Tomas Tatar

[Azelov 10]

I know we're looking for D but let's talk about this kid. I've seen him play in the world tournament and the guy impressed me. He's strong defensively, play with a lot of hearth and has sniper's abilities(right place at the right time). Many euro reporters were surprise that he's not a nhl'er and me too! He's a Redwings fan so give him a real opportunity this year! Otherwise I think he has good trade value and since yesterday....

[joesuffP 1,746]

I'm excited about Hollands comments about letting our kids play. Tatar, Nyquist, Mursak, Smith should all be playing and growing. This team as is will make the playoffs. A big 4th line centre pickup, then our forwards should be set. No point in signing a bunch of free agents for a half assed cup run. Give Ericsson and Kronwall a chance to be the defensive leaders of this team and I think they will surprise everyone.

[brandon27 111]

I think we should give him a serious shot to play in the NHL this year. We've got these prospects, highly talented ones at that just sitting around. Lets see what theyre made of, instead of just trading them away.

[Z Winged Dangler 2,082]

I'd rather see our prospects like Nyquist and Tatar on the team getting ice time than entertain the thought of signing that dirty piece of garbage Doan. For that matter, what other dmen do we have that could possibly step in? i'd say Almqvist, but once he left Jr, his point production kinda fell off.

[akustyk 84]

Wings have too much cap space to just leave it unused. and the "get better through own system" didn't work for last couple of season.

I'd gladly see Holland shop some of our well rounded prospects for prime talent. Nash comes to mind, but also some solid defenseman in early 30s or late 20s to develop the core around...

[dirtydangles 1,328]

Agreed.

All this hype surrounding Nyquist/Brunner/Tatar/Smith/Jarnock is fine, and dandy...How many of them will be a top 6 forward, or topo 4 Dman?

Some here hype them up as though they'll be the next wave of great Red Wing talent; with the exception of Smith - I really don't see anything so special about our prospects.

Nyquist has already shown he's a top 6 forward with limited playing time. Jarnkrok will be a 2C at worst (Fil likely or Z if lucky). Tatar can at least put up hudleresque numbers. Brunner - who knows. Smith will be top 4 unless he hits a major snag in his development.

[dirtydangles 1,328]

Limited playing time is the key word...Kyle Quincey looked like a top 4 guy on D when he had his 1st go-around with the Wings...Now he appears more likely as a 3rd pairing guy - although he may get more minutes now that Lids, and Stewie are gone.

We'll see this fall.

Nyquist played 22 games last year. That was more than enough time to s*** the bed. Fact was, he was poised on the puck, made a lot of slick plays and looked good out there. Just needed more strength and weight so he didn't get pushed around by top dmen along the boards. Thats the only knock on him at this point.

[Dave 324]

People forget about Joakim Andersson. He didn't look terrible in the NHL last year and he's a big body.

[Guest The Axe]

Tatar is weak. No speed.

[arag 308]

I have watched few games Tatar played in the world turney. He was skating all over the rink and at the end coughing up the puck in the offensive zone. He showed some offensive skills, however he has few years before trying in the NHL.

[arag 308]

One thing I can say about this kids is that the time and effort spent developing them and their performance playing with the big boys in the NHL showes very little upside. Well for the most of them. Wings have been very conservative with bringing young players to the big ligue. Maybe the should change that philosophy and let them get their feet wet from the beginning. I think that is the best way, but not the safest. One at a time would not hurt. I strongly believe that Smith should have been a regular/full time last season. Learn playing with Lids. Oh well this have been said many times. Whatever is best for the team !

[brandon27 111]

See - what gets me is how some here at LGW's see a guy like Tatar/Nyquist/Brunner/etc/etc perform miracles at much lower levels of play, and then get all bent outta shape when ya remind them that their performane at that level means squat in the NHL.

As far as I can tell - many of the Red Wing prospects are in the same boat; great at lower levels, but will they perform at the NHL level?

Only one way to find out... Bring them up! Let them play, let them get their feet wet and figure it out. You can't just throw them in to live action for 3-5 games and go... OK... not showing enough, back to the AHL you go. You've got to get them up there, leave them for a while. Let them get the experience, give them the time to adjust to the difference in speed and size and talent around them. Let them develop some chemistry with new team mates and line mates. You've got to give them a serious shot, not just 3 or so games here and there because someone got hurt and you brought them up in an emergency situation. If during that time, they're completely lost, and ineffective, then back down they go to work on the issues you notice at the NHL level. Without them playing some legit NHL time, its tough to tell what areas of their game they need help with. The way the team is shaping up so far, this year seems like a good year to see what we've got.

[ben_usmc 253]

Look at it this way if you roll with what we have, and go into the regular season with all this free cap. Then we can have a very good idea on who can produce at this point (Nyquist, Tatar, Smith, etc...hell even some established players) and make trades accordingly. Our defense is not good but I don't think it will be the abortion on skates that most here do.

I say this b/c while Lids was imo the leading Norris candidate before injury, after he cameback he wasn't his normal self. Compound that with Stu who checked out very early and seemed basically one of our worst dman all year, and Quincey/White playing terrible= overall bad team d. Now with the inclusion of Smith (who will be better then either a terrible Quincey/Stu) and from watching Q in both Col/LA (he will be better), White may not improve much, he I don't think he will be as bad as late last year either, then to me the defense looks like a wash. It won't be near the top, nor near the bottom...

Our offense to me has already improved Tootoo will bring out more in either Helm or Abby. Sammy (though I dislike the signing) is an improvement over Hudler in physicality, plus he certainly is more willing to shoot! Brunner sounds like he will improve Helm (but I'm not totally counting on that). Nyquist in my opinion is going to blow peoples minds with a full season in the NHL. He looks a lot like Datsyuk so I have high expectations for him, last season in his time up he was at one point 7 for 7 points/games switching between 1st/4th line duties. The most recent comparison to me would be Matt Duchene in that he would get knocked off the puck super easy because of weight but pops back up instantly and is always making something happen. Tatar wasn't OMG amazing when brought up but compared to the baggage this team has dragged around the last 2 years, I believe he will be an improvement.

Our goaltending should improve hell we were using Conklin (I thought it was a good signing at the time, and I admit I as wrong as hell)

Wildcard statement: Give Sheehan some more time with the big club. The only NHL game he played in, it appeared he was great at maintaining control with people dragging on his back.

Overall my opinion is that we right now are about in the same boat as late last season. Right now we will make the playoffs, but get dropped in the 1st. Keep the cash until we see what we have and what's available, as long as we can just tread water while others start sinking then there is no point in throwing fist fulls of cash towards players just because it's what's popular (Suter/Parise) or trade away depth for (Ryan/Nash).

[YougotDatsyuked 24]

Nice post Jarhead...

[dirtydangles 1,328]

I'm afraid that if we give Sheahan time it will be as a 4C and he should spend time developing his scoring because we can't afford for him to have a ceiling of 4th line centre at this point.

[Shaman 713]

I'm afraid that if we give Sheahan time it will be as a 4C and he should spend time developing his scoring because we can't afford for him to have a ceiling of 4th line centre at this point.

Sheahan may have been one of the biggest drafting mistakes along with Mccollum and Ferraro in recent draft history. One pick below him was Jarred Tinordi, a very BIG defense prospect with a lot of potential. Sheahan has shown very little offensive ability the last couple years and that has to be worrying.

The worst is trading down for Ferraro and skipping Simon Despres which was a huge mistake

Edited July 5, 2012 by Shaman464

[redwings15 47]

Our offense to me has already improved Tootoo will bring out more in either Helm or Abby.

Abdelkader is a RFA but why does everyone assume he'll be back next year? Did I miss something?

[Winterberg 6]

Abdelkader is a RFA but why does everyone assume he'll be back next year? Did I miss something?

Do you mean you believe he will be traded or we will let him sign an offer sheet for another team and get a 2nd?

[redwings15 47]

Nevermind. I was thinking we would see a big trade coming or let Abs go for a 2nd round draft pick because we would have too many forwards. But, I forgot that Brunner and Nyquist have 2-way contracts; and, Eaves is still questionable.

So, without Abs, we have 12 forwards and 3 ?'s ... well and a lot of $$$ & potential trade bait.

[Winterberg 6]

So, without Abs, we have 12 forwards and 3 ?'s ... well and a lot of $$$ & potential trade bait.

I wish we could use some of that cash as trade bait like in baseball. Give Phoenix Franzen, a prospect/pick and some cash for Yandle.

[ElCapitan 14]

Only one way to find out... Bring them up! Let them play, let them get their feet wet and figure it out. You can't just throw them in to live action for 3-5 games and go... OK... not showing enough, back to the AHL you go. You've got to get them up there, leave them for a while. Let them get the experience, give them the time to adjust to the difference in speed and size and talent around them. Let them develop some chemistry with new team mates and line mates. You've got to give them a serious shot, not just 3 or so games here and there because someone got hurt and you brought them up in an emergency situation. If during that time, they're completely lost, and ineffective, then back down they go to work on the issues you notice at the NHL level. Without them playing some legit NHL time, its tough to tell what areas of their game they need help with. The way the team is shaping up so far, this year seems like a good year to see what we've got.

I'm partially in agreement with this. Maybe bring 1 up at a time & really let them play at the nhl pace. It certainly takes time to adjust. A lot of lower tiered teams are forced to do this and that's why they often will find real young talent the the Wings rarely see. Young talent seems to show up out of no where all the time here in Colorado.

BTW, Roger Crozier was the last Calder winner Detroit had (64-65 season).

[ben_usmc 253]

Abdelkader is a RFA but why does everyone assume he'll be back next year? Did I miss something?

Personally I don't care if he is or is not, he has been a disappointment since 09 Playoffs. Of course Babcock was out of his damn minding switching him for Draper, when he had 2 goals in 2 games played in the finals....to bad he could never reproduce that ability.