A twisted outlook on this offseason

[truebladearmy 33]

We signed Williams, Eaves, and potentially Bertuzzi. Now, why, on earth would anyone in their right mind pick up three players, each of whom "could" have a huge impact on the team, but also are prone to injuries and slumps?

It reminds me, and bear with me for a bit, of a time when we put together a laser tag team (Yes you read that right, Zap zone in Canton, MI), and accepted some people into our roster that we "weren't sure of", so to speak. The thought process was, for us, that we had enough depth in our alternates to where if one of our questionably good players was failing, we could simply rotate in other prospects.

In the NHL, signing three people who may or may not produce, and may or may not be healthy all season long, runs a huge risk of your roster filling up with younger players, and more rookie players jumping up lines. For an injury in a roster player, a rookie will get a few games of NHL experience, and a low line player will get some experience on a higher line.

I know that winning the cup is the ultimate goal of each team, each year.

But Holland has never dissapointed us. Even in years that we have lost humiliating defeats, he still provided us with an excellent team, an amazing season, and a thrill filled playoff season.

It's my thought that Holland has a LOT of faith in our young prospects. So much so, even, that he's simply "filling" the roster fully aware that some of these guys won't be there for the entire season, and perhaps 1) Confident that our younger players can step up when things go awry, and 2) In the knowledge that if we do have a rough season, it will get some guys out of GR for a few days/weeks, and some guys bumped up lines similarly.

We think of hockey in terms of "Now" and "This year", but Holland is probably thinking more in terms of long term. He didn't sign 3 near decade long contracts if he wasn't. And I think he is counting on our farm system far more than any of us realize. In a sense, Williams, Eaves, and possibly Bert are there to fill the roster, buying us another year of young development, and another year of young player testing, without forcing young players into the NHL too quickly, and with the added perk of....well, if any or all of those guys work out for us, all the better.

Thoughts?

I'm not speaking around, or about the salary cap. I'm fully aware that at the surface level things seem a bit shakey. I'm fully aware that these moves may very well not be in the best interest of "this years" cup run. But so far as the future goes........3 "iffy" FA signings for 1 year, frees up time for our young to keep developing, and when those 3 people leave (Among the others we will lose in the next few years, likely), could it be that Detroit might just have enough farmed up hometown talent to run well beneath the salary cap?

Again, I'm not talking next season. I'm talking 2, 3, 4 seasons down the road.

[truebladearmy 33]

Btw, just want to add.

I have followed hockey since about 94, but not until the last half a decade or so have I taken such an interest in farm teams, and drafted players. I use to kinda watch the draft while playing my Playstation. Now that the salary cap is in place, every draft pick becomes a potential future player.

Is it just me, or hasn't the salary cap made us pay a heck of a lot more attention to rookies, farm players, and draft prospects?

It's a far cry from the days of 2002, when we basically bought the best team avaliable, and worried little about how much it cost. Now you have to actually manage your team, and you can't waste 6 million on someone who isn't producing. Hell, Anaheim offered Bert 8 million for 2 years, then bought out his contract for the second year, just to clear the cap space. Now the rumors are he's being offered what....1.5?

Pro of the cap: Forces players to produce, for their money. Forces teams to juggle players to find a balance within a set spending limit. Urges teams to develope and use new talent.

Con of the draft: Good bye days of super teams

[toby91_ca 620]

The total cap hit for all 3 combined is likely less than $3.5 million, so you can't really complain too much.

[Echolalia 2,961]

For how much Holland invested in Eaves, Williams, Bertuzzi, Leino, Helm, Howard, and Eriksson, I feel that the bare minimum production from that group of individuals will exceed what they're collectively earning. In addition, the likes of many of these guys have the capability of surprising us. Eaves used to be highly touted, Bertuzzi used to be a flawless Franzen, Leino is teeming with potential, Helm makes something out of nothing almost regularly, Eriksson looks as good as Lidstrom did when he first started, and Williams and Howard are both comfortable enough with the organization and their roles within to give them a justified shot. If just one of them pans out to fulfill their maximum capabilities this year, we'll be in a wonderful position.

In any event, I always looked at this season as just the path between point A and B; A being last year and B being 2010-2011, when we'll have a great deal of free space to work with. Holland has exceeded my expectations for this year, and I still feel we're in a select group of favorites to win the Cup.

Edited August 18, 2009 by Echolalia

[egroen 384]

This team now has a pretty incredible amount of depth (literally the only thing to get the Wings as far as they did last post-season, with all the injuries).

Say what you want about the likely-hood of this happening, but you are now looking at a team with almost 10 possible 20+ goal scorers:

Zetterberg, Franzen, Datsuk, Holmstrom, Cleary, Filppula, Williams, Bertuzzi, Leino, Eaves

With Abdelkader, Newbury, Oulahen and Jeremy Williams all borderline guys currently sitting in Grand Rapids -- Holland has the forwards stocked up to the gills with depth. Plus Kindl, Delmore and Janik on defense.

[Wombat 26]

While I didn't like the Williams signing, I do like what the Wings have done this off season. I think there are still some people that have to face facts and know that the Wings this season were not in any shape to make a play on a long term contract for any big-name player. This is a transition year contractually thanks to the cap basically staying the same. With the impending big cap drop next season, the Wings have put themselves in a great position to be able to have an affordable core and be able to free up some money/roster spots without needing to buy out contracts.

I think the original poster is right that they guys they signed probably won't each give the Wings 82 games, but they'll probably give between 60 and 75 each, and it will allow other guys to pick up more playing time. Hopefully it means that everyone is fresher for a long playoff run this coming season!

[mmamolo 287]

I think another good point to be made is the balance between prospects/rookies and experienced NHLers. With the infusion of Leino, Helm, Ericsson and Howard into the lineup it only makes sense to bring in a few more guys with NHL experience (Williams, Bertuzzi and Eaves). Even though we do have some other younger players that could potentially play in the NHL this year (Abdelkader) too much of a good thing (youth) can be detrimental. Experience is one thing that cannot be taught, it can only be acquired. We are already relying on our youth big time this year, which is a good thing, so it will be that much better next year (even if Bertuzzi, Eaves and Williams all fail miserably) to bring in Abdelkader and another rookie when this year's batch has a full season of experience under their belts.

Plus, for the money that Bertuzzi, Williams and Eaves all signed for I think those are gambles worth taking. If collectively you get 40 goals and 100 points I'd say it was probably worth it. At a minimum these three guys bridge the gap until next year's offseason and best case scenario we see some solid numbers put up and we have more options on who to sign next year.

I really don't think it's out of the realm of possibilities to see Bertuzzi and Williams get 18-22 goals each and for Eaves to show the improvements necessary for us to want to keep him around. I think he has the ability to ressurect his career the same way Cleary did.

[Detroit # 1 Fan 2,204]

Eaves, Williams, Bertuzzi, Leino, Helm, Howard, and Ericsson

All together price - 6.516mil

I'll take all of those guys for less then Hossa's total contract, we'll be fine.

[hooon 1,089]

I dont understand all the panic from a lot of people. i think our chances for a cup this year are just as good as the past 3 seasons. I also think we have a very good chance at finishing the season at the top of WC and possibly get the pres trophy.

The roster this year will take some pressure off our top forwards which will (hopefully) lead to more production. Im not wild about any of our 3 new signings, but as everyone has already pointed out, its only for one year, and there is a strong backup plan in place in grand rapids.

Kenny did the best he could with the money/needs we had, i might have gone a different route, but im happy with the upcoming season.

[betterREDthandead 58]

I think the idea that suddenly having a bunch of injury-prone guys will allow us to rotate our GR prospects to Detroit in greater numbers is an interesting benefit, but I doubt that was what Kenny had in mind. Simply a side consequence of looking for talented players on the cheap - the kind of players you're going to get have their share of flaws, including and especially injuries that have kept them from their full potential.

[mmamolo 287]

I think the idea that suddenly having a bunch of injury-prone guys will allow us to rotate our GR prospects to Detroit in greater numbers is an interesting benefit, but I doubt that was what Kenny had in mind. Simply a side consequence of looking for talented players on the cheap - the kind of players you're going to get have their share of flaws, including and especially injuries that have kept them from their full potential.

I think the depth in GR afforded us the opportunity to sign and keep potentially injury prone players. If we didn't have the depth the risk of signing Bertuzzi would have been that much higher, especially considering we already have an often injured Holmstrom.

You're right though, it's the talent at a low cost. THat was the main factor in these signings