rick zombo

Well, for starters, Kesler only wanted to go to Anaheim or Chicago. Vancouver took what they could get for him under the circumstances. So part of it is that none of these guys ultimately want to play in Detroit. As painful as i may sound, would you rather live in Detroit playing for a bubble team or live in Anaheim, playing for a contender?

It doesn't seem like a lot no. Really what it points to is that the rumors were true and Anaheim was one of only two teams Kesler would play for. Murray had Benning over a barrel. s***ty situation for Benning and the Canucks to be in IMO, and f*** Kesler!!! A hate Kesler most of all for being a diva.

But Kesler didn't want to come here.

Buffalo beat writer Joe Yerdon is reporting that Dreger's on the radio saying the Wings have "major interest" in Myers: http://mynhltraderumors.com/2014/06/27/nhl-rumors-viii-red-wings-myers-oilers-kesler-brodeur-leafs-sabres-and-burmistrov/

You mean instead of Quincey and Franzen?

What a pile of s*** that whole scenario was.

Unless he re-signs with Pitt, he can only do 7 years.

Agreed. Holland is going to do what he can to get that 2nd rounder back. The last two first rounders were Sheahan and Mantha. Combine that with the fact that Nastasiuk and Bertuzzi were taken in round 2 and it seems less likely that you'll have anything to complain about on the "small soft euro" front. Just look at what Wright has to say: All signs point to a big, mobile, hard working center. http://kuklaskorner.com/tmr/comments/red-wings-afternoon-news-khan-speaks-with-tyler-wright-on-niskanen-iginla-a

It blows. It seems no one great wants to come here to play. Because of parity. All the management wants to leave. Because of parity. Chicago either wins the cup every year or makes the conference finals. Because of parity? A truly great organization like Detroit’s deserves to be looked after better by this league. If this were baseball, Illitch would just *****-slap Selig for a few hours, and we’d get a non-homoginzed team that reflected ownership’s passion. Instead, we get a league that not only doesn’t really promote successful Red Wing’s hockey, but actually implements practices that have helped make Detroit worse.

If Florida traded Campbell, they’d have to sign Hemsky to 14M/yr just to get to the cap floor.

Oh nice. Now that the Hawks and Kings are losing guys, they implement this. Where the hell was this rule 4 years ago when the rest of the league started slurping on Detroit’s teet? Typical. One would have to think that sooner or later hockey karma will kick in.

I’d do Tatar + Ouellet + Andersson + Kindl + 1st for Kesler and Vancouver’s 2nd round pick (36th). Would they do that I wonder?

Yeah, I'll remove it. My apologies. I was merely pointing out that Holland doesn't always offer less than market value for UFAs. I thought that was pretty obvious.

Yeah, 7 years @ 4M per. (I kid)

It should be noted that I'm happy that Holland is doing his due dilligence on this for sure. That being said, I predict that Niskanen signs with Minnesota.

7M per year for Niskanen as token gesture that one of the best GMs in the NHL means business. As in, he cares about winning? Let's say this happens: Kronwall - Ericsson DeKeyser - Niskanen Smith - Kindl Lashoff Where do Backman, Ouellet, Sproul, and Marchenko fit in two years? I'd much rather sign Gilbert - 2 year deal Mark my words, if Gilbert signs in Detroit, he'll outscore Niskanen for the duration of his two year deal.

Even if it you were just stating this as opinion you'd be way off base. To state it as some sort of proven fact is just insane. My friend, the onus is on you to be clear with your original statement. It isn't on us to ask you to clarify.

Agreed. That's what I was trying to express. Kenny offered Suter big money and term. It wasn't his fault that he signed in Minnesota. It's really unfortunate that people here get the impression somehow that Holland doesn't actually give a s*** about this team.

Holland sucks and he's lazy and he only likes to play golf and he hates the Red Wings, loves Dan Cleary and never offers fair market value to guys like Weiss, Suter, and Alfredsson. In related news: I've enjoyed coming here since 2003 and it would be nice to get back to a place where every single thread didn't degenerate within 3 seconds into a Holland bash.

Well maybe you should have worded your original statement a little more clearly if that's what you meant. Because I'm in the camp that thinks that this: means this: You realize how silly that sounds right?

That's the new LGWs mentality. That and blindly bashing management for everything that happens in Michigan except for maybe the price of a 6-pack of Founder's. FTR, I think it's in Detroit's best long-term interest to have Gilbert at $3,500,000/yr for 2 years (which I think is what Holland will do) vs Niskanen at $6,000,000/yr for 7 (which is what I think he will get on the open market)

What are you talking about? Mrazek is a potential starting goalie, not a backup. He needs another year in GRs playing 60 games way more than he needs to play 25-30 games in the NHL. And wtf with the Liv comparisions? That's like comparing Mantha to Dick Axelsson. The Wings and budding PGA hopeful, Ken Holland, made the right move. Cut and dried. It's only debateable here on LGWs forums because people are clearly either crazy or so spoiled they can't see straight.

I’m actually convinced that Boyle’s going to NYR and Gilbert’s coming to Detroit. But I digress again, for the last time in here.

He already has an absolute bomb. I’d play him now just for that. Detroit hasn’t had a shot like that from the blue line since Bowman had Sergei playing defence. Same as Pulkinen. I almost don’t care that either prospect can't play a complete 200 ft game yet. Put ‘em in the line-up and let them fire bullets on the PP. God that would be awesome. Sorry, got carried away.