MileHighWingsGuy

Speaking of cleaning up this mess...When does the mess that is Franzen officially end. Seems like years have gone by with his salary on the books and zero production.

Looking at age and production no I probably would not trade straight up for any on those options. Benn is a special talent but again he's what 26? My point is look at who you are talking about the very best the league has to offer and guys you would most likely consider elite. Why is it such a stretch to call him out as a special talent and something in an upper category of the league? I personally wouldn't trade him for those folks but if you would I understand but again I'd put the people you are talking about in that special category as elite. He's in that conversation and rightly so. Glad we didn't have to suffer him in the minors for a few years to grow him and keep in mind even our supposed hockey brains of the Wings operations really debated on whether he deserved to be in the NHL yet...what a joke.

I'm not sure what Wings fans want or think about young talent anymore. There was a significant portion of fans prior to the season telling us he'll be good but must suffer the lower leagues before we saw him for some magical number of years. The kid has played at an elite level since he started and there's absolutely no one I would trade him for. His stats are on par with the best in the league and he will get nothing but better as he plays with top end talent. He's elite.

Really never enjoyed seeing him on the team. I was hoping Holland would package some of these non-producers in a trade but guess that was asking too much.

It was awesome to have Athanasiou in the line-up. Since camp broke I couldn't imagine a winning team without Larkin and AA out there. We have needed to move dead weight on this team for years and it never seems to get done. I'll never understand the thought of letting talent rot in the minors while we watch very average talent skate. Nice to see a couple kids who deserve to be on the team and I'm still waiting for others to be shown the door.

So much fun to watch Larkin. I was yelling my ass off when he had the break away this evening.

It'd be great if the front office was less worried about signing a guy with zero shot of adding anything to this roster and more concerned with making a decent trade to off-load some forwards for something in return. We have had a glut of mediocre talent at forward and the need for another solid defenseman for some time yet Holland seems fixated on getting Cleary his $950K. We are actually debating sending Larkin to the minors because we won't have roster space once Datsyuk returns...that's just plain stupid.

You guys that are just so scared to have Larkin and Athanasiou in the line-up wear me out. I know it might involve trading away some mediocre talent or cutting someone like Ferraro or Anderson but good Lord how long do you suppress talent before letting it breathe and enjoy watching them on the real team.

Holland has consistently shown the propensity to do nothing in this circumstance. Unfortunately I just don't see a trade in the cards. We have known about the glut of forwards for some time now its not a new problem. Larkin made the Wings better both nights and will continue to do so. I'd argue Athanasiou should be in the line-up as well. Letting kids mature when it makes sense is fine, hurting the team by sending the best talent to the minors because you have no other options is silly and the reason I'm not a Holland fan. If no trade is made I'd ditch Anderson, Ferraro or whoever else is low man on the roster.

So refreshing to see a young guy of Larkin's caliber tear it up wearing the Winged Wheel!!! So happy Blashill kept him up where he belongs!!! Better start making some trades Holland you got the youngsters beating down the door!!

Larkin isn't going anywhere wish we could free up other "talent" via trade to bring Athanasiou into the line-up.

Its about time. Tired of sitting on talent and depending on half baked alternatives that just aren't that impressive. Give em hell Larkin!!! Maybe we'll see other young guys before the season is over (Athanasiou) I'll be his biggest fan all year long!!

Larkin

I guess I wouldn't mind the nonsense with Cleary if I thought the rest of the team was good to go. We continually hear the potential trade to cleanup the bulk of forwards we have and the tweaks our roster still needs yet Cleary usually seems to be the focus of our changes this time of year. Sign him to a 10 year deal and lets be done with it...save us the drama. Loyalty looks a lot like stupidity with the focus of Cleary.

I like the 4 year deal!! Very happy we'll get to watch Goose the next 4 years!! Well done Kenny!!

I think you could add Franzen and his salary/production to that list of wasted money.

Sounds like most of this recent discussion involves moving marginal talent to acquire other marginal talent. We have a lot of low to mid range NHL forwards. If we were to package them up to seriously upgrade a position like a solid defenseman or a forward with some size, grit etc I can see making a deal. Holland seems to love to collect these guys (forwards). Most of us waited all off-season thinking we'd see a trade that never materialized. I'd be all for a Semin signing if he was a bit younger but at his age seems like a plug for a year. The real fail on this team as it sits is on the defense, if we bolstered that I'd be OK with a guy like Semin to push us over the top. We need to weed out some of the guys who will never produce and trade them for another solid piece (Shattenkirk etc...).

Hope they lock the kid up for a good term. Enjoy watching him play and hope he stays a Wing. If we package anything up in a trade it better be for blue line help

Hearing Holland says he's done on a St. James tweet...guess the other defenseman we need will be a pipe dream.

We needed a veteran presence with some Championship big game winning savy. He'll be a nice upgrade over the role Cleary was hoping to fill. Still think we need to move a few and get one more solid defenseman and this day is perfect!!! Congrats Kenny, I'll take my crow served cold thank you, didn't think you had it in you.

Agree with the sentiment perhaps a larger trade freeing some of the clutter at forward might be in the works. Can't see Richards as a stand alone proposition.

Very Cool. Id' still like to see us clear jimmy and a few others for Shattenkirk or another decent D-man. Glad we got something done.

We've had a glut of young forwards for years that never seem to be weeded out correctly and in need of Defensive help that has been met with every damn excuse in the book. Trades were too steep, market is really bare, the kids need playing time, Cleary is needed for leadership, Franzen looks to be healthy this year. Its really amazing, I wonder how many decades Holland can claim he's rebuilding and it just takes time. Actually with this ploy he's better off just keeping talent in Grand Rapids winning meaningless games and titles there so he can claim we are only a year away. I think Babcock got it right with this idiot.

Can we just buy Franzen out and be done with him and his contract or did we miss that opportunity?

I'm not sure why hockey fans need to suffer through bad play and years of frustration all the time. I continually heard the same chatter when Nyquist and Tatar continued to be sent down to the Griffins and we had to watch Samuelsson, Cleary and Bertuzzi. At some point cut ties and play the better guy. I understand Howard starts but he's never won anything for such loyalty and Mrazek is only getting better as he plays more, the team plays solid behind him and he's 7 years younger.