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Andy Pred 48

Next Seasons Needs/Team Future

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Let me start off by saying that the Wings got as far as they could have with the team that they had. The injuries played a significant role in making this the most frustrating season in a long time. Players would get hurt and just disappear for months and even when guys returned from injury you could see that they just weren't right, it was like having our very own Bermuda triangle. I know this is going to sound nuts, yet looking back on the injuries they weren't the worst thing that could've happened... It allowed us to get a look at a number of young players and allowed them to take center stage. If not for the multitude of injuries-we wouldn't have had a chance to see Nyquist, Tatar, Jurco and Sheahan come up, contribute/become stars and gain valuable experience. And as disappointingly frustrating as the season was, seeing these youngster develop in front of our eyes-on the big stage-was amazingly satisfying, it's just too bad the kids couldn't come through in the playoffs.

Having said that I'd like to go through some of our UFA's and roster players, and what I'd like to see happen:

Alfredsson: I have massive respect for his career, and the player he used to be, but I think resigning him would be a mistake. He has become the type of player that needs great players around him or he struggles-which we saw when he was put on the 3rd line and disappeared for much of the second half. Too be successful he needs to play on the top two lines, but I don't think the Wings can afford to play him there. We have to get younger and bigger up front and resigning Alfie accomplishes neither. I would feel different towards him if he was a long time Wing, alas he's not and I don't have the same loyalty to him as I would if Pav was in his situation.

Legwand: No space for him, especially with Weiss coming back. Nor do I want him back after watching his play when relegated to the bottom 6. I do have an inkling that since Holland gave up a ton to get him, that he'll be back.

Cleary/Bertuzzi/Sammy/Tootoo: I'll group these guys together for obvious reasons, and neither one should be back.

Kindl,Lashoff: Keep Lashoff around as a back up, but find Kindl a new home.

Quincey: He got better as the season moved and on, yet I still want him gone. Maybe I'm still pissed he cost a 1st rounder, or that he makes boneheaded plays, I don't know and I don't care I just want him gone. Holland on the other hand probably feels different.

Monster: Scares me when he plays, but he had a good year when healthy; too bad it wasn't all that often. Too save cap space I'd let him go in favor of Mrazek, might be time to groom him to take the reins from Howard in 3 years or so.

Franzen: For the amount of cap space and the output he provides, I see no reason to get rid of him. I'm just as pissed at him as the next Red Wings fan, but that's hardly the reason to dump him. For the 30-40% of the time he plays he brings a lot to the table. My issue with him is that he sometimes seems weak willed and completely gives up on the play, although when he decides to show up he can make a difference,

Abby: I know I said that the Wings need to get bigger and younger, yet as long as Abby's on the team Babs will always want to put him on the top line. I say let's rid Babs of that temptation and trade him.

Thanks for reading, had to get that off my chest after a brutal playoff series. Anyway that's my view on some of our players, what do you guys think?

Edited by wings87

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Abby: I know I said that the Wings need to get bigger and younger, yet as long as Abby's on the team Babs will always want to put him on the top line. I say let's rid Babs of that temptation and trade him.

Abby might actually be decent trade bait. If we pair him with a 1st and Kindl I wonder if we could get something decent. He is young enough to be valuable to building teams as well as competing teams. We have lots of bottom 6 players right now with Callahan and Ferraro out options and our Kid line and Miller-Helm-Glendening bottom line. Abby isn't a top 6 player on a contender. In a few years if you add Mantha, Pulkkinen to our already crowded top 6 with Nyquist, Z, Franzen, Datsyuk, Weiss, etc. there isn't much room for Abby.

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Abby might actually be decent trade bait. If we pair him with a 1st and Kindl I wonder if we could get something decent. He is young enough to be valuable to building teams as well as competing teams. We have lots of bottom 6 players right now with Callahan and Ferraro out options and our Kid line and Miller-Helm-Glendening bottom line. Abby isn't a top 6 player on a contender. In a few years if you add Mantha, Pulkkinen to our already crowded top 6 with Nyquist, Z, Franzen, Datsyuk, Weiss, etc. there isn't much room for Abby.

Plus his physical game seemed to mostly disappear this year. I really hope Holland packages some players to, a.) clear the logjam and b.) get someone who can actually play with Z and Pav.

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Guest DeGraa55

For the record, I was being facetious. Also for the record, it's Simmonds. Punk.

Yes be a grammar nazi when I have a phone with this thing called AUTO CORRECT.

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Trade Abby? He played a man's game against the Bruins..he was finishing checks and crashing the cage all series. I wouldn't trade him.....I'd be willing to let Alfie and Legwand walk if ti meant that we could sign Iginla. Keep Abby on the third line with Helm and Weiss and roll 40-13-Iginla as the top line with 14-15-21 as your third unit. Buy out Franzen, Quincey walks (hate to see him go actually) and you bring up 2-3 kids to replace Lashoff and Kindl and Q and we're looking good. I'd go with Oulett, Marchenko (RH shot!!) and Almquist as my 5-6-7 defensemen and start printing playoff tickets in October.

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http://msn.foxsports.com/detroit/story/what-s-next-for-the-red-wings-042714

ADDING HOSSA?

In 2009, Hossa left Detroit after one season and signed a 12-year, $68.2 million deal with Chicago. Hossa's cap hit is $5.275 million.

It was rumored last season that the salary-cap strapped Blackhawks would buyout the veteran winger. That didn't happen, but rumors persist that the Hawks might want to move/release Hossa, even though they have used their two compliance buyouts.

If the Hawks really do want to part ways with Hossa -- and it's a big if -- expect the Red Wings to try to lure him back to Detroit.

Hossa and the Red Wings have a mutual respect for one another, and he could have a significant impact on Detroit's young forwards.

I heard he's going to Minnesota.

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A first, a 3rd line winger, and a youngish d-man who hasn't shown any kind of consistency in the NHL isn't going to bring the type of player a lot of people seem to think it would. There just isn't the value there with the roster players. Abdelkader, for all his limitations, plays a fairly unique style of play compared to the rest of the guys in the Wings' system. Helm is similar, Callahan might get there when he gets stronger, but Helm is smaller (and thus far more fragile) and Callahan doesn't skate as well. Putting a team together isn't all about getting the 18 most skilled players you can and throwing them out there, you need guys like Abdelkader. That doesn't mean I love the idea of him on Datsyuk's wing, unless maybe he was playing with Nyquist or Zetterberg on the other side, but he does add a lot of things that they won't get from another guy.

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Most overused term in hockey "good puck moving defensemen."

What the Wings need before we start camp: 2 smart puck moving defensemen.

We had SOOOOOOO many horrible first passes by our defensemen that caused an equal amout of turnovers in the neutral zone that I literally lost count most games. Opposing teams knew this and pressured our defense and created millions of these turnovers. (See Quincey, Kindl, Lashoff and Smith) On the flip side, their inability to make that 1st pass in an accurate manner cut in half our scoring chances most nights.

Consider that last point. If you can increase 5-10 more scoring chances, you essentially add an extra goal every other game. That's 41 more goals a season.

This is why I don't think we need another forward. We just need TWO good puck moving defensemen.

Mike Babcocks style of hockey is 100% dependent on defensemen that can move the puck, make great 1st passes and even join in the scoring by having an above average shot. Smith Big E and Kronwal meet this criteria ( I know Smith is frustrating to most of you but he is still very young) but none of our other defensemen even come close to Babcock's brand of Hockey.

All that said, I don't think Holland sees it this way and will most likely only pick up one average defensemen instead of trading for two top 4 types.

Edited by gowings00

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If there's any truth to the Hossa returning to Detroit thing that'd be huge. Hossa is fantastic, and with a new, better contract that's something we cannot pass on. Sent from my ADR6350 using Tapatalk 2

I worry that he wouldn't be the same player on a non-elite team. Plus, he's already 35.

If he were bought out, absolutely, do it. But I don't see us getting him in a trade.

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If there's any truth to the Hossa returning to Detroit thing that'd be huge. Hossa is fantastic, and with a new, better contract that's something we cannot pass on. Sent from my ADR6350 using Tapatalk 2

Exactly. Get Hossa back, sign a guy like Danny Boyle and maybe make a play for a guy like Chris Stewart and all of a sudden we have a very very good hockey team.

Zetty- Pav- Hossa

Franzen/ Nyqyust- Weiss- Alfie

Nyquist- Sheahan- Tatar

Stewart- Helm- Abby/ Glendening/ Miller

Kronwall- Smith

Dekeyser- Boyle

Ericsson- Sproul/ Oueltte

That is STACKED and would give us a very good shot at the Cup imo. Kenny really needs to make some sort of change like this because our window to win the cup again relies on us still having Pav and Hank.

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How do we feel about Jason Garrison? Nux fans think he may be a buyout candidate. At the very least, he'd probably help our power play.

Didn't he sign his deal int he new CBA? If so, he's not eligible for a compliance buy out. If the Canucks use a regular buyout on him, there's a reason for it. Pass on anyone who isn't a definite upgrade over a kid.

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Hossa would also add much better defensive forward play to our team. If there is a log jam in the top 6, easy solution, move Franzen out of it. Problem solved.

Exactly. Our team would possess so much skill with these couple of moves that we would be close to "Elite" status, especially if we get the goaltending out of Jimmy that we all know he is capable of for the full season. Our captain Zetty said it best yesterday when he said "lately our team has not gone deep enough into the playoffs and that needs to change." Spoken like a true captain. He knows the team has to get better, he wants alfie back because you know he just really badly wants to win that Cup for Alfie so come on Kenny go back to your ways of making magic happen and give us fans a good off season.

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Didn't he sign his deal int he new CBA? If so, he's not eligible for a compliance buy out. If the Canucks use a regular buyout on him, there's a reason for it. Pass on anyone who isn't a definite upgrade over a kid.

I believe they're thinking regular buyout. Because it's the Canucks, I'm not necessarily convinced cutting him loose means he wouldn't be worth a look. Like, the big knock on him seems to be that he was a streaky point producer this season. I feel like that's...not a big issue, especially since they need all the help they can get on the power play, and that's where he really shines.

I like him. I think he's a solid top-four defenseman on a good team that knows what it's doing.

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I like him. I think he's a solid top-four defenseman on a good team that knows what it's doing.

I worded this kind of awkwardly. Basically, I think he'd be a good add for a good team. If you played for the Canucks this season, you probably came out looking like half the player you truly are. The team was a disaster.

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FOX Sports Detroit said this morning the team would target Niskanen and Boyle in Free Agency.

Tootoo probably isn't bought out because he doesn't really save them much money in doing so, but the Wings have one to use this season or lose it....

This will be a major off season for the Wings and Kenny Holland, who is nearing the end of his contract.

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I agree that the D probably needs the most attention, but given the potential exodus of forwards, I'm curious what folks would think about Kulemin (UFA)? I think he would be a guy who could play anywhere in our forward group, including a winger with Datsyuk and/or Zetterberg, and more affordable and younger than guys like Moulson, Vanek, etc.

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FOX Sports Detroit said this morning the team would target Niskanen and Boyle in Free Agency.

Tootoo probably isn't bought out because he doesn't really save them much money in doing so, but the Wings have one to use this season or lose it....

This will be a major off season for the Wings and Kenny Holland, who is nearing the end of his contract.

I really hope FSD knows what they're talking about and aren't just pulling these rumors out of thin air. It'd be nice if the Wings already had an aggressive strategy planned.

When's the earliest we could hear roster changes? Anyone think we'll hear something about UFA's not returning before the end of playoffs?

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FOX Sports Detroit said this morning the team would target Niskanen and Boyle in Free Agency.

Tootoo probably isn't bought out because he doesn't really save them much money in doing so, but the Wings have one to use this season or lose it....

This will be a major off season for the Wings and Kenny Holland, who is nearing the end of his contract.

Either one will be an upgrade.

Kronwall - E/Smith

DeKe - FA

E/Smith - McQuaid/Miller type of big abd nasty "D"

Marchenko

Kindl to be traded

Q : best of luck

Lashoff : GR

Forwards:

Z - Dats - Abdelakder

Evander Kane (pack Franzen/Tatar) - Weiss - Nyquist

Jurco - She - Pulks

Gazdic/Martin (pack Miller with filler) Helm - Callahan

LG

They'll use the buy out on Tootoo or Franzen.Unless someone is a 100% certain upgrade over Jurco I don't want them to sign anyone.

There is no logic to buyout Tootoo now...

Franzen stull has a value he's not buyout candidat for sure.

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I love how everyone has that one random guy they love that they just say something along the lines of "I don't like these 2-3 players, send them with a pick to get them".

If we can get a winger that can score 30+ and a veteran top 4 dman as many of you have said, and most importantly STAY HEALTHY, they should be looking pretty good next year.

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