marcaractac 3,963 Report post Posted December 17, 2016 As far as drafting goes, it is one of the few things management of this team has done right. In a parity salary cap league, you need high-end players to compete. They are difficult to find when the highest you draft in the last 20+ years is 15th. Trading down to rid Datsyuk's contract definitely hurt this team going forward. But the team would also be worse right now (which I think would have been for the best, for the record). Regardless, time times were ahead no matter what Holland has done. My frustrations stem from personnel decisions being made with the playoff streak being the obvious number one priority of the franchise when I personally think it should come second to developing young talent. Dark days were gonna happen even with the best interest of the future of the team in mind. This is why I am mentally prepared for a basement season to kick start eventual contention. While we haven't seen it yet, more teams are gonna go through this same ordeal. It's happening to the Wings now because they've been in the playoffs for 25 years. That was never going to be sustainable in today's NHL. In time, we absolutely will see the same thing happen to the likes of the Blackhawks and Penguins. I use these two as examples as they are the only two teams to have such sustained success for a long period of time since the Wings have done so. Even the likes of Vancouver and Boston had very short lived times at the top of the standings. When Duncan Keith starts to decline in a few seasons, the Blackhawks will likely begin to experience what we did when our defense started to drop like flies. Lacking talent on the back end, and unable to obtain more while their forwards have some prime years left. It's simply a bummer of a reality after many years of loving a team that can solve problems with money and trading first round picks. Fingers crossed that things head in the right direction when living up to 25 straight years in the playoffs is no longer a burden for Holland and Blashill to try and uphold. 3 kliq, krsmith17 and F.Michael reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
greenrebellion 415 Report post Posted December 17, 2016 44 minutes ago, DickieDunn said: One team is not the league Sent from my LGLS676 using Tapatalk That discussion has concluded. You are about a day late and a dollar short. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Richdg 267 Report post Posted December 17, 2016 4 hours ago, marcaractac said: As far as drafting goes, it is one of the few things management of this team has done right. In a parity salary cap league, you need high-end players to compete. They are difficult to find when the highest you draft in the last 20+ years is 15th. Trading down to rid Datsyuk's contract definitely hurt this team going forward. But the team would also be worse right now (which I think would have been for the best, for the record). Regardless, time times were ahead no matter what Holland has done. My frustrations stem from personnel decisions being made with the playoff streak being the obvious number one priority of the franchise when I personally think it should come second to developing young talent. Dark days were gonna happen even with the best interest of the future of the team in mind. This is why I am mentally prepared for a basement season to kick start eventual contention. While we haven't seen it yet, more teams are gonna go through this same ordeal. It's happening to the Wings now because they've been in the playoffs for 25 years. That was never going to be sustainable in today's NHL. In time, we absolutely will see the same thing happen to the likes of the Blackhawks and Penguins. I use these two as examples as they are the only two teams to have such sustained success for a long period of time since the Wings have done so. Even the likes of Vancouver and Boston had very short lived times at the top of the standings. When Duncan Keith starts to decline in a few seasons, the Blackhawks will likely begin to experience what we did when our defense started to drop like flies. Lacking talent on the back end, and unable to obtain more while their forwards have some prime years left. It's simply a bummer of a reality after many years of loving a team that can solve problems with money and trading first round picks. Fingers crossed that things head in the right direction when living up to 25 straight years in the playoffs is no longer a burden for Holland and Blashill to try and uphold. I think most of us fans agree with this and understand it. Does Holland? That is the question. Based on his moves the last few years I don't think he does. He continues to make moves like we are a team trying to win a Cup when the talent level doesn't have that ability. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
greenrebellion 415 Report post Posted December 17, 2016 8 hours ago, Richdg said: I think most of us fans agree with this and understand it. Does Holland? That is the question. Based on his moves the last few years I don't think he does. He continues to make moves like we are a team trying to win a Cup when the talent level doesn't have that ability. He wasn't trying to win a cup, he was trying to keep the playoff streak alive. Personally, I thought it was pretty amazing how long the streak went on and I'm glad we tried to keep it going and rebuild on the fly rather than throwing in the towel early. A rebuild on the fly might have worked with a couple of lucky draft picks or surprising development of some of our young players (always easy to judge in hindsight). It didn't happen, now a new course must be set. The end of the playoff streak will be a very good thing for this franchise and I think you'll see a lot of activity as this team transitions towards a rebuild. 1 krsmith17 reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
krsmith17 7,191 Report post Posted December 17, 2016 I think we'll see where Holland's head is at come trade deadline. He should sell for future assets (prospects / pick), but I can easily see him buying if we're even relatively close to a playoff team, or standing pat... Vanek could fetch a 2nd (possibly a mid round pick as well), Ott could get us a late round pick, Smith could get us a mid round pick. Howard might be able to be moved if he keeps up his level of play and a contending team loses it's starter. I don't think anyone else has much value as a "rental", but I'd also explore actual hockey trades as well... I'd be open to moving anyone in the right trade outside of Larkin, Mantha, Athanasiou, Sproul and Mrazek... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
greenrebellion 415 Report post Posted December 17, 2016 Just now, krsmith17 said: I think we'll see where Holland's head is at come trade deadline. He should sell for future assets (prospects / pick), but I can easily see him buying if we're even relatively close to a playoff team, or standing pat... Vanek could fetch a 2nd (possibly a mid round pick as well), Ott could get us a late round pick, Smith could get us a mid round pick. Howard might be able to be moved if he keeps up his level of play and a contending team loses it's starter. I don't think anyone else has much value as a "rental", but I'd also explore actual hockey trades as well... I'd be open to moving anyone in the right trade outside of Larkin, Mantha, Athanasiou, Sproul and Mrazek... Based on the team's performance year to date, I think we'll be pretty far from a playoff spot at the deadline and moves will be made. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
krsmith17 7,191 Report post Posted December 17, 2016 11 minutes ago, greenrebellion said: Based on the team's performance year to date, I think we'll be pretty far from a playoff spot at the deadline and moves will be made. I agree with the bolder part. I'll believe Holland will sell when I see it... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
