DickieDunn

I'm not one to get misty eyed over prospects, but moving Larkin fills a hole by creating another. Mantha or AA plus a pick and prospect is better and should be comparable to other offers

If two players are equally good and you want to take the local kid, sure. Loading the team with average to middling players, calling a second pair D a star, and hoping that Larkin turns into an elite player just because they're all from Michigan isn't a sound strategy. Also, the idea that they like each other or have chemistry because they're from the same state is flawed. Maybe they played against each other and one threw a cheap shot, or banged another guy's girlfriend, or they hate each other for another reason.

The long term deals he's given to Helm, Abdelkader, Glendening and Nielsen, along with blocking the spots that should be open for Mantha and AA, pretty much guarantees that the best the Wings will do for the next 3 or 4 years is hover around the 7-8 seed. Rebuilding teams don't usually sign middling vets to 4+ year contracts that pay too much money.

First, Windsor is Canada, so getting him would be getting a Canadian defenseman. Second, birth place is irrelevant. Skill set is the only thing that matters. Holland favors not standing his ground in negotiations. He caves in faster than a tunnel through a sand dune. There has been a focus on local boys lately. It's like the idea is if we can't be good, let's load the team up with "hometown" boys. Unfortunately, some fans appear to prefer that to winning.

When just making the playoffs is the #1 goal and middle of the road vets get 4+ year deals while talented prospects get stuck in roles that don't suit theirskills or in the minors, that's a culture of mediocrity.

If you think Ott is going to be as good as Drake or even Downey, who didn't do a whole lot, you're fooling yourself. Yes slowed down and he doesn't hit as much and he's not much of a fighter. What does he do that other people don't do better?

Either Holland is on board with the culture of mediocrity or he's allowing ownership to interfere. If it's the first he should be fired, if it's the second he should have the balls to tell them let me do my job or fire me. Then he has his choice of jobs on teams that want to win.

Playing extra hard just because it's your "home team" implies that they don't give everything for other teams. That's either insulting to the player, or if it a true it's a guy I don't want on my team.

The only way Vanek gets traded is if he asks for one or the Wings are so far out not even the biggest homer out there thinks they have a shot at the playoffs. If they're within shouting distance they'll be buyers not sellers. Of course with that defense they might be that far out. With Kronwall still having knee issues, they have 3 2nd pair guys and a bunch of third pairing ones and no cap room to make a deal.

You just don't get it. Without Cleary they could have some other guy who has zero chance of playing in the NHL and new is always better

Danny is a walking "don't do what I did" billboard

There was a street named after him, but they had to change it. Nobody crosses Brian McGrattan and lives. McGrattan doesn't flush toilets, he scares the crap out of them.

Blashcock is still acting like they have Lidstrom and Homer

Having him keeps guys from playing back to back pre season games during the world cup, nothing more

The Helm-LFG-Abdelkader line will be leading the team in TOI and have a whopping 40 goals between them. But they'd be good defensively so it's ok.

Vanek has the talent to score 25-30 goals. I don't see the drive to do that on a regular basis. Btw Vanek can become Camel with autocorrect

I'm ok with Abdelkader playing on a scoring line as long as he's paid for the player he is. When Lapointe was a free agent and got a big offer from Boston, Holland wished him luck on his new team. Abdelkader and Helm hot free agency, he caved and gave them bad contracts. Glendening didn't even get that far before he got paid twice as much for twice as long as he should have. Dekeyser best case scenario is he's worth it. It could blow up in his face as bad as Ericsson's deal. On a good contract, best case is the deal ends up being good value for the team. Ericsson's deal blew up in his face. Howard didn't live up to his expectations. Zetterberg and Franzen aren't his fault but they still ended up being bad. Weiss was a gamble that bombed. Nielsen has almost zero chance of being worth close to his deal at the end.

Forwards and d are judged based on different criteria. Wingers who get a 7 year deal that pays over $4 mil had damn well better put up points, and 15 goals over an 85 game stretch isn't close to good enough. Ditto for Helm and his lack of scoring ability. These are the types of deals we laughed at when other teams gave them out. Now the same people are defending them because they're not "that bad." Virtually every analyst outsode of Detroit, where criticzing Holland is not allowed, who has talked about Holland's recent signings have bashed them. It's not just the "haters," and it's not just one or two contracts.

They are facts. The Wings went from being on good shape cap wose to having no room. An actual 20 goal scorer is going to look at the contracts grinders got and want max years for significantly more money, that's how value is set. If Abdelkader is worth 7 years 4.25 aav for one 20 goal season, I'm worth 5 mil a year for 7 years for scoring 25.

speed or not, he's a mediocre player. I'd be fine with him for 3 years and under $3 mil. Same with Abdelkader, 3 or 4 at $3.5 or so would be good. Glendening for 2 years at a mil per would be good. But when every free agent who is extended gets too much, it adds up in a hurry and starts causing major problems. One, it limits cap space and flexibility, and two when a good player hits free agency he looks at those guys and wants even morw than he might have been ok with otherwise.

I didnt say he fabricated it. That doesn't mean his info was correct.

If he really was offered that much, he should have been allowed to walk, but I don't buy it. As far as what line he should be on, he should be on the checking line right now, never mind in 3 years. Once he is a proven bust as a scoring line player, more than he already has, nobody is going to want to touch him. Ditto for Abdelkader when he doesn't touch 20 goals again. But hey, $10 million for a fourth line isn't too bad, right?

what the hell is a cm punk, sound a lime a crappy icp cover band

Maybe the contracts can be traded. There's a finite number of teams that want the dead money, and many of them have those deals already. Kronwall is hurting and even Kahn acknowledges that he might not finish the deal if he has another year with a lot of pain and poor play. Zetterberg was never going to finish his deal, how long is he willing to play for a middle of the road team whose goal is to just make the playoffs? Holland has put the team in a bad situation.