| 30 June 2010
From the Free Press early this morning...
“We’ll see if we can find some people who are looking for an opportunity. There are two kinds of free agency: July 1, when you see the higher-profile agents, and then August. We’re looking for the players who are still sitting out there in August.”--Kenny Holland
So don't expect Detroit to make much (if any) noise when Free Agency begins tomorrow. Kenny likes the core of our team...and so should you. Hell, if the stupid refs hadn't called 18 penalties against Detroit in Games 1 and 2 of the San Jose series...who knows where we'd be?
Don't be hasty, says Kenny...this is the machine:
"The biggest thing is, we’ve got people signed that we think fit into what we’re trying to do. I know some people are anxious for change, but just since ’07, we’ve got six or seven players that are new. We’re trying to win, we’re trying to compete every year, but at the same time, we’ve got guys on the edge of our team who we’re developing into having bigger roles. Darren Helm has come in for us, and we’ve liked his development. Same with Abby. They’ve been able to take some of the minutes off our big guys."
Even without signing Free Agent 1...we already have some serious fire power up front:
Holmstrom-Datsyuk-Zetterberg
Bertuzzi-Filppula-Franzen
Hudler-(Abdelkader?)-Cleary
Draper-(Helm?)-(Eaves?)
Hudler and Cleary would be at least second line on a good number of teams in this league. Of course...Hudler could start on the second line for this team...we'll just have to see if DetKhan(!)19/Garth or Twig is right on the Hudler/Bertuzzi debate.
And even without signing Free Agent 1...we already have the best top 4 defensive corps in the league:
Lidstrom-Rafalski
Kronwall-Stuart
Ericsson-Kindl
I'd be fairly comfortable putting that six on the ice...but the idea of bringing in a cheap, veteran defenseman to shore of the third pairing is also attractive.
Oh and we also still have the REAL rookie of the year from last season (you know...the best player during his rookie season - not the rookie who wow-ed people the quickest and happens to be 6 years younger than the REAL rookie of the year).
So relax, people. Kenny is working...and he is the best in the world at what he does. It's the same reason that we don't need to tank for years and years and years to get high draft picks in order to ice a quality product. We have the best front office around, and they will take care of us.
In Kenny We Trust.
