Why are we better than last season?

[Keep Your Stick On the Ice 67]

1 hour ago, DickieDunn said:

They aren't.  Some individual players are better, the team as a whole isn't.

Amen.

[Dabura 12,207]

1 hour ago, puckbags said:

Agreed.   This team will hover around .500 and if we want to make the playoffs we will have to go on a run in the 2nd half that I'm not sure we are capable of. If we want a legitimate shot at landing some free agents we need to find a way to unload salary. I like Green but that 6 milly has to come off the books. Mrazek won't be back next year at this point. Thats another 4 milly. Problem is that 10 million will go to signing Larkin, Mantha and AA.  We need teams desperate at the trade deadline willing to trade for veteran guys like Ericcson. and take some of these garbage salaries. If not we are in purgatory for a few years. 

Keep in mind that the cap is expected to rise:

https://www.spectorshockey.net/2017/11/nhl-salary-cap-could-significantly-increase-for-2018-19/

Also: Kronwall, Nyquist, Howard, Ouellet, Jensen, Witkowski will all be on expiring contracts next season.

[DickieDunn 2,571]

On 12/1/2017 at 4:27 PM, Dabura said:

Keep in mind that the cap is expected to rise:

https://www.spectorshockey.net/2017/11/nhl-salary-cap-could-significantly-increase-for-2018-19/

Also: Kronwall, Nyquist, Howard, Ouellet, Jensen, Witkowski will all be on expiring contracts next season.

Kronwall will probably retire, Nyquist and Nyquist will be extended, probably with raises, if they don't want to move on, and the others don't make that much money.  Even if they are replaced, the replacements will cost as much or more.

[kliq 3,755]

1 hour ago, DickieDunn said:

Kronwall will probably retire, Nyquist and Nyquist will be extended, probably with raises, if they don't want to move on, and the others don't make that much money.  Even if they are replaced, the replacements will cost as much or more.

Do you mean Howard?

[Dabura 12,207]

1 hour ago, DickieDunn said:

Kronwall will probably retire, Nyquist and Nyquist will be extended, probably with raises, if they don't want to move on, and the others don't make that much money.  Even if they are replaced, the replacements will cost as much or more.

Kronwall could retire, or he could go into LTIRement. I think the latter is more likely. Or maybe he plays out his contract.

There's nothing to say Nyquist or Howard will be extended. They certainly wouldn't be getting raises.

Nyquist could be replaced internally, i.e. cheaply.

Sign one or two of the thousand good-not-great veteran goalies that are always available for cheap.

[kliq 3,755]

5 minutes ago, Dabura said:

Kronwall could retire, or he could go into LTIRement. I think the latter is more likely. Or maybe he plays out his contract.

There's nothing to say Nyquist or Howard will be extended. They certainly wouldn't be getting raises.

Nyquist could be replaced internally, i.e. cheaply.

Sign one or two of the thousand good-not-great veteran goalies that are always available for cheap.

Agreed for the most part. The only thing I could see being wrong, is could see Nyquist having a great year next year if he's in a contract year, and playing on the second line with great line mates. 

[Dabura 12,207]

5 minutes ago, kliq said:

Agreed for the most part. The only thing I could see being wrong, is could see Nyquist having a great year next year if he's in a contract year, and playing on the second line with great line mates. 

Even then, I doubt he'd be getting a raise. My sense -- and, admittedly, I'm not basing this on much/any solid evidence -- is that the organization isn't especially attached to him anymore. I think Holland would like to move him for a decent return right now and I think the problem there is that no GM is interested in trading a meaningful asset to acquire him. He's kind of a nothing player right now and I dunno that I really see that changing next season, even if he's playing easier minutes with better linemates.

I could be wrong, of course.

[kliq 3,755]

26 minutes ago, Dabura said:

Even then, I doubt he'd be getting a raise. My sense -- and, admittedly, I'm not basing this on much/any solid evidence -- is that the organization isn't especially attached to him anymore. I think Holland would like to move him for a decent return right now and I think the problem there is that no GM is interested in trading a meaningful asset to acquire him. He's kind of a nothing player right now and I dunno that I really see that changing next season, even if he's playing easier minutes with better linemates.

I could be wrong, of course.

Agreed, those signs are there. I think Nyquist is underrated on here, but he has definitely regressed. If he re-emerges though, I could see him being re-signed, then Tatar being traded. Or Nyquist being traded at the deadline, then re-signed, then Tatar is traded.

I admit though, I could be dead wrong as well lol. Nyquist is a tough one to read, I remember back in 2013 (the Anaheim series specifically) he came across to me like he had elite potential, he was just one of those players that looked dangerous when he touched the puck. Then in 2014 he decided to play like a Hart contender from January-April, then in 2015 he came  back down to earth and now looks like a decent 45-60 point second liner.

He's only 28, so who knows what direction he goes in. He definitely doesn't look like the Nyquist of 2013/14 anymore though. I think this is why he has so many fans that dislike them. People thought he was going to take this team over and save them from the imminent D&Z regressions/retirements, and he didnt. Same hate will come to Larkin/Mantha if they fizzle out. Fingers crossed.

[DickieDunn 2,571]

10 hours ago, kliq said:

Do you mean Howard?

yes

9 hours ago, Dabura said:

Kronwall could retire, or he could go into LTIRement. I think the latter is more likely. Or maybe he plays out his contract.

There's nothing to say Nyquist or Howard will be extended. They certainly wouldn't be getting raises.

Nyquist could be replaced internally, i.e. cheaply.

Sign one or two of the thousand good-not-great veteran goalies that are always available for cheap.

Lots of players who could have been replaced easily and cheaply ended up with deals for 4+ years at high salary for what they are.

[Neomaxizoomdweebie 3,083]

19 hours ago, Dabura said:

Kronwall could retire, or he could go into LTIRement. I think the latter is more likely. Or maybe he plays out his contract.

There's nothing to say Nyquist or Howard will be extended. They certainly wouldn't be getting raises.

Nyquist could be replaced internally, i.e. cheaply.

Sign one or two of the thousand good-not-great veteran goalies that are always available for cheap.

My money is on Kronner playing one more year.

[GMRwings1983 8,793]

We need to have a new vote in this thread.  Recount.

[Dabura 12,207]

23 hours ago, DickieDunn said:

Lots of players who could have been replaced easily and cheaply ended up with deals for 4+ years at high salary for what they are.

2019 UFA class:

http://www.spotrac.com/nhl/free-agents/2019/ufa/

Look at that list. Read those names.

Now, look at the Wings' situation. Consider the Wings' stated goal of avoiding a "proper" rebuild. Consider the real possibility that this season will lead to changes in the Wings' modus operandi (specifically, how exactly we go about "retooling"). Consider, again, that the cap is expected to rise next season, possibly by as much as $5M, possibly by even more than that.

You can tell me Nyquist and Howard will each be extended for 4+ years and that they'll each get raises and that Kronwall will retire and leave us with a recapture penalty and that all of this will ensure that we can't aggressively pursue any big-name free agents next season/July. You can tell me all of this, and I'll tell you you're concern-trolling. Bcuz u r.

To be clear: I'm not saying Nyquist and/or Howard definitely won't be back after next season. What I'm saying is the front office knows what's up, knows how profoundly valuable a big chunk of free cap space could be next season/July.

Edited December 4, 2017 by Dabura

[DickieDunn 2,571]

Holland's MO has been re-sign his own players unless they refuse to come back, and give them a contract at, or sometimes even over, the max of what they could expect on the market.  Nobody was likely to pay Abdelkader that much for 7 years, Helm might have gotten a contract similar to what he signed here, Dekeyser probably wouldn't have gotten any more, and Glendening certainly wouldn't have.  Until there is evidence that he's changed, or a new GM is brought in and actually does things differently, I'm going to expect that trend to continue.

[Dabura 12,207]

2 hours ago, DickieDunn said:

Holland's MO has been re-sign his own players unless they refuse to come back, and give them a contract at, or sometimes even over, the max of what they could expect on the market.  Nobody was likely to pay Abdelkader that much for 7 years, Helm might have gotten a contract similar to what he signed here, Dekeyser probably wouldn't have gotten any more, and Glendening certainly wouldn't have.  Until there is evidence that he's changed, or a new GM is brought in and actually does things differently, I'm going to expect that trend to continue.

Holland likes handing out generous extensions, I get that. But you and I both know that Holland also likes big-name UFAs. He made sure we had the requisite cap space for Suter and Parise. He made sure we had the requisite cap space for Stamkos. He (or his successor) is going to make sure we're in a position to add one or two of of Doughty, Karlsson, Panarin, Couture, Skinner, Ekman-Larsson, Myers, Brassard, McDonagh, Pacioretty, Simmonds, Silfverberg, etc. Cap space could also be used to take advantage of a team that desperately needs to free up cap space of its own so it can re-sign one of these big names. That's how Carolina got Teravainen.

[Neomaxizoomdweebie 3,083]

After the last 4 games, I feel like the title of this thread is too presumptuous. I say we remove the "WHY" and just go with "Are we better than last year?".

The answer should be the same as it would be if ur cousin asks you out on a date.

[kickazz 5,459]

4 hours ago, Neomaxizoomdweebie said:

After the last 4 games, I feel like the title of this thread is too presumptuous. I say we remove the "WHY" and just go with "Are we better than last year?".

The answer should be the same as it would be if ur cousin asks you out on a date.

My cousin Holly? When I was 13, I would have said yes. 

[AtlantaHotWings 982]

15 hours ago, Neomaxizoomdweebie said:

After the last 4 games, I feel like the title of this thread is too presumptuous. I say we remove the "WHY" and just go with "Are we better than last year?".

The answer should be the same as it would be if ur cousin asks you out on a date.

Well Barbra-Sue is kinda hot and this is the south after all....

[Neomaxizoomdweebie 3,083]

On 12/5/2017 at 1:19 AM, kickazz said:

My cousin Holly? When I was 13, I would have said yes. 

 

On 12/5/2017 at 12:04 PM, AtlantaHotWings said:

Well Barbra-Sue is kinda hot and this is the south after all....

Yes, we all have a "hot" cousin. But c'mon!