Richdg

This offseason is something of a bad joke. We sign a soon to be 41 year old. Over his last 4 full seasons, not including this year, Alfie has averaged 70 games and 20 goals. His injuries have gone up and hid production has gone down. Which is to be expected. Weiss may be an ok deal. If Cleary comes back, the joke turns into a nightmare. Where are the young guys going to play? if they are not going to play, then why do we have them on the team? Why didn't we move them? If we are going to play them, then why are we signing old guys to multi year contracts and tying up the money? As of today we don't have enough cap left to resign our RFA's. Smith, Nyquist, and Andersson need to be resigned. With what cap? Just not sure what the game plan is here. Yes there are a couple of months before camp, so I hope it becomes clearer soon. That is not new. It was also done by many team across the NHL to try and make up for the lock out. Z is a very good player and yes a good leader. But and this is the unknown, how will you feel if he is retired and we are still taking a 6 million per season cap hit for a couple years? BTW I fully understand this isn't his fault. He didn't write the contract-Holland did. Z, Franzen and Kronwall just signed the contracts.

It doesn't matter about when the money is paid. What matters is the cap hit. Z'ds cap hit is 6 million per year. be it the first year or last year of his deal. if he walks away, the cap hit could go up! So even in his last year, while making 1 million, the cap hit is 6 million. That is the part that matters. same is true with franzen and Kronwall. All are signed until they are 40 ish, and all have big cap hits.

Maybe Holland should call Nick and Shanny and see if they are ready for one last hurrah! Cleary....I mean clearly we want to oldest team in the NHL. Might as well trade the farm system for nabakov while we are at it. After all the kids are not going to be playing......LOL

Yup. Not to mention they had him playing on his off wing, when he is a natural RW. But yes, when your GM talks in the press about moving you, that does cause issues. BTW what RW forwards have scored over 30 goals in a season more than Ryan has? Z is tied with him at 4, but his last seasons was 08/09. LOL

never was a PPG player. Always has been a 60 point guy. he is a goal scorer not a setup man. he is also one of 6 players in the entire NHL to have more than 1 season of 25+ goals and 120+ hits over the last 4 years. that is his game. We will get to see it up close and often for the next 2 years, maybe more.

No, on top lines he is a 30 goal scorer. Look at his lines and the progression of his points. Nah nevermind. Mute point anyway.

Again you are wrong. Clarkson had 15 goals. Brunner had 12. datsyuk our team leader had 15 goals as well. Clarkson also had 84 hits which would have been second. Brunner had 20 hits btw. Big difference in players here.

Clearly you don't know much about the devils. Which is fair. Clarkson was on the checking lines until 2 years ago. Moved up and scored 30 while being a league hit leader. This year same pace. Would have been our leading scorer. been 1st or second on our team in hits as well. he is that good.

Because we do so much of that! passing on Ryan for example. Nyquist and tatar will be lucky to score as many goals per season COMBINED as what Ryan does. he is a proven 30-35 goal per year guy. Vinny LeCav to expensive. Signs with Philly for 4.5 million per year. Weiss sign with us for 4.9 million per year. over the last 4 years Vinny has produced 205 points in the regular season and Weiss produced 170. We are paying more money for LESS PRODUCTION! Alfie-signs for 5.5 million. Clarkson signs for 5.2 million. Who is the better bet to score 30 goals in 2013/14? How about 14/15? 15/16? Again, more money for less production! But next year we have a ton of money available. True. To spend on what? more over 35 forwards? That is our recent history. Pass on the big names-the few that make it and blow our money on nothing.

Over the next 5 years Clarkson will score 125+ goals for the ML and be a pain in our side the hole damn time. Mean while we have nothing. Ryan will be doing the same damn thing for the Sens. 60+ goals for them over the next 2 years. between the 2 of them they have 10.5 million or so in cap hits. same amount as Alfie and Weiss.

We add age and our division rivals add Ryan and Clarkson. For the same price as Alfie!

So as of today we have at forward: Alfredsson 41, Sameulsson 37, Bert 38, Datsyuk 35, Zetterberg 33, franzen 34, TooToo 30, Weiss 30, Eaves 29, Miller 29, Abby 26, Helm 26, Emmerton 25, Andersson 24, Nyquist 24, and tatar 23. The average age for our forwards is just over 30. That is 16 forwards. can only dress 12. 4 have to sit. Now we will have injuries. bert and helm have back issues, Sammy is a walking ER ward. But if everyone is healthy, do Andersson, tatar, and Nyquist even see the ice? If you are going to play those 3, then who of the pricey vets sit, and why are they on the team? There are rumors about us trying to get Morrow-who is 34. I hope there are some trades forth coming, because this doesn't make sense. We have gotten older and smaller today.

Ok, a writer writes a story saying we will not go after........ pick a name. There are no quotes from anyone in the RW's management. She ass-u-mes that because of a stated price or a stated destination that we are automaticly out. Didn't Vinny say he wanted 5 million? And that he wanted to go to a city that is not a hockey hot bed? yet he signs with Philly for 4.5 million. lets not get ahead of ourselves here. I have no idea how things will work, but public wants and actual contracts are very different things. Every agent for every UFA is going to try to drive up the price-that is his/her job. Every GM is going to be coy and try to drive down the prices-that is his job. Point is-relax and enjoy the ride. UFA is always a gamble. Sometimes you win sometimes you crap out. Same number of 30 goal seasons as franzen, in half the time. if you don't look at a players total career you can be mislead. For his first couple of seasons, Clarkson was on checking lines. 2 years ago he moved up to the top line and scores 30. This year he had 15-which would have been tied with datsyuk for our team lead. He is also a league hit leader and will protect his team mates.

Not true. last night the RW did give him a qualifying offer. So T mac may still be ripening........ here is the link: http://network.yardbarker.com/all_sports/article_external/red_wings_overnight_report_fil_gone_colaiacovo_bought_out_det_unlikely_to_pursue_big_ticket_ufas/13962730

Sorry but it means nothing. Winning the championship in the minors has zero connection with winning at the NHL level. Add in that the main reason the griffins won was, we loaded up their roster with guys that played all or most of the year with the RW's. The majority of the griffins talent was already up: Smith, Nyquist, lashoff, and Andersson.

Dueling fans this morning! LOL. I don't know what an overreaction is, but if it is fans wanting their teams GM to improve the team, ok consider me part of the overreaction crowd. That does not mean I am going to jump up and down cuss and walk around pissed off. After all, I am just a fan and have no influence to change anything. That being said, what is the job of a GM? His number 1 job is to improve his team. That is true of every GM in every sport. As of today are the RW's a better team? No. As of today are the RW's a worse team? maybe. Is the off season done? No. is there time to still improve? yes. Now what is going to happen? No idea. if it was September 1 and our roster is still the same, I will be fair more upset than on July 3. We all know and understand that this is a team that needs a lot of help at forward. We are small, not very physical, and offensively challenged. This hasn't changed. We lack stars in our top 2 lines. But most of us also understood that this years UFA class was weak. yes I also understand that it is frustrating to watch star players go to other teams while we largely stand pat. Be it UFA's or trades. Yes Holland has made some mistakes-what GM hasn't? Cola, Bert, Sammy are prime examples. But that is done. Now it is time to focus on what WILL happen in the future. Which of course is something that none of us know. Yet.

saw this on one of the sites. he did reject the devils offer this weekend and is planning on heading to UFA. Let's hope he likes Red and White more than he liked Red and Black!

Good draft this past weekend. Lets hope all of our picks turn out over the next 2-5 years. But no time to stand still. UFA starts Friday. As a team, more specifically at forward, we need more crash and goals. We were a bottom 1/3 team offensively this past year. We need 1, really 2 scorers. We need some more guys that hit. If we can find a couple of guys that do both, great! Clarkson and Horton both are heading to UFA. Clarkson rejected an offer from NJ over the weekend, and Horton told Boston he is out last week. Of course big Vinny is also out there. Of course there are trades available as well. But when 20% of the league is in play or rumored to be, that list is to long to type. Last thing is buyouts. Today is July 2, and buyouts have to be used by July 4 or wait until next summer. This could add some more surprises to the UFA market.

The posts on this thread make me wonder about our education system. Cleary economics isn't being taught in school anymore. If the RW or any pro team doesn't have sponsorships, what happens? Ticket prices go up. Concession prices go up. Parking goes up. TV/cable prices go up. For the RW to spend 64.3 million on player salaries, they have to bring in twice that to cover all their expenses. GM's cost money, scouts cost money, the beer and hot dogs cost money, the JLA has utility bills to be paid. Plus all owners want to make a profit. or at worst, break even. Now for those that dislike Amway, please get some idea of what you are talking about. You do realize that the De Vos family-co-founders of Amway own the Griffins right? The arena they pay in is owned by the Van Andel family, the other co-founders family. Not to mention the ties with the Whitecaps, the various lector hall/labs/residence halls on many of Michigan's college campuses. Plus the 5000 or so hourly workers at the Amway plant in Ada. The business model of Amway is no different than the franchise model of Little Caesars. Little Caesars doesn't make money off of selling pizzas. They make money off of selling the ingredients to the thousands of franchises around the world.

I didn't say they were clones. Yes ovechkin hits more than the rest and carter fights less than the others. But from a skill set they are similar to one another. But all are 6-3 or 6-4, 210 to 220 pounds, and have produced 30+ goal seasons. If mantha does that we are in good shape. Put up some 40+ goal seasons and we are golden.

Another name in the mix yes. There is a common skill set between guys like Shanny, Perry, malkin, ovechkin, carter etc..... They are all tall. They all will drop the gloves, and they are all shooters. None of them are big time hitters or known for their great D play. It is hard to be in good shooting positions and be in deep on the forecheck.

There is more than alittle moaing about taking Mantha. In fact the very next post after yours was one poster agreeing with another that "no player taken 20th turns into anything better than Franzen". Yes I am fully aware of the scouting reports and the way TSN's guys slammed the pick during the broadcast. That is why I have never placed much value in a scouting report. Most of the time, those are nothing more than a snapshot in time. Not who the player really is, or more importantly-who the player will be. Go back and read the scouting reports on Cory Perry. When he was drafted he was 6-2/195 and considered very undiscipled and a player that many scouts had serious doubts over. he was taken 28th-another player busting the "to late to be good" lie and he has developed nicely. Mantha is the same type of player. But and this is key: Mantha is taller, faster, and a BETTER shooter than Perry was at the same age, and is still taller and faster than Perry today. Many fans here show their age or lack there of at times like this. For years Yzerman-you know the HOF former captian, was slammed because he only cared about offense. Bowman threated-very seriously, to trade him if he didn't start playing D. This was after Yzerman had been in the NHL for 10 years and was a multiple time AS. Now is mantha a future AS? Time will tell. But what do we know today? he is tall, fast, scores at will and fights. He is a player in the Shanahan, Perry, Ovechkin mold. Now can he reach that level? We shall see. If I was going to bet, I would bet yes. he has a higher skill level and more natural talent than any other forward in the entire RW system other than Datsyuk. LOL. What pick was Datsyuk? Zetterberg? Perry? The list goes on and on and on. In fact what pick was franzen? 97th. Therefore it is impossible for any player picked before 97th to be better than a guy picked 97th.

Good old LGW! The guy has been a RW for 22 hours and already there are those thinking he is Franzen! He is an 18 year old kid with a ton of talent. I am sure Holland, Babcock, Draper, and Chelios never thought of talking to his coach to see what type of effort Mantha puts in. I am sure they just looked at his height and the fact he scored 50 freaking goals-only player to do that last year in junior, and blindly said sign us up! No he is not a finished product-no one at 18 is. How many of us where? How many of us where our best at 18? Most males don't even stop growing until they are 20/21. we finally fill out in our mid 20's and reach our physical peak between 27-32. That is 10 years from now. Two years from now Mantha could very well be 6-5/220. he is more than willing to drop his gloves to defend his teammates. Go look at the fight links I posted earlier. This is a great pick for the RW. In fact there are only 2 other guys in this draft that I believe would have been better picks: Jones and Nichuskin.

In terms of Sunday's draft and the Wings' picks, it appears that the Wings are quite happy with the 18th pick in the 1st round (they will pick 48th and then 79th, 109th, 139th, 169th and 199th), and, somewhat surprisingly, Wings director of amateur scouting Joe McDonnell suggested that the Wings will probably draft a forward as opposed to Ye Olde Beste Player Available while speaking with the Windsor Star's Bob Duff... “We’d really like to get a forward, unless there’s a defenceman that’s too good to pass up,” Wings head scout Joe McDonnell said of the team’s likely plan when they make their first-round pick at No. 18 overall in Sunday’s draft at New Jersey’s Prudential Center. “When it comes to our pick, if we feel there’s two players that are even we’ll lean toward the forward. We have a lot of good, young defencemen – (Ryan) Sproul, (Xavier) Ouellett, (Brian) Lashoff, (Mattias) Backman. We think we have a number of good ones. If we can add a little size up front, it would be beneficial.” ... Getting bigger up front is an ongoing process for the Wings and it will continue on draft day. “It’s just the way the game has evolved,” McDonnell said. “It’s a big man’s game. I’m not saying there’s no room for smaller guys, but if you can get a big, skilled guy, you go that route. We’ll still take small guys if we have to, but we’re looking to get bigger. We have bigger guys coming up in (forwards Tomas) Jurco and (Riley) Sheahan.” The Wings will go earlier on draft day than they have in many years. It’s the quickest they will be called to the podium in the first round since 1991, when they also selected a big forward, Martin Lapointe. “We’re excited,” McDonnell said. “At 18, we know we’ll get someone we really like. The draft in general is strong, in the first round and even into the second round. It’s deep at the top end of the draft and then it peters out. There will be guys we like even in the seventh round, but the high-end part of the draft is good. At 18, we’ll get a quality player.” This is a good thing!

He has already had 1 concussion. Missed part of this year with it. Again, there were better options at the time. But that is water under the bridge.