427 replies to this topic

[St. Michael (the Red Wing)]

Franzine has been a bust the last 2 playoffs, but hes normally ok. Its the old dead weight thats been killing us. Holland thinks Bertuzzi is 1999 Bertuzzi.

I agree.

[Crymson]

Franzine has been a bust the last 2 playoffs, but hes normally ok. Its the old dead weight thats been killing us. Holland thinks Bertuzzi is 1999 Bertuzzi.

Bertuzzi is 40 pts for less than $2m.

[ShanahanMan]

Deja vu, but once again, Pens look like they will announce a 1 year deal with Semin tomorrow. http://www.sportsnet...nguins_rumours/

Would have been awesome to get him on the same term.

[Red Wings Addict]

Haha he and Sid on the same team. Anyone remember this gem?

What's so special about [Crosby]? I don't see anything special there. Yes, he does skate well, has a good head, good pass. But there's nothing else. Even if you compare him to Patrick Kane from Chicago ... [Kane] is a much more interesting player. The way he moves, his deking abilities, his thinking on the ice and his anticipation of the play is so superb.
I think that if you take any player, even if he is "dead wood," and start promoting him, you'll get a star. Especially if he scores 100 points. No one is going to care about anyone else. No one is going to care whether he possesses great skill. Let's say you put someone in front of the net and let him deflect pucks in, and he scored 50 goals; everyone will say "Wow!" and then hand him a $10 million per year contract. That's what they like here.
And in Russia people like beautiful hockey, and not dump and chase. I just don't get it, why when a player is skating up the ice and no one is attacking him, he dumps the puck into the offensive zone and then chases it? Why would you do this if there is no one forechecking you? I understand that if there is someone coming at you and you don't know whether you can get past that player, then you can dump the puck, pass it or shoot. But if not, then hold on to the puck, skate forward, create a chance.
Why would you want to dump the puck and then chase after it and crash into the boards? I don't know. But that's just my opinion.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/blog/puck_daddy/post/Puck-Daddy-chats-with-Alex-Semin-about-Ovie-Cro?urn=nhl,118770

[Louisville]

Great, just when I change my mind about the guy (after I thought about how atrocious our PP was all season) and now it looks like he's going to the Pens?

If he's a big enough d o u c h e to go to the Caps' rival then good riddance.

Edited by Louisville, 10 July 2012 - 06:32 AM.

[toby91_ca]

Heard Jim Rutherford on the radio the other day talking about long-term deals and how he always said he'd never give more than 7 years (b/c that is how long you can insure them), but Jordan Staal was an exception, great character, only 23 or 24 years old, etc. He then mentioned he's interested in Semin a 1 year deal as he'd like to get to know him first......what is this saying about Semin's character? I think there are definately at least many teams that question it, otherwise, he would have been offered a multi-year deal by now. Pens only offering 1 year as well?

[stevkrause]

We're better off, as I said before:

Why are we even talking about this? We just ran a guy out of town in Hudler, who (although less gifted) gave more effort and played with more grit than Semin ever has, and that doesn't say much... yet he took SOO much flak for being lazy and soft... if you don't like lazy and soft, your head would explode with Semin here... he is the exact type of player we don't need... and before anyone even says it, points only count when you actually score them, want to look at that stat sheet and remind yourself the last time he put up 40 goals and/or a 60+ point season? Oh yea, and lets not forget the stunning playoff performances he's had the last few years as well...

This board is so bi-polar sometimes it's mind blowing....

[Valas19]

Darn. Had I known that he would sign with a team for only 1 year then I would have been on board. I feared a long term contract.

[stevkrause]

Darn. Had I known that he would sign with a team for only 1 year then I would have been on board. I feared a long term contract.

This hasn't been confirmed yet that he's signed with them and until it is confirmed by a valid source, it is still nothing more than a rumor...

I would take a flier on a one year deal too by the way, even with his INCREDIBLY questionable character...

[13dangledangle]

A one year deal would be great, we need goals and with Dats he'd score them. We'll see what happens.

[b.shanafan14]

Bertuzzi is 40 pts for less than $2m.

Drew Miller is 25 pits and doesn't play every. single. game. with arguably the most creative playmaker in the game.

As far as Semin, it is so frustrating that the Wings are not only refusing to be aggressive, but are actually publically saying "we're not interested". He is worth a shot at least. I'm sure there is more going on behind the scenes, and with the supposed $10mil he was offered back in the KHL, the price may be too high, but at least do SOME courting. He had an attitude problem on a young Capitals team, but saying "no thanks" with a talented Russian winger with proven chemistry with Datsyuk is giving me a headache.

All the eggs in the Doan basket, just like Parise and Suter. I love Doan, but he isn't going to give Pasha the scoring winger he has needed for years, and could very well go to back to Pheonix or elsewhere. And to me, a trade for Nash is going to break the lineup because of the high premium, and I'm worried about Anaheim wanting to move Ryan so bad; could be just to get pieces back, but maybe they also know something no one else does. Either player costs us at least Filppula and one of our top prospects.

Everyone wants to kick the tires on Semin for a short-term before risking more, but Holland and company saying "not interested" is a huge disappointment.

[Wingzman91]

Reports out of Russia are that if someone adds a foreign country to the rumor it gains credibility.

[Echolalia]

As far as Semin, it is so frustrating that the Wings are not only refusing to be aggressive, but are actually publically saying "we're not interested". He is worth a shot at least. I'm sure there is more going on behind the scenes, and with the supposed $10mil he was offered back in the KHL, the price may be too high, but at least do SOME courting. He had an attitude problem on a young Capitals team, but saying "no thanks" with a talented Russian winger with proven chemistry with Datsyuk is giving me a headache.
...
Everyone wants to kick the tires on Semin for a short-term before risking more, but Holland and company saying "not interested" is a huge disappointment.

I suspect that Holland and co are quite interested. In the situation our organization is in (and the type of person Holland is in leaving no stone unturned) it makes zero sense that the Wings won't look into what Semin could bring.
Because of Semin's very public criticisms of his lack of heart, work ethic, etc, and him coming off a poor year statistically, I imagine that Holland (and several other GMs) are playing the "not interested" card to low-ball the offer. Work ethic aside, Semin is a rare talent, and even when he doesn't give 100%, he's still producing more than most. I expect there are quite a few teams out there that would love him on their team, Wings included.

[b.shanafan14]

I suspect that Holland and co are quite interested. In the situation our organization is in (and the type of person Holland is in leaving no stone unturned) it makes zero sense that the Wings won't look into what Semin could bring.
Because of Semin's very public criticisms of his lack of heart, work ethic, etc, and him coming off a poor year statistically, I imagine that Holland (and several other GMs) are playing the "not interested" card to low-ball the offer. Work ethic aside, Semin is a rare talent, and even when he doesn't give 100%, he's still producing more than most. I expect there are quite a few teams out there that would love him on their team, Wings included.

My point exactly, and yet:

http://www.mlive.com/redwings/index.ssf/2012/07/red_wings_prospects_camp_notes.html

Alexander Semin might be the most skilled unrestricted free agent still on the market but it doesn't sound like the Red Wings have any interest in him.
"I talked to his agent once but right now we're doing nothing," said general manager Ken Holland in regards to Semin.

Khan and others have said for a week now that the Wings have shown very little interest, and if it is somehow a tactic to get him signed low, he has half the league and the KHL throwing money at him, so why would he go for a team showing little to no interest? The Wings can negotiate without alienating. Hopefully they are just trying to keep it quiet, but staying in contact and keeping themselves in the mix. But if it turns out the Wings didn't so anything to get Pavel the winger he has needed for years, I for one am gonna be irritated. Even more so if we could have gotten said winger for our ample cap-space and instead chose to trade pieces away.

[Majsheppard]

If semin goes to pitts... then I have lost all faith in Holland. This isn't to say that I am being sensational... just how often can you get a need filler guy on special. Eff the risk. He has speed, a shot, and can play two ways. He is available on special be due to overblown reports of his ethics. He is just following Ovie, which btw he plays better defense than and his offense is upper class.


Holland cannot sell to me Sammy, Tootoo, and even Doan are enough to fix the team. I wanted Suter, Doan, Semin... Would settle for Doan, Semin, Roszival and even overlook the two bad deals.


Those suggesting that adding Doan and Semin won't fix our defense. You are overblowing the state of our defense. We have Four guys that should be top four guys, one that is expected to eventually be a top four guy and a first round pick to round it out. We could use more proven talent on the top... but that is a luxury that we had for a long time. Get over it and see what we have before we go chasing luxuries. A seventh or sixth guy is fine enough. The team defense was good last year and relied heavily on E, not Lidstrom. Based this on the actual time on ice. True Stuart was also a big part of that... but we just have to see if people step up and address what we need later. We won't replace Lidstrom, let alone in one year. Even if we got Suter. I won't suggest we ***** about something we can't fix properly. WE STILL NEED OFFENSE.

That was our issue, lack of a sniper was something we wanted at the deadline. Semin was that. I argued we needed guys to chase the puck and fight for it. Semin fits that, as well does Doan. We needed dirty parts of the ice guys, guys that go to the hard real estate. Doan is that. The Wings need both to fix our offense from last year. Get both and we have a championship cailber offense with spare parts. That can also help if we need to trade later by giving us extra to let go. Even better... Semin and Doan can be had for the cap room of Nash plus Tootoo. It would be cap friendly over the short term.

In the end, this offseason has made our cap situation worse over the medium term and did not fix our forward situation but made it worse. The Defense got worse, so we need to compensate anyways necessary. I know you all are demanding D... but there is no way to do it as of right now.

Letting Semin slip through your fingers when there is so little in terms of risk... and letting him go to a rival... is FOOLISH. Worse than that, it is negligent. I want Holland to retire, but I would force it if he misses on Semin and Doan. I will be upset if he misses on either, but both requires action. I would rather let Nill sit and wait for the youngsters to come up and see what he can do.

Edited by Majsheppard, 10 July 2012 - 10:37 AM.

[dirtydangles]

There is literally no risk at signing semin for a 1 year deal that is rumoured. We won't be using that cap space anyways, even if we do trades we will still send cap the other way. Then if it doesn't work he is off the books next year anyways. Even if holland didn't want him I'd get him to spite the pens anyways. Does Ilitch not want to use 5-6mill of his money one semin or something? lol.

[stevkrause]

There is literally no risk at signing semin for a 1 year deal that is rumoured. We won't be using that cap space anyways, even if we do trades we will still send cap the other way. Then if it doesn't work he is off the books next year anyways. Even if holland didn't want him I'd get him to spite the pens anyways. Does Ilitch not want to use 5-6mill of his money one semin or something? lol.

Agreed. I have been a very strong detractor of Semin, as I don't like his attitude, but at one year, why the hell not? zero risk, high reward potential. If he wants a long deal, then hell no, but at one year, or even 2, I'd take a flier on him...

I still maintain though - if we get him, be prepared to see a new whipping boy here, because hot damn will he take some shifts off...

Edited by stevkrause, 10 July 2012 - 11:20 AM.

[xtrememachine1]

If Semin was going to go for a short term deal, a one year deal with the Pens would be perfect for him. Play on Crosby's line for a year, score 30-40 goals, drive up your value and then hit the market next summer and cash in.

[Crymson]

There is literally no risk at signing semin for a 1 year deal that is rumoured. We won't be using that cap space anyways, even if we do trades we will still send cap the other way. Then if it doesn't work he is off the books next year anyways. Even if holland didn't want him I'd get him to spite the pens anyways. Does Ilitch not want to use 5-6mill of his money one semin or something? lol.

I put some emphasis on "rumored" for you.

Edited by Crymson, 10 July 2012 - 11:31 AM.

[unsaddleddonald]

I still maintain though - if we get him, be prepared to see a new whipping boy here, because hot damn will he take some shifts off...

You very well may be right.

But bottom line: Adding a lazy Alex Semin to our lineup makes us better than we are now.