Drake_Marcus

Oh I think it's a fleecing. Cole's been subpar this season and he's two years older than Ryder. The fact that Cole had a great season last year shouldn't mean that 3rd pick was deserved. I think the sacrifice of giving a performing player for an under-performing player with a stronger history is fair here as a straight-up swap.

I forgot it was Meech. Maybe Winnipeg would want Quincy. hmmmm....

The best part about Sheahan is he's got the potential to be another Franzen guy who scores his way off the 3rd/4th by virtue of his sweet hands. Unlike Mule, Riley likes to play a physical game and doesn't shy from confrontation.

The exact same thing happened when Holland had to waive Quincey to keep Ericsson. People wept tears of blood and whipped themselves in the street. For the next two seasons we all heard how Holland made a huge mistake and he had to get Q back. When Kenny brings back the Q we all see how much worse he is than Ericsson and we're glad big-E stuck with the team. I wouldn't be surprised if they called Ferraro up or maybe Riley. I have a feeling Sheahan will have to wait on account of his bad choices off the ice. The only reason I think they'd aim for one of those guys over Nyquist is how crappy the PK has been. Ferraro would give the team the speed and grit on the PK that we're missing with Helm gone. Doesn't hurt that Ferraro is scoring shorties in the AHL and has almost the same top speed as Helm but with a decent set of hands.

Mursak may be a useful 12/13th NHL player on some teams but Andersson, Tatar and Nyquist are all more useful to the Wings. It's time to give Mursak a chance to stick somewhere else. I do find it comical that over the last 3 years people have complained that the young guys weren't being given a fair shake with regards to sticking with the big club and now that Holland is clearly giving priority to Andersson and Tatar over Eaves, Mursak et al it's the opposite argument. Here's the long and the short of it: Eaves is an NHL vet who can contribute and he's sitting in the press box every other game while Tatar and Andersson are being given secure spots and all the encouragement they can ask for. Nyquist was given shots to push those guys out of the spotlight but each time Tatar managed to shine brighter. Now I do think Nyquist has the potential be be a very, very good player but right now he appears to be in a bit of a slump and can't force his way onto the team when he gets called up. I really hope Gus puts it all together and sticks with the team next call-up because he's one of my favourite prospects.

It'd be a devastating loss if he moved on. We can only pray he stays with the Wings for many years to come.

Honestly, after last night it's really hard to disagree with you on this. The kids from GR are alright.

Datsyuk just didn't get the ice time to put up the requisite numbers. He did get a place in the young stars game, though. It's hard to fault Dats... it was his first time playing such a long season.

It really looks like Ericsson's taken a huge step forward and he's finally playing a simple, mature game instead of trying to do too much. The results really speak for themselves. Hopefully he continues to grow into a #2 guy that can play those huge PK minutes but offer us a strong option for the 2nd PP.

^This. Ouellet and Sproul are both legit blueliners who've played like lottery picks over the last two seasons. I'm really excited for the team in GR next year. ^another correct answer Backman's built like a horse, too, so once he fills out he'll be that much more valuable.

If there's anything Holland is concerned about over winning it's tangential contractual possibilities, amirite?

A) Can someone help me out here? Wasn't there a troll here with almost he same name that annoyed us to no end back before the July 2012 signing bonanza? B) How exactly is your argument any different for these guys than it is for other NHL prospects? You can make the same argument for any prospect who fails to crack the NHL in his draft year. Datsyuk didn't play in the NHL as an 18 year old, so surely he wasn't anything special, right? Or are you just an ass? (Pro tip: the correct answer is the latter)

In this case case it's partially about rewarding the play of prospects who are progressing and 'earning' that cup of coffee in the big leagues and partially about picking a big, strong kid up who can really contribute on the PK. It looks like the Wings are handing these guys an open invitation to prove they belong in the NHL. We're seeing some impressive variety in terms of who's being given a shot in the NHL over the first dozen games of the season.

I'm currently supervising some undergraduate students in this lab Forwards: (average height is 6' 1.1", 3 sub-6' players, 6 players at or above 6'2; includes 5 Canadians, 8 Europeans) Calle Jarnkrok (5'11 Sweden) Tomas Tatar (5'10 Slovakia) Riley Sheahan (6'2 Canada) Tomas Jurco (6'2 Slovakia) Landon Ferraro (6'0 Canada) Joakim Andersson (6'2 Sweden) Teemu Pulkkinen (5'11 Finland) Martin Frk (6'0 Czech Republic) Andreas Athanasiou (6'0 Canada) Marek Tvrdon (6'2 Slovakia) Alan Quine (6'0 Canada) Louis-Marc Aubry (6'4 Canada) Ramus Bodin (6'6 Sweden) Defensemen: (average height is 6'1.3", 1 sub-6' player, 4 players 6'2 or taller; 4 Canada/USA, 3 Europeans) Ryan Sproul (6'3 Canada) Xavier Ouellet (6'0 Canada) Mattias Backman (6'2 Sweden) Brian Lashoff (6'3 USA) Alexei Marchenko (6'2 Russia) Adam Almquist (5'11 Sweden) Nick Jensen (6'0 USA) Goaltenders: (average height: 6'1.7", 2 Canada/USA, 1 European) Petr Mrazek (6'1 Czech Republic) Jake Paterson (6'2 Canada) Tom McCollum (6'2 USA) So, in summary: Most common nationality: Canada Short players (<6'): 3 Tall players (>=6'2): 12 Total players: 23 In other words: half are at least 6'2 and the most common nationality is Canadian... Q.E.D.

Just wanted to point this out: Ogre is comparing Tatar's rookie year in the AHL with Emmerton's 4th professional year (which was his most productive year in GR). Oh and Tatar was the youngest player in the entire AHL that year. Tatar's AHL stats this year: 19g/20a/39pts in 44games => 0.89 points per game (pro rated to 71pts in an 80 game AHL season). Just to further reenforce Ogre here: Tatar is tied for 8th in the entire AHL in points and 8th in goals scored despite having missed games due to his NHL call-up. I can't believe people still respond to Richdg-- he was exposed as a Wild fan that came to troll here back in the summer. We should give Holland the benefit of the doubt here.. so far he's shown a willingness to keep Lashoff up (although it appears Huskins is getting some time off after that big hit) despite having 6 NHL d-men on the roster and is scratching an NHL forward to keep Tatar on the roster (Eaves sat last night for Tatar).

And what's the deal with people crapping on Kronwall's ability to be a top pairing defenseman? http://www.nhl.com/ice/playerstats.htm?season=20122013&gameType=2&team=&position=D&country=&status=&viewName=summary

Andersson definitely deserves a shot and would isntantly add some nice size and strength to the pk (much like Sheahan). Butttt damnnn Ferraro has that game-breaking speed that makes Helm so devastating on the PK along with legit hands. With Helm injured we could seriously use Ferraro's speed out there. Imagine the absurd speed of a third line with Ferraro-Helm-Tatar/Samuelsson.

The Wings currently have the top defenseman in the QMJHL and the top dman in the OHL (and the only dman that was able to keep up with Dougie Hamilton in points per game this year before he left for the NHL). They also have one of the top defensive prospects in the SEL.

Well since I count myself as a big Tatar fan. Like many of you I've followed him closely ever since his first training camp in NA where he knocked the management's socks off. Hell, I even got an autographed puck from the night of his first goal to prove my geekiness. So yeah, not that I've unnecessarily flashed my credentials I have to ask-- what the heck is that author thinking about with the title of that article? It's apparent by the end that he eventually comes to grips with the fact that Hudler and Tatar aren't really all that similar. Tatar is: -- Extremely hard working each shift (watch a GR game-- he doesn't take shifts or games off) -- Is happy to go to the dirty areas of the ice (something that Babcock spent seasons getting Hudler to do) -- An excellent skater (he's not Helm but he's certainly well above average) -- Defensively responsible and takes pride in being a two way player (a knock Hudler's always had against him, although he's gotten better over time in that respect) -- Very talented but doesn't possess quite as much raw talent as Hudler does (like it or not Hudler has an elite shot and very good vision despite) -- An effective bottom six player who's willing to earn his top six ice time on a veteran team -- Is a consistent player (something Hudler really struggled with) This is coming from a Hudler fan as well.

It's a cost/benefit thing. Is it worth the cost to acquire a premium power forward and top 2 defenseman if the upside is simply making the 2nd round of the playoffs? Or is Kenny better off letting the team sink/swim and deciding half way through the season if the Pittsburgh/LA/Chicago "tank to win" strategy is best employed here. People seem to be ignoring one fact: Kenny just might be letting the team dictate what happens. If the Wings look like they're still going to be able to compete for Cups he'll move assets for players to shore things up. If it's clear this team needs a full rebuild he's better off standing pat and letting the chips fall where they fall. I'm really not interested in watching this team flop in the 1st or 2nd round until Datsyuk and Zetterberg are past their useful years. If the Wings can't legitimately compete for the Cup it's time to get the kind of draft picks required to do so. Datsyuk is a franchise player. The only way he'll go back to Russia after his contract is over is if he feels like he's got nothing left to achieve here in the NHL. He loved player in Russia near his home town and he's a patriotic guy but he's also a competitive person who loves to play at the highest level. I'm sure he'll end up retiring in the KHL but I don't buy that he'll jet for the KHL when his current contract is up.

Indeed! I thought Ouellet was in the Q. My bad.

Sure we don't have the 1st overall type players garbage franchises like Edmonton have (don't doubt that Edmonton's been absolute trash for a decade) but not many teams do. If Ken Holland doesn't think he can make a trade or signing to keep the Wings in the thick of the hunt for the Cup he won't make the move. The time for short-term extensions of the team's quality ended when Lidstrom retired. It's interesting that people haven't seemed to notice that Holland's accelerated the pace of his 'overripe' prospect pipeline. Tatar, Sheahan, Jurco and Mrazek all joined the AHL as early as possible (you're not allowed to put players in the AHL before their overage Jr season). Pulkkinen, Jarnkrok and Backman can all make the transition to the AHL next season and are expected to. The lockout screwed us out of being able to properly evaluate prospects vs veterans this year so Holland appears to have played it as safe as possible. It remains to be seen whether he'll start transitioning kids into the line-up above and beyond the injury replacements but I suspect that depends on whether the Wings look like they can make a real push by the time that situation arises. People can assume Ken Holland's retarded all they want but this is the first time he's gotten a real license to rebuild (with Lidstrom on the team you have to keep taking runs at the Cup) and it's only 3 games into a lockout shortened season.

Nyquist, Tatar, Mrazek, Oulette, Sproul, Jarnkrok, Jurco, Frk, and Paterson are all highly regarded. Ferraro, Sheahan and Andersson are all having break-out years (Andersson was just named the AHL's player of the week). The Wings had 2 players on Team Canada's WJC team (and one who just missed the cut), two of the highest regarded defensemen in the OHL, one of the top forwards in the QMJHL (Frk has 38pts in 28gms), 2 kids named to the AHL All-Star team and a leading candidate for the AHL's rookie of the year (Mrazek). On top of this they also have 2 forwards in the Q who are putting up at least a point per game (Quine and Athanasiou) who aren't even included among the players I just listed. It's ok to doubt the enthusiasm of some posters but you're deeply, deeply incorrect in stating that the Wings farm system isn't excellent.