Dabura

Make Offer Sheets A Thing Again

You joke, but he's in the conversation. That's how f***ing atrocious our D drafting has been. Even when you allow for some leeway because the Wings have traded away so many picks over the years, it's still utterly inexcusable. Boggles my mind that more people don't bring it up.

E or Quincey. It hurts my soul.

Re-signing Green isn't scandalous. What's scandalous is that the Wings have gone roughly two decades without producing a single high-end NHL defenseman. That's why our defense is in the state it's in. That's why we keep going back to the well of middling veterans every season. Even now, our top D prospects are probably 2nd-pairing guys at best. It's a draft-and-develop league and the Wings don't draft and develop quality NHL defensemen. Result: pain.

Welcome back! Shakira is our GM, I'm dating Angela Lindvall, and the Oilers are good again. jk the Oilers still suck.

HOW. DARE. YOU.

I got turned into a cookie. I don't wanna talk about it.

Bump. Like I noted in another thread, the Wings could have a ton of cap space next summer. I expect us to go HAM for Erik Karlsson. Assuming Zetterberg is done after this year, I'd also expect us to sniff around for a centerman. https://www.spotrac.com/nhl/free-agents/2019/ufa/ Is Karlsson a pipe dream? Prolly. But I doubt many teams are going to be in a position to offer him the kind of contract he'll be looking for ($11M+ per, using the Doughty deal as a comparable). We could be one of the few teams that could make it work. It's early days, of course. But atm I'm liking the idea of trading a forward or two + a defense prospect for Oscar Klefbom. Ericsson Karlsson Klefbom Green DeKeyser Hronek

I'm definitely not expecting him to become a legit top-line scorer, but I'm starting to think he might have a future as a solid middle-six complementary winger. With the right centerman and maybe some PP skillz, 20+ goals a season might not be out of the question, even if he isn't A True Scorer. Like I said, I'm tempering my expectations with him, but Holmstrom and to a lesser extent Abby have done great things as piano pullers. If he ever becomes as effective as Abby circa Zetterberg-Datsyuk-Abby, that's a win. If he gets anywhere close to Simmonds? Like you, I'll be ecstatic.

let me dream

No question. Still, tfw no filapoola

That's my sense. His monster WHL postseason (proof he's got nothing left to learn at that level) + his size and strength + his utility as a net-front PP guy = Holland and Blashill want him on the team.

yah Nielsen's long been one of my favorite players. It bums me out that usage, linemates, lack of scoring depth on the roster have all been working against him in his time with the Wings. Last year he was used in a shutdown role, had to lug around Helm and Abby. And even when he's given scoring wingers -- like, say, AA and Vanek -- it's often this kind of Frankenstein's monster where he has to cover for the wingers' defensive shortcomings while also trying to manufacture offense. There's been a lot of talk about how he has a preference for playing with North-South wingers, but most of our best wingers don't really play that kind of game. So I'm very eager to see what he can do with a guy like Rasmussen. Fun fact: Rasmussen is a Danish name.

I was surprised and impressed by how much Smith has improved his skating. If he can move around the ice like prime-years Wayne Simmonds while being bigger and meaner than prime-years Simmonds, with a skill level that's at least in the same ballpark as prime-years Simmonds...that's something to be excited about. I'm still tempering my expectations, because throwback power forwards (very big, very mean, good for 25-30 goals) are just so hard to come by these days. But the potential does seem to be there.

Also worth noting: we're well positioned to have a s***-ton of cap space to play with next summer. Is it just me or have the Wings become a feeder system for the Hurricanes? Frickin' commies.

I mean, to be fair, Vanek did manage to put up 24 goals and 56 points this past season -- and he did it while playing for two low-scoring teams in the Canucks and Jackets. Mantha put up 24 goals and 48 points. Larkin put up 16 goals and 63 points. AA put up 16 goals and 33 points. Zetterberg is arguably our best playmaker and he could miss time this season, depending on how his back is holding up. So I think the "maybe Vanek can help our pitiful offense" reasoning is sound. I like that the org wants to see what the team can do with actual scoring depth (goodbye, Abdelkader-Nielsen-Helm shutdown line! You won't be missed!) and a functional power play. As for the kids getting jobbed...eh, I don't see that. At least not at the forward position. Rasmussen is reportedly pencilled into the top-nine. When was the last time the Wings Brass had an 18/19-year-old -- one who hasn't played a single game of pro or even college hockey -- pencilled into the top-nine? Svechnikov's coming off a really rough season; he needs to build himself back up and get his feet back under him and the NHL probably isn't the best place for that. I truly believe Holland and Blashill genuinely want Zadina on the roster on opening night. I think he's going to be given a fair shot at making the team. (Worth keeping in mind: "2018 Red Wings draft selection who has a real shot at making the team out of camp" wasn't even a thing until about a week ago.) Even if Zadina doesn't make the cut, our forward group is slowly but surely getting younger. Larkin, Mantha, Athanasiou, Bertuzzi, Rasmussen. Nyquist's days in Detroit are probably numbered. Vanek is, for now, a one-year commitment. Z could be done after this season. The D corps is old and bad. Take away Green and you make it younger...and probably worse. Hicketts isn't as good as Green. Hronek probably deserves to be on the opening night roster, and I think Blashill's Will Butcher comparison is pretty telling that Blashill likes him and would like to see him muscle his way into regular duty on the Wings' blue line this season. But I doubt swapping out Jensen or Hicketts for Hronek makes our defense considerably better this season. Beyond Hronek and Cholowski, there really just isn't much to be excited about in the defense pipeline (in stark contrast to the forward pipeline). That we're going with pretty much the same D corps as we did last year is, to me, an indictment of our drafting. But Kronwall's done after this season, Ericsson's done in two years, Daley has two more years, Green has two more years, Jensen and Hicketts probably don't have futures in Detroit beyond the next year or two...so, in theory, we're going to see considerable roster turnover at the D position over the next several years.

It's ok, we're getting Karlsson next summer.

Abdelkader Larkin Mantha Nyquist Zetterberg Zadina Rasmussen Nielsen Vanek Bertuzzi Athanasiou Helm That's a pretty good forward group.

I'M USING MY DEMON POWERS IDIOT

I AM THE DEMON KING I DON'T USE ELECTRONIC MAIL FOOL

Your face is a waste of a roster spot when considering its low trade deadline value. (I've missed you guys. Please don't let the boards die like that again kthx.)

Vanek is love. Vanek is life.

WE'RE BACK! A DINOSAUR'S STORY! (applies to both the boards being back and the latest DRW UFA rumors)

Word. To me, he's every bit as promising as Larkin and Rasmussen were when we drafted them.