Dabura

Bishop stones Mantha. Dallas's transition game is taking over. We're trying to stretch things out too much, IMO. Need to move up the ice as a five man unit.

Klingberg scores. Stars lead 1-0. Wings need to start putting pucks on net. Getting a little too cute in the o-zone.

Good pressure and chances from the top line.

EDIT: Oops, wrong thread.

Teacher's pet.

He says he's shooting for Thursday or Friday.

Julius Honka will be making his season debut for the Stars tonight. Keep an eye on him. He's one of those extremely promising young defensemen that I'm always going on about, the kind we should be looking to acquire if trading AA becomes an actual thing.

Personally, I wouldn't say we have one of the better forward groups. But I totally get where you're coming from. I guess I'd put it this way: we don't have one of the better forward groups right now, but over the next three years our group could get "real good, real fast" (to borrow a hockey coachism/GMism). That's because Holland has constructed a really good supporting cast, as you and others have pointed out. The depth is there, we just need to find ourselves that radiant top-tier star to lead the way. If we somehow land Andrei Svechnikov and Larkin establishes himself as a viable 1C this season, that might be enough to put us back in business, at least in the forward department.

Official lineup card: https://www.facebook.com/DETROITREDWINGS/photos/a.10151521620589139.1073741840.16313679138/10155260026704139/?type=3

It's anyone's guess, really.

PLEASE NOTE: OP has been updated with vital information. Yours, Concierge

COME BACK HUDDLES

I mean, Ozzie was diplomatic about it. Said Ericsson made a mistake and he knows it and he'll make up for it. But everyone knows it was a boneheaded decision, the kind you'd expect from a nervous rookie and not from a seasoned veteran, even if the seasoned veteran is a third-pairing "defensive defenseman." I'm pretty sure Ericsson wasn't under pressure there. That's the worst part. He could've taken another three or four strides forward before committing to a course of action.

Here's my point of concern with Carlson: he plays for the Washington Capitals. It's the same concern I have with Orlov. If you put them on a bad team's bad blue line, are they the same defensemen? Are they true busdrivers? Could you build a Cup-worthy D group around one of them? I think it's fair to say Carlson is a legit top-pairing defenseman, arguably a low-key 1D. But for the money and term he's going to want, a guy like Green on a cheaper, short-term deal might actually be the better choice, at least for the Wings. Carlson's a few years younger, but if we're looking at being really competitive 3-5 years from now...he'd be around Green's age when we get back to contending. He'd likely be in decline, and he'd be eating a big chunk of cap space. And that's assuming we'd get back to contending in that time frame, which is not at all a given. I think if we're serious about going after a guy like John Carlson, then we should probably be serious about getting back to serious Cup contention before the three-or-four-years-from-now projection that Holland himself recently put out there. Unfortunately, unless our GM pulls several rabbits out of a magical hat, I don't see a realistic path forward that takes us from mediocrity to excellence within the next couple of years. On the other hand...if we don't add any significant D pieces and Green doesn't re-sign, our 2018 opening night D group is probably DeKeyser, Daley, Ouellet, Jensen, Hicketts, Ericsson. Which is brutal. So, whether it's Carlson or someone else, I think Holland is going to have to go fishing and reel someone in between now and this time next year. By this time next year, we should be over-stocked with top-nine wingers. In theory, we'd trade one or two of those wingers for a defenseman. (SPOILERS: We sign Rick Nash in the summer, $3.5m x 3. Because of course.)

http://mynhltraderumors.com/nhl-rumors-red-wings-andreas-anthanasiou-canucks-golden-knights-toronto-maple-leafs/2017/10/07/ Craig Custance of The Athletic: Both Andreas Athanasiou and the Detroit Red Wings are dug in and not moving from their offers/asking price. The more time Athanasiou misses, the harder it may be for him to catch up. There may be more to their negotiations than just money, “whether it be playing time or treatment by coaches.” The Red Wings aren’t actively shopping Athanasiou, but multiple sources are saying that they are listening. Teams are calling the Red Wings to see how interested they would be in trading him. The return would have to be for a player of similar age and upside, and not for a draft pick or someone in their late 20’s. One GM said the asking price was a young, top-four defenseman or a young center.

I like Ozzie's post-game take on that sequence. Basically, if you're in Ericsson's position there, you do anything but what Ericsson did. Maybe you eat the puck along the boards. Maybe you deliberately ice the puck. You have some room to skate, so, at the very least, you should take a couple more steps forward before you act. Don't just throw that pass straight out of the corner. Not with two minutes left in a lock-down situation, with the opponent in wounded animal mode. You learn this stuff in peewee. It's basic. Granted, it isn't entirely on Ericsson. Maybe Helm (?) could've done a better job of getting open, or maybe Helm (?) could've shouted to Ericsson to not force that pass. And it was definitely a fluky goal. But even so, Blashill should know better by now. Putting Ericsson out with two minutes left when we're trying to hold on to a lead is asking for trouble. Hell, we KNOW Blashill knows better, because Ericsson got very little icetime in Thursday's game, only playing about two and a half minutes in the third period of that game. Blashill himself is souring on Ericsson. That's the only positive I take out of giving up that goal -- that maybe it cements Ericsson as a liability in Blashill's mind. As for Howard, he's absolutely the reason we're not 0-2 right now. Probably can't keep this up, but we don't really know. His recent injury history makes it difficult to assess how good he really is at this stage in his career. I mean, he's clearly really good, but can he sustain that level of play over, say, 50 starts?

Didn't he have a falling out with the London Knights as well? And wasn't it perceived immaturity that caused him to slide to the fourth round in the entry draft? Not rhetorical questions, as AA honestly wasn't really on my radar before we'd drafted him and I've never bothered to look too deeply into his major junior career, so I'm genuinely curious. Anyway, point is, it might be AA who's driving this. The agent definitely has a reputation for playing hardball, and I'm sure that's a contributing factor -- but it seems AA is known for being stubborn and myopic, willing to cut off his nose to spite his face.

Helene's thoughts: http://www.freep.com/story/sports/nhl/red-wings/2017/10/08/takeaways-detroit-red-wings-2-0-start-its-early-but-encouraging/744122001/ Wherever Athanasiou, 23, ends up playing, if he ends up playing, the best place for him to develop is the NHL. He is not going to get better defensively playing in Switzerland. Meanwhile he is losing money off the offers the Wings have made him (two years, $3.8 million/one year at $1.25 million; he’d be an RFA with arbitration rights after either) because once the regular season began, paychecks kicked in. So now if he does accept, the money will be pro-rated. The Wings aren’t going to trade him for anything less than a high draft pick or blue-chip prospect. The Wings’ offer is in line with a player coming off his entry-level contract. They are not going to budge even if they lose the next 10 games.

My concern now is that even if we re-sign him, he's going to walk in a few years or cause a stink when he has arbitration rights. The relationship might be irreparably broken by this point. (I don't think it should be. I think AA's being a baby. But, yeah.) Trading him might be the best path forward. Do I think Holland trades him? I still think it's highly unlikely. But I think it's more realistic than it was a week ago.

Ahhh. NOW it feels like a win.

Yep. Just saying: I'd like to see even more of him, but I get why Blashill might hesitate to give his line even more minutes. To be clear: I'm not trying to bag on him at all. Like I said earlier in the thread, I think he's looked very good overall. He's playing like he has something to prove and he's clearly trying to round out his game. And he's putting up points. I'm all aboard the Larkin train.

Totally agree. Just saying, re: Blashill playing the top line a bit too much, I can understand why he doesn't have total confidence in Larkin's line, especially in a tight game like this one.

I agree about the top line. They had some good zone time, but I thought they looked out-of-sorts. Weren't on their A game. Zetterberg was forcing low-percentage passes all night long and he was half a step too slow at several key points in the game. Now, to be fair, Larkin made a few egregious mistakes, each of which almost resulted in a Sens goal. He played a really good game overall, but he could've easily been the scapegoat tonight. He's still getting used to being a centerman in this league.