greenrebellion

DId you guys think that maybe just maybe Holland can't participate in these deals because WE DON'T HAVE CAP ROOM. We are over the cap when everyone is healthy, we are trying to shed salary not add salary. And no, no one wants Tootoo so don't add him to a hypothetical deal. He's cleared waivers, he has negative value. And Sammy isn't going anywhere given his NTC.

Yup, lets let a great prospect rot on the bench and instead play an over the hill guy who has no future with the team. Unbelievably ridiculous.

Yes, Holland changed his approach because there was a dramatic rule change implemented...the salary cap. And your point is valid, trading has slowed down dramatically and the prices are insanely high for top end talent. Again I emphasize that we are not one piece away from the cup. Sure if Weiss rebounds to form, Franzen starts to care, Quincey and Smith learn how to play D then sure, anything can happen. But as the team is playing right now, it is not a team that is one major trade away from a cup.

I hear what you are saying, and I don't think that Holland will NEVER make a trade, I just think they will be few and far between. Realistically, this team isn't one piece away from a Stanley Cup, so this really isn't the year to make a huge splash. Let the youth develop, see what holes there are to fill a year or two out and I'm sure Holland will seek to build out the team. However, this patient approach won't be enough for many people who are always in win now mode, which I just don't think is a realistic way to build a long term successful franchise.

Agreed, you can't have it all. A team can make a bunch of big trades and make a run for a few seasons, but deplete prospect depth in the process, which will eventually lead to a painful rebuilding period. I kind of like seeing the Wings make the playoffs year in and year out. And even if they miss this season, which I don't expect, it wouldn't be a long absence given the up and coming prospects they have.

I'd like to see the entire team healthy simply so it forces Holland to make a move for cap reasons. Would be interesting to see what he does when his hand is forced. That said, Holland's quote shouldn't come as a huge surprise to anyone. He's made it clear numerous times that in the salary cap era he believes that hanging on to picks and young talent is paramount...especially if you want to be competitive year in and year out.

It is plain and simple...until someone outside of the top line starts producing consistently, this team will not win consistently.

We desperately need a second line that can score some goals. Can't rely on Bert / Z / Dats every shift.

If only Abby could shoot...

Interesting point, I'd be interested to see that D pairing split up which I believe is something that this forum has been harping on for sometime.

Not having Smith in the lineup is causing increased hatred to be directed towards Q

Quincey!

What is it about the Wings that makes Quincey suck so hard.

DD is not a bad example, my whole point was that the Wings got DD outside of simply offering more money. Why did DD choose the Wings when 29 other teams offered the exact same package. My point is that Holland deserves some credit for the intangibles that brought a guy like DD to the Wings.

Something important to keep in mind...and I'm not saying this fully justifies what Holland has done, just keep the following in mind. This whole loyalty to a fault thing may have behind the scenes benefits. The way we treat our players is well known around the league and may benefit us in the following ways: - Cheaper contract extensions (Kronwall, Datsyuk, etc.) - Hossa/Alfreddson signings...yes they reached out to us but did our reputation help us out here? - DeKeyser - did our rep help us attract this guy who could've signed with any club - Brunner - see above, yes we didn't keep him, but again we attracted a high value target. If you are going to bash Holland for loyalty (and I do think he's taken it too far) at least give him some credit for the positives that may arise from it.

14 shots against, my goodness the Oilers are bad.

Smith felt he hadn't spent enough time in the box.

Hangnail, out for season.

I've lost count how many times Franzen has lost a puck battle along the boards this game alone.

2nd line is awful.

Sabres and Wings seem like good trade partners. We could dump off salary on them since they certainly have the cap room and an owner willing to spend money and they most likely will be shipping off Moulson by the deadline as he is unlikely to re-sign with them. So what about something along the following lines? Wings send: - 1st & 2nd round pick - M. Samuelsson (assumes he waves his NTC so that he can play rather than being benched) - P. Eaves or Abdelkader or Tootoo - Prospects (fill in whatever you think it takes to get a deal done) Sabres send: - M. Moulson Forward Lines: Moulson - Datsyuk - Alfreddson Zetterberg - Weiss - Franzen Tatar - Helm - Nyquist Miller - Andersson - Abdelkader Cleary/Bertuzzi cycling in on fourth line.

Both obviously.

If there was a chance we could waive him and someone would pick him up, the Wings would've done that before trying to use their buyout on him. Furthermore, even if he did not have a no trade clause, no one would even give you a bag of pucks for him, this isn't anti wings bias, its just hockey sense. Remember, even if its slightly under 3 million pro-rated, that is still real money that someone has to pay. The GM's have to answer to the owners and no owner in the league is going to be happy about bringing in a guy that will cost nearly $3MM in cash when there are guys that can do the same thing for far less. If your point is that crazy s*** happens, yes I'll give you that. But I guess if some team needed to increase their cap hit ala Tim Thomas, they would've messaged Kenny by now and said hey waive the guy, we'll take him. So the fact that he hasn't been waived means no one has done that. I guess at the end of the day this is sort of a pointless argument. But my end view is this...if Kenny had an inkling that someone would take the guy on waivers (and he'd know way better than we would) the guy would've been on waivers by now. But I believe that Sammy is as close to a guaranteed waiver clear as you can find in the league.

Because he has negative value. No team is going to waste a couple million dollars on a player that won't crack the roster of most teams.

Moulson with two goals tonight in his first game as a Sabre, looks like he can score without Tavares!