kickazz

Re-read my post. I already answered your "S a l a r y C a p" point.

If Karlsson gets us into the playoffs or close to it, Yzerman would trade whoever and whatever to make our chances of winning happen. Karlsson would just be a stepping stone. I think you’re under that assumption that we sign Karlsson and that’s it. Thats not how it works, at least not on this team. Look at what we did with bringing in Russian 5, then Hull, Robataile, and cap era with Schneider, then Rafalski, Hasek 3rd return for 07, Osgoods return, Brad Stuart. You know who made key trades to solidly his playoff team? Steve Yzerman w/ Lightening. The guy is known to take advantage of locking in guys as soon as he sees a window of opportunity for them to go far; or trade players away (Bishop, St Louis, Drouin) to replace them with younger or better options/assets. Unlike Holland, Yzerman doesn’t seem to have that loyalty of hanging on to guys; he seemed to constantly try and adapt the team into a better and better situation. Doubt we get Karlsson. Again, point is it would be a positive snowball effect. Karlsson, Trouba, Panarin. I’m all for these free agents and I believe Yzerman would do a good job of managing the situations.

"He made 56 total trades in his time as Lightning GM, some holding more weight than others." Wow. ... "He sent team captain Martin St. Louis to New York for Ryan Callahan, a conditional 2014 second round pick (which eventually became a first) and a 2015 first round pick. To acquire two firsts for a past-prime St. Louis is pure robbery." Agreed ... "Despite defying the expectations of many by reaching the Eastern Conference Finals in year one, Boucher was let go by Yzerman after three seasons. The Lightning went 51-54-9 the last two seasons under Boucher’s watch — not good enough for a team trying to establish a winning culture." ^ Balls that Yzerman has and Holland never did. Blashill will get a chance until he doesn't have it anymore.

Mantha, AA and Bert will by due for pay in 1 year but each of them will be less pay than Larkin and should be affordable. Ericsson, Daley and Howard will be off the books by then so it's no issue. Green will be on LTIR probably with his health. Our younger goalie will be cheap. AA, Bert and Mantha will be resigned and we can still afford a superstar salary with our cap space.

Maybe in 1920 when they came to work for Ford but now tis not true. Not in Dearborn. There was a large exodus of the Shiite Muslim sect after the Lebonese civil war in the 80s. You may be referring to overall population though such as West Bloomfield, Commerce Township etc which includes the Christian Iraqi's (Chaldeans) and Maronites around Livonia, Michigan. Anyways wouldn't matter; they'd still root for the dude. You ever seen Lebanese and other arabs band together for Soccer? It's insane. Either way, f*** Kadri. I'm not a fan. Ironically I'm meeting up Kadri's family friend this week and will likely talk s*** about Kadri to him. Let me know if anyone has a few words to say to Kadri. Happy to pass along the s*** talk.

All of Dearborn and Dearborn Heights, Michigan would show up to the games and celebrate on the streets with every goal.

We need more Lebanese. Kadri.

It's a slow day in offseason hockey.

Same, I think he’s smart and a good negotiator. I wouldn’t be upset if we didn’t get him (likeliest scenario) Let me ask you this, if Karlsson didn’t have injury issues, would you be for signing him? I guess my point is, I’m not about for waiting around till x y and z are in their deeper in their primes. I’m all for team improvement quickly. 2 months ago I was hoping that would be Jack Hughes. But that ain’t happening. — On a side note anyone else notice Yzerman gives very little details about anything. That athletic interview was like “the f*** did he say” lol.

How would you react if Yzerman gets Erik Karlsson for 12 million a year for 7 years? f*** Yzerman? I would be content with it. Change is good. Karlsson for Michigan is good. Karlsson for Cholowski is good. Worst case he becomes a shell around age 33. Oh well, I’ll take 5 years for the franchise, teams and cities benefit. If that means 2 “possible” bad years at the end of his contract (personally doubt it) then so be it. You know what else Karlsson would bring in? Another free agent. And another, and another. It’s a snowball effect. Players want to play for good teams and players. They want to play where there’s an attraction. People are looking at Karlsson and Panarin and freaking out that “we’re not ready yet.”. It’s not about that, it’s about the franchise, selling tickets, motivation from teammates, attracting other players and raising eyebrows from trade partners.

You said 35 is the new 40 lol. You also said that a players prime is 23-28 in a previous post. Now you're saying you agree that a defensemen prime is later. So either you agree with that or don't. See your quote below. So what is it? Is a defensemen's prime later? Because from what I'm seeing on the top defensemen in the league, the top defenders are in their 30s and some in the 28+ region. Out of the window of 23-28 that you listed. Burns, Giardano, Yandle, Hedman, Carson, Doughty, go further down the list and you have Suter, Keith. One of Kronwall's best seasons came when he was 34 btw. To put it bluntly. I think the prime age 23-28 theory is bulls*** and doesn't apply for defenders. From what I'm seeing, D-men; especially high end talent (which includes the likes of Burns, Karlssons, Doughtys and Keiths and Suters) can perform extremely well into their late 20s and early to mid 30s (and even win Norris Trophies). If this was about signing Kyle Quincy at age 28 it would be one thing, but a talent like Karlsson at 28 another story. Just think about it, Karlsson as injured as he was this year had 42 assists in just 45 games played! The guy is an offensive beast even through injury. Definitely consider him.

A year or two from now? What difference does one year or two years make between now. Karlsson is available now, not in 1 or 2 years. You sign him now and in "a year or two" like you said, he'd still be here. You're picking at straws for arguments sake. Also the guy we get in at 6th will not be in his prime because he'll be 18 now and in two years 20 and according to you prime doesn't start till 23. Your timeline is off, you want to wait 1-2 years, to me that makes no difference; we're never going to catch all of them in their primes. What's for sure at the moment though is that there's a Panarin and Karlsson available. So go get em.

I respect this ^ I get that it's tricky and I get that he's had injuries in the past. But even getting a bunch of good years with him that could push us into cup contention is a chance you just don't miss out on. No GM would. I'm a bit tired of this Ken Holland "safe approach" mentality that seems to be rubbing off on the fans. We need changes and hopefully Yzerman can deliver. I won't be mad if he doesn't right away (although can't say the same about others). But I believe with Yzerman we have a better chance at it than Holland.

Do you actually think the current guys aren't giving it their all to make the playoffs? Rebuild or not, this is what their performance at their best is. Aka theyre still the 4th worst team or whatever. We didn't get the 1st pick, and we likely won't get it next year either so waiting until 2020 for a miracle is dumb. I'm all for continuing the build, but if a young hall of famer free agent is available you jump all over it every single time. Not only for the sake of winning the cup but also for marketing reasons and revenue.

It boggles my mind that people wanted Mike Green back after a neck injury and history of liver infection/disease he has (guy only ended up playing 43 games so signing him was pointless anyways) but Erik Karlsson who is probably 3 times the player Green is; is too much because he had a booboo in his groin this year and something about an ankle injury that was fixed in 2017 almost 2 years ago.

Are you kidding me? 35 is getting close to what 40 was? . The 35 year old defensemen happen to be the best in the league currently. Go check the top 5 performing defensemen in the league 1. Brett Burns - age 33 2. Mark Giordano - age 35 3. Morgan Rielly - age 24 4. John Carson - age 28 5. Keith Yandle - age 32 4 of the 5 best defensemen in the league at age 28+. Defensemen primes have ALWAYS been later. Go look up how many points and Norris Trophys Lidstrom was racking up in his 30s. And look at the above list one more time with Burns, Giordano, Yandle. There's more from this year. Kris Letang age 31 Victor Hedman age 28 Ryan Suter age 33 - played all 82 games, 47 points 26+ minutes a game (have any of our young defensemen sniffed 26 minutes on average? lol) Duncan Keith age 35 - played all 82 games, 40 points, 23+ minutes a game (still higher than any of our defensemen currently) Btw Erik Karlsson is better than everyone on this list except maybe Brett Burns and Hedman. I'm appalled at people putting Karlsson down over 2 "big" injuries (ankle + groin), big whoop. This guy is a guaranteed hall of famer, probably one of the best offensive defensemen in the last 2 decades, he's persevered. I'd throw all the money at him if we can at least get 4-5 good years out of him If the last 2 or 3 of his years suck so what? At least you got some great Karlsson hall of famer-ish years. You guys are changing your narrative for Erik Karlsson. I know for a fact that you and others here have constantly said "defensemen age better than forwards, defensemen primes tend to be later"

So according to you Larkin, AA, Mantha and Bertuzzi are now in their prime. My point exactly lets get them some free agents to push for the playoffs and cup before we waste them away. We have 4 young players in their prime and they could use the help of a hall of famer defensemen in Karlsson and an elite forward like Panarin who both have experience and are two of the best in the NHL. Do you want to waste away those 4 guys' prime years? Remember that Datsyuk and Zetterberg were consistently making players in the early and mid 20s and finally won that cup at 27 and 29. At this rate none of your young players in the prime have even made it to the playoffs (except Larkin for a couple of games when he was 19).

Was at peace reading your post until the bold. I hope you're wrong. He's no longer a Red Wing and is enemy.

I don't agree with that linear thought process and I don't think any GM does. You can't just rely on your young guys you draft early and hope that in the long term you win the cup, when the current guys cant even make the playoffs. It's not like we're a bubble team. We're one of the worst teams in the NHL and that's not a joke. We need help. We need superstars and we already have 3-4 young players who are getting into their primes. If we continue to be the worst team the next 3 or 4 years vs become an immediate playoff team and eventual cup winners, then you go for the becoming a playoff team and consistency. What more do you think this team needs? A defenseman? A forward? A goalie? We've drafted a bunch of young guys. It's not so bad to get some free agents to fill the holes now.

If we sign Karlsson and Panarin today we have them till age 35. Not 40. It's really not as bad as people are making it out to be. We get them into their prime years and post early prime. Not like we'd be signing a bunch of 32 year old dude till their 40.

Hi

Trouba > Chokowski in looks

He was just a filler for me. Like Lebda

Chelios had major groin, knee injuries. Had knee surgery, required cortisone shot in his groin that f***ed up his leg lol. Dude ended up playing hockey till he was 47. He was fine. Karlsson will be fine.

Except knee and back injuries are worse than an ankle injury.