b.shanafan14

While I don't think the Wild are the worst team by any means, their success always seemed more like over-performing than something that could realistically be sustained the whole season. When they were at the top for a brief bit (first 1/3 MAYBE, not first 1/2), most of us saw a team that it would take little to bring back down to earth. Still a good ways from being a legitimate contender. You completely lost me talking about the apparently huge discrepancy between the Wild's prospect pool and the Wing's. The Wings STILL have one of the deepest prospect pools around with regards to skill and have any number of players that could be contributors in the near future. The tricky thing with prospects is that skill doesn't always continue to develop, and the Wild will have the same problem. Usually more "busts" than there are game-breakers. So in the meantime, the Red Wings are the better team on the ice, and at the very least equal in the "count your chickens before they hatch" world of player prospects.

2006: Carolina Hurricanes win, miss the playoffs the next two seasons 2007: Anaheim Ducks win, lose in the first round next season 2008: Detroit Red Wings win, lose in the cup final the next season, lose in second round the next two seasons 2009: Pittsburgh Penguins win, lose in second round the next season, lose in first round the next two seasons 2010: Chicago Blackhawks win, lose in the first round the next two seasons 2011: Boston Bruins win, lose in the first round the next season Hmmmmm....

This is my biggest concern by far. Given the apparent likelihood of them hitting UFA and their elite status, there's no way the Devils and Predators don't dangle their rights to get something in return before than walk. Then its a bidding war for first crack at the bidding war. Obviously there is no guarantee either would sign with a team that obtained their rights, but it is a huge advantage (over a week between the Draft and July 1) and one would think a good gesture in the eyes of the player. I think Kenny HAS to be aggressive and make a play for the rights of Parise (preferred), Suter, or both at or before the draft, else he's taking a high risk of getting to free agency with no game-changers for a team that sorely needs one. If the Wings do get first crack, I have no doubt they would sign before July 1 and probably a good deal cheaper.

Hmmmm... according to the MLive article, Parise and Suter are good friends. "Meet me in Detroit?" /optimism

Parise over Suter, if that's what it comes to. We need offense to help Zetterberg and Datsyuk. If Lidstrom does retire, it MAY be possible to sign both Parise and Suter, but I wouldn't bank on it. Which ever big name player we do or don't get (we sorely need one), the overall depth at forward needs to improve drastically. Someone to win faceoffs. More physical, grinding players.

I agree completely. I feel the same way on a game-by-game basis, when the bad habits start piling up, I would rather they get stomped and wake up then continue to barely lose or barely win by luck. The ball is in Holland's court now. This team changes or management will.

Anyone see when Keating interviewed Holmstrom after the loss last night? Keating pushed the question about his future, Holmstrom was visibly upset and said "are you kidding me?". Really sucks that the guy still competes and still wants to play but doesn't have the tools physically anymore. Swap his body with Franzen's. Poor Holmer... thanks for the memories

What a joke. I could show at least 5 more hits or blatant cheapshots that got a slap on the wrist and were no better or worse than this one. Too high, a bit too late, injury to a star player, history of suspension, and yet still WAY too much. The NHL is a joke.

So basically, it can happen if the stars align enough to: 1) trade like 4 players (assuming only for picks or prospects since we are taking zero payroll back) 2) sign half the UFA/RFA we have for less money than they are worth (ie Helm $1.4 million for a guy who Babcock has publicly said over and over again makes our entire bottom six, and without him we were f***ed) 3) convince all three top-tier free agents to sign here 4) expect Lidstrom, who is still a better defenseman than Suter despite his age to take $3 million less (or $1 million more than Ericsson) And all this without moving Franzen. Is this a project for an accounting class or something? Because the probability of one of those deals happening with this team is far too low to even joke about all of them happening.

I should have known they would come out with the effort they did. Yesterday I saw a terrible omen: I'm in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, at the School of Architecture building turning in papers to graduate, riding the high of a well-presented project, when I see a Red Wings sweater! "Wow, how great!" I think, usually seeing no NHL fans, and only recently seeing some Blackhawks bandwagoners. As the guy got closer, I see the number on the sweater...... 29. It was a Jason Williams sweater... The end, I thought, was truly nigh.

Trade him to someone, anyone. He is nothing without Datsyuk spoon-feeding him and that's a complete waste of the best center in the game. Nothing he does makes the team better, he is a beneficiary, not a contributor. Move his contract while it is still possible to someone desperate and stupid. He doesn't belong in the top-six with the caliber players we have in Zetterberg and Datsyuk. He already hasn't lived up to his contract, and on the third line, without D or Z, he might provide depth, but would be unable to score 20+ goals in a season. If we don't move him now, we are poisoned by his attitude and cap-hit for the next 8 years.

Holy s***, I just saw this... I don't even know what to say. There's unsportsman-like things, or missed calls, gamesmenship. But this was just cheating. Plain and simple.

Wow... just saw the FS Detroit interview with Homer. Keating ends by asking him if he has thought about his future. Holmstrom's reaction "you gotta be kidding". I hate that there are guys who have the drive without the tools, and guys with the tools without the drive. If this was his last playoff, I thought he competed as much as he possibly could and he'll be missed

This more than anything all season (besides the lack of compete) infuriates me to no end... Lidstrom stays because he thinks the team can win a cup and is willing to do whatever they can to make it happen. What does he think now, after a first round disappointment and a season marred by injury? Leaving money on the table is NOT something this team is used to doing. And as far as the trade deadline, and the high price for certain players like Gaustad: what percentage of the Wings uber deep prospect pool are going to be Nyquist, Helm, or Filppula versus those that will turn out to be Emmerton, Meech, or Ritola?

Babcock in the presser summed it up well, here's a few gems: Zetterberg's line was good. Filppula is a skater and gives someone for Z to transport the puck with (despite scorecard) Pavel didn't have any help from his wingers; no one who would skate or compete, thus the musical chairs of wingers on the top line. Asked about Franzen not showing up, Babcock said "ask him". Not good enough up front and it was "VERY apparent" Darren Helm pretty much makes this team. His injury killed the bottom six and saved Nashville a lot of hard miles. "We're not interested in scratching and clawing to make the playoffs; we want to win." (referring to the last three seasons decline)

Yes, he called it "a golden pickup" and said he was "pissed off". I felt the same way. Some people were calling for Babcock's head, I on the other hand wish he could do the Scotty thing and be coach/GM. He has known what the team needed since 2009 and he is continually disappointed by Holland. Its really been brewing for a while. Simply put, Babcock has a sub-par roster, and it forces him to slot players in the wrong positions. Bertuzzi should be a 3rd line winger at best. Hudler didn't play awful, and actually net two goals by going to the net, but he adds little outside of the odd goal and his size and speed are a huge issue. Same with Franzen, except replace "size" with effort and guts. The roster has little variety in the type of players; simply "variety" because of skill level. Besides Helm Miller and Eaves (Abdelkader has been a bit of a disappointment), the Wings have zero sandpaper and a plethora of soft "skill" players filling gaps. Prime example being a 4th line consisting of over-the-hill 2nd liners (Holmstrom) and AHLers who were drafted for skill, not grind (Emmerton, Mursak). Huge changes NEED to happen, we'll see what Holland is made of.

I'm not sure how great of a center Franzen is, "natural" position or not. However, I'd be fine with keeping him if he is on the third line, and centering a line should force him to move his feet, which he hasn't done in years. Then we need to ask ourselves a few things: would he have even 20 goals a season at his current level if it wasn't for Pavel Datsyuk? Is a guy on an 11-year contract at $4mil cap-hit, while getting paid $5+mil worth it for a 3rd line center who may or may not contribute 20+ goals and adds nothing else in the physical, defensive, or even effort department? The guy was finally put on the 4th line, where he should have been for a while now. What sparked this demotion now? Apparently the guy who 2/3 of LGW thought would be our savior all season couldn't bother to show up for a single game of the first round series, and didn't look to show up for the elimination game.

You mean this, but replace "America" with "the Red Wings"? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3qHiqcb8sCY Yeah, that never gets old. And really, spending so many hours on LGW discussing the team is really a pain for all us non-Red Wings fans

Oh my god, its actually getting worse... Your logic is baffling. So Datsyuk should have just gotten out of Franzen the sniper's way and its his fault the Wings didn't score? I'd explain to you have Datsyuk being the only one who even skates on the line does not bode well, or maybe point out the fact that all series Datsyuk has seen hard minutes fighting for pucks along the boards against two or more Nashville players while his wingers are floating on the opposite faceoff dot, or at the very least show you Franzen's past two playoff performances compared to his top-line minutes and lucrative contract, but I can tell you've watched the 2008 Stanley Cup DVD too recently, so I'll save my energy

Oh, you mean the ever popular "growth from within" method

...are... are you actually serious?? So the problem with Franzen is that Datsyuk sucks, Datsyuk has sucked all year, and Datsyuk has been FLOATING?? I honestly can't even comprehend the twisted universe you must live in. Does Johan know you post on LGW, Mrs. Franzen? The stupidity is really... really disturbing.

Can I pool my + quota for the entire off-season into this one post? Franzen is soft bread and Holland hasn't done anything besides slow the bleeding by filling retired players' roster spots. The last 3 years of Datsyuk and Zetterberg's prime wasted by neglecting to provide them with scoring wingers. Franzen and Bertuzzi are what pass as top line power forwards on this team :nonono:

Soft effort in a desperate situation. That's this season's team in a nutshell. Franzen finally got bussed down to the 4th line for the second half of the elimination game. Better not see him back next season. Datsyuk was clearly not 100% and made all the worse by have zero wingers to play with. Gutsy play by Zetterberg all series. Makes me sick to think of that being Nick Lidstrom's last game. Going out the same way Stevie did: team playing soft and losing in the first round. Ken Holland did nothing to help this team in the previous few seasons. Slowing the bleeding doesn't cut it. Make or break off-season coming...

Hahaha this s*** is bananas... The best part about these dramatics, high-scoring, bad blood games: whoever does win (Philly) is screwed next round when the other team brings a goaltender to play But in the meantime... YAY GOALS! GO FLYERS! F*** CROSBY and CO!

Yeah... When the pass goes back to Klein, Lidstrom turns to see the play only to half-run-into White. In the moment, Lidstrom is understandably surprised to see him. When the puck is in the back of his net, he does stop and appear to say something over his shoulder to White before skating off in disgust.