2019 Red Wings Off Season Thread

[Mr.TaterSalad 308]

Discuss the Red Wings Off Season here.

[Mr.TaterSalad 308]

Let the Yzerman watch begin!

[Euphdude 920]

37 minutes ago, Mr.TaterSalad said:

Let the Yzerman watch begin!

Prepare to be disappointed once again. 👍

[Mr.TaterSalad 308]

1 minute ago, Euphdude said:

Prepare to be disappointed once again. 👍

Oh I'm already prepared for him to go to New York and for Kenny to not take the Seattle job.

[lordstanley 530]

Does not winning the rights to Hughes or Kakko make it more or less likely the Wings make a push for Karlsson? I'd say less likely.

I think if the Wings would have been drafting #1 or #2 this season, they'd have then started to win/make the playoffs as soon as possible.

[Buddha 658]

5 hours ago, lordstanley said:

Does not winning the rights to Hughes or Kakko make it more or less likely the Wings make a push for Karlsson? I'd say less likely.

I think if the Wings would have been drafting #1 or #2 this season, they'd have then started to win/make the playoffs as soon as possible.

Does it make it more likely that the Wings will trade the pick for a stud defenseman?  Then go after Karlsson to pair with him...

[Buddha 658]

i feel really positive about the wings' future...and then i take a look at their salary cap situation and it turns me into a tater apologist.

seriously looks like theyre going to be hamstrung for at least one more year.  and i dont think abdelkader leaves until 2045.

[Mr. Bigglesworth 2,661]

Abdelkader, Neilsen contracts are brutal.  Helm and Bernier aren't much better.

DDK could turn into a pumpkin as well.

But yeah, they start clearing money the next few seasons.

[lordstanley 530]

18 minutes ago, Mr. Bigglesworth said:

Abdelkader, Neilsen contracts are brutal.  Helm and Bernier aren't much better.

DDK could turn into a pumpkin as well.

But yeah, they start clearing money the next few seasons.

Abdelkader contract has to be one of the worst in the league.

Neilsen contract I also hate, I've always thought of it as the Wings' equivalent of the Zimmerman signing - wrong player, wrong time, and has underperformed to boot.

I don't want either Abby or Neilsen playing on the term regardless of how much $ or for how long.

At least with Helm and Bernier, only a couple of more years so shouldn't prevent the Wings from doing anything they want to do. If Helm was making $2mm instead of $4mm and Bernier was making $1.5mm instead of $3.0mm, I'd have been fine with both of them having bit roles on the team.

And given the Wings' lack of depth, I can live with DeKeyser, although surely Holland should have been able to negotiate a lower $ amount and shorter term.

[Mr.TaterSalad 308]

1 hour ago, Buddha said:

i feel really positive about the wings' future...and then i take a look at their salary cap situation and it turns me into a tater apologist.

seriously looks like theyre going to be hamstrung for at least one more year.  and i dont think abdelkader leaves until 2045.

I'm as big a Kenny hater as they come. I've been willing to give him credit for draft picks made in the past and will continue to do so. However, he has built a team, now and in the past, with a pre-cap era mentality. When Kenny gave out bad contracts prior to the lockout and salary cap no one minded because you could make up for a bad move with a good move. It all evened out. Obviously with a rigid salary cap you cannot do that. Compounding the problem is the fact that he hasn't learned from prior mistakes and he is overly loyal to his own players.

[Buddha 658]

4 hours ago, Mr. Bigglesworth said:

Abdelkader, Neilsen contracts are brutal.  Helm and Bernier aren't much better.

DDK could turn into a pumpkin as well.

But yeah, they start clearing money the next few seasons.

isnt dekyser already kind of a pumpkin?  and $5 million?

[Buddha 658]

i havent followed the wings closely in a while, so when i looked at their cap the other night and saw nielsen's contract i couldnt believe it.  i thought there had to be an out somewhere, right?  right?

[Euphdude 920]

DDK and Abdelkader are the two grade A **** contracts. Neilsen’s contract is a close second. 

[Mr. Bigglesworth 2,661]

DDK actually plays big minutes.

Though I suppose that has more to do with the state of the defense.

I guess my point is paying the money to broken down forwards on a team relatively awash with younger, cheaper, and better forwards is more glaring in my opinion.

[Gehringer_2 2,055]

45 minutes ago, Mr. Bigglesworth said:

DDK actually plays big minutes.

I thought it notable that at the end of the season Hronek and even Bowey were sometimes logging as much ice time as DDK, but I agree, at least DDK still has a major playing presence even his level of play is less than all-star. You wouldn't even notice Abdelkader was on the team most of this season without the roster in front of you.

[Mr. Bigglesworth 2,661]

Abdelkader was a healthy scratch down the stretch a number of times.

[LooseGoose 472]

I'm sure this is what many of you are using but this is a nicely arranged summary.

Detroit Red Wings Active Financial Summary

 

 

[Buddha 658]

But what can they do with Abdelkader, Nielsen, and Helm?  Like Biggs said, they have a lot of young forwards to play and those three are signed for years at ridiculous numbers.  At least Dekyser plays (albeit not very well) and they don't have much to young talent to compete with him.

With that cap sheet, I can't see them shelling out the kind of money it's going to take to get a top 2 defenseman this year.  We just need to hope that Hronek, Cholowski, and maybe Saarijarvi take leaps next year.  Other than that, next year is going to look a LOT like this year except they'll be a little bit better.  

That has to be their plan.  Next year will be another developmental year, then they can get some of Kenny's other stupid extensions off the books and spend some cash/have a better idea which young forwards they're going to extend and which ones are going to walk.  Sign a top 2 defenseman, maybe a goalie, and hope some of your young players are ready.

Then they fire Blashill after next season and bring in a seasoned head coach, trade a flair player for a grind it out solid defender, and put the finishing touches on a team ready to make the playoffs.

I wouldn't be surprised if they don't end up trading a pick to get rid of Abdelkader or Neilsen at some point.  

[84 Lives!!! 144]

On 4/12/2019 at 4:16 PM, lordstanley said:

... Neilsen contract I also hate, I've always thought of it as the Wings' equivalent of the Zimmerman signing - wrong player, wrong time, and has underperformed to boot...

That was the year they should have gone big or gone bust.

Couple of big name FA's that year... Either get them, or strip the team.

Holland picked the middle road (after losing out on the big names) and got Neilson & Vanek plus a couple others... trying to stretch the playoff run. I think Helm was extended that year too.

That's the year I hated Kenny's reluctance to start the rebuild. No other year compares... Huge pisser of a year.

[kdog 195]

Tampa about to fall in huge upset to CBus. Does the Yzerman sweepstakes have to wait until july?

[lordstanley 530]

2 hours ago, kdog said:

Tampa about to fall in huge upset to CBus. Does the Yzerman sweepstakes have to wait until july?

The Wings may wish to re-consider their pursuit of Yzerman. Who wants a guy who constructs a team to get swept in the 1st round, lol.

[Gehringer_2 2,055]

5 minutes ago, lordstanley said:

The Wings may wish to re-consider their pursuit of Yzerman. Who wants a guy who constructs a team to get swept in the 1st round, lol.

IIRC Holland managed that in 2003 so it would be nothing new!

[Motor City Sonics 780]

Wow,  TB about to get swept..........

[Motor City Sonics 780]

2 hours ago, kdog said:

Tampa about to fall in huge upset to CBus. Does the Yzerman sweepstakes have to wait until july?

Did Ken Holland wait too long to rebuild or was he told not to rebuild by Mr. I?  It's a fair question.   I have blasted him recently but I think he's drafted very well now - and maybe you can blame that on taking advantage on the folly of several other teams, but that is part of the job too.    It's a tough call now.  A year or two years ago I thought he should have been fired.  Now I think he's doing a really good job.   With cap space to play with it will be interesting to see who he might land in free agency.  They need 2 defenseman - at least

 

[Buddha 658]

3 hours ago, Motor City Sonics said:

Did Ken Holland wait too long to rebuild or was he told not to rebuild by Mr. I?  It's a fair question.   I have blasted him recently but I think he's drafted very well now - and maybe you can blame that on taking advantage on the folly of several other teams, but that is part of the job too.    It's a tough call now.  A year or two years ago I thought he should have been fired.  Now I think he's doing a really good job.   With cap space to play with it will be interesting to see who he might land in free agency.  They need 2 defenseman - at least

 

what cap space to play with?