joshy207

The AHL is a different game, it's a slower pace with more mistakes. If you leave a prospect in the AHL for 3 years with little-to-no NHL exposure, he'll become accustomed to that level of play and will have big adjustments to make once he gets to the NHL. That's what the Wings do most of the time, they may give their prospects 20ish games of limited icetime before they have to make the club or be lost to waivers. In the future, I'd like to see a little more room left open on the roster so these guys can get more of a taste of the action, and so the Wings' brass can see what they have in their prospects firsthand.

I've heard Almquist is out of options next year, so he may be up over Ouellet. Also, Tootoo is still under contract for next year...

Read my earlier post. It's not about what Franzen is doing RIGHT NOW or what he might do NEXT YEAR. It's about THE NEXT SIX YEARS.

Franzen is playing pretty well right now, he's been very productive since his return to the lineup. How long will this continue, though? We all know he has his ups and downs... but at what point do the ups disappear and it's all downs? Does he have 6 years left in him, even semi-productive? Will he hang up the blades before the end of his contract? You make a good point that the cap is supposed to skyrocket in the next couple years, so a $2-3M penalty won't be as significant... but still, is it worth possibly missing out on a free agent or trade opportunity, or worse, having to let a player go because of a penalty? I honestly don't expect Holland to buy out Franzen this summer. However, I do expect him to have a conversation with Franzen and figure out what his future holds. If Franzen says he won't last 6 more years, then the buyout needs to be at the very least considered, if not done. And no, Franzen is not a true power forward.

Interesting... thanks, guys.

The reason you seriously explore buying out Franzen isn't his streakiness, perceived laziness, or cap hit... it's the length of his contract and his age. He will turn 34 in a couple weeks, and he is signed for SIX more seasons after this. Do you honestly see him playing until age 40? I don't. If he does retire before the end of his contract, the Wings are subject to a cap-recapture penalty. Depending on when he hypothetically retires, that penalty could be almost $3M per year. This calls for an open and honest discussion between Franzen, his agent, and Wings' management. If Franzen doesn't want to play until he's 40, they should buy him out. The one fly in the ointment is Weiss. If he continues to struggle all season, he's the top candidate for the last compliance buyout.

That's a pretty bad article. It's almost as if a poster from this site wrote it and attached Helene's name to it. It's been WIDELY reported that every NHL team is either too close to the cap or at its maximum budget this season, nobody has the ability to take on salary. Basically it says "Quincey sucks, let's trade him, somebody will give us value in return" without mentioning any possibilities. She then mentions how waiving Samuelsson wouldn't help, but makes no mention of waiving Cleary, who's been painful to watch.

They had Bruce ******* Boudreau on 24/7, they ******* had to ******* edit out every ******* other ******* word then...

Are you talking forwards vs. defensemen or team offense vs. team defense?

Good signing, good value. I'm not *crazy* about the 6th year, but it's livable. Ericsson has been pretty solid and that should continue for 4-5 more years. With the cap expected to jump significantly over the next couple years, his cap hit will be relatively low for what he is.

This is a good point... but definitely one that's explainable. A lot of these guys were relatively early in their careers and not making big money yet (Hudler, Filppula, Zetterberg, Kronwall, Franzen). Samuelsson and Cleary were castoffs. Osgood and Hasek were nearing the end of their careers (Hasek had already retired once) and really couldn't command huge dollars despite both still being good goalies. The first group mentioned was a result of good scouting, drafting, and development. Not unlike what Chicago had in 2010. Yes, they sucked for a long time, but finally got the right people in charge and started putting things together. Then when they had to blow up their roster that summer, what did they do? Turned right around and won again in 2013 with some of the same key guys and an almost all-new supporting cast.

OMG... this is AWESOME! Let's Bab RedCocks!

No... Tatar was inserted in the lineup when Glendening was sent down... BEFORE Alfredsson was scratched!

Sometimes players will perform better with a new team. Whether it's the change of message, system, or just scenery, there is an improvement. I'm sure Filppula is benefiting from at least one of these. I have also heard from several sources that Tampa's coach, Cooper, is great at getting the best out of his players. He's not a "systems" guy, he lets his assistants handle that, but he's a tremendous motivator. Filppula always struck me as someone who needed motivating...

Tatar was put in the lineup when they sent Glendening down yesterday afternoon. Scratching Alfredsson left them with only 11 forwards for the game. I did hear Mick say Tatar was in for Alfredsson, but that was incorrect.

Tatar is making the most of his opportunity tonight...

Compliance buyout is better than LTIR.

http://blog.mlive.com/snapshots/2009/11/aftonbladet_red_wings_forward.html This is a story about Franzen struggling with anxiety issues. If this is accurate, he hates attention and will avoid the spotlight at all costs. He's improved from his earlier years, but maybe this is the real root of what's going on with him lately? Maybe he's not a lazy bum, maybe his brain doesn't let him be the player he could so easily be. *That said, teams (in all sports) need to do their homework on their players before locking them up long-term. There are plenty of bad dudes in the NFL and NBA, some in MLB and the NHL as well. If this is what's hindering Franzen, and if it's not something that can be adequately treated, I think the Wings have to buy him out this summer...

DeKeyser also played youth hockey with Jim Nill's son, so they knew each other. I'm sure that helped. Other teams may have offered immediate icetime (the Wings supposedly had no plans of playing him right away) but ultimately, the draw of playing at home was probably the biggest factor. If we're going to cite it as a reason the Wings lost out on Parise and Suter, we have to acknowledge it as a reason they got DeKeyser. I'm not surprised Tootoo was waived and I'm not surprised he cleared. I do like him, I was surprised when the Wings signed him, and I was shocked and disappointed when I saw the terms of his contract. He had been making $1.2M per year in Nashville and was phased out of their lineup. Why a 3-year deal and why such a big raise? It's obviously come back to burn Holland. I think he should have offered somewhere between $1M-1.3M per year, and if Tootoo rejected it, move on. You can't pay 4th-line/healthy scratch players that kind of money. Samuelsson is another story... he made $2.5M per year on his Vancouver contract. He was productive (74gp--30g-23a--53pts, 75--18-32--50, and 54--14-17--31 in the 3 years) but missed some time each season, especially in the last year, split between Vancouver and Florida. Although I hated the signing from day one, it's reasonable to expect that production should have (and maybe would have, barring the injuries) continued, even if it decreased somewhat. You can blame Holland for that signing (I do), but you can't blame him for the lack of results.

This would have nothing to do with a one-way or two-way contract. A two-way (NHL/AHL) contract means a player gets paid one salary in the NHL and another (smaller) in the AHL. Players in the AHL on a one-way NHL contract get paid the same salary they would make in the NHL.

I find it amazing how close his career came to NEVER HAPPENING AT ALL. Talk about being down to your last chance...

Helm AND Tatar scored? Boners for everyone!!

If Helm was really back to form, he would have missed on that breakaway... lol

Someone (Alfredsson? Zetterberg? Kronwall?) needs to tell Franzen to keep his stinkin' mouth SHUT.

I think the whole "loyalty" thing stems from Ilitch and is reinforced by Holland, who is a product of that loyalty.