LeftWinger

Detroit is also the smallest big city in the country. You are far likely to run into trouble in Miami, Chicago, LA, Oakland, New York, Houston, Atlanta, Jacksonville, Fort Lauderdale... Detroit is smaller and the areas are far easier to avoid. If you like architecture Detroit is an awesome place to tour around. Players know they aren't going to live in the city of Detroit, but is the 20-30 minute trip worth it? Are the jacked up roads worth it? The player parking at the Joe is NOT worth it, I've parked there, I know. So the sooner the arena is up and the sooner the mayor gets this city turned around, the better. Most importantly, the sooner our kids establish that they are up and coming and show they are our future Stanley Cup core, then we will see some influx of UFA's here. Too bad it won't be in time for Datsyuk, but there will soon be the next All-Star center here....so lets see. I am just mad that all the improvements happening in the city is pushing the people who don'y give a s*** about their hoods out into the suburbs...I come back to the area every week to work and yes I see the people coming into my neighborhoods...its a sad thing that we cannot just somehow convince these people that nothing worth having is free and that keeping your neighborhood nice is a job worth doing...Inkster, Ecorse, River Rouge...ugh, they're like war zones and its creeping into Woodhaven, Brownstown and Flat Rock....sad, sad, sad... Ok, there is my city view for the year. I still believe its the Front Office and players not liking Babcock. Other than that, nothing has changed anywhere else...we need a change. Holland needs to step aside, Babcock needs to move on. A good start would be convincing Larionov to become asst. coach.

A list of guys still UFA that would help in some way on this club...and are better than #kfq: Derek Morris Paul Ranger Sami Salo Scott Hannen Hal Gill Michael Del Zotto Ryan Whitney Joni Pitkanen Sheldon Brookbank Ratislav Klesla Mike Komisarek Komisarek, Morris and Salo are RH as well...

#firekenholland EVERY defenseman that has signed a UFA contract thus far this off season is better than Quincey. "I don't know why they aren't coming here..." Maybe because you sign #KFQ for $4.25M and offer better players less....they just take the less somewhere else. Think about it, Holland overpaid for Quincey 3 times...1st round pick to get him, $3.75M his last contract and $4.25M now...I don't blame #KFQ at all, he is probably laughing all the way to the bank...

I agree....except for #kfq....and #firekindl taking up valuable spots the kids should be in. Pull you belt tight and hang on is all we can do....oh and #firekenholland.

Duck Dynasty? I know you are referring to the show, but the Ducks will never be a dynasty...I don't think there will ever be another Dynasty. The helmet looks silly if you ask me. I like the idea (and pictured it myself from the title) of actual Pac Man on the side with his mouth open...

...although it seems now he isn't too concerned about making moves for an immediate run. But he also is NOT endangering our future. I like our kids and our top 25 prospects.

Ok, I get ya Son! Like I said, it we all agreed it would be pretty boring here! I do think Mantha will win a spot in the top 6, due to our lack of having a REAL top 6 cast of players. But I wouldn't be surprised if he starts in GR because that is what Holland does...although he did a starting job in Detroit to Brunner, so we may get to see him in Detroit...

Just because I take hard line stances, doesn't mean I am combative with people...anyhow, I love when people disagree with me, but not when they just go "you're stupid" or "you don't know anything about hockey" anyhow, I've been here for a VERY long time and contribute a TON of stuff, so I am not worried about someone disagreeing with me. If everyone agreed with each other this would be a pretty boring forum. Here is your link on Stralman saying no to Detroit: http://www.letsgowings.com/forums/topic/76519-2014-offseason-league-signings-and-trades/?view=findpost&p=2528074

KRS, did you just make my point for me? Thanks! That is what I mean, crappy GM and coach crappy to play for... and yes, back to Mantha. Like I said before, he is not going to make the team to play in the bottom 6, so he either earns that top 6 winger spot or goes to GR. I say give it to him and let him develop here. We have the roster spot, he is going to play with two of the best players in the NHL and if he slumps, let him fight through it. He is the future...

krs.....it was Stralman...he was asked is he considered playing in Detroit and he abruptly answered "No." Now, I am not saying ALL Swedes love Detroit. The joke was, it's pretty bad when even Swedish defensemen are snubbing Detroit. for some reason I cannot cut and paste on here, so I cannot post the link to the tweet, but it happened.

Euro...please see the post above yours...I am not bashing Canada in anyway or discrediting the Gold's.... What is with people being so combative today? Sheesh! Babcock is the issue and Holland plays along. If this is not the issue, then why are UFA's shunning us when they never used to? Simple answer, Holland offers less money and players don't like Babcock. If Babcock was such a super great coach and all players he won Gold with admire and long to play for him, then why are the ones that were UFA's the 8 years knocking on the door to get here? ...and yes, I would take that bridge! I could double the fee and make a little extra money!

Wouldn't it be a riot to one day hear him say "This is NHL xx guys..." I would s*** twice and fall off my chair!

I didn't say it was an underachievement...but because of those back to back, you would think that Canada would stay with the format. Yet, they are changing it. Its no secret players do not like playing for Mike Babcock. Maybe because he is a prick? Sure, you say Scotty was a prick and players didn't like playing for him, but players from 15 years ago and a different breed than todays players. Plus, Bowman is Bowman and Babcock is not. He is the issue here. Maybe its just time for a change because players just don't respond to him anymore, I don't know. But its sad when even Swedish defensemen are shunning the chance to come to Detroit.

Good point about Babcock...until he is gone, this team is stuck in a rut. Legwand waived his NTC because he wanted to play here, but after what Babcock did to him, he bolted. Babcock is the issue why no good UFA wants to come here...and its no secret why Canada is going in a different direction for their Olympic team next time.

They were just examples, and I am glad folks agree that there are players in the league that have more value than Zetterberg. And know that I am not for trading Pav or Z unless it is for the likes of a player of their stature...I am not about just throwing them away for a rebuild, they'd have to bring in a new nucleus to our core. Like I said, I am not saying trade them, I'd like to win it again with them, but the way Holland has been doing things the last few years, it ain't happening... and I mean, the shriveled old man he is slowly going to turn into as his contracts expires...I give him full credit and appreciation for what he does and has done, but once Pav goes, Z becomes that much less effective and has the years come off his contract, he will start to turn old and not very effective at all.

I am glad I looked at that date on this topic... that was funny though...made me laugh for a moment, until I realized that if you just replace the name in the title with Quincey and it was just about as useless as a signing this would have been, then I curse Holland again...

Manxy Manxy Manxy....Helm, Kindl and a 1st would bring in more than you think...but you can just keep attacking my post's without mature discussion or thought intriguing responses because you yourself do not know how things work. You also lol'd and put the little shaking head emoticon up there when I said that Ehrhoff would get around $3.5M to $4M as a UFA because of his buyout, and you just decided to try to discredit my knowledge of hockey and my touch on reality....but wait, what exactly did he sign for? Do me a favor, do not reply to my posts anymore or just hit the ignore button and don't read what I put up here. Thank you. And for the record, the response "This isn't NHL xx" is getting about annoying as Holland kicking tires... I don't even play NHL xx...

My God....No one is saying trade Pav or Z just for the hell of it. But Holland has two directions to go, either spend the cap in the next three years and win another Cup with these two guys by acquiring (and outbidding other teams) the key players (via UFA or trade) in order to win now, before Pav retires and Z is a shriveled old man playing the last few years of his contract. -OR- Go full youth and BUILD a core that is going to win 4-6 Cups in the next 20 years. Unfortunately he is choosing to sit and stay stagnant year after year, lowballing UFA's, refusing to better his team by trading a kid or two or even taking away from his current roster (Helm, Smith, Franzen, et al.) and just barely making the playoffs and letting Pav and Z sit and rot for the remainder of their All Star careers without even remote chance to win the Cup. My point wasn't that we need to trade them, my point was, if you are not going to trade a kid away (especially after getting burned with Jarnkrok) then instead of letting these guys rot, make a choice, either make those deals or UFA offers to bring a Cup in the next 3 years or make a bold move to trade away one of them and get some REAL youth and core experience in a full rebuild. I am not suggesting trading them, I am all for keeping them and acquiring the pieces to win a Cup. But Holland just seems set on not winning within the next 5-7 years along with wasting away your Al-Star players by signing filler scrub players (ie. Gustavsson, Cleary, Quincey, Alfredsson, undrafted projects...) The point was either win now, or build a core and win the next 20 years. You cannot have it both ways, because the useless filler scrubs are taking valuable roster spots away. If he wants to keep his top players and build a future on the tails of their careers, that is fine, but he cannot be signing scrub fill ins. He should be bringing the kids up NOW. Even more so than the ones that are here. But if he wants to win now, he needs to make hard decision deals and trade away some assets and kids to win NOW, before its too late for his stars. So, the point was, if he is going to waste away the last few years of his stars and not trade away anymore kids, then he could just go FULL rebuild mode and deal away his star(s) and bring in some serious return to get ahead of the rebuild process. Just a question, and a serious one at that. If Shea Weber or Evgeni Malkin or Steven Stampkos were on the table and the asking price was Zetterberg, would you scoff at it or give it a serious thought? I have no issue keeping Z, obviously, but Holland has no intention of making the moves needed to win another Cup while Pav is still here and Z is still a top 10 player, nor is he providing the roster spots to promote his kids to build a core while Pav and Z are still here...he is afraid to go in either direction, so he kicks tires...

Here's an idea...let's trade Tatar and Smith in a package and then this debate wouldn't matter!

Zetterberg - Datsyuk - Mantha (if he wins it, we don't have a legit top 6, so it's open to take!) Nyquist - Weiss - Alfredsson (I know this is Frazen's spot, but if Alfie re-signs, I prefer him here.) ...dang, we got too many forwards...what do we do with Miller/Abby/Glendening/Andersson/Helm? Not to mention Callahan and Ferraro...sheesh, no wonder we weren't really looking at UFA forward.

Kip, I wasn't saying anything, I was just asking which one could be lived without. They both have potential to be 20-30 goal getters. I most definitely trade one of those two before I trade Mantha or Sheahan. I think Tatar would be the more sought after one by teams and he should garner a larger return. I also agree that my trade piece scenario is way over payment for Myers. I think Myers could be had for Helm and a 1st and throw Kindl in there just to make room on the roster. If one of them had to be traded, Jurco or Tatar...I just don't know which one I would be comfortable in letting go...guess it all depends on the return.

Tatar or Jurco..man which one could you live without? Either way, the main cog in any trade should be Helm. Let's just say they traded Tatar.... Helm, Tatar, 1st rounder and maybe Almqvist's rights would bring in pretty good defenseman...for most teams. But since teams are encouraged to, and allowed to by Buttman and his cronies, to rape Detroit, that wouldn't be enough for the rights to Mike Commodore.

I don't have an account, but Flashy's is always the best IMO. Question though about the other guy. I appreciate all the history and time put into his/hers, but teams play each other more than once a year, so if he makes 4 GDT's between Philly and Rags, are each one of them filled with pages of DIFFERENT information? Because other than the last game played against each other, the history remains the same and history does not change... If I am just seeing 4 GDT's with the same info on it except for the most recent game played, then I think it may become a bit boring... plus, that is WAY too much reading...nice history and well written and researched, but man, that is a ton.

as the days go on, it is apparent that there will be no signings or trades made...unless you count our own UFA/RFA's that are there...I know teams attempt to rape Detroit in trades, but there are still outside UFA's out there that will help make this team better, both at the forward and defense position. #firekenholland RICH, I agree. I would hate to see Dats or Z traded, but if #firekenholland isn't going to build a Staley Cup team that will win at least once in the next 3 years, then go for an entire rebuild. Pav and Z could bring you a windfall of young core players or high, HIGH draft picks....right now, this team will not even sniff the Cup and barely make the playoffs the next 3 years...

if he makes the team, its because he deserves to be here. He isn't gonna make the team to be in the bottom 6, so he isn't going to be playing 10-12 minutes a game. If he makes the team it will mean playing 25+ mins. If he doesn't show good enough to make the top 4 minute getters, then he should and will go to GR. If he earns it, he should start and stay here...even if he goes into a slump. All players slump and have fight through it. if you ask me, its looking like its his spot to lose. From all indications he us going to get the longest look if any rookie in years! I like these a top 6, if he makes it: Z - Pav - Mantha Nyquist - Weiss - Franzen (Alfie if he signs)