Detroit Red Wings

Speaking of inspired.

I've been waiting for Dan Boyle to be acquired and signed by the wings for a while. I'm almost surprised Kenny hasn't offered a conditional pick for his rights. He's the best fit out there imo, and the wings can afford to carry some dead capspace right now and next year. His role will be reduced and the young dmen need somebody to teach them a thing or three on the ice because Kronwall isn't the same type of dman. The downside is that Boyle will probably want 3 years or 2 really big ones.

I mention this because it appears the Wings talked to Niskanen and Boyle:
http://www.mlive.com/redwings/index.ssf/2014/06/red_wings_will_have_face-to-fa.html

I think Niskanen will always look pretty good on paper but I fear the results will always be lacking a little bit. I don't like him that much. I believe somebody will give him 6 or 7 years and an NTC so I would imagine Kenny will lose a bidding war unless he trades for his rights.

 

Dreger just mentioned a little while ago that the Wings are interested in Yandle and Myers. Yandle makes alot of sense but I'm not sure Maloney is going to take anything other than players Kenny wants to keep. I think Kenny, among many gms, have been knocking on Maloney's door asking about some of his dmen. Myers seems far more attainable. Where's Dan to chime in on this?

 

First, any player on last year's Sabres roster, (other than Girgensons), is attainable. Buffalo has two d-men that should be particularly appealing; Christian Ehrhoff and Tyler Myers.
Ehrhoff turns 32 on July 6th and has a salary hit of $4MM through 20-21; he also has a NMC. I am sure there are several teams that he'd approve a trade to, however Buffalo would take a huge risk because if he were to retire before the end of the contract they'd take a $10MM recapture hit. He is well-established and is well below market value, (neither of which are particularly valuable to Buffalo at this time, but make him a great trade target). I doubt Buffalo moves him.
Myers turned 24 on Feb. 1st. At $5.5MM through 18-19 he's been overpaid based on his production, but he's been playing for Buffalo, and how many >25 y.o. blueliners really are great? He has the Calder on his shelf, and he represents a big risk for Buffalo too, since he [del]could[/del] is likely to start to play up to his billing/potential. Especially with a divisional foe, that's got to give Tim Murray pause. Oh yeah, he's a very big man, and he played much better under Nolan. (He also has a NMC but that does not kick in until next year.)

Buffalo's defensive pipeline is probably the best in the league; at least Hockey's Future thinks it is. The team is going to have to trade one or more of them down the line from a position of strength; the question is when do they pull the trigger?

Things will get very interesting if Ekblad is taken #2. That would likely accelerate the process and we could see one moved on draft day. Buffalo covets more first round picks and they want big wingers; there are a few in the middle of the round. They are also willing to take on a bad contract, so I do not think fitting Myers under any team's cap will be a challenge.

I like Myers potential a lot; I am less enamored with his present. He's going to cost a lot, but after all this, I agree with Bob that he is one of the more attainable d-men. Detroit has a very solid pipeline, and if they throw some of those names into the discussion I could see this happening.

Ring - there you have it.

 

Bottom line...you get what you pay for...usually. Holland is on record as stating he wants a top 4 d-man in Detroit. He must be willing to throw in some names this year that last year or the season before they were definitely off limits. I dont see any other way to get a top 4. Is there another route they can go?

 

In part from Ansar Khan, mlive...

Sounds more and more like the Wings are going to continue right where they are at. With just about everybody on another teams shopping list being an untouchable when it comes to Red Wings, I dont see much happening. It doesnt look like Holland wants to bend. Maybe its a chess game right now, but what did he think he would get if he doesnt move a piece or two?

 

Red Wings select Michigan-bound center Dylan Larkin with first pick, 15th overall, in NHL entry draft. Larkin (6-1, 190) had 56 points in 60 games for the U.S. National Team Development Program.



Red Wings select center Dominic Turgeon after moving up in third round of entry draft. Turgeon's dad, Pierre, played 19 seasons in the NHL.



Red Wings take center Christopher Ehn from Sweden in fourth round of NHL entry draft. Ehn played for the Frolunda Juniors in Sweden and was ranked No. 89 among European skaters who were draft eligible, according to NHL Central Scouting.

Detroit Red Wings take goalie Chase Perry, winger Julius Vahatalo in rounds 5-6 of draft. NHL Central Scouting rated Perry, of the NAHL's Wenatchee Wild, the eighth-best North American goalie available in the draft. Vahatalo is a native of Finland.

Red Wings use final two picks in NHL draft on forwards Axel Holmstrom, Alexander Kadeykin. Holmstrom is no relation to former Red Wings great Tomas Holmstrom but he is a fellow Swede while Kadeykin is from Russia.

(info from mlive)

 

I thought the Wings blew an opportunity here to get bigger up front and take Alex Tuch. Have him paired up w/ Mantha in a few years and you guys are the team on the right side of bullying on the ice.

 

He would have been a great pick-up if it worked out that way. Everything Ive read about him and seen on video, he looks to be very solid. He's one of the types I wish there were more of on the Wings. I dont think guy's like him get handled in the crease to easily. He's just too strong and knows how to use his reach and strength at an advantage. Scary thing also, he's still developing and the sky is probably the limit for a player with his potential.

 

Jim Devellano talks about the draft

[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gWmVXtfwJRw[/video]

 

If any one looked like they should be a priest, its father Jim. BTW...Jimmy and I are both observers, only I dont get paid like Jim.

Does this mean I'm seeing them back in Toledo?

 

I hope Cutter is okay.

 

Wings not up to much out of the gate in getting a R shooting dman.

Appears Boyle wasn't an option.
Niskanen was a ridiculous contract.
TB outspent to land Stralman.

Since Holland was willing to give Quincey so much for two years, I think he's earned some second guessing.

Not much he could do about that either. Not sure he was going to outbid Col anyway.

 

The reply forum on mlive blew up during the draft. Everybody was Holland bashing. It was insane and intense, not very pleasant.

The latest scuttlebutt now is that the bruins have too many defensemen in which maybe they should try to lure a Boychuk over via a trade. In my opinion their not going to obtain much because their just too unwilling to part with anybody that most teams are interested in. I'm wondering how they approach this. Is it desperation and imperative they trade away a so called keeper or do they just stand pat and claim the youth movement? Either way Kenny is going to catch hell. But like you implied...you cant put a gun to these guy's heads and make them play in Detroit.

I myself was very disappointed yesterday. Kinda had high hopes. There still might be a trade tho.

 

This adds to the discussion:
http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nhl-p...tml?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter
Basically it says two major points, players have more good options unlike before and they're not one of the top contenders. A big shock to everybody I'm sure.

The author mentions Babcock, I agree he's part of some of the problems but I can't pinpoint it. He might be too big for the organization.

 

lol. not me, not anymore. I believe they have some serious hurdles and may have dug some sort of deep dark hole they will have to climb out of and it might be a slow process. Its kinda strange that someone would give up 3.5 million to play elsewhere. I concede the Rangers have a better shot at a Cup, but is it 3.5 worth of a difference?

Winning is the best cure-all and the Wings have done nothing but struggle to even make the playoffs the last few years. I suspect if they were dominating like the Bruins we wouldnt even be having this conversation. The Wings would be turning players away.

 

I still think it's a little early to draw many hard conclusions but I do agree that Detroit doesn't really stand out like they used to. They didn't have to compete with 10 of the markets they do now either (TB, CHI, Min, STL, Pit, etc.)

I do think Babcock is a problem in some regards. He's not the best fit for everyplayer (like every coach evar) and everybody knows him now. Since they're not a top contender, it's possible he's become too big for the franchise and could be keeping some UFAs from looking at Detroit as a good option for them.

Another major issue I see is the need for a philosophical change in development and pool management. The CBA shortened the timeline for FA status, and there has to be a significant shift in development strategy because of it or else you lose more Almquists (possibly Jarnkrok). Holding them back (spoken as over-ripening) isn't going to work like it has in the past on the scale that it has.

I'm only talking about the bad, the good still outweighs the negative and they're still a good franchise. There is a really good opportunity this offseason to build a contender for 15'. Some trading windows are starting to close. Fortunately for Detroit and relatively speaking, I don't think anybody in the division has become more than marginally stronger compared to last year.

 

Reasons why Kenny is still better than many alternatives in my opinon.
http://www.mlive.com/redwings/index...roit-redwings+(Detroit+Red+Wings+-+MLive.com)

Agents and players trust the organization at their word in my opinion. While it carried more weight when the league was much weaker, it still means that agents and players believe what management tells them. All parties have a mutual understanding of the situation and realize the benefit in avoiding all the garbage that goes along with a hearing.

In some years when the cap is tighter, we might see wings file for arbitration but that's only because their compensation would be penalized because of the cap more so than because of ownership/management trying to nickel and dime them. This scenario, when the players opt out of filing for arbitration, is much more telling to me. I wouldn't gaurantee it, just a general rule.

I would also guess that DeKeyser is going to get longer contract than he would if he filed for arbitration.

 

Agreed. Too many other options on the table these day's. What do you envision them possibly doing that would be different and beneficial? They seem to bring up quite a nice amount of stock as it is...so, how do they handle that? They certainly dont want to depreciate the skill level of players they have, but at the same time, they and other teams, dont want every impatient prospect headed to a rival or Europe. Maybe its a problem, but a nice one to have and they probably arnt exclusive in this regard either.

Interesting and a good thing. DeKeyser, in my opinion knows with the defensive depth in Detroit and the fortunate position he is in, he stands to make a very comfortable living. I think your right too, a big contract in length should be coming.