centcougar07

Holland can give him 10mil because he's one of only a small group of GMs who have owners that are willing to pay out on huge long term contracts AND has more than enough cap room to do so , all while being able to offer an environment that NHLPA polls indicates is highly desirable to players around the league. (and no, I don't care that cougar denies the results of said poll)

Yes there are 30 teams who will want to take a run at Parise but only a handful have a realistic shot of landing him unless he's only looking for a short term deal or isn't interested in winning.

I don't thing we have Parise locked down but the Wings are in a better position than most teams.  Not signing him would cause a great deal of drama online but it's not like we'd be losing out on a generational talent.  There are plenty of ways to improve the team outside of the 2012 UFAs.

I think we can all agree $10mil is a ridiculous number. He won't get paid that much. Even if he was offered that, Ken Holland would never pay that much.

There are a number of teams in good position to sign him which is why I think that the bidding will ultimately get too high for Holland and unless he wants to take a substantial pay cut (1-2 mil) to play here, he will be elsewhere.

I wonder why somebody who completely disagrees with the wings system, has zero faith in our veteran players, and thinks we are heading straight into the gutter, is even a wings fan lol.

Just because he doesn't eat the s*** sandwhich put on his plate by arrogant fans/management doesn't mean he doesn't cheer for the team to win.

Just wondering the favorite flavor of kool aid? Cherry or strawberry? Either way, there is some massive consumption going on......

Most are drinking Red Wings flavored Kool aid and wearing their thick red wings glasses

I know some people are delusional, but how can you NOT get excited about that list of names?

Because they aren't really 'top prospects'. Maybe among our organization. Not so much throughout the rest of the league.

Some.. no MOST of these comparisons are ridiculous. Comparing Nyquist to Datsyuk? That's laughable.

Good post Richdg. I wouldn't worry about all the neggs you get on the comments. Since I've been here, I have noticed many a Wing fan either incapable or unwilling to face the fact that it will soon be time to rebuild and that we aren't a dynasty anymore. Sadly, even when you give them the facts and throw the numbers in their faces, you still wont get them to be realistic about it. Of course we all want to see Detroit be a dominant force in the league and compete for cups year after year. But when you look at the facts and look at the numbers, it's not there and it's easy to see the decline. Thanks for the reality check.

Depends on what he wants..does he want more dough or does he want a serious contender each and every year?  I mean, we're not the only contender but we'll see.  Making $10 mil a year is great but I would assume that winning at least one cup is more important to a lot of this talent.

The thing is he will get offered insanely high contracts by teams that need to do so. And as you said yourself, we're not the only contenders. In 2-3 years we might not even be that if Holland can't flip the age factor while keeping the talent and production relatively linear. Which would be impressive and awe inspiring if you ask me. It also doesn't help that we haven't done much of anything in the playoffs recently despite getting there against beatable teams. I would have more confidence if I thought Detroit was still THE place to be when it came to FA's. I think they look now and see a team declining unfortunately.

Yes, and the immense degree to which connections to their home states are important to hockey players is why Ryan Kesler, David Booth, and David Legwand all decided to play for the Red Wings. Excellent.

You find the most absurd ways to justify pessimism. Many people here find silly reasons to sing the blues, but you're one of the worst I've seen.

I'm not trying to be pessimistic but since someone brought it up I commented on it. Should I not comment just because you don't like it and don't want to hear it? No, I think i'll be the one who decides what I post.

Who here would do a sign and trade of Hudler for Parise's rights?

I would. But I seriously doubt it would ever happen.

With all of the talks of him signing with the wings i keep thinking of This Article. Hopefully he comes to Detroit.

There's talk of him going to a lot of teams. It's going to be a challenge to make him a wing.

Dude your either living in fantasy land or NHL12 lol....The Wings are a dignified, respectable, classy organization. And we got that way by letting our players retire as wings. We dont get nothing for that either...players like nick give us 20+ years of dedicated loyal service. What more do you want man!?!?!? and so will players like datsyuk and zetterberg and so on. They are not common whores that get traded away as soon as they turn 35.... They are Wings. They were born Wings and they will die Wings....Even at their ripe old ages they play a 360 degree game that most "proving themselves up and coming players" will never ever achieve or even dream of. We are one of the most respected and successful organizations in all of sports because we DONT do what you are talking about. Theres a reason why in the players poll the majority of players voted that the organization theyd most like to play for is Detroit...we turn boys into legends...put rings on their fingers...then retire them and give em a job behind the scenes...its been workin since 97 and we aint changin it now....remeber 2001, 2003, and 2006? OH NOOOO BLOW UP THE TEAM!!!!! WELL NEVER WIN AGAIN WITH THESE SHMUCKS!!!! (championship in 2002 and 2008).......if ur really so worried about our Vets (not sure ive ever been worried about veteran wings) and our future, then see: Smith, Nyquist, Tatar, Jurco, Jarnkrok, Sheahan, Mrazek, Andersson, Pulkkinen, Ouellet, Sproul, Tvrdon, Ferraro, Quine, Callahan, Marchenko.....need i say more? our farm is stacked and were almost ready to harvest again....no need to aquire the up and coming leinos and semins of the world. Hockey is different then NHL12 friend.

at this point id like to reiterate a previous posters statement....soooooo glad kenny is running this team

This made me LOL.

Hopefully Ken Holland will trade for Parise's rights so we could try and lock him up before July 1. I think Parise is the most important player we need to try and get this offseason. I see a lot of people saying that Suter is but realistically there are players who are comparable to Suter. Wideman, Garrison, and Carle all come to mind. Parise is just that much better than the other UFA forwards. My biggest fear is that we either go with the same old group or sign guys who are half as talented. The Central is too tough to continue with retreads who are older. My last alternative to the defensemen I named would be Filip Kuba. But if we end up with him then we'll know that the wings aren't the #1 destination for these guys anymore.

That could happen if it gets to a point where NJ realizes he's not going to resign. My guess though is that NJ won't trade his rights.

for the games i watched jurco wasn't on that line - only cause huberdeau is out. he played with gauthier, who is also good but still. regardless, jarnkrok is the same height as zetterberg and datsyuk so you can stop overblowing that and he has time to put on a good 15 pounds. He is playing over nyquist at the WC and is 4th in scoring in the SEL at age 20.

He's got a good portion of his playoff points on a line with those two. I think he plays with them occasionally and Huberdeau occasionally. His height is okay. But he NEEDS to add more weight, he'll get pushed off the puck so easily by the average NHL defenseman because he's so lanky. But then you have to worry about him possibly losing a step as far as skating ability goes and/or the possibility that his already questionable work-ethic gets worse. He's also got to become more of a student of the game. His hockey sense on the ice is less than admirable as well; every once in a while i'll see him trying to play Pavel Datsyuk and dangle into the zone and then lose the puck resulting in an odd man rush the other way. His defensive game could use a little work but that's the least of his worries really. That will improve a lot with more coaching and just learning better positioning. He does posses some pretty nice hands and good on ice vision. But he has A LOT of work to do before he'll be making any kind of positive impact to an NHL team.

I understand people wanting Nashville to lose after they knocked us out, but them being dispatched so easily by Phoenix only make us look worse.

Sproul and Ouellet are as close as stud dman in the making as you can find outside of the top 10 picks in the draft. Both have size and put up great offensive numbers. I'd bet both of these guys will crack the top 6 within the next 4-5 years.

To think that Jarnkrok and Jurco don't belong in the same sentence as pulks and tatar is crazy. Jarnkrok is for sure considered more of a sure thing than pulks and Jurco already has the size and skill to play in the nhl but needs time to develop properly into a top 6 player. Sheahan is iffy for me. Not sure if he will develop into a top 6 player just because he doesn't have the scoring touch i'd expect at the collegiate level (not enough games in AHL yet to see).

I don't buy into Jarnkrok being a top prospect. I think he is a second line center at best in the NHL and probably a third liner with decent offensive skills. He's definitely more of a  playmaker. He's a little bit undersized and I just have a hunch that he will be a 3rd liner in the NHL. If he surprises me he could be a second liner. Jurco is playing in the Q with Saint John on a line with Coyle and Phillips (usually) and those two are putting up ridiculous numbers (Coyle: 15-17 in 15 games, Phillips: 8-21 in 15) but Jurco only has 10-12 in 14 (playoff stats only here). Obviously those aren't bad numbers but we all know numbers in the Q are inflated a little and I would argue that if Jurco wasn't playing with such high end talent his numbers wouldn't be nearly as high. That being said he is a good player but still probable a second liner in the NHL.

Knocks on him for me is showing a consistent effort and hockey sense