LeftWinger

we got a new goalie named Brazen...is he any good? (autocorrect I know)

Welp, another LTIR. Just in time for Vanek to return....so is Bert on his way back down I96?

I guess I just don't trust Holland with a first overall. Not that we've ever had one with him, but I shiver to think he'd not take the hands down top guy and pick HIS pick. Question is, I'd he did pick the right guy, where is he going to fit on the roster? We know Holland isn't trading anyone. I guess it's all just foreign territory and I'm just used to Holland being Holland. Is Foote related to Foote? Could you imagine that scenario? Adam Foote's son being drafted by Detroit? If we get 8-12 do you trade it for a D-Man?

Would you take him 1st overall?

Just imagine the wasted player Holland will draft and the generational one he'll skip over because....Swedish.

Uh...you just said you hate Kronwall and Ericsson.

No, but my point was, he was there, got a very nice assist, then for no apparent reason got put back on the 4th...if he produced where you had him, why move him down and put Abby in his place? This is what drives me nuts about Blashill. "Hey Glenny, great play to pass the puck for the goal, super job! But it's not working, you'll be with Sheahan and Ott the rest of the night."

...and that's that. The back breaking goal that killed our momentum. Are we sure Howard wasn't in net?

Z for the 3! Great heads up by Mantha.

Sproulin on the river!

Well that may be it...our offense is inept tonight.

A bit late to comment, but that's why we have Ott. Btw, Mantha is up next..score!

So Glenny gets a nice assist and he gets rewarded by being put back on the 4th line...

The Postman delivers! Nielsen The Real Dielsen....

That was off side, glad they didn't score.

Well good news is its early....

Ugh, thankfully I have FSD...no pee pee peeair. Ugh.....call a t.o. blashill...

Well that was very Hasek-like...

Exactly, it'll take strategic trades and cutting ties with players. You have to make a deal for 1 or 2 top defenders. DD seems to be struggling in the top 2. You have to keep your young assets here permanently. Larkin, AA, Mantha, Bert, Svech. and I'm liking what I hear about Givani Smith (although he may be still a tad young.) You have to choose a goalie and go with him, thick and thin. Mrazek is supposed to be the future, so roll with him. Some how, some way, if possible, cut ties with Kronwall, Ericsson, Glenny, Miller, (one of) Tatar/Nyquist, possibly B. Smith (in acquiring your top D) Howard, and possibly Sheahan. That's a ton to get rid of and I'm not saying do it all now. Plus, I know, acquiring top end D with cost some young prospects(s.) If this is the case, so be it. I'd be ok with trading some if it gets us some players like the D we've mentioned all season long. Of course if you could just dump those guy for picks, to waivers or to retirement, then it opens up cap and spots to bring up the kids. IMO, if all we can get is Fowler this year, that is fine. Maybe if we clean some house, we might be able to attract Shatty to the mix via UFA. We are probably stuck with E (unless he goes via expansion) and IMO, we can let Smith walk come July. Kronner will be LTIR sooner or later, we won't have to worry about him. You can let Miller walk, trade Glenny and one of Tats/Nyq. and most definitely Howard. That'll open up room for Fowler's salary and I believe enough to try to entice Shatty here. If we're opening up LCA with a D Corps like this: Fowler - Shatty DD - Sproul Ericsson - Green Marchy ....I think we're looking pretty good. If you have to include Marchy in deal and keep XO, that's cool too. I'd keep XO. Now if you're replacing Glenny, Miller, Tatar with AA, Bert, Svech you have the makings of a nice kid core, with some vets to help pave the way. And yes, I am re-signing Vanek and Ott. So here would be my lineup in order to move forward starting in 17. Z - Larkin - Vanek Svech - Nielsen - Nyquist Bert - AA - Abby Jurco - Helm - Ott Tangradi (or who ever earns the 13th and 14th spots) Fowler - Shatty DD - Sproul Ericsson - Green XO Mrazek Coreau Too much to ask for I know, but this could start the rebuild on the fly, and I think we'd still make the playoffs. The most important thing(s) to do, Trade for Fowler this season, clear enough cap space to re-sign Vanek and offer Shatty a bunch. Those, along with allowing Miller and Smith to move on, we'd be much better. For the record, over the course of this season and before next I trade Mantha, Marchy, Tatar, Howard, Sheahan and Glenny. I betting on Kronwall being LTIR before too long. But.....Holland. Nuff said. I didn't like the contracts, but I do have both on my team moving forward with the rebuild...

Just to defend Coffey some, in 1995 he won the Norris and was 4th in Hart voting. In 1996 he had 74 points in 76 games. He was hardly toast, nor did he have zero value. Just to compare points, lidstrom only cracked 70 points like 3 or 4 times. Coffey wasn't brought here for D. Although his +/- was really not that bad here. He was basically our best D for offense. Scotty traded him to upgrade our forward position with Shanny. Plus to allow Lidstrom to take over and developer into the leader back there. For comparison if it was today and Holland had the same choice, he'd keep Coffey and suppress the youngster. That's the difference.

Well Ott is used in every important situation on the ice, don't think we'll see him scratched. Besides Bertuzzi was sent down to GR today...so there goes that idea.

Must mean Vanek is nearing his comeback. Or they're putting Miller back in.

But in those 12 years we never tanked it to get a higher pick. We don't need 8 years of top 5 picks to win. How has that worked out for Edmonton? It worked for Chicago, but they have the Bowman's. They have traded, signed and drafted throughout their run. Traded high end talent, draft picks and signed vets because they made it an attractive place to play.

I hear what you're saying, but Holland won't do what it takes to make this team better. We don't need to tank, we just need better management. Btw, Holmstrom was drafted in 94.

That's the point though, you have to make trades as well. Eriksson got us Chelios, Golubovsky got us Larionov back, Kuznetsov got us Stuart. For some reason Holland just won't make the deals that need to be made. No I don't want to deal Larkin, but all of your kids aren't going to make it to Detroit, it'll be ok to deal a couple or some picks to make the team better.