Where do Holland & Co. go from here?
It’s not often the Detroit Red Wings get left at the altar, but that is what happened today when defenseman
Ryan Suter decided to join fellow American
Zach Parise and take their talents to Minneapolis-St. Paul to play for the Minnesota Wild.
In the end, criticism of the Red Wing management group should be minimal. Although they came up short, not sure there was much more they could do when their reported contract offer was $90 million over 13 years for Suter.
At the end of the day, family won out in determining where these two players wanted to play the likely remainder of their careers.
"His wife is from Minny. Grandparents are nearby. We lost out to family. Can't beat family." – Ken Holland on losing their pursuit of Suter.
So what now?
The biggest issue facing the Red Wings all summer whether it be free agency or in trade talk is that everyone knows they are desperate for help on the blueline and looking to acquire a top six forward.
Unrestricted free agent players and their agents know it.
Opposing GM’s that Holland may try to swing a deal know it.
Losing out on Suter makes Holland’s job that much more difficult, as he will have to continue to deal with people trying to maximize their return due to his apparent desperation to fill his team's needs as quickly as possible.
The Wings likely have already begun putting Plan B into action following the announcement late this morning about Suter and Parise to Minny. There preference has always been to add players via free agency in order to preserve their own young assets/talent. However, as time keeps going, that might not be a luxury Ken Holland can maintain as his
modus operandi.
On the blueline, speculation is they have moved their interest towards UFA defenseman
Matt Carle of Philadelphia. However, aside from Carle, there is a bit of a drop-off in rearguards available through free agency.
Michal Rozsival,
Pavel Kubina,
Carlo Colaiacovo and
Matt Gilroy are among some of the options, but none of those names are considered a top pairing defender. Regardless, I would think Holland would prefer not to pay Carle more than what
Niklas Kronwall just signed a contract extension for at an average of $4.75 million per season. Unfortunately for the Wings, I’m not sure that will be enough to sway Carle to leave the Flyers, who have already expressed significant interest in keeping Carle in Philly.
Up front, although the Wings have been mentioned as a contender once again in acquiring
Rick Nash, I have a hard time envisioning Holland parting with talent such as
Brendan Smith,
Gustav Nyquist and other young prospects (i.e.
Calle Jarnkrok) in a package for Nash.
Smith in particular is not going anywhere given Detroit's recent losses on the blueline. Nevertheless, let’s entertain a possible scenario where Holland does offer up some young talent. Would Holland part with
Johan Franzen, Nyquist,
Tomas Jurco and a 1st round draft pick?
Is that even enough to woo Scott Howson, GM of the Bluejackets? Given everything we have heard about Howson’s substantial asking price, I’m doubtful that’s even enough to get a deal done. Tough to imagine Columbus wanting Franzen’s 8 remaining years on his contract. Detroit’s other forward that seems to be a viable trade asset is
Valteri Filppula. However, given the fact Filppula can become an unrestricted free agent himself next summer, I can’t envision him being the centerpiece of any trade package involving Nash.
In free agency, the name Wing fans have always been enamored with for years is Phoenix forward
Shane Doan. I expect the Wings to make a push for Doan’s services, however the feeling most observers have is that his preference is to stay out West, even if he doesn’t remain with Phoenix.
Pierre LeBrun has reported that the Los Angeles Kings would have substantial interest in Doan and I could envision the Kings being a more ideal fit for Doan and his family than Detroit.
The only other big name forward remaining in free agency would be the enigmatic
Alexander Semin. Speculation is that he has been in discussions with teams in the KHL but he has been forthright in suggesting he would love to play with
Pavel Datsyuk following their time together at this year’s World Championships. Given Datsyuk has two years remaining on his contract, do the Wings sell Semin on playing with his Russian “comrade” and sign a 2 year deal in Detroit? Then again, it could be tough to get him at a discount if other NHL teams like Chicago throw out a longer term and/or money.
The bottom line with Semin is although he doesn’t fit the mold of a “Mike Babcock player”, there is no denying Babcock has been harping for over a year now that he feels his team needs a bonafide goal scorer to play alongside Datsyuk.
After that, Holland’s options appear to be limited to potential trades. Names that have been mentioned as possible forwards that could be acquired in addition to Nash include
Bobby Ryan of Anaheim and
Evander Kane from Winnipeg. On the blueline, I
wrote last week in a blog some of the trade options Detroit might have in acquiring a rearguard.
Needless to say, Ken Holland’s nightmare summer which began on May 31st when Nicklas Lidstrom decided to retire appears to be continuing. In the end, I believe Detroit will have no choice but to part with some of their youth/prospects in order to take advantage of the closing window of prime years left for their top players
Pavel Datsyuk and
Henrik Zetterberg.
Stay tuned!
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