Ken Holland "We protected our best goaltender"

[kickazz 5,459]

Ken Holland gives his reason as to why he didn't protect Mrazek. Basically saying Jimmy is the better and more consistent goaltender. Still thinks Mrazek has a chance to bounce back this coming year. Wants both Jimmy and Mrazek to succeed this year. 

 

Also talks about what his plan is. Wants to keep drafting players every year and continue to make the playoffs. Believes AA, Mantha and Larkin will soon take over the team in a few years like Datsyuk and Zetterberg did when they turned 25/26 years old.

Asked why he didn't sign Vanek again, said it's because he thinks they have younger forwards that are good enough. (Speaks a lot about what he must think of our younger defensemen then lol) 

All previously injured players (Ericsson, etc) are going to be ready by first game of the season. Kronwall has been working out in the gym. 

As far as draft "we're trying to get bigger, we're trying to get mobile defenseman that can carry the puck". Also said he wants players with characters as he believes having good character helps you work hard and reach your ceiling (something along those lines)  

 

Edited July 3, 2017 by kickazz

[IanRobertPatterson 3]

 Well he's not wrong. Howard was the better goalie, while I would argue Mrazek is the better asset. And yet even then it appears that Vegas did not even see it that way.

[kliq 3,755]

I didnt agree with the move, but he's right. Jimmy is the better goalie right now.

[Echolalia 2,961]

lol this is so juicy

[LeftWinger 4,953]

....so Sproul or XO will sit.

[kickazz 5,459]

Did mention that he's still talking to Vanek's agent though. But believes the younger forwards have done their dues and taken the slots (Mantha, Larkin, AA)

[LeftWinger 4,953]

Guess we just have to.hope Nyquist, Sheagan, Mrazek, Larkin and Abby have bounce back years. Add that to Daley making our D better and maybe Kronner and E having better seasons, we could get back in. In other words, a lot has to happen for Holland's plan to work.

I'd still take Vanek, butwhere's the cap coming from?

6 minutes ago, Jonas Mahonas said:

Whatever Holland says, it's not going to produce Nolan Patrick, Phil Kessel, and Filip Forsberg.  We need 3 right handed dynamos.  Holland keeps drafting left handed projects.

We won't mention two "slam dunk" "no brainer" players he passed on last month...

[Wingnut1989 165]

2 minutes ago, LeftWinger said:

Guess we just have to.hope Nyquist, Sheagan, Mrazek, Larkin and Abby have bounce back years. Add that to Daley making our D better and maybe Kronner and E having better seasons, we could get back in. In other words, a lot has to happen for Holland's plan to work.

I'd still take Vanek, butwhere's the cap coming from?

i doubt abby will ever bounce back, datsyuk made him look good

[PavelValerievichDatsyuk 1,935]

10 minutes ago, Jonas Mahonas said:

Whatever Holland says, it's not going to produce Nolan Patrick, Phil Kessel, and Filip Forsberg.  We need 3 right handed dynamos.  Holland keeps drafting left handed projects.

Uh.....no.

This year Lindtrom, Zablocki, Fraser, Adams, and Webb are all righties. That's 5 out 11. That was clearly a deciding factor.

[kickazz 5,459]

30 minutes ago, Wingnut1989 said:

i doubt abby will ever bounce back, datsyuk made him look good

What? His 23 goal season came when he didn't play with Datsyuk. Which was in 2013/14. That year Datsyuk played with Helm and Tatar ; aka the Helm - Datsyuk - Tatar line when Tatar scored 29 goals. 

[kickazz 5,459]

10 minutes ago, Jonas Mahonas said:

Abdelkader scored 50 in juniors without Datsyuk.  The guy isn't Dr. Stone Hands like Helm.  I do think he is having a harder time now that the Wings arent as deep.  He is more of a complimentary player than he is a creator.

Or because he doesn't play on the top line with Zetterberg and Nyquist anymore like he did between 2014-2016

[Wingnut1989 165]

15 minutes ago, kickazz said:

Or because he doesn't play on the top line with Zetterberg and Nyquist anymore like he did between 2014-2016

that would be it

[Richdg 267]

This is true. Howard is a better G right now. His problem is one of health not ability. Mrazek may be better down the road, time will tell.

[GMRwings1983 8,794]

1 hour ago, Jonas Mahonas said:

Abdelkader scored 50 in juniors without Datsyuk.  The guy isn't Dr. Stone Hands like Helm.  I do think he is having a harder time now that the Wings arent as deep.  He is more of a complimentary player than he is a creator.

Didn't Maltby score 50 in juniors also?

[kliq 3,755]

3 minutes ago, GMRwings1983 said:

Didn't Maltby score 50 in juniors also?

Yup, and so did Steve Ott.

[puckbags 863]

2 hours ago, LeftWinger said:

....so Sproul or XO will sit.

Sproul will sit because he's on a two way contract isn't he? We can send him down and I don't think he has to clear waivers. I'm not that good with this stuff though so I will probably get owned by some 21 year old cap guru.   ....also consider the fact that XO at this point is a much better d man than Sproul. 

[krsmith17 7,191]

6 minutes ago, puckbags said:

Sproul will sit because he's on a two way contract isn't he? We can send him down and I don't think he has to clear waivers. I'm not that good with this stuff though so I will probably get owned by some 21 year old cap guru.   ....also consider the fact that XO at this point is a much better d man than Sproul. 

Sproul is not waiver exempt, and Ouellet is not better than Sproul.

[lomekian 201]

Abby never got 50 goals in junior. He played in the USHL (27 goals in 60) & CCHA (15 & 19 goals in 40 ish games). He's never been a big time scorer (unlike Malts!), but has been the same kind of player at every level with only slightly diminishing returns. He always projected as a top 9 forward with top 6 upside and he's met that projection very nicely. If he wasn't overpaid, he'd be much loved, one suspects.

[Wingnut1989 165]

4 minutes ago, krsmith17 said:

Sproul is not waiver exempt, and Ouellet is not better than Sproul.

neither are proven, why do you say Sproul is better?

[krsmith17 7,191]

2 minutes ago, Wingnut1989 said:

neither are proven, why do you say Sproul is better?

Well I didn't say Sproul was better. I said that Ouellet isn't better, replying to puckbags that said Ouellet was "much better". Sproul IS better though in my opinion. He was much better in junior, he was better in the AHL, and he's been better in limited time in the NHL. Sproul is a much better skater, much better shot, and is better offensively. Ouellet may be a little better defensively, but that's the only edge I'd give him. I take the smooth skating, bomb of a shot, offensive defenseman over the defensive defenseman any day.

[puckbags 863]

12 minutes ago, krsmith17 said:

Sproul is not waiver exempt, and Ouellet is not better than Sproul.

Haha. XO played 66 games last year, scored 12 points and was a +2 on a terrible defensive team and wasn't very noticeable which is a great attribute for a guy who plays his style. . Sproul proved nothing while he was up, he's terrible in his own end ( -8 ), plays with no edge, he has a big shot I will give him that. Then he got hurt. I guess he has " potential ".   Once again he's a fringe NHL 3rd pair guy. XO's potential isn't much higher but I can 100% tell you who will be starting in Detroit out of training camp. 

3 minutes ago, krsmith17 said:

Well I didn't say Sproul was better. I said that Ouellet isn't better, replying to puckbags that said Ouellet was "much better". Sproul IS better though in my opinion. He was much better in junior, he was better in the AHL, and he's been better in limited time in the NHL. Sproul is a much better skater, much better shot, and is better offensively. Ouellet may be a little better defensively, but that's the only edge I'd give him. I take the smooth skating, bomb of a shot, offensive defenseman over the defensive defenseman any day.

What? Sproul was terrible in his limited time, super inconsistent. Big deal he shoots the puck hard. He played a handful of good games. 

4 minutes ago, krsmith17 said:

Well I didn't say Sproul was better. I said that Ouellet isn't better, replying to puckbags that said Ouellet was "much better". Sproul IS better though in my opinion. He was much better in junior, he was better in the AHL, and he's been better in limited time in the NHL. Sproul is a much better skater, much better shot, and is better offensively. Ouellet may be a little better defensively, but that's the only edge I'd give him. I take the smooth skating, bomb of a shot, offensive defenseman over the defensive defenseman any day.

Yep because smooth skating looks really good when you can't get the puck out of your end. Sproul barely knows where his own end of the ice is.  We need solid defensive d men who can make a first pass back there. Not saying XO is that guy but he's a helluva lot better option than Sproul right now. 

[krsmith17 7,191]

14 minutes ago, puckbags said:

Haha. XO played 66 games last year, scored 12 points and was a +2 on a terrible defensive team and wasn't very noticeable which is a great attribute for a guy who plays his style. . Sproul proved nothing while he was up, he's terrible in his own end ( -8 ), plays with no edge, he has a big shot I will give him that. Then he got hurt. I guess he has " potential ".   Once again he's a fringe NHL 3rd pair guy. XO's potential isn't much higher but I can 100% tell you who will be starting in Detroit out of training camp. 

What? Sproul was terrible in his limited time, super inconsistent. Big deal he shoots the puck hard. He played a handful of good games. 

Yep because smooth skating looks really good when you can't get the puck out of your end. Sproul barely knows where his own end of the ice is.  We need solid defensive d men who can make a first pass back there. Not saying XO is that guy but he's a helluva lot better option than Sproul right now. 

Opinion. Mine is that Sproul is better. Yours is that Ouellet is better. I prefer offensive defensemen that can skate and shoot the puck. That is Sproul. I'm guessing you prefer more defensively sound defensemen. That is Ouellet.

Sproul has put up better points at every level, including the NHL. Ouellet lacks foot speed, and doesn't have a great shot. I'm not saying he sucks, just that I'd prefer Sproul.

[DickieDunn 2,571]

Neither are anything special.  It's like arguing if a double cheeseburger from McDonald's is better than one from Burger King.  Both are greasy, made of "beef," fill you up, and that's the most you can say about them.

[Buppy 1,720]

Sproul's last year in junior and 1st in GR were the only years he has scored much more than Ouellet. Their last year in GR, they scored at the same rate. Ouellet's 5v5 scoring this year was slightly better than Sproul's. He also had more shots and shot attempts. The team was far better in both possession and goals for with Ouellet (in addition to being better defensively). And Ouellet wasn't nearly as sheltered as Sproul was.

The situation Sproul was in he probably should have had the best numbers on the team, but instead was the worst or near so in pretty much everything. And that after three years in GR where he scored at the same rate as Ericsson, and didn't show any improvement from his first year to his last. Calling him an "offensive defensemen" is like calling our 2022 1st-round pick "Keith". Might be true someday (probably not), but it for sure wasn't true this year.

Based on this year, Sproul couldn't even lift Ouellet's jock strap using a crane made out of Lidstrom's jock straps, which he couldn't even drive anyway.

[kickazz 5,459]

41 minutes ago, Buppy said:

Sproul's last year in junior and 1st in GR were the only years he has scored much more than Ouellet. Their last year in GR, they scored at the same rate. Ouellet's 5v5 scoring this year was slightly better than Sproul's. He also had more shots and shot attempts. The team was far better in both possession and goals for with Ouellet (in addition to being better defensively). And Ouellet wasn't nearly as sheltered as Sproul was.

The situation Sproul was in he probably should have had the best numbers on the team, but instead was the worst or near so in pretty much everything. And that after three years in GR where he scored at the same rate as Ericsson, and didn't show any improvement from his first year to his last. Calling him an "offensive defensemen" is like calling our 2022 1st-round pick "Keith". Might be true someday (probably not), but it for sure wasn't true this year.

Based on this year, Sproul couldn't even lift Ouellet's jock strap using a crane made out of Lidstrom's jock straps, which he couldn't even drive anyway.

dead.