Is Kenny done?

[chrisdetroit 189]

i think hes done unless he adds someone at the trade deadline , i like the way our team is i would of liked a guy like simon but thats impossible now

on a sidenote i was checking something on detnews and they were talking about zetterberg and his new deal in 2 yrs ...

If Red Wings GM Ken Holland can get him signed to a 5-year deal at $8 million a season (8 x 5 = 40), that's a steal compared to the money "Hank" could earn as an unrestricted free agent in two years, when the salary cap should be pushing the mid-$50's

8 million a year ???????? i love zetterberg but that sounds ridiculous to me he hasnt even gotten a 100 pt season hes more or less been a 1 pt a game player , if crosby got 8.7 does zetterberg deserve 8 ?? i was hoping we'd convince him to take a similar deal as datsyuk so they both get the same money if not then 7 million a year , maybe 7.2 MAX is what he should and i hope will get ...........any thoughts

There are probably 5 or 6 teams that would pay Z the league maximum in a heartbeat. Does he deserve $8Mil. Hell Yes!

They are one big gun away from being a top 4 contender.

They are two or three key injuries away from missing the playoffs.

There is some uncertainty, but that 5M in cap space, some good tradeable prospects, and draft picks should help them fill any major holes that surface.

What? Missing the playoffs? With Nashville, Chicago, St. Louis and Columbus in our division? We could play half of the Grand Rapids guys and still make the playoffs. Seems like we were a top 4 contender this year and we lost nobody of significance. Forgetting the guy that missed 95% of the season due to back surgery and showed nothing after returning.

Having no other option but putting Samuelsson and Franzen on the first and second line respectively, I feel is a problem. I think the only way Datsyuk and Zetterberg should be split up is if we got maybe a Peter Forsberg to play with Zetterberg.

I wish everybody would stop bring up Foresburg. Ankle surgery for a hockey player is a carrer ender. Foresburg will retire this summer.

As most people on here know I think Kenny is not good at all in the off season under the new cap. To me this year the team moved sideways in the off season. We didnt get better and we didnt get worse from the team we had before the trade deadline.

However I feel that Holland is the BEST GM in the entire league at the deadline, especially under the new cap.

For what its worth Holland knows we will be in the playoffs again this year if for no other reason than our division is HORRIBLE, so he will do what he can to pull of a monster trade to make a run for the cup again.

This will also give him some time to evaluate Grigs and Kroner again and see what changes need to be made at the deadline.

I do however give him an F for this offseason for only accomplished one of his four goals. To be honest Im tired of hearing the same old crap outta his mouth about toughness and next year being the year to sign all the UFAs.

meh...

Yea because we really sucked in the playoffs this year. He obviously had no idea what he was doing last year. He only added a 42 year old goaltender and a D-man that Nashville didn't want. We showed no grit in the playoffs. Fire his ass!

[joshy207 156]

I'm not a Holland fan either, but you all pretty much have to agree that his options were very limited this summer. The cap really limits his spending, it's not like the old days for him where he had access to Ilitch's fat wallet and could give anyone whatever money they wanted. Many of the players that were topics of discussion this summer got more than the Wings could afford to offer them, especially with the future in mind.

Part of the limited spending room I'd pin on Holland, I think Kronwall is making twice what he's worth and I don't think Maltby was needed anymore (even at $800K or so), but it's also the way the league is set up to be... it'll force GMs to be smarter in their signings in the future, or else they'll have terrible teams.

With the bump in the salary cap, teams are spending money like it's going out of style, and upper-end players are getting HUGE contracts. There's becoming less of a "middle class" in this league... you're either making $6M or more, or $2M or less. The guys in between are either risky (Bertuzzi) or aging (Schneider). Pittsburgh is fortunate to get Crosby locked up for what they did, but he sees a great future with that organization, and winning will be more important to him than a few extra million dollars. Detroit can hope for the same attitude from Zetterberg.

Besides, there will be arbitration hearings this summer, and I wouldn't be surprised to see some good young players turned UFA by their teams. Keep a watch on those hearings.

[Guest Crymson]

Crosby deserves 10+, and would have gotten that had he left pitt...He took a discount to stay witht them. Sure it's only 1.7 million $ discount, bu the knows that the cap would have gone up in a few years again.

A ppg player is like gold in the nhl. Look at elias making 7+ in NJ....Hank isl beyond a PPG, and he would get paid more than 8+ on the market, especially with the way he plays defense and scores combined.

He wants to stay here, so I dont see him breaking the bank, but with the silly deals Brier and Gomez got this year, he certainly would deserve 7-8 million.

Pierre Maguire made a very good point on the July 1st TSN show, while discussing Thornton's contract extension (three years, $21.6m). Pierre mentioned that Thornton could have certainly gotten close to $10m from San Jose if he'd waited until free agency next year. However, he said that these days stars have a choice: they can either get paid the maximum and render the team unable to pay for a suitable supporting cast, and thus almost certainly not win it all, or they can take a bit less and have a greater chance at winning the Cup. In Thornton's case, Pierre said "well, you say to Joe Thornton, you've got a choice; we can give you the league maximum, but that'll mean no more Jonathan Cheechoo when his contract expires."

[vangvace 12]

They are one big gun away from being a top 4 contender.

They are two or three key injuries away from missing the playoffs.

There is some uncertainty, but that 5M in cap space, some good tradeable prospects, and draft picks should help them fill any major holes that surface.

Good train of thought. Seems very sound in this era of hockey.

I'm not looking forward to that "sky is falling" injury thread come early Dec. :skull:

[john chabot 0]

unless he signs someone for one year i think he's done, we have to many needs to address during the offseason next year that unless we got a huge name we'll stick with what we got.

[SouthernWingsFan 854]

He's done. And, once again....like with weathermen (who seem right only 10% of the time), I'm amazed that he's keeping his job.

Of course this will be followed up with many folks bolstering the guy and saying how great he is...and that's fine...but I find it sadly pathetic that he boasted that he'd resign each of the four big free agents...and, well, he resigned one and added, um...Dallas Drake.

And most of this team is still intact from last year, and they nearly made it to the Finals.

He re-signed Hasek to a bargain again. I don't care what people say, he showed last year he was worth more than the minimal salary he earned due to injury concerns, and showed that when healthy, he hasn't lost much of a step even being over the hill. $2M for him is still a steal.

He signed Rafalski, a younger puck-moving defenseman, to replace the older puck-moving defenseman in Schnedier. I liked Schneider but this seems like a good mission accomplished to start.

Dallas Drake isn't going to get 70 points next season. That's not his job. His job is to just piss the other team off by throwing his body around and playing a grinding style on a 3rd or 4th line.

He re-signed Holmstrom and Datsyuk, two of the Wings leading goal scorers in recent years, to lengthy contracts in-season.

How is he doing a bad job again?

I do however give him an F for this offseason for only accomplished one of his four goals. To be honest Im tired of hearing the same old crap outta his mouth about toughness and next year being the year to sign all the UFAs.

meh...

See statements above...

While I like them, it's not all about "tough guys" in this league and this team showed in the playoffs that can keep up and throw the body around wtih "physical" teams like Calgary and San Jose in the playoffs. I wouldn't question much the heart/desire/tenacity of this bunch, it's there.

It'd be nice to see Holland go for perhaps one more d-man like Markov or Sopel, or somehow try to sign a 2nd/3rd line offesnive guy. O'Neill, while I won't go ga-ga over him, could still be a decent option for the offense while not getting the burden of carrying a team offesively.

[eva unit zero 271]

They are one big gun away from being a top 4 contender.

They were a top four contender last season, and the only big gun who left was Lang, who most people seemed to think was a negative presence.

They are two or three key injuries away from missing the playoffs.

So is every other team in the league. Would Anaheim have made the playoffs last year had Selanne and Niedermayer gone down injured in addition to Pronger? Detroit tied for the best record in the league last year with Zetterberg and Schneider missing significant time, and return almost their complete roster.

There is some uncertainty, but that 5M in cap space, some good tradeable prospects, and draft picks should help them fill any major holes that surface.

There are no 'major holes' and that 5m in cap space will be used to cover for injuries or to add a top-end player at the deadline.

[Guest DetroitIan]

I dont think Kenny is done at all. I definitely expect us to add one more defenseman. Whether we really need it or not. It seams like Kenny wants just one more d-man. Im personally crossing my fingers for Brent Sopel.

[Guest DetroitIan]

But if we are able to re-sign Markov. Then I am a happy camper as well. I want one of those two guys in the winged wheel. Badly.