Sitting Pretty?
Lots of action over the last few days at the draft. Staal gets sent to Carolina to play alongside his brother, Ribero becomes a Cap, the Penguins shed more salary by shipping Michalek back to the Coyotes, Visnovsky disappears into the abys that is Uniondale, and "The Monster" gets his rights traded to the Jets for a conditional 7th rounder in 2013.
Click the jump for a little venting
My fear now is that Pittsburgh has set their sights on Zach Parise or Ryan Suter with all the extra cap space they have (14+ Million per Capgeek). Why is that a fear? Well, The Penguins have Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin which make them perennial contenders. They are the first team with a legitimate shot at winning the cup that have entered the mix.
Minnesota, Dallas, Nashville and Carolina really aren't close and can only offer the money portion. New York and Philly can offer contention, but have little space to work with cap wise.
The only thing as enticing as getting to play with Datsyuk and Zetterberg while competing for the cup year after year would be to play alongside Crosby and Malkin while competing for the cup year after year even if you can stomach Crosby and all the crying he does.
Come on Kenny make it happen, you sat back the last two days and let Gustavsson's rights slip away for what is essentially nothing in a conditional 7th rounder (even though you would probably turn that pick into the next Datsyuk). I feel like you are letting the aura of the Red Wings get to your head. No one lined up to give you things at the trade deadline, and no one is going to come knocking on your door to help you out right now. Make $#!% happen.
Many of you probably don't agree that Gustavsson is worth it, but I for one think that he would have been the best backup available for Jimmy and that Bedard and Ozzie could have nurtured him. Now he will most likely waste away in Winnipeg or possibly even have a breakout year.
Kenny. You better be on Red Bird I with Nill and whoever else on Red Bird II landing those planes in Suter and Parise's driveways at 11:55 am July 1st with truckloads of money, because if you sit back and let them sign elsewhere while settling for bringing Hudler back at 5 mil per for the next 4 years saying that the prices were just too high then fans will bring out the torches and ill lead the way.
LGRW
"Many of you probably don't agree that Gustavsson is worth it, but I for one think that he would have been the best backup available for Jimmy and that Bedard and Ozzie could have nurtured him."
Gustavsson would (and still could) make a fine back up for Jimmy, but to be focused on the potential back up, and to even consider giving up a draft pick for your potential back up would be ridiculous and wrongheaded when what Holland REALLY needs to be doing is firming up his plans for July 1st and making calls to other teams inquiring about backup plans should he need to make a trade for his top-six forward or top-pairing defenseman.
Winnipeg did not trade for Gustavsson because they want him as a backup, they traded for him so that if they can not re-sign Pavelec they have a back up plan and can trade Pavelev's rights or at the very least so that they can show Pavelec that they are not scared of being unable to re-sign him.
"you sat back the last two days and let Gustavsson's rights slip away for what is essentially nothing in a conditional 7th rounder"
There are plenty of UFA backups available. There is not need at all to worry about Gustavsson. Besides, trading for his rights isn't the same thing as signing him.
I'm glad that he hasn't paid any attention to the backup situation, because that is way down on the list of needs, which are approximately as follows:
1) Top pairing defenseman & Top six forward
2) Top pairing defenseman & Top six forward
3) Top pairing defenseman & Top six forward
4) Top pairing defenseman & Top six forward
5) Top four defenseman/Quincey
6) Veteran bottom-six forward
7) Back up goalie
8) Abdelkader
@garth I'm not saying he should worry about a backup I'm just stating my frustrations at what looks like he is just sitting around and waitin for handouts or that he seems as if he thinks FAs will just line up to sign on the dotted line. I'm sure it's just a fear of losing out mixed with his lack of movement at the trade deadline, but I'm scared shitless for 7/1. In Kenny we trust, but if he doesn't vastly improve this team it's going to be hard to back him. Kenny could convince anyone to play for Detroit when there wasn't a cap, but now things are a bit different. He had a couple blockbuster signings in Hossa and Rafalski but other than that it's always a miss because the price was too high or he didn't make a trade because he didn't want to lose a roster player. I can't see my team loaded with a bunch of bottom six waiver exempt forwards that are undersized with minimal skill. Datsyuk, Zetterberg, Filppula, Franzen, Helm, Kronwall, Smith and possibly Nyquist are the guys that go untouched. All the rest I could care less. Cut them, trade them, buy them out. Just do whatever you need to make this team better
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@Jordan_Reis I just think it's way too early to be getting frustrated like that.
You're reacting as if it's July 5th and Detroit hasn't signed anyone. I mean seriously, what moves have been made that he should've made? Gustavsson? Honesly, who f*cking cares about the backup? JVR? What need would he be filling? Staal? What, we need another centre?
Suter's and Parise's rights aren't being traded, so everyone HAS to way till July 1st before they know who will be getting those two. And frankly, I'll be f*cking annoyed if Detroit goes out and makes a deal for a backup before addressing the real needs they have.
What SHOULD happen is Holland goes hard at Suter and Parise on the 1st. If he can't get them, or gets one but not the other, then he goes hard for his Plan B UFAs, then if need be he goes hard at the trade route.
Then, a week after July 1st, when he is lounging on a deck chair in the parking lot of the Joe, catching some rays, he realizes he forgot to get a backup, so he goes out and signs a decent backup.
To be complaining about what he hasn't done a week before he can even attempt to do what he wants to do is ridiculous.
Dude, I hope you don't have a heart attack before the 1st...
@Jordan_Reis Oh dude, if he can't get any of the FAs and fails at making trades then relies on "i like our team" I'll put my fist through a wall. But you can't really compare the Wings to the Kings. The Kings sucked for a long time and had the good young talent and potentially high draft picks to be able to pull of trades that Detroit could never do. They had the Brayden Schenns, Wayne Simmonds's, and Jack Johnsons to part with and the Drew Doughtys there to allow them to part with those guys. Because of the late-round nature of Detroit's draft picks for the past 20 years their prospects need seasoning before they've got real trade value and by then they're in their second or third year in the NHL.
And yeah, you say you're not complaining about what he isn't doing, but you wrote a blog post about his inactivity on the basis of the fact that he didn't give up a draft pick for a potential back up. And how exactly is giving up a draft pick for a back up "cheap" compared to waiting for the 1st and getting a backup for absolutely nothing? There are a good solid handful of available back ups, why is giving up ANYTHING for one a good move?
@garth It's not what he hasn't done in the last few days or weeks. It's the lack of urgency to improve this team over the last few years. The last big move he made was brining Hossa in and other than that hasn't done anything at the deadline, through free agency or trades since. He brought in Quincy which he didn't need to do. It was obvious that the team needed an edge and someone who could score. I am not complaining about what he isn't doing. I know that we weren't in on any of those deals and I know that it's not the 1st yet all I'm saying is he better not sit back. He has the money to one up everyone and if he pulls that "I like our team" or "the prices are too high" shit again I will have a heart attack. GMs have adapted and some aren't afraid to pull the trigger. Look how well it worked for LA. I know that the backup isn't a priority but if he is just sitting around waiting for the 1st and a cheap opportunity comes up like that pounce on it.
@garth I'd only have Abdelkader that look is if he wants a lot of money. He's worth around 1.1 right now.
@moorecha He's only that low because he's not a priority. He's an RFA and he's been qualified, so it will take an offer sheet to get him away from the Wings, and in order any team to even make Detroit blink they would have to offer him a lot. And frankly, the best thing for the Wings could be for him to go to arbitration, because there's not a lot of argument in support of him getting a big raise.
He's not going anywhere.
I was surprised about monster's rights, thought kh might have crosshairs on him. I think you're right about him expecting people to line up to deal with the wings. I guess everyone assumes the wings will be after Suter and Parise and therefore not interested in much else, but pretty surprised at the lack of activity so far. This July will be a big deal breaker for management for sure.
@Reddy Why are you surprised? Why waste energy and draft picks trying to get a frigging BACKUP when we know exactly what Detroit's targets are. As I type this we are still over a week away from the open of the free agency market.
Relax. Enjoy the beginning of summer, and if nothing happens by July 2nd, THEN let your blood pressure start to climb...
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I honestly do not think they can afford to target Suter or Parise for more than a Hossa style one year deal. OVer the next 3 years they have several contracts coming up that will require slight raises at the least and mega raises in the case of Letang. With the future of the CBA being unknown and rumors of owners wanting players to take a smaller percentage causing the Cap to go down, at least temporarily, signing either one long term could cause cap problems. I do not see either wanting to take a one year deal either. I could see them going after some of the medium or small fish available, but should not be in the market looking for the big two.
