Richdg

I doubt either would ask for a trade. retire is what will happen, and with the lack of positive moves to date that day may end up closer than anyone wants. why would either want to keep pushing their aging bodies to play for a team not going anywhere? At some point in time there is no point in doing so. The cost becomes to great.

120 pages talking about our needs before UFA started and........ we still have the same needs. Petry is available and we should go get him. Ed. needs is looking for a C. We have a bunch of those. Last season Petry had 120+ hits, played every game, scored 7 goals but had crappy assist totals. Much of that is due to the crappy forwards/lack of overall scoring. We would be a good pick up for us, and not cost an arm and a leg to get. Now what would that give us? You can pair Kronwall and Smith. That is one very good pair that should put up 80 points. A second pair of Dekeyser and Petry would be good for 65+ points. Those 2 pairs should also be playing 45+ mins per game leaving the other pair-whose names shall not be mentioned playing less than 15 mins per game.

Some thoughts. 1. LOL! 2. I can handle not landing any UFA's. That is always a crap shoot. You can wine and dine those guys, throw lots of years and money at them, and they still may go somewhere else. 3. BUT resigning Qunicey? Terrible. 4. Holland needs to make a major move by August 1 to flip this around. 5. Those expecting us to be better because "we are healthy", please wake up and join the real world. We haven't been healthy in 3 seasons now. Most of the same old and injury prone players are coming back. Man games lost will not change much. 6. The last 3 years have produced worse winning % each year. 11/12 we won 43 games, just over 50%. in 12/13 we won 24-50%, this last season we won 39 just under 50%. That is trending the wrong way.

Interesting because I was fearful of the same thing. There is nothing that can force Datsyuk to return to play. Put yourself in his shoes. he is wealthy, his wife and kids live in Russia, he could easily replace the RW's salary by staying there and playing. He clearly was unhappy with the end of the year/direction of the team/etc... he is also 35 and getting beat up. He voiced his displeasure which is COMPLETELY out of charactor for him. If we still are the same team come August first, it would be really hard to get on a plan and come back. I have mentioned this before. If you wan to force Babcok, Z, and Datsyuk out, could you write a better script to do it? Why would anyone of those 3 want to return/stay long term? Thios is very thin ice Holland is skating on and we the fans could be the ones to pay for his "liking our team".

Maybe we are going after Mcdavid.......

LOL.......

Highway robbery by Dallas. One of the best C's in the game for 4 marginal prospects/picks. Chassion was a 2nd, paul was a 4th, the other guy was a 3rd, plus a second next year. So far this is 3 star players traded for next to nothing.

OTT may very welt have choice either. If they don't resing and both walk, what did hey get? Nothing. So make them a legit offer and see what they say. It may be their best bet to get good young talent.

SOW, yes both suck on the whole. But that doesn't mean there isn't talent with each. How many here are hoping Erhoff signs....where is he coming from? As for Petry you are talking about a 6-3/200 RHed Dman that skates well, plays physical and should get 35-40 points per year with us. Not to mention he is 26 and from Michigan.

If Petry is available, please Holland get him. He would be a perfect partner for Dekeyser.

When we look at what Van got for Kesler-younger and signed longer, and what Pitt got for Neal-slightly better scorer than Ryan, we could come up with a workable deal. Now is there any chance in hell that it happens? Nope. That would take some insight and balls. Yes it could backfire.

Keep in mind Spezza and Ryan are both UFA's after this season and OTT is broke. Well their owner is, thus why they are looking to dump salary. We could very easily put together a deal for both and resign both of them-which should be agreed to ahead of time.

Thought I would bring this back up. Now that the draft has passed, now would be the time to make a serious inquiry. Everyday that passes Ott looses trade leverage. We could use a big RHed F that scores. A line of Z-Spezza-Nyquist would be very good. All 3 guys have or could score 30 if healthy, which is the risk of course. Maybe we should try to go big with Ott. Spezza and Ryan. Think about this forward group for a few: Mantha-Datsyuk-Ryan Z-Spezza-Nyquist/Jurco Weiss-Sheahan-Franzen Abby-Glendening-Miller That is pretty damn good.

6? No. 5? Yes. He will get at least 3 years at 5 mill per. If we are making moves to sign 2 UFA Dmen, Niskanen and Fayne are the 2 we need most.

Right or wrong Stevie is trying to make his team better long term and freeing up cash to do it. Who knows if it will work. So far our moves are........

I do find it interesting that other teams are willing to git rid of their mistakes, and we keep ours. Erhoff is a better Dman than Franzen is a forward. Younger as well. But they realized the risks and made the move. Yet we sit with the Johan........

Niskanen and its really isn't close. As just a player on the ice they are fairly close. But when you add in age and handedness (is that a word?) it tilts towards Niskanen. he is the type of player we need for the next 7+ years.

I don't get why so many seem to think this would be a better signing than Niskanen. Erhoff turns 32 in about a week. he isn't physical at all, average defensively, and hasn't been great offensively either. yes some of that is because of playing with Buff, but overall just average. he is at the age where he is just leaving what should have been the prime years of his career. Erhoff 32, 6-2/195 LHed, on a good team good for 35-40 points per season, going to make 5+ million and I am sure he is going to be looking for at least 4 years, maybe 5. Niskanen 27 6-0/210 RHed, on a good team good for 40+ points, strong in his own end, and going to be looking for 6 million on a max term-7 years. Now if we don't get Niskanen then going after erhoff makes some sense. he is an upgrade over quincy. But at this point he is clearly a second option.

PVD, no we MAY have some young D ready over the next 2 years. Niskanen and Fayne are proven and both have 8-10 years left. Maybe some day one or 2 of those guys turn out. If they do great! 2 years from now Kronwall is 35 going on 36 and his NTC drops. lashoff is still our 7th, so there is room for 2 of those guys right there, once they EARN a spot. Meanwhile we would have a top 10 corp on the BL. You are also forgetting we have 4 forwards all over 30 that need to be replaced over the next 3-5 years: Datsyuk, Z, Franzen, and Weiss. We have just enough prospects to maybe cover those departures with Mantha, Athenisou, nastasiak, and Larkin. provided they all make it. But we haven't improved yet, just replaced our loses.

N14, we should be after both. We have the room and if we landed both we would have 3 good to great pairs. Think of this blueline: Dekeyser-Niskanen Kronwall-Ericsson Smith-fayne that is very good. 10 million per seasons gets you both easily. maybe 9 does it. Then you send Kindl down the river somewhere.

One early thought about 2015. we will not be drafting McDavid. So please stop now. LOL

Wanted to go back and review this thread from the beginning. My first post was all about our strengths at G and D and the need for forwards. the second post was 3 targets for us to go after, one of which was larkin. Second year in a row that I had the draft pretty well nailed. We ended up at 15, which back in January was the same spot. With our 7 picks we took 1 G and 6 forwards, all of which that are over 6ft tall. For years we had some crazy man crush on small players. The past 2-3 drafts we are finally drafting guys with modern NHL size. Overall great job by Holland and company! Now we have no idea how any of these guys will turn out. The draft is all about getting value with each pick. This year we did it and didn't have any reaches. Very happy overall. Once the season gets going again, I will still posting thoughts about the 2015 draft. But in about a week I will be taking a hockey break to enjoy the rest of the summer. waiting until the UFA period happens of course.

This is/was a bad prospect pool and everyone knew this going in. It is not a good draft at all. last year was great, next year is good. This year is below average. That is not on Holland. he took a very good player at 15 that should end up somewhere between Legwand and kesler. Legwand is 6-2/205 and scores 15 g 40 points per year. Kesler is 6-2/205 and puts up 25 g and 60 points per year. larkin will be in that range somewhere.

DD, that could have been their plan but plans do and can change. You make them change their opinion. Just for the sake of discussion: Mantha-Datsyuk-Neal Z-Kesler-Franzen Weiss-Sheahan-Jurco Abby-Glendening-Miller Andersson Callahan That leaves: Nyquist, helm, tatar, and ferraro left over to deal. So yes we would have better pieces to move than Ana and Nash did to get those 2 guys. The top 6 is filled with guys that are proven 30 goal scorers or could be. 5 of the 6 vets have all done it at least once and Mantha looks like a guy that could do it as well. yes I understand......water under the bridge.

3 centers so far in the draft. All of which are at least 6-1. This is a good thing.