ChristopherReevesLegs

I believe Zetterberg is going to score somewhere between 60 to 70 pts no matter who you play him with. He plays so much he ends up playing with almost everyone in the top 9 anyway. The man is a thoroughbred. Abdelkader and Sheahan on the other hand would have had much better seasons consistently playing with him. Did Larkin elevate Zberg? I don't think so. Z probably would have a very comparable season next to Nyquist or Tatar or Abdelkader etc. However as soon as Larkin left Zbergs line he went from dynamic sniper to defensively-incompetent/lost-in-the-offensive-zone boy.

It's not just your opinion. 99% of everyone agrees and want him gone somehow. But, as you agree, it's not going to happen. It's just beating a dead horse over and over and over. It's like discussing trading Zetterberg. Sure you can do it, but it's not in the realm of reality so what's the point? Believe it or not, topics vary in merit. Bringing up trading for Seguin (or whoever) is at least something new. Trading Ericsson has become discussed ad nauseam, and no one disagrees... so my apologies, I just find it annoying when the same lame topic leaks into every thread with nothing new to talk about. This has gone too far into discussing "how" people post so I'll leave it at that.

That leaves just over $900,000 for Vanek. Nice.

Then why are you constantly bringing up trading players like Ericsson and Nielsen? You agree with me they're not going anywhere, so what's the point? We all know the contracts are bad, that horse has been beaten to death.

I'm confused. Now you're arguing the exact point I was originally making. Zberg carries this team, and he carries his linemates, Mantha and Larkin included. You suggested Mantha rejuvenated an old Zberg just a few posts ago, but now you're agreeing that he elevates his teammates? IMO Mantha benefited tremendously from spending the majority of his time with Zberg, just like Larkin did. Which is why I don't consider Mantha a bonafide top6 player in this league yet. Larkin was a drastically different player, and did not look at all like a top6 forward, without Zberg guiding him. There's a very good chance the same thing happens to Mantha in his sophomore year. Yeah, Mantha was deployed on the 1st line. That doesn't make him a 1st line caliber player. Zberg was deployed about 5 minutes more a nigh without Mantha, and with other players not named Mantha when heading into the defensive zone. That's sheltering a player. Hopefully Mantha develops into the first line player we both want him to be, but as of this moment he hasn't played the role, minutes, or situations of a first line player. When he grabs those reigns successfully he will be a 1st line player, but as of now he's more akin to a Vanek type.

You stated he can be moved for a late draft pick, but now you're agreeing with me that no one will voluntarily want him. So I don't know where you're at.

Uhhh minutes played is a pretty big and pretty relliable indicator of role on any team lol Mantha had a great first season. Glad you're over the moon about him. But again, he was deployed in predominately offensive situations with Zberg as his C. Larkin, Abby, etc. had the same expierence and dropped in production without Zberg. Are you honestly suggesting playing with Zberg didn't help Mantha?

Pretty much

Welcome! You're not alone. I've been in Seattle for a year now, one of the many transplants. If you ever wanna get a beer and hear my manifesto on Jimmy Howard lemme know.

Lol so then you agree? Ericsson is highly unlikely to be moved?

74 forwards played 18+ minutes in this league. 122 forwards played 17+ minutes a night. 189 forwards played 16+ minutes a night. Mantha is not in any of these 3 groups. So your original assertion that Mantha is a top line winger is simply... wrong. Mantha has not even breached top6 minutes in this league yet, or top 6 minutes on this team. You can claim he's a legit top6 winger up and down and twice on Tuesday, but the numbers don't lie, he's not played that role yet. Mantha was deployed sparingly, and in predominantly offensive situations, on Zetterberg's wing... much like Larkin his first year. I'm not sure why that's difficult to see.

Lol shooting % is an absolutely ridiculous stat to base anything on. Guess who had much better shooting % than AA... Paul Byron, Anders Lee, Jason Chimera, Mark Stone, Patrick Eaves, Mike Fisher, Troy Brouwer, Patrick Maroon, and the list goes on lol. Would you give up a first for any of these players? You know how to get an inflated shooting %? Don't shoot a lot during 5 v 5 play, and score on breakaways AKA the entirety of AA's game. Congratulations, you've overvalued a prospect. Yes it is. Polak is an extremely physical RH D-man. Not exactly from the same mold as Ericsson. His contract also did not have the ridiculous term that Ericsson has. If you haven't noticed, Polak is a UFA at the moment (nobody wants him). Nobody in this league voluntarily wants 3 more years of Ericsson at that price. You're going to give me the same old "aNyoNE cAn bE TRaDEd" "even Gretzky and guys with NTCs get traded" and yeah Ericsson could be traded. It's not outside the realm of possibility. But it's not even in the realm of likely, and if it does happen were probably going to have to eat a significant portion of the contract and give up assets. I mean do you honestly think it's likely he's going to be moved? I think most Wings fans would bet a nut that he runs out his contract here.

no "I wonder why no one comes to this forum anymore" *proceeds to post TAKE OUT THE TRASHILL in every thread*

Proven? Mantha hasn't even played top 6 minutes yet. Top 6 wingers typically play 18 - 20 minutes a night. Mantha played just under 16 (7th on the team among forwards). I don't know where you've been the last few years, but our players cycle on to Zbergs line, have career years, then go back to average. Larkin, Abdelkader, etc. are prime examples of this. Your smoking something if you don't think Zberg is far and away the best player on this team. He could probably outplay every defender on this team at their own position.

Sheahan and Helm don't play with Zberg

Really? He has one 60 game season with 36 pts with Zberg feeding him. Zberg could get a drunk chimpanzee on skates 36 pts in a season. None of our young players are proven top 6 players yet, I think that's pretty clear.

They could've bought one of the small/medium market NHL teams for that much (like 20 teams on that list)

You nailed it. Change does not automatically equal progress. Butcher is a run of the mill Dman. White is a run of the mill grinder. But to lefty tippett, butcher, and white = franchise saviors. Sure theyre useful, but there no more life changing than AA, Green, or Mrazek are. You wont regret or miss siginging any of them in our position.

If we sign Booth we wont have room for Vanek

Detroit Red Wings can be easily tweaked to Detroit Right Wings. A white supremacist group from Detroit did just this, and adopted our logo with little swastikas for the spokes for the wheels. No deeper meaning. Just a play on words.

Exactly

Complimentary pieces compliment a core. We do not have a core (besides Zberg). We need a new core, not stacks of complimentary pieces. We have 0 pieces currently on this team at defense that look like core players. Larkin and Mrazek have taken big steps back from being core pieces. Hoping Mantha can be one, but we need to see how he plays outside of Zbergs wing yet. Everyone on this team can go besides Zberg, Larkin, and Mantha.

goddammit Holland is such a cotton-headed-ninny-muggins

I'll be in Detroit in early December. Am I not going to be able to get tickets, or are they just going to be a fortune?

Do we still have room for Vanek?