RyanBarnes!

Well my post was in response to the poster mentioning Sproul and Ouellet as potential top pair defensemen straight from juniors. But anyway, your point about giving up something good to get something good is fair, unfortunately I dont see any top defenseman that would be worth it, being available.

you do realize that LGW will overflow with Sproul sucks and Ouellet is garbage long before any of the two will make any sort of impact, right? Developing defensemen take time and hardly any make the jump without looking lost early on. This is why suggesting a trade of smith is insane. He will realize that potential, just give him time.

No way the Blues would trade their franchise defenseman for that package. If they would even consider trading Pietrangelo (for financial reasons or whatever), they would ask for top names. Smith, Dekeyser and Mrazek for sure. THEN maybe a pick or prospect like Nyquist/Jurco.

I think it would be worth giving up Nyquist because we got Järnkrok coming up. Järnkrok IS the next Z.

I think we need a solid energy player if Helm does not return and if he does even better. Ryan Callahan or Shawn Mattias would be nice, both probably too expensive, but I would give up Nyquist + Tatar/Ouellet/pick for either. If I could dream, yeah then Evander Kane or maybe Mika Zibanejad would be nice.

W a s h e d U p !

You dont have to be big to play big. The Red Wings will see a different brand of hockey in the East for sure. To face the Bruins and the Leafs once or twice a season is far different from sharing the same division, but it will be exciting. Cant wait for the season to begin!

http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=680105&navid=nhl:topheads

I was about to write something about ownership likely forcing Lamoriello's hand on Kovalchuk, because it is not very like him. Also after finishing Phil Espositos book Thunder & Lightning you realize that the owners or their representatives interfere quite a bit in the work of the general manager. Usually not with very good results. He mentions a done deal with Puppa and pick for Joseph back in the day that could have made a significant difference at the time. He also mentioned that the owners denied him to pursue a deal for Gretzky when in NY. Great read if you like to get behind the scenes a little bit.

Lombardi yes and also Lamoriello are two of the best.

The Rangers would have won a cup with babcock behind the bench!

Weiss and Alfredsson should help.

this!

Tootoo > Cleary > Brunner > Samuelsson. Red Wings without Tootoo would be a miserable sight, gotta at least have some physical presence somewhere. The rest are pretty much done. Despite Cleary's decent playoff performance he simply is not what he used to be anymore. Brunner is not worth the money, he is as one dimensional as they come. I have no diubt Tatar will replace him easily. Sammulsson -no comments necessary.

No way.

He went from accepting 2,5 to want 4? That does not seem right. Anyway, any team that pays Brunner 3,5 after one season is truly desperate.

Abdelkader's primary mission is not to score but to make the Red Wings harder to play against and to create more space for his team mates, people that want to trade him are nuts.

No complaints on Weiss, will be interesting to follow next season for sure. Should be a definite upgrade from Filppula.

I would have done that deal, no problem. Yes Ryan is perhaps not a sure thing, but he would bring more size and that alone would make it worth the gamble.

the worst thing is that the players that could actually make a difference are all locked up long term... This is hardly a passing trend. So rather than sign a player like Lecavalier because Holland thinks 5 yrs is too long, he will end up signing guys like Samuelsson and Alfredsson to short term contracts for the next five years.

I disagree, Clarkson, Clowe or even Lecavalier would have addressed this to some extent.

Another short term fix, that will not address our need to get bigger and stronger. Waste of $$$ in my opinion.

Looking at this list of players make me wish for Holland to actually stay put. Weiss is alright but nothing to get excited about, the others are players I really dont want to come here! I'm fine with Quincey.

yes, it was a great but unexpected run. No reason we cannot repeat but with a different outcome. One or two players could be difference makers here. And let's be honest here, the team looked rather lost for a significant portion of the regular season. I credit Babcock for making the team play like they did for the last month.

Only there is not going to be much help coming through the ranks in the next 2 years that will address the weaknesses of this team. There are not that many big, crash the net scorer's around. Datsyuk and Zetterberg is already on the decline. Sooner or later these missing pieces must be addressed if this team is serious about contending for another Cup before the retirement of the aforementioned. Now would be the time to take a chance on Clarkson or Lecavalier, not three years from now. Funny how you mention constructive discussion in a thread created in critique of people's frustration with Holland's inaction.