centcougar07

Some.. no MOST of these comparisons are ridiculous. Comparing Nyquist to Datsyuk? That's laughable.

So you're saying his PIM goes down every year? hmm...

Good post Richdg. I wouldn't worry about all the neggs you get on the comments. Since I've been here, I have noticed many a Wing fan either incapable or unwilling to face the fact that it will soon be time to rebuild and that we aren't a dynasty anymore. Sadly, even when you give them the facts and throw the numbers in their faces, you still wont get them to be realistic about it. Of course we all want to see Detroit be a dominant force in the league and compete for cups year after year. But when you look at the facts and look at the numbers, it's not there and it's easy to see the decline. Thanks for the reality check.

The thing is he will get offered insanely high contracts by teams that need to do so. And as you said yourself, we're not the only contenders. In 2-3 years we might not even be that if Holland can't flip the age factor while keeping the talent and production relatively linear. Which would be impressive and awe inspiring if you ask me. It also doesn't help that we haven't done much of anything in the playoffs recently despite getting there against beatable teams. I would have more confidence if I thought Detroit was still THE place to be when it came to FA's. I think they look now and see a team declining unfortunately.

No s*** haha

I'm not trying to be pessimistic but since someone brought it up I commented on it. Should I not comment just because you don't like it and don't want to hear it? No, I think i'll be the one who decides what I post.

I was referring to the Minnesota Wild, not the state. But he did play there a lot in college too because of all the college teams in Minnesota. He's certainly spent his fair share of time there. He also has connections to Dany Heatley and Tom Gilbert from Wisconsin and they play for the Wild. So I think if you want to talk connections, he has more connections to Minnesota than Detroit.

I would. But I seriously doubt it would ever happen.

There's talk of him going to a lot of teams. It's going to be a challenge to make him a wing.

True.. But Madison is a lot closer to Minnesota. And I think he was saying that Suter has a lot of connections to Minnesota not necessarily that he was born and raised there. I see his point; if Minny can sign Parise or Suter, they will use that signing to try and lure the other. The same could be said for any team with the cap room and the need for Parise and Suter, but Minnesota has the X factor of all the connections there.

This made me LOL.

That could happen if it gets to a point where NJ realizes he's not going to resign. My guess though is that NJ won't trade his rights.

Parise's agent wont have to call anyone, his phone will be blowing up on midnight, And yeah it does mean nothin, Glad others see that< he has sais similar things about Minnesota and if any team asked him what they thought of the organization, he would say good things.

I doubt that the Preds organization goes out year after year with the single goal of defeating the Wings. Every team in the NHL matches up better with some teams and not as well with others. You still have to get the job done when the time comes.

He's got a good portion of his playoff points on a line with those two. I think he plays with them occasionally and Huberdeau occasionally. His height is okay. But he NEEDS to add more weight, he'll get pushed off the puck so easily by the average NHL defenseman because he's so lanky. But then you have to worry about him possibly losing a step as far as skating ability goes and/or the possibility that his already questionable work-ethic gets worse. He's also got to become more of a student of the game. His hockey sense on the ice is less than admirable as well; every once in a while i'll see him trying to play Pavel Datsyuk and dangle into the zone and then lose the puck resulting in an odd man rush the other way. His defensive game could use a little work but that's the least of his worries really. That will improve a lot with more coaching and just learning better positioning. He does posses some pretty nice hands and good on ice vision. But he has A LOT of work to do before he'll be making any kind of positive impact to an NHL team.

I understand people wanting Nashville to lose after they knocked us out, but them being dispatched so easily by Phoenix only make us look worse.

I don't buy into Jarnkrok being a top prospect. I think he is a second line center at best in the NHL and probably a third liner with decent offensive skills. He's definitely more of a playmaker. He's a little bit undersized and I just have a hunch that he will be a 3rd liner in the NHL. If he surprises me he could be a second liner. Jurco is playing in the Q with Saint John on a line with Coyle and Phillips (usually) and those two are putting up ridiculous numbers (Coyle: 15-17 in 15 games, Phillips: 8-21 in 15) but Jurco only has 10-12 in 14 (playoff stats only here). Obviously those aren't bad numbers but we all know numbers in the Q are inflated a little and I would argue that if Jurco wasn't playing with such high end talent his numbers wouldn't be nearly as high. That being said he is a good player but still probable a second liner in the NHL. Knocks on him for me is showing a consistent effort and hockey sense

I didn't miss them I just didn't put them in there because IMO they don't belong there.

It definitely not one the WORST prospect pools, but it's very average. That's my overall opinion but the shelves aren't TOTALLY bare. I am very confident in my assessment of the prospects, however I do most of my assessing from researching the prospects numbers and watching them play etc. I maybe wouldn't say friends, but we do talk occasionally when he has time and I pick at his brain as much as I can. I'll try and get some direct quotes from him and put them on here when I can. Hopefully before the draft. Also, Hockey's future had the Wings at 15 in November but that board is really old and a lot of it is outdated. I'm guessing when they release the rankings after the Draft in June, the Wings will be somewhere around 18,19,20. I think Smith is top 2 defensive pairing talent. I think Nyquist could be a top 3 forward but most likely a second line guy. He tends to chase the puck a lot from what I've seen but he does give it 100% effort every shift and that makes him valuable to the Wings because they have often lacked a gritty player with scoring ability. Tatar is definitely the best offensive talent. He has raw scoring ability but he also has the potential to be a huge bust. Also, Pulkkinen has a lot of potential but I think he is probably a second line talent and who knows if his game will translate to the NHL. Beyond that we have a lot of B and C grade prospects that will be 3rd and 4th liners and bottom pairing D men. Again, this is all my opinion and others can make their assessments but this is just my view. I don't mean to step on anyone's toes; I know this isn't what people want to hear even though I certainly don't claim to be an expert.. But I do think I have a decent hockey mind.

I didn't say none of them were elite. Just not that many. I like Smith, he made a huge jump this year in my mind. I also mentioned a number of other prospects I like.

Here come the proverbial 'the stars are aligned and the Wings will sign both Parise and Suter and we'll be a dynasty again!' posts.. People don't realize how hard it will be to sign one, let alone both of the highest coveted FA's in the market.

I'm hesitant to add Jurnkrok to the list of "elite" prospects. In the scope of this this organization maybe but not in terms of league wide prospects. Then again, I wouldn't consider many of our prospects making the cut for the latter group. I just don't see it. I know it's not a popular position to hold but I think our prospects are average. I really want to see some work done by Holland on that front this summer. It's not longer just "we're the Red Wings, we don't rebuild we reload". You have to build internally through the draft and by developing prospects.

The chances of his staying in NJ are slim. Even if they make it to the ECF, NJ's financial situation sucks and signing Parise long term will be nearly impossible. The owners have been defaulting on payments for months. That being said, when he hits the UFA market, the odds of him becoming a Wings are FAR from 100%

Let me start off by saying that I really respect your willingness to break from the monotonous norm of this forum and share a viewpoint that might not be that popular among the others here. That being said some of your ideas are pretty radical/unrealistic. I agree that Lids coming back at his current price isn't ideal but it's probably the reality. I think he'll come back for around 5.5-6 on a one year deal (obv.) Also, comparing him to Stevie Y isn't realistic but I think that point has been made already too. Also, overhauling a whole organization isn't easy or the right way to get back in contention. Realistically, this team can get back in the playoffs next year if we dump a couple of the older players who don't fit and pick up Parise (which probably won't happen IMO but for the sake of arguement...) or get Nyquist and/or Jurco up here and pray to god they can contribute and that we won't ruin their potential by pushing them too early. It's not going to be too hard to get into the playoffs next year, especially if there aren't as many injuries. The problem lies 2-3 years from now when we're gonna be REALLY old and still not have any great prospects. We're going to have to rebuild at some point otherwise we're going to be middle of the pack until Datsyuk and Z hang em' up.. Then we'll be bottom feeders. We need to start getting younger now (as you mentioned) but that is easier said than done. It involves getting rid of old players that have trade value in exchange for younger players and picks that we can use to start getting fresh, young talent into the organization. But it all has to be done while still keeping the team we have now a contender and not wasting the last years on some of our older players because we had a yard sale with everyone else. It's an challenging task and I do not envy Ken Holland. I commend you for your efforts and willingness to take a leap but still.. A lot of what you said just isn't feasible. Especially the trades you mentioned. Pac from the Habs is a decent player but he isn't the answer to our problems and Ryan from Anaheim would be a blockbuster that really wouldn't work out for us well in the long term. Anaheim is in rebuilding right now as far as I'm concerned and it will be near impossible to lure a 24 year old proven goal scorer away from them without having to give up every good prospect and their brother that we have in the system. Not to mention picks. It would look great in the short term because putting a finisher like Bobby Ryan on a like with Datsyuk would be deadly. It's certainly a sexy acquisition but at the end of the day it would set us back HUGE in the long-term and would be a bad deal to try and make. There is some other stuff but I think it's been pretty much beaten to death here already as far as I can see.. Again though.. I commend you on stepping outside the box and putting it on the line.