the Flames are happy with him, but he just didn't fit here

Cap space does two things for you, 1 gives you flexibility and 2 let's you bid high on top UFAS. As for dreaming about Faulk why should the Hurricanes trade him ? That would not only be stupid but absolutely idiotic. Yes, the rebuild should have started with Suter and Parise but they've decided to go home so nothing you can do about it, the only problem has been that Holland didn't have a plan B. I mean, the Flyers had a plan B but even that failed, because their offer sheet wasn't good enough. The defense obviously needs a shutdown guy and someone, who can run the PP. Byuglien is a fat coachkiller, who can't play defense so no thanks, Mike Green always plays as a nother forward instead of defender he's basically a less talented Karlson. If the Rangers don't re-sign Callahan and Girardi they would be stupid, their depth isn't great but without these two and nothing available Sather would be looking at a line one pairing team *lol*

I really think it depends on each individual personally I would not go, heck I wouldn't even want to visit Russia with all the shadyness going on there. Is bungee jumping dangerous ? For sure but I'd rather do something like that, instead of going into such a dangerous unpredictable situation like Sochi. At the end of the day, hockey is the biggest event of the winter olympics which means the biggest target also

this sounds like a severe concussion get well soon Mule

Cooper or Blashill

Nobody is forcing you to do this. If you hate it that much don't, problem solved. Anyway, I agree with VM we are sadly entering an era with lowered expectations and a lot of uncertainty and personally I absolute hate this combination. Change alone is not something I like but couple that with uncertainty and I'm always very nervous (especially in RL). If we are honest, the reason this team has been hanging on the last few years are Z and Pasha and they won't be playing for ever, Pasha may have 2 strong years (hopefully) left and Z depening on his back 3 - 4 that's not a lot. I love the youth movement but I highly doubt any of them, will come even close to Z or Pashas level, but that is exactly what we would need in order to kickstart this rebuild/retool phase. Sadly the best owner in all of sports is not allowed to fix the problems in one off season, we all know this would be a different team given a better league management. So the team might have to suck for a few years in order to rise to the top again, you know the stupid "tank to win and become team Bettman" Penguins model in order to win the cup. In all honesty Holland is also to blame for the current state of this team, people were calling for a more aggressive rebuild after this team lost in the Stanley Cup finals and once Lidstrom retired, there was absolutely no plan B and it backfired heavily. The good thing is, if the Wings are more and more on the decline next year will be a good year to suck, because the big prize at the end will be Connor McDavid. Will it be another dead wings era? Possible but I don't think so, the team will miss the playoffs a lot more often but I also think, they might be lucky and make it a few times. It almost feels like forever since we've talked about "why can't this loaded team put together more double digit win streaks?" and now we are talking about hanging on in order to make the playoffs, If******ly hate the new NHL, it was so much better pre 2005. The only good thing is, once the Wings are done with their rebuild/retooling period (if done right), the now elite teams will be on the decline and or at least not as strong as they are now.

I like that move nothing wrong with showing regional pride. Also I think if the tax payer has to pay for a hockeyclub, they should have a say on how to name them. What happens if the Coyotes are relocating in the future, would the new be allowed to the change the whole name not just Arizona?

Players have already decided, that they don't want their families, girlfriends there that speaks volume to the amount of fear they and a lot of fans are having. Usually once you are selected to proudly represent your fatherland in the Olmypics the first thing an athlete would do, is get tickets for his friends, family and book some nice hotels. You need to have a very good reason not doing something like that and sadly in this case, their reason is very well documented (I would do the same thing). So I highly doubt, the NHLPA would see this as a slap in the face and more as a don't risk your life for 2 weeks of olympics type of thing. If something - god forbid - happens the IOC members who awarded these games to Sochi need to be held accountable.

The obvious reason, not even Snow would take the deal. He knows fairly well, that Vanek is the big fish and he still has two options here: 1 trasde deadline 2 draft day. Garth has to get this thing right, he paid a lot for Vanek and if the Isles can't re-sign him he has to get the maximum value back for an unsigned Vanek (not an easy task mind you). Jurco while promising is still very much and unproven prospect in the eyes of many GMs. Secondly, a mid round pick would not entice the Isles one bit and the Mule is well a buyout candidate alongside Weiss this off season. So the offer would have to be a lot better we are talking about something like Tatar + 1 first rounder for an unsigned Vanek, who could then walk on July 1. So if the Wings want him it would be wise to wait till July first and make him the best offer possible will it be enough ? Who knows, because the guy will have a lot of offers and options.

One of my favourite goaltenders of alltime for a number of reasons. His stanley cup performance against the Canucks was out of this world, the guy literally shut down the best offense in the league (at that time), which for sure isn ot easy to do. Another cool thing is, his style can't be copied it's unique at so many levels and yet hard to beat, reminds me a bit of Hasek.

It wouldn't make sense for the Wings to go into buyer mode, try to unload some dead weight and to into next season with a ton of capspace. That said I'm so sick of hearing Holland talking about the return of injured players as an acquisition, they are already on the team improvement means you are bringing in guys from the outside to improve the club. My prediction it will be a very quiet dead line safe for Vanek and Miller there is nothing available.

Vanek isn't stupid he and his agent know exactly how to play this, saying all the right polite things and when the time comes it will be "I really loved NY but I want to test FA they are free to make me an offer" Vanek would be stupid to say anything else or to not take his UFA chance. The Islanders would be a great team but their problem is Wang he will never spent to the cap and therefore this team won't contend for the cup although having a lot ofp romising players.

Don't get me wrong, I would like to get Vanek and thanks for your great post but I'm trying to be realistic here. This is a very well run original 6 franchise, with almost endless pockets thanks to the best owner in all of sports but the truth is, we can't use that stuff to our advantage I think Vaneks agent is going to look around the league very closely and especially contenders, who are loading up at the t rade deadline might be of interest for him. Do I think he would listen to a very good Wings offer (don't underpay him Kenny match everything..), absolutely. Pittsburgh doesn't have the capspace to sign him if he ends up there and on Crosbys Wing oh my this would just add more firepower, although they need defense and goaltending more than anything. The thing with Minnesotta is: - his best friend Pominville is playing there - he started his NA career in Minnesotta - his girlfriend is from the area - they are (sadly) and up and coming team putting more and more pieces together Anyway, it's just speculation maybe I'm super wrong and he ends up with the Rangers or someone else.

This might be the first tdl were the Wings are finally going to be sellers now the question is, who can bring in the most ? Assuming Nyquist, Tatar are going nowhere without ridiculous overpayment Thats leaves Alfie, Weiss, Mule as the next "high tier" players, because I don't think guys like Kindl, Abdelkader, Smith will return us a first rounder.

What makes people think, that Vanek wants to come here ? The guy is not interested in a rebuild/retool he wants to win a cup soon. Money will not be an issue because the guy is the top UFA come summer, so he can baiscally choose between a lot of clubs. I hate to say it, but I don't think the Wings are going to be the frotrunners for him especially if they miss the playoffs or are bowing out in the first round. Also with this stupid mantra of every forward needs to play good defense too, he wouldn't fit the system very well, also I'd much rather fix the defense first before talking about loading up firepower (which is equally needed don't get me wrong), but you are building from the net out. As for Bogosian giving up a top 10 pick for him ? Really I wouldn't do it, Wheeler would be the Jets player I'd want but doubt the guy is available.

Another point about the whole injury thing is this: AGE this is an older club now, so injuries are going to happen more frequently wheter we like it or not thats the reality. Z and Pasha are so far above everyone else on this team it's a blessing but also very concering in the longrun and even mid run.