Zherdev mentions Detroit as an option

[Blueliner 69]

I think Zherdev is a MINUS 46 for his career.

First couple years in the NHL + being on the Blue Jackets= -46

[titanium2 867]

First couple years in the NHL + being on the Blue Jackets= -46

In Nikolai's first year as a Jacket, Rick Nash by comparison was a -35. Eeesh.

It's strange though, besides his first year, in comparison to the rest of his teammates, Zherdev was always one of the worst in regards to plus minus when he was a Jacket. But in this past year with the Rangers, he's near the top. Put him with the Red Wings, he learns a thing or two about defense, he'll probably be just fine theoretically.

[ComradeWasabi 109]

Zherdev could thrive in a competitive, winning environment like Detroit, especially with our locker room. Not that Pavel could translate for him or anything.

Unfortunately, we don't REALLY have the space for him. I don't foresee this happening but I would probably support the move if it did.

[FunkedUp 29]

Yeah, I'd want him...

[ComradeWasabi 109]

Oh yeah, he's a right shot, too.

[Wings4Life19 150]

The only problem with Zherdev is that hes already pulled the "Im going back to Russia card" on a couple occasions. The Wings seem to be avoiding all Russians at any cost after Datsyuk "held out" and Grigorenko pulled his antics.

do you mean when he got in an car wreck and almost died?

[titanium2 867]

do you mean when he got in an car wreck and almost died?

The Wings have to be objective. They run a hockey club and they care about one thing - Winning. In order to do that, they need the right personnel. While it's true that the car accident derailed his skating ability, all that should matter to the Wings is that Grigorenko couldn't keep up with the North American pace. For better or for worse, that's their job.

[Hankanator 0]

do you mean when he got in an car wreck and almost died?

I wanted NOTHING more than Grigorenko to come over after his accident and make an immediate impact with this club. What did he do instead? Showed up completely out of shape, he took off the entire summer from training. He also made it clear that if he didn't get a gauranteed roster spot, he wouldn't play in the AHL and would go back to Russia.

You can't blame the accident on Grigorenko's failure at the NHL level. He has the physical tools necessary to be a bottom six guy in this league, he just doesn't want to work for it. And chances are, thats something that has always been in him.

[rage 24]

The Wings have to be objective. They run a hockey club and they care about one thing - Winning. In order to do that, they need the right personnel. While it's true that the car accident derailed his skating ability, all that should matter to the Wings is that Grigorenko couldn't keep up with the North American pace. For better or for worse, that's their job.

Right. But they also consider Potential. His Potential got 'Derailed', but that was not the reason for the outcome that we experienced.

Grigorenko was greedy. Don't know how else to say it.

[Wings4Life19 150]

but the fact of the matter is that after the accident he never got back up to where he was stats wise and most of it had to do with him brakeing his left leg in three places, and most people have a hard time even walking like they used to let alone skating when they have that much trauma in their legs.

was he out of shape? yes, but the wings knew that after the wreck the odds of him even playing hockey in general were very very slim.

[Hankanator 0]

but the fact of the matter is that after the accident he never got back up to where he was stats wise and most of it had to do with him brakeing his left leg in three places, and most people have a hard time even walking like they used to let alone skating when they have that much trauma in their legs.

was he out of shape? yes, but the wings knew that after the wreck the odds of him even playing hockey in general were very very slim.

Hes still playing hockey.. but even if he didn't turn into a poor man's Kovalchuk he still had the tools and body to contribute at the NHL level.

Being 6'1, 230lbs coming into training camp after the Wings, going against their own feelings, let him stay in Russia after the accident. They wanted to bring him over right after it happened, so he would get the best care and develope in Grand Rapids. Grigorenko wanted to stay home and the Wings gave him the benefit of the doubt.

At the very least, he could have rewarded the Wing's trust with showing up in shape. If he were really dedicated, he would have played in the AHL.

[StormJH1 231]

I wanted NOTHING more than Grigorenko to come over after his accident and make an immediate impact with this club. What did he do instead? Showed up completely out of shape, he took off the entire summer from training. He also made it clear that if he didn't get a gauranteed roster spot, he wouldn't play in the AHL and would go back to Russia.

You can't blame the accident on Grigorenko's failure at the NHL level. He has the physical tools necessary to be a bottom six guy in this league, he just doesn't want to work for it. And chances are, thats something that has always been in him.

Yeah, agreed. The Wings tried with Grigorenko. One need look no further than Darren Helm or Ville Leino for examples of how hard it is for "over-ripe" prospects to get a call-up on the Wings, and the Wings bent a lot of their own rules & practices in bringing Igor up for an "audition".

Not only was he basically blackmailing the club with the "Russia card" (and I think he was owed like a $1 million bonus if we kept him to a certain point), but his conditioning was terrible, and he wasn't even producing with the Griffins. Compare his readiness to somebody like Ville Leino, and Igor wasn't even close.

http://hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php?pid=56783

And he hasn't done much since then to make me believe we made the wrong choice. 2 goals in 36 KHL (Russian League) games with Ufa?

[Blueliner 69]

I think Zherdev would be a perfect pick up. He has a right handed shot, good stick handling ability and can put the puck in the net. I watched him when he was in Columbus and he has the potential to be a good player. He also played the point on the powerplay. He's a lot like Kolvolchuk back there. He doesn't have the amazing one-time shot that Ilya has, but he's pretty good back there. The only back thing I can remember is that he tries to make a sweet stick handling play like he did in that video when he comes into the zone, but ended up losing the puck more often then not.

[servo 15]

Zherdev=Yashin!

[Guest ZetterbergFourty]

sweeeet. I hope they land him.

[skacore 2]

Hes still playing hockey.. but even if he didn't turn into a poor man's Kovalchuk he still had the tools and body to contribute at the NHL level.

Being 6'1, 230lbs coming into training camp after the Wings, going against their own feelings, let him stay in Russia after the accident. They wanted to bring him over right after it happened, so he would get the best care and develope in Grand Rapids. Grigorenko wanted to stay home and the Wings gave him the benefit of the doubt.

At the very least, he could have rewarded the Wing's trust with showing up in shape. If he were really dedicated, he would have played in the AHL.

Grigorenko is like 5'10 205

[sibiriak 84]

Actually, the Wings offered him 3 million a year for 5 years. That was the last offer on the table before he signed with the KHL.

And the problem with cap space isn't actually a problem since Holland clearly anticipated the possibility that Hudler would sign the offered contract.

Would you care to enlighten me, how a $3 mil. contract is not a problem, when only $1.8 mil in cap space is available?

EDIT - And trading Lilja for picks and signing 2 league min. forwards along with a $3 mil. player to fill out the roster end in being over the cap, sorry.

Edited July 15, 2009 by sibiriak

[Manoir 70]

My Ranger buddy mentioned that Zherdev was very good in the regular season but was a complete no-show in the playoffs.

[Lidstromrules16 7]

My Ranger buddy mentioned that Zherdev was very good in the regular season but was a complete no-show in the playoffs.

We already had a no-show in the playoffs this season.

Andreas Lilja, I mean, he was completely invisible out there.

[TheDetroitRedWings 286]

I want this guy in the winged wheel. Would be a perfect fit.

[Drake_Marcus 890]

Would you care to enlighten me, how a $3 mil. contract is not a problem, when only $1.8 mil in cap space is available?

EDIT - And trading Lilja for picks and signing 2 league min. forwards along with a $3 mil. player to fill out the roster end in being over the cap, sorry.

What? Why would you sign two league min forwards and a 3 million dollar player to fill two spots?

Current roster + 3 million dollar player + $575,000 UFA forward - Lilja = $278,132 cap space. Meech is still there to play 13 forward/7th d-man.

I've got the spread sheet right in front of me... it all works out. Sign a league minimum forward and there's even more cap space available to make space for LTIR replacements.

Ideally you'd want enough space there to allow another cheap player to move up from GR in the event of two players being injured but not injured enough to warrant LTIR. In that case you'd need to squeeze another 200k out of somewhere. One option is to reduce the incoming salary of the new top six player by 200k. Not too big of a deal since Holland is adept at getting players to take slightly less in exchange for term and 200k on a 3 mil contract is light work for him in that sense. Still, a 3 million dollar player IS possible, as shown above.

Like I said, capgeek doesn't mean s***. Just crunch the numbers yourself and it's more fun anyway.

[Drake_Marcus 890]

My Ranger buddy mentioned that Zherdev was very good in the regular season but was a complete no-show in the playoffs.

Like his entire team bar Avery?