Nightfall

So yea, from 1991-2004, lets look at the total number of championships per team Pittsburgh - 2 Montreal - 1 New York Rangers - 1 New Jersey Devils - 3 Colorado Avalanche - 2 Detroit Red Wings - 3 Dallas Stars - 1 Tampa Bay Lighting - 1 Before the cap, there were dynasties. We won't see dynasties in the NHL with the cap thats for sure. On the flip side, while many people cry about the cap, no one wants to address that the Wings were dead in the water for years even before the cap. I wasn't around in the 60s, 70s and 80s but I have heard those were lean years. So I guess the pre-cap world was great if the ownership of your team invested wisely in getting good players and making a run. Imagine if Illitch didn't invest in the team all these years. People would be loving the cap around here. Who knows how things are going to change once Illitch sells. Will a new owner invest in the Wings like he has?

The funny part is that this is what a lot of LGW forum members want. They want to see the kids play. Course, when these kids screw up and make mistakes, these same forum members will have ZERO tolerance for that kind of thing. I love that Babs is playing the kids though. Gotta have them show what they are capable of.

The issue that many Wings fans have is that they are not the front runner for the Stanley Cup. Not that the front runners have won the cup the last few seasons, but I digress.... We are not in a catastrophic situation at all, but fans who are used to having a dominating team in the playoffs with better players than everyone else is just now starting to realize that the cap world sucks a big one.

I really didn't think he was, but after I saw his stats on TSN, I may be wrong about that. He may be a 2nd line Winger after all.

I really am glad that Holland didn't spend picks or prospects to bring in Gaborik. He is injury prone and isn't worth his 7.5 million dollar cap hit. Pomminville was the only guy I would even consider, and he isn't a top 6 winger like the Wings need. Boumeester isn't worth it either. One of two things are going to happen..... Either the Wings fall flat on their faces in the next couple years, fade away from playoff contention, Holland gets fired, and the collective whiners here will yell I told you so and sprint off to the Penguins forum board to become new fans.... Or.... The Wings will retool and rebuild over the course of the next couple years, and return younger and stronger in a couple years. They will be in a better position to win a cup then, so the collective whiners will stick around and cheer their team on. Either way, its a win/win for me. This forum really does need an enema. For too long, Wings fans have been gifted with high caliber teams and 4 Stanley Cups. The Wings fans are spoiled. Hell, I know I am. You can thank the NHL for making league parity a top concern. No longer can teams try to buy a cup. The salary cap has leveled the playing field. To expect a team to compete for the cup every year is ludicrous. Making the playoffs should be the new benchmark now. Once your team gets in, then anything can happen. At this point, I am going to support the Wings as they work to make the playoffs. I call on every Wings fan to do the same thing. Stand behind your team. Stand behind your Wings management. Its that simple. Hell, I would be really pissed if Holland offered that. Pomminville isn't worth that.

Considering that Gaborik has 9 goals and 10 assists in 35 games with his 7.5 million dollar cap hit, I can only imagine he will be lambasted like Franzen is getting hit with. Franzen has 7 goals and 13 assists in 29 games with a cap hit that is almost half that.

I have to agree here. Why make a trade just to make a trade? I just don't get it. Yea, yea, yea I hear some of the fans here whining about wasting Dats and Z's time. How they wasted Lids time (even though he has 4 cups already and almost won a 5th). Only one team gets to win the cup, and there are plenty of players who never won one, so did their clubs waste their time? Look at Adam Oates who never won a cup. Look at keith tkachuk. So many great players who got close or never made it. Not every player is going to have at level of success. People here whine about not playing the kids. Yet, when trade time comes around these same people will whine about not making a trade for a veteran. Which one do you want? I think all the players that were traded today were sold high. Gaborik for three players? Gaborik has less goals than freaking Cleary and is injury prone. Glad to see Holland stand pat. It was going to be a rough season at the start, and I knew that we wouldn't be the contenders that all Wings fans wanted us to be. I guess you could call me a realistic fan. I say load up in the off season and through the draft.

Gaustad was a first rounder last year and he is about the same as Flip.

People here are dreaming if they think that Holland is going to make a big splash. Hell, he hasn't made a big splash at the trade deadline since before the salary cap. That really has limited what teams can do after all. The Wings want a top 6 forward or a top 4 defenseman, and the only assets they want to trade are prospects and not the #1 pick in the draft this year. That doesn't equate to making a splash today. If I were Holland, I would trade Flip for a 1st rounder and trade Ian White for a 1st or 2nd rounder and call it good. Lets gear up for a better season next year.

Considering he sat out 20% of the games with injury, you taking that into effect? Being as that you said 82 games, I would suppose not. Still 20 points in 29 games is nothing to sneeze at. Especially for his cap hit.

To get Ericcson will take our first round pick, Nyquist, and Flip AT minimum.

I agree with some people here. This isn't a bad thing. No one is trading their elite players away, and as Holland said, we are in need of top guys. Jagr and Bouwmeester are not top guys.

Heh, I wasn't going to do that. Your offer was more generous than some of the offers I have seen. The point in the end is that we will have to give up something to get something. With as deep as the draft is going to be, is it worth it this year? We aren't going to be contenders even if we got a top line forward and defenseman.

I really don't think a 1st is worth it for Gaborik. He is injury prone. I also think that Eriksson is going to command more of a price than that. Probably Flip and Nyquist, 1st and 2nd. I can say this much though, you aren't as delusional as most people here. I am sure we will see the customary "OMG, Quincey and White for Eriksson" suggestions where we give up scraps for great players.

Just for comedy's sake here... What would you give for Gaborik or Eriksson?

Goal scorers, power forwards, and elite defensemen are not a dime a dozen. I just don't believe we should sell the farm for one player. Look at the price on Jagr. Would you pay that price? So far, none of these trades are striking me as a win/win for both clubs.

I guess I just don't see how everyone is crying for a trade. The Wings need more than a trade can give them. This year is a rebuilding year for the Wings. The sooner the fans acknowledge that, the better off they will be.

Last year's draft was not that good. This year's draft is one of the best in years. Thats the difference.

Pierre LeBrun ‏@Real_ESPNLeBrun 3m Wings were in it on Bouwmeester but not willing to move a 1st-rd pick in the package. Which frankly, for Detroit, was right call I agree with Pierre

This right here. The Wings are in transition. They are geared to make the playoffs, and thats it.

A first round draft pick is not a centerpiece player, but I do agree with you. I would like to see that trade.

I keep hearing these top line wingers being mentioned in possible trades for Flip and I just laugh. We aren't going to get centerpiece players for our scraps. I disagree. The Red Wings need to start with the youth movement now. Trading away prospects like we have the last few seasons have not gotten us any better. Remember when the Preds got Gaustad last season for a first round pick and then got bounced in the 2nd round of the playoffs? I fail to see how trading away more of our future for this season is going to result in a championship. Its apparent that the Pens are all in this season, but that doesn't mean we need to be.

This is a transition year for us. We are not going to be favorites this year. Just be happy if we make the playoffs. Welcome to the post cap world.

I guess we cannot blame Holland then for making the call that he did.

Dominant playoffs > Dominant Regular Season I would much rather have a playoff performer than someone who does well in the regular season and then takes the playoffs off.