Richdg

he did score our first goal.

per the earlier question. if an amnesty buyout is used, there is 0 zero nadda cap hit. he gets his money and we get complete cap relief.

Holland's only mistake off of this lsit, is the long term contracts to Franzen, Kronwall, and Z. All 3 contracts go for another 7 years, when all 3 players are 40+. 14 million per year cap hit for those 3 guys. The chances that more than 1 is still playing in the NHL is very very low. The not trading guys, is a more general issue. he never trades players that could bring a good return, nor does he dump guyss that we are not bringing back, for extra picks.

Top UFA power forward on the market, he WILL get 5+ million. You may not like it, but he will get it.

PP! Yes!

Can we get a 3rd goal?

he is. all season. Needs to be signed and go play in the minors.

In the last 15-20 years, who has been the best G? Brodeur hands down. not even close. What is his career save %? .913. What is Howards career save %? .917. last time I checked that would BE BETTER than Brodeur. Some folks really need to stop guessing at sh!t and look things up before they talk.

So we let Howard walk and use the money to sign some snipers? what snipers? Only 2 are availabvle in UFA this year. Clarkson and Horton. that is basicly it, unless you are talking about signing spome more over 30 guys. ok trade for them. Fine, we can do that anyway. but, then we also have ahole at G that needs to be filled. More trades.... this is the right move. howard IS NOT OUR PROBLEM. Nor is his contract. if we have money issues-yet to be seen, it really comes from having so much tied up in forwards that can't produce. Again, nothing to do with Howard.

Wow. Some on here.... wow..... Good job Holland, the G and D positions are filled for the long term. Now fix the forward group and we are set.

Several things. 1. Most goal scorers are streaky. The difference is, how do they play hen not scoring? franzen does nothing. Clarkson stll skates and hits. Which are things we need badly. 2.I am all for giving kids a chance. but let's not pretend that players are something that they are not. Neither Tatar or nyquist are big power forward types, which we lack and need. A top 6 of nyquist, Datsyuk, tatar, Z, and brunner is very very small. They will get pushed around and beaten up. 3. I am all for signing Clarkson. But not to a 7 year deal. I would rather pay him more per year for fewer years. if the option are 7 years at 5 million or 5 years at 7 million, do the later. We don't need more 35+ players making big money on this team. Keeping in mind Franzen, Kronwall, and Zetterberg will still be under contract and hitting our cap for 14 million combined.

The negative is, if GR and Tol are heavily loaded with 19, 20, 21 year olds, those teams will struggle. But no one really cares if you win Calders, they care about SC's.

You realize we said the same thing? he ahs to develop physically and mentally.

Yes, for the right deal. But what happens if we strike out in FA again? Clarkson is from Tor and they will make a big play for him, so will NJ. That is where things get iffy at best. We have to improve our O, no debating that. If we can't sign we have to trade. To get a quality 30 goal scoring PF if going to take a lot. tatar and Nyquist combined will not be enough.

Looking forward towards seeing the other 6. Yes NTC's are bad news for all clubs in all sports.

Hard to judge Brunner right now. Yes he is in a new world-literally. But he is also 26/27. There just isn't much time to "develop". The thing that makes or breaks pro athletes is, can they adjust after the league has seen them and developed a game plan for them? Some do, most don't. I hope he makes it and spend the next 5+ years here scoring 20+ goals per year. But time will tell.

Clearly you are not a parent. Money is not the issue, nor will it be. This is going to be all about his family as it should be. If you had kids that you didn't get to see for months on end, you would understand this. There are far more important things in life than money and hockey, and your children is #1 on that list. This is way Stuart left and signed with SJ, his family. I do lean towards the 'he is gone side', but no one truely knows.

Grew up listening to the RW on the radio. I live in the Grand Rapids area and hockey wasn't on TV and going to a game was to far most of the time. Those of us in Michigan have been spoiled by some truely great radio men over the years: Bruce Martyn, Ernie Harwell, Ufer, etc..... Hockey was almost dead in GR at that point. IIRC the greater grand rapids area was down to 2-3 sheets of ice in all of kent and ottawa counties. It was the radio and the Red Wings that kept the game alive untill PASS started in the mid/late 80's. Yes some of us remember when there was no cable TV. As for the questions in the OP. Many of us have been fans for far longer than any player has played for the team, coach has coached the team, or even owner has owned the team. Like I said, fan since the 70's (was born in 69). I have cheered and cried a lot with the Wings. But that is the point. I cheer for the Wings. The pieces change, but the Wings are eternal.

I hope we get all of the players we control signed and playing in the minors by next season. We have 2 minor league teams-46 roster positions, fill them up! Let's find out what we truely have/don't have. If all these guys are signed, then you can start building some line combo's so they can develop together.

With all due respect, never going to happen. he isn't a scorer. Not now nor ever. he has never scored 20+ goals at the pro level-minors or NHL, and never will. As you said earlier, he is Draper 2.0, which is great! But would I have trade Draper for Shanny? Hell yes. Twice on Sunday's. Would I trade a 26 year old Helm (if Healthy) for a 26 year old Ryan? Without a second thought. Now that of course is an example, but you get the point. I understand that EVERYONE has their favorite players. Normal thing for fans. But our favorite players are not doing very well as a team. My favorite TEAM needs to be fighting for Cups, not fighting to just make the playoffs. Under that context, no one is untouchable. Anyone can be moved in the right deal.

worrying about the 3rd line C, when we have other options, when we don't have 1st and 2nd line wingers is kinda the cart before the horse. We simply don't have anyone that can score 20+ goals other than Datsyuk and Zetterberg. Which is why we are struggling this year and into the future. As of today,the RW are 21st in goals scored and 13th in goals allowed. yes Helm can help the second, but he doesn't help the first.

Agreed. FREE THE MONSTER!!!!!!!!!! Move him to LW though. All the small euros need a body guard.

Glad to see this. They all need 2-3 years to adjust and get better. get that clock going.....

Glad to see them all coming to get a taste. Pro North American hockey is ery very different than Europe. Most will need 2- years to be ready, so the sooner we can get the clock going, the better. LOL not sure how this ended up here.........

How does he improve our scoring? he doesn't. helm is a great defensive C. Our D is fine overall, and will only get better as the young Dmen mature. helm is not now nor will he ever be a guy that scores 20+ goals a season. That is what we need badly. Again, to get quality, you have to give quality. Its not like the RW are short on checkers. We have those. it is scorers that we lack and size/grit that we lack. helm is none of those.