LeftWinger

I most certainly would trade Mantha to Tampa in a Stamkos deal if I am getting something else back. Maybe not a 1st, but something else value.

Ok, lets say for a minute that this is happening, to whom and what return would you expect? I certainly hope NOT to Tampa for Stamkos.

Ya, I think that both Mantha and Bertuzzi will opt for 3 year deals...which could mean, they may not cost as much as we once thought. Give us a deal now, and get $$$$$$$$ come UFA.

Cal Foote.....Nolan Foote was traded to NJ. Tampa drafted both Foote's (Feet )

well, shoot, so much for Boston trading Krug yesterday...either Boston wanted too much (TSN (I think) had mentioned that it may only cost a 5th round pick though) or Krug's agent was telling all interested teams that he is testing the market no matter what. Either way, lets get going with some more trades Yzerman! Eriksson and Podko! Stepan and Hayton! Tatar and Caufield! (how do feel about that one?) Boychuk and Wahlstrom! Palat and Foote! Let's do some more! We need assets!

I am really hoping we get Krug...Sometimes you have to make moves like that to show your team that you are trying to win more, plus build. It also does well for player morale. Who wants to come in to the season knowing you aren't going to have any more of a chance to win more games? Krug to Detroit, give him 8x8.

don't see anything anywhere....

Here's what I wish would happen with the players we already have that are mostly bottom 6 guys. Bury Abby in GR, buyout one of Nielsen or Filppula (or both if possible, or hell bury them in GR as well!) I would not sign Ehn, Erne, Pelini, or Hirose, if I did, then they too would all be in GR. If any of these guys get picked up off waivers, even better. I am still more than ok with Gagner here. I am not a Helm fan, but he has more value than Abby, as does Glenny. Svech can attempt to make the team. I re-sign Timashov.

I would absolutely help Arizona out by taking Stepan, but they'd have to give us something else to help them out. They don't have much in picks, we may not be able to get that 2022 1st rounder, unless it was lottery protected, but maybe we could grab a prospect...

Markstrom IS the better option and he will push Bernier for the job. Probably win it too...we sign Markstrom, then re-sign Bernier cheaper or maybe have another option after this season.

I was just guessing high end. If it's more like 8x8, that is even better. I am probably in the minority but I kinda hope he does trade for his rights. If it costs us a middle pick, or maybe even a middle prospect, I am ok with that. No need to trade DD or Nemeth. DD is always hurt, Nemeth only has one more season, as does Staal. Adding Krug only makes us better. But, I am in the minority, I understand that. Here's a scenario for ya! Acquiring Krug makes Cholowski expendable, Yzerman trades Cholowski plus future considerations to Vancouver for Eriksson and Podkolzin. Would that make you feel any better? It would be awesome. I happen to think that Cholowski is not ever going to be a mainstay on the Detroit club anyhow...

depends on what is going back in the trade. What does Boston need or want... I can't see Vegas or Colorado giving up too much to acquire him, unless Boston is going to move away from Rask after the things he said when he left the bubble, then maybe they'll trade MAF for him to make some cap room. Colorado may give up it's 1st round pick this year since Boston traded theirs in the Backes deal. Florida has the 12th OA pick, so I am not sure they'd part with that. Detroit is in no way trading it's 1st round, so like I said, it all depends on what Boston asks for in return. I know they probably won't demand a ransom because Krug still is, after all, a UFA to be, BUT if Colorado dangles the 1st rounder out there, I could see Boston jumping at it. For us, I wouldn't mind if we had to give up Cholowski or Svech or Lindstrom, but there damn well already be a contract ready for him to sign when the deal is made. 8yrs $10M per would not be too far fetched and if he did take a bit of a discount that would be even better!

I'd also like to note that, as of right now, Detroit has TDL cap space available in the amount of...are you sitting? $85M!!!! Granted that will go down as we sign our RFA's and maybe acquire a G and another contract, but lets say we're looking at $60M in available cap at the TDL, image some Cup teams offers if they needed to clear cap in order to acquire "the missing piece" for the run? This entire season is going to be the ONE that really kicks this team's re-start! By time the 2021 draft comes around, we may have ourselves 2 or 3 1sts, and possibly 2 or 3 MORE 2nds and 3rds! You just never know! I hope Yzerman can work something to get a second 1st round pick for this year though. I am very excited to see what happens next!

...also, as stated they will be using Fabbri at C this year (more than last year) so does that move Gagner to wing or does that mean one of Flip or Neilsen may be headed out? I guess if Fabbri works out at center and Gagner does too, they could always waive one of those two, he does have the cap space available to do so.

can the future considerations please be Jeff Blashill? ...anyhow, still have $27M in cap, add to that $6M more if needed (from Z) lets say we give a combo of $12M to Bertuzzi and Mantha, that's still $21M to sign the rest of the RFA's that he chooses to keep, plus find a goalie and probably add another contract or two! it is very positive to note that Marc Staal had a NMC that he waived to be traded here. So we can throw out the notion that players won't waive clauses to come here. The know they aren't going to win here, but they know they will play. As it has been talked about Staal will be a solid top 4 here. If we re-up Bowey, our D may resemble somethin like this: (unless he makes a run at someone else) Dekeyser - Hronek Staal - Seider Nemeth - Bowey Biega ...also Yzerman did confirm that neither Daley nor Ericsson will return. He fell off for the last few years, but you always have to give props to a player who chooses to stay with us his entire career! Thank you Jonathan Ericsson! Now go scout us some European talent!! edit: dang, I forgot Nemeth!!! Looks like Cholowski will be odd man out again! Unless he beats out Biega, but I think I'd rather had Cholowski playing minutes in GR rathe than limited time in Detroit...

I wonder if it's possible to acquire contracts like a re-capture penalty? This would be interesting if so... acquire Eriksson and Luongo's penalty from Vancouver along with Podkolzin. That would be $9M hit on our cap for two seasons, but wouldn't Podkolzin be worth it?

Raymond is ranking in the top 5 for a lot of NHL final draft lists. In some he is lower, but he is a kid playing in a mans league over there. Any ONE of him, Drysdale, Rossi or Perfetti and we have ourselves a helluva future NHL'er.

We have 8 signed forwards on the main roster ATM, if you go ahead and count Bertuzzi and Matha, that is 10. That leaves 4 (normally 14 FWDs) open for additions. I agree that at some point our "kids" are going to be here, BUT if you can acquire another 1st round pick or two, another high end prospect or two, there is no reason why you don't do it and start your waiver exempt kids in GR. Zadina, Ras, Veleno, they aren't going anywhere, and acquiring 1st round picks or high prospects to go along with them for years to come is nothing less than brilliant. Ideally Yzerman acquires 1 year overpaid UFA's to be and we only have to deal with them for this one more season. To me, lets say Anaheim wants to dump Backes and he agrees to come here, having one of those kids in GR for another season is well worth acquiring Backes and the 1st round pick they received from Boston.

IMO, if the top three go LAF, Stutzle, Byfield, then Yzerman should take either Raymond or Drysdale. I also would not be angry at Rossi or Perfetti, but from everything I read, Raymond is ahead of those two when it comes to being NHL ready. I know they say that the 2021 draft is D loaded, so maybe will be a top (bottom 10) team again and get us a D man then. But having three picks in the 2nd round, one of them being the 32nd overall, if Yzerman waited for a D then, he is going to get a 1st round caliber player there as well. I can also see him making a deal with a cap hell team and possibly getting into the 10-15 range and scoring Sanderson. Or maybe Yzerman helps Tampa out with salary by taking one of Palat or Kilhorn off their hands and pries Cal Foote away as compensation...but that is for the other thread!

Yzerman acquired Fabbri and Gagner via dumping players that he felt no longer fit here. BOTH of these players are better (at their positions) than half the team we already have and he did the right thing by re-signing them. He got them both for great prices and term respectively. Fabbri is 24 and can be part of the core moving and leading us forward, he fits right in with Larkin, Bert and Mantha. We have upwards of $40M in cap space, plenty of roster spots to fight for, and folks are complaining about a 1 year $850k contract for a player who is a better center than our other two making nearly $9M between them. Plus he is 5 years younger than both of them. This is a tryout contract for Gagner. He is either going to get traded at the TDL to a contender if he does well, or he will be re-signed again to shore up our bottom 6 moving forward. He is better than Nielsen, Filppula and Abby, this is a great signing.

Well, there nothing saying we have to re-sign Ehn, Erne, Hirose or Perlini or Turgeon. I'd like to see Timashov re-signed, but that is about it. Veleno, Brome, Rasmussen and Pearson, along with Zadina if he isn't ready, ALL can go to GR without passing through waivers. The other 5, while they would have to pass through waivers, would be no big loss if claimed. So that leaves Svech and Timashov up in Detroit. I am sure Bowey may sign, but he'd be no big loss either, especially if Seider makes the club. We have 2-3 spots up front and at least 2 on the D along with 1 goalie to add via "salary dump" or UFA. As discussed, if ini real need for a roster spot, Abby can be waived to GR. Even if he got picked up, no big loss. Yzerman would surely send the waiver exempt guys to GR in order to acquire draft picks or more (better) prospects to move this rebuild along. Heck even Gagner himself can be sent to GR and if he passes through waivers his entire salary can be buried.

re: Howard...I just think he is done in Detroit and wants a chance to win, even if it is as a backup. I can see Edmonton giving him a call, or even Vegas depending on what they do with MAF. Dallas could be interesting as well if Khudobin walks or if they deal Bishop in a salary dump. I just think that Yzerman needs to sign someone that is going to push Bernier for the starting job and for him to be better. When comparing Howard and Markstrom, even though Howard has had better numbers over their career's (until recently) Markstrom is a goalie that can do just that, push for the job and/or push Bernier to be better. Howard no longer is. I agree with that too! The first paragraph says that Detroit is in no need basically to buyout anyone. Abby in GR would be good I think, he can help players develop and I do believe he still resides in the Muskegon area in the off-season, so that would put him closer to home. It does beat buying him out!

buyout candidate's per Sportsnet: interesting is the tidbit about Helm. I would think that before Helm gets bought out, he has a bit of trade value left in him. I think i would prefer buying out Nielsen or Filppula before Abby, especially since the re-signing of Gagner. Not that Abby is better than those, but it would be less term. Abby would be 6 years, Nielsen 4 and Filppula 2.

here are the teams that will (should) be looking to dump large salaries (along with prospects/picks) in order to attempt to make a pitch for that missing piece or two to get them to glory...or just to be under the cap in some team's cases... I see Yzerman doing some deal(s) with Edmonton and or Tampa. Maybe Dallas too...