Richdg

You are correct about the need but incorrect about the talent. There are in fact 2-3 Dman that will get drafted between 5-15 that are going to be real good players. The problem is they are all 3-5 years from being ready. None of them is a guy that will be ready to play for us in the 16/17 season or even the 17/18 season. We have a need now. This is why I have long been on the draft F's are continue to build there and trade/sign UFA's on the D. You are tyring to defend Holland with a really really bad list of players. Most of those signings were fill, nothing more. When you have a weak UFA class like the year we signed Weiss, being 4th might as well be 50th. Many on this very forum knew and stated that bringing him in was a mistake. he was a below average top line guy for Florida, coming off several years of injuries, and BTW is STILL UNSIGNED. No one wants him. In fact I wonder did any other team really want him the year we signed him? It was a signing that seem to happen because he wanted to come here more than anything else. Also the best guy on the list: Hossa, he called Holland and convinced him he wanted to play in Detroit. Holland was not going after Hossa.

Don't include trades in the UFA pile. Dekeyser was an unknown/unproven prospect-not a proven player. It remains true that for whatever the reasons Holland hasn't brought in big name proven UFA's.

I said not sure he likes to do it, not that he doesn't do it. But and this is a key thing. Your list is everyone he has brought in for the last 10 years. How many are in any way shape or form are stars? 1 was Hossa. The rest were way past their primes/trying to hang on, journeymen fillers, and unknown risks. This is something that should worry/scare all RW fans. If past performance is a predictor of the future we can cross every big name UFA off of the list this summer.

I doubt they pass us next year, but I do see them better and us worse.

BTW we are closer in points to the Oilers-23 than we are to the Caps-27. Any bets which team we will be closer to next season?

Nope, we take shots most of the time. We need guys that can play in front of the net. Gauthier, Brown, or Jones are the best picks at 16.

I didn't say all of those holes would be filled via trades or UFA. If any of the guys that could be moved but are not moved they will be on the roster. Youth can/will come up at some point. I wouldn't be surprised at all if the names listed (in the lines or in the could be traded list) are in fact our team next year. I am not conviced that Holland wants to or likes to bring in guys from the outside.

of course if there is any way to bribe Ericsson and move him without having to retain a large part of his salary that should be done. But that is a lot of if's and maybe's...... if we choose to we can buy him out. It would be a 1.42 million cap hit for the next 8 years though. To go along with the 1.1 cap hit for Weiss.

if Minny goes out in the 1st round they pick 15th, lowest point total. Then us, then Philly.........

Start with this lineup and build from there: Abby-Larkin-???? Mantha-AA-???? Svechnikov-Z-Jurco ????-Glendening-???? ????? Dekeyser-????? Kronwall-Marchenko Ericsson-Green Oullett-Sproul Mrazek Howard That leaves 6 roster spots open. That also leaves the following group to either be traded or kept depending on the deals possible: Nyquist, Tatar, Sheahan, Pulk, Jensen, and Smith. We of course would have 16 million or so in cap space to keep any of those 6, contracts taken on in trades, and/or sign UFA's. Let Helm, Richards, and Andersson all walk.

agreed. For AA and Larkin to become great C's they have to play C. For Mantha to become a quality NHL F he has to play in the NHL. The fact he didn't get a game is nearly criminal.

Well baring the greatest comeback in the history of sports, we are picking 16th in the draft. 46th in the second round. Do your mock drafts accordingly.

Wrong. Holland has proven he will not get rid of anyone that he likes no matter how old, unproductive, injured, or expensive they are. Holland got lucky that Franzen finally got hurt to the point that he can LTIR him and not have his cap hit. I have zero doubt that is Datsyuk changes his mind and stays and then wants to extend at 6.5+ million next summer Holland will do it. That is not doing what is best for the team in the short or long term. Come May 1 2017 anyone want to bet on Kornwall, Ericsson, Z, Green all still being here? I put the odds at 99% that they all are still RW's come next summer.

True Green wasn't terrible. But is he a top pair guy? 2nd pair guy? Maybe 2nd pair. But he is weak defensively and costs 6 million per year. Now he only has 2 years left and should not be resigned. But we need the roster spots if we are going to bring in players. DD, Kronwall, Green, Ericsson, Smith, Marchenko, Oullett, Sproul and Jensen all have to be on the team next year or lost via waivers. That is 9 guys and we haven't brought in anyone yet. Not to mention we haven't improved yet which is the bigger issue.

The pieces don't matter, it was freeing up the money needed to resign his stars. So he shipped out a guy declining in production to do that. As we sit today we need at least 4 maybe 5 high end players and we don't ahve the money to do it. All of our money is tied up in old declinging vets that Holland will not move. Pick whatever names you want: Z, Kronwall, Ericsson, Howard, Green, etc....

True but we had buyouts that were not used correctly. Z is also just an example. Next summer Kornwall becomes tradeable. if he rebounds a bit-which is possible if healthy, any chance he gets moved to a Cup contender? Nope. What kills dynasty's and this is true in all sports, is they hang onto their old stars too long. It is ALWAYS better to trade a guy a year early than a year late.

This was a smart savy move by Bowman. Sharp was 33 at the time and making 5.9 million per year. He just finished a season were his goal scoring dropped by 50% without missing any games and playing on the B hawks top line. Bowman also had to resign his younger stars. So he moved Sharp believing he was in decline. Well he was right. Sharpe went from 30+ goals with the hawks, to 17 goals to 16 goals this past season with the Stars. he is now 34. Now compare with say Z. Z is 2 years older and signed for 5 more years at a higher cap. His production has dropped at an equal rate as Sharp. Is there any chance at all the Holland will ever move Z? Even if it is the best thing for the team? That if the difference between a great GM trying to win and a average GM that is trying not to loose.

Yes it was. Bowman moved Sharp to free up cap to keep his core intact. he was being aggressive and forward thinking. Not sitting on his rump out of loyalty and hoping for better results. Cap dumps are often very strategic acts to maintain what a team has or improve a team.

Nope. We have 1.

Is Oullett even healthy? last I saw he was hurt. But that has been a couple of days..... Since we only have 1 game left why not Mantha? or is Holland's Napoleon complex kicking in again?

Nightfall, Sharp was traded away not unresigned. big difference in the actions. By trading him Bowman was taken action to keep his team in a position to win everything. SJ begs to differ. NTC typically get moved when the player pushes the issue. Do you expect Ericsson, or Z or Kronwall to ask to be traded? Howard maybe.

This is a three year rebuild. It will take us that long to clear out the bad contracts/old declining players. Even then it will take a GM with guts to make it happen. 2017-Datsyuk's contract is done and this is the first year Kornwall could be traded. 2018-Green's contract is up 2019-Howard and Kronwall's contracts are done. 2020-Ericsson's contract is up 2021-Z's contract is up. Those 6 guys take up 34 million or 48% of this years cap. All have NTC's atm. This summer we have the room to resign our RFA's and add 2 UFA's/trades. Next summer we can add 2 more and resign our own players. 2018 we might be able to add 1 after resigning our own. 2019 now we can buyout Ericsson and maybe Z if he hasn't retired by then. In the mean time we have to hope the guys we have play better to improve the team and improve their trade value.

Its over. Start your stages of recovery now. Mad, sad, denial, and then acceptance. We are a below average team and going to get worse barring some new drastic actions by management.

So now the league is the problem? The Blackhawks and Kings don't seem to have that issue, so why should we?

We played a good game and won. Mrazek was average but the D in front of him was much better which gave him an easy night. We all should be happy. We all should enjoy it for I fear it will be short lived. This season has shown all of us fans that this team can't play 2 good games in a row.