Dabura

Srsly tho. It's gonna be Erik Karlsson.

Lashoff, Kronwall, Ericsson, Ouellet. The most mobile group ever assembled.

Right, that's what I'm saying. We'd have to throw in a sweetener and/or retain salary. No one would take him "clean." Would it be worth it? Possibly. But I'm pretty sure the Wings have no interest in moving him anyway, so it's probably moot.

I don't think we see Ericsson moved. No one's going to be interested in him (not without us throwing in a sweetener and/or retaining salary) and the Wings wouldn't want to move him anyway, because they like him a lot. It's been rumored that Holland is open to moving Nyquist. Not actively shopping him, but taking calls and perhaps initiating some conversations. My sense is Holland actually would like to move him but he doesn't want to sell low and is therefore hoping Nyquist has a strong year that could maybe get us a high pick or a good prospect around trade deadline time. Worth noting: next season will be the last year of Nyquist's current contract.

Eh, I'm not sure this is a thing. In hindsight, it's pretty clear that the public criticism from management was a simple motivational ploy -- and as far as I can tell, Larkin and Mantha both knew exactly what was up and embraced it. I think Larkin and Mantha are both going to be Wings for a long time. I'm not so sure about Athanasiou. Maybe it's just the way he is, but his body language is giving me a "Counting down the days until I'm done here" vibe. As for who's getting which letters...Larkin probably does inherit the C from Z and Mantha could inherit Kronwall's A. Wouldn't rule out DeKeyser for an A. I know the Wings are really high on Rasmussen's character. He's been favorably compared to Jonathan Toews in the way he carries himself. Putting the letters aside, though, Larkin and Mantha are cleary taking over as this team's leaders. That's the important thing.

MANTHA/KIDS HYPE! More important than the melee: Anthony Mantha showing signs of greatness [The Athletic] Anthony Mantha a budding 'superstar' with fierce edge [The Detroit News] Resurgent Dylan Larkin, burgeoning Anthony Mantha give Red Wings reason for hope -- eventually [ESPN] Fantasy buzz: Mantha must-own player; Schmaltz thriving on wing [NHL.com] I like Emily Kaplan's take in that ESPN piece: This week, I spent time with Chicago Blackhawks owner Rocky Wirtz for a larger project I'm working on. We began talking about the challenges of sustaining success, and Wirtz said this: "I always looked at Detroit, the 25 years straight they were in the playoffs. That is the hardest thing: consistency. Because that's the ebb and flow of sports, you draft low when you win and you draft high when you lose." Consistency, we agreed, can be achieved through stability. It's about resisting knee-jerk reactions when there's a small blip in the plan. It's about trusting the culture you built. I believe in the culture Detroit has built over the last three decades. I believe that system has staying power, even given its current state. Red Wings GM Ken Holland has been on the job since 1997. He's the second-longest tenured GM in the league (but, it should be noted, Nashville's David Poile beats him by a mere nine days). Mike Babcock (10 seasons as coach) and Pavel Datsyuk (14 seasons) have moved on from Detroit. Last season, it seemed like the Red Wings stumbled without Datsyuk's leadership. As Wirtz noted, Detroit found itself without elite homegrown talent after picking at the bottom of the first round for so long. In the hard-cap era, teams rely so much on the draft. Even with some late-round gems, the Red Wings just don't have the talent to compete with the NHL upper class -- immediately, that is. I'm encouraged by the resurgence of Larkin and also very intrigued by the potential of Andreas Athanasiou. If the Red Wings end up stinking again this season, they might be just one or two elite picks away from competing again. They just need to plug in the right guys, because the framework for success has already been built. And I'm hopeful ownership don't impulsively knock it down.

STATS UPD8 OMG Mantha has 19 points (10G + 9A) thru 19 games Larkin has 18 points (3G + 15A) thru 19 games Green has 17 points (1G + 16A) thru 19 games Athanasiou has 6 points (4G + 2A) thru 9 games

That's what Super Saiyan hair looks like IRL, bro.

JENSEN: "Nope. I'm good." GREEN: "Nope. I'm good." MANTHA: "MOTHERF***** I WILL DEVOUR YOUR SOUL AND S*** OUT A DEMON!!!"

Didn't really miss anything.

Witkowski could be suspended for the next ten games for coming back on the ice. We can haz Hicketts now???

This almost makes me miss the Western Conference.

Mantha with two goals and an assist. And a fight. Athanasiou with two goals and an assist. Larkin with a goal and two assists. Green with three assists. Howard with the badassery.

Yup, first eight-goal game for the Wings since that Vancouver game in 2013. I remember that one well. GAME OVER. Wings win 8-2. What. a. game.

GLENDENING! PPG! 8-2! FOUR PPGs ON THE NIGHT!

Larkin and Green with the assists. I don't want this game to end.

ATHANASIOU! 5-ON-3 PPG!

Aaaand now we get a 5-on-3. This game, man. This game.

5 minute PP. Tkachuk is a dingus.

Can't wait until these teams meet in the SCF. Goals galore, some bad blood, USA vs. Canada. Make it happen, Bettman. Hook us up.

Greg Gulutzan looks like an evil Nyquist.

Well, those Wings fans at the game are getting their money's worth tonight.

Chaos, apparently. I guess they sent Witkowski to the locker room, Tkachuk whacked him, he came back out, pushing and shoving, Hamonic and Mantha squared off, Jimmy joined in, assorted pairing offs. Not a full-blown brawl, but pretty much the same result.

Line brawl??? Did we just miss a line brawl because of a frickin' commercial break???

Witkowski lays smackdown on Fool A, tells Fool B he wants to go. LOL.