LeftWinger

and that was well worth breaking the streak! We MADE the playoffs and got Larkin at #15, Holland screws the fans and gets to probably move up 1 spot from there....Holland is a joke. BUT, not to harp on him too much here, there are plenty of threads to do that! Maybe we'll get a higher pick within the lottery system....and then trade that for something we need! How about we get the #1, trade it to Chicago for Kane? Ok, I kid....

Well that would certainly help to step in the right direction...add Yandle on the back end and we're looking good. But must cut salary first...even if we land Stamkos, we cannot go forward with the same defense, just minus KFQ. We MUST cut some fat on the back end... Fixing this mess starts with AA and Mantha both getting (and staying) top 6 minutes and line mates...add and subtract from there. I'm telling you, AA-Dats-Mantha would be a lights out line...

I don't hate on Tatar....just Nyquist. I thought Eberle had better stats, until I looked into his career (which is why I posted the where did he earn $6M question after the first post.) I guess we have no choice but to let our guys develop and see where they go...can't afford to trade for a Malkin type player. Maybe we should tank for the next 5-6 years and get 4 or 5 top 3 picks in that span...I don't know. Maybe there is no "fix" this year... Or just all in on Lucic (because he would change the makeup of the team) and Yandle (because he is better than our D-men right now and would be our #1.) I'd also like to ink up Okposo...

Speaking of Edmonton....at what point in Hall's career did he play well enough to warrant $6M per year? Same with Eberle? Maybe Nyquist's contract is not so bad afterall!

We didn't get Nash because it was inter-divisional and the price was high...same as Kessel and Hamilton. Kesler had a NTC and didn't list Detroit as a destination. That I agree, we were a victim of. But I think it would cost less to get someone from the West...

We've all known for a while that we have a team full of bottom 6er's. We've touched on it before. We had hoped that the likes of Tatar and Nyquist would emerge as something more or better, but they have not. Of course we have Dats and Z who can be 1st line players on most teams, but really, in the shape they are in, they are better suited 2nd on and lower. Not knocking them at all, and God bless them for still leading our team, but we really do have a team full of (outside of a couple of kids now) bottom 6 players. What makes that even worse is we have the 3rd highest payroll in the NHL. I agree with some above that we need to actually focus on having 2-3 superstar players and then our support players won't "look" as "bad" as they have. If we could land those two players to play with Larkin, we'd be in great shape. Now, how to get those players. There's always the UFA route, but then there is the trade route as well. Problem is, as addressed above by KRSmith, we have a great amount of secondary and depth players, Holland needs to find a team with an over amount of potential superstar type, higher end players that are in need for depth on D, and secondary scoring type players. One team that comes to mind is Edmonton maybe. They have a bushel of higher end young forwards that could maybe be dealt for players that may suit them better. But who? I am not going to bring up Yakupov, but Eberle always seems to be talked about in trades for D depth or even cheaper secondary scoring. Not sure what it would cost for him, but could a top line comprised of, lets say : Eberle - Larkin - Lucic be something that could spark our offense? I am sure Eberle would be pricey to attain, not going to get into prices, but a 1st and a 20-30 goal scoring roster player would be in the mix...along with a established NHL defender and maybe a player like Pulk or Jurco... I would love a lineup like that, especially if we strike out on the Stamkos sweeps (which we probably will.) Lucic - Larkin - Eberle AA - Dats - Mantha Abby - Z - Tatar (or Nyquist if one or the other is dealt) Helm - Sheahan - Glendening Don't shoot me over the line orders, just because Z is listed 3rd C, doesn't mean he's a 3C player, I pretty much just put groups together.

True, a team would be crazy to claim him or any other pending UFA, because as a UFA, they would be free to look elsewhere on July 1st, or in his case retire. Why take the risk... RFA on the other hand, you'd claim their rights. Our RFA's would have to be protected if you didn't want to chance the loss. So in that scenario, I think Datsyuk gets left unprotected.

Chelios doesn't want to coach this hunk of crap d-corps!

Ok, so then all the pending RFA and UFA will have to be protected or exposed....including Datsyuk.

Well then you go after Yandle who would clearly be our #1 guy. Not unless there's a trade out there for someone better. via UFA, we don't have much available that is better than Yandle.

So, if they have a NMC, they have to be protected and if they have a NTC, they don't? IF that is the case, then Nyquist would be fine, he has a NTC that kicks in after next season...anyway, if he, and certain other under-performing players this year, don't turn it back around and get back to 30 goals, I wouldn't waste my protection on them if they needed to be protected. Even though he's at 20 now, Tatar has under performed. At least he isn't getting overpaid ($2.75M) to score 20 goals though. (Not like it's $4.75M for less than 17 goals ) I just might have to protect him because he makes what he makes...although, he will be a RFA at that time, will he need to be protected if he isn't under contract? Datsyuk similar, he'll be a UFA that summer. When is the expansion draft, before or after July 1st? AA and Jurco will also be RFA's that summer...

We've been abysmal all around...especially the PP and PK, but even the 5-on-5 is horrifying to watch. We need something different on O and D, these two just can't get it done. Congrats Tony, good luck! Those kids are going to need it!

There really isn't a clear cut #1 guy out there to be our #1 defender then, if Yandle is consider more of a 2nd pair guy. I highly doubt we can get one via trade either. The reason I am so hard on Nyquist is, yes he is a very serviceable 3 liner, but he's being paid to be a 2nd liner. So will Abdelkader. I am willing to give Nyquist a bounce back year next season, but if he continues the same way, he will need to be dealt with because he has a NTC that kicks in for his final 2 years. I hope we don't resign the UFA's....if we do sign one of the four, I can deal with Helm for a nice price. I hope it doesn't go north of $3.5M. But, of course, Holland will pay him Abby money, and probably for the same term. I just hope that Holland somehow clears about $16M in salary from the books next season (Ericsson, Nyquist, Howard?) in order to go hard after (Stamkos, Lucic, et al) and Yandle via the UFA market. If this team comes back the same (minus the 3 of the 4 UFA's) we are in deep, DEEP trouble again...we NEED Yandle on the D and we need a top line O player.

unfortunately you are correct. I said when Holland sat on his hands at the deadline that we were doomed, and it looks like we are. Should've just traded away all the UFA's to contenders for picks and at least then we could see a method to his madness.

Here is what I think: We have 5 more games before the Boston game. Boston has 4. On paper, we have the easier schedule (Buffalo, Montreal, Minnesota, Toronto, Philly) and theirs (New Jersey, St. Louis, Chicago, Carolina.) I believe we need to go 4-1 AT least in that span and Boston needs to go 1-3. That would put us up 3 points on them before the game and then we MUST beat them to avoid a last game "in or out" situation. IF we can do this, it won't matter what happens the last game, BUT even if we accomplish this scenario yet lose to Boston, we will only be 1 up and both having one more game. Ours against NYR and theirs against OTT. IMO if we go anything less than 4-1 before the Boston game, we are out. If they go anything more than 1-3, we are out. Not mathematically, but in all likelihood. I know we are still tied for the last wildcard spot, but I don't think we are overtaking PHL for the wildcard, they still have a game in hand, but again, we possibly could, but we have to keep our sights set on Boston to get that 3rd spot.

Guarantee it's AA and Mantha sitting for Jurco and Pulk. God forbid Blashill plays players that are actually scoring and contributing. Nyquist has no business on the ice right now. He needs to sit and get his mind right. But hey, he has his money no matter what. Ericsson needs a few nights off as well...

I still wish they could convince Larionov to become asst. coach in place of Granato. But ya, the D coach needs to fly as well.

I just don't know why Blash doesn't switch things up. He pissed me off last night when he should've called a TO after the 2nd goal. He did the same thing in TPA. After they went back up by 3, he should've called the TO. Also, last night, after NOT calming the players down after the 2nd goal, he challenged the 3rd goal when it was obvious that Kronwall was the one that bumped Petr. The guys in the booth should've have seen that and not wasted a TO. Speaking of which, I'd like to see that rule thrown out. You can have as many challenges as you want, but if you're wrong, you get a delay of game penalty. Much like the old goalie stick challenge. Blash needs to juggle lines when it is going bad. I still cannot stand the fact that AA is on the 4th line. AA - Dats - Mantha would be the best line on the team.

This is what I figure sounds fair for our RFA's: Marchenko $850K to $1M Dekeyser $4.25Mish Mrazek $3.75Mish Pulk $850K - $1M Sheahan $1M - $1.5M I'd take Helm back for no more than $3M tops. Unfortunately we know Holland will give him Abby money and cripple us even more with overpaid bottom 6er's. Again, Nyquist has got to go, period. If Holland keeps the same team next season because he has no cap space, we are in for a long drought of playoff misses. I don't even know why we have the talks, we all know he is going to re-sign KFQ, Helm and possibly Ricahrds and Miller. He likes his team, amnd that's not even being sarcastic on my part, he actually likes his team. Lest we forget the Franzen return factor next season. That will be our addition.

Just my take on the game....Kronwall and Ericsson are the two worst d-men on the team. Period. They single-handedly almost gave that game away last night...and most nights. Nyquist needs to sit, he is no longer any sort of threat...except to melting the ice with his suckiness. Geez, remember when we had a team full of GOOD Swedes? Now we have one that's on his last leg and still carrying the team. If we could rid ourselves of the three mentioned above, we'd be a better team by subtraction. BTW - Anyone else having issues logging in on an android device? I can no longer log in on my phone or tablet, I get some wierd long error message....

If Sheahan gets Helm money after the year he's had, then something is seriously wrong. If he gets anything north of $1.5M, Holland needs to be fired. Same goes with Pulkkinen, if he gets north of $1M, Holland is a fool. That being said, they probably will, and that there lies the problem. Holland overpays under performing talent. Then low balls the players we need. Or at least doesn't attempt to outbid any other team for them. Holland is the problem.

Well, Ken Holland disagrees... I'm telling you, hard, HARD cuts need to be made to fix the mess. Ericsson screwed up on at least 3 of those goals. Nyquist is invisible. Kronwall is retarded. Like I said on a different page, there needs to be hard cuts come draft day. We need to cleare cap space in order to have the most available on July 1st. I am not sure whether I am more mad at Holland or Blashill. We had all the momentum, it got stolen away, no time out, no line mixing, he just kept with the same lines even though nothing was happening in our favor. IMO, Nyquist has played his last game as a Red Wing. I can put Jurco or Pulk in for a fraction of the cap hit and get similar if not better results given the same amount of icetime and linemates. If we were goiung to blow the streak, then Holland should've traded ALL his pending UFA's at the deadline for picks. Helm has picked it up, which means Holland will re-sign him and at Abby money. He is not worth it. Which also means Helm will be in the top 6 and keep better players on lower lines. AA is consistantly our best player on the ice and he gets rewarded by playing with Richards and Glendening. Those are 4th line players. I though Blashill was going to be better at line combos. He is hot garbage. He just might be our Dave Lewis part 2. So, trade Ericsson, Nyquist, Howard, another defenseman (Machenko or Smith) and another forward (Jurco or Pulk) at the draft. Go hard after 4 players in July. 2 forwards, 1 defenseman and 1 goalie. Example: Stamkos (doubt it) Backes, Yandle, Enroth or HIller. Honestly if Holland landed Lucic and Backes up front, I think this team would be instantly transformed. Add Yandle to the back end along with subtracting 3 (KFQ included) and the D gets better. Larkin - Z - Backes Lucic - Dats - Mantha Tatar - AA - Jurco Abby - Sheahan - Glendening Pulk Yandle - Dekeyser Kronwall - Green XO - Smith (or Marchy) Renouf Mrazek Hiller It'd be a challenge cap wise, but it sure would be a better team...actually with Franzen on full LTIR the cap would be fine.

Not once did he mix up the lines! Not once Dewey!

I'm ******* done with Holland and Blashill...at least 4 players from tonight shold be scratched for the next game. Nyquist and Ericsson at least!