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Wings win moves the needle, defensive market talk, and rate the pressure |
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Last night’s 8-3 win had market both the highest scoring and longest win streak in Yzerman’s tenure as GM in Detroit. It also made some impact on the standings. Detroit is within 2 points of Toronto (Leafs have a game in hand) for 3rd in the division and now 3 points ahead of Tampa with 2 games in hand. The gap outside of the wild card for Detroit grew as well as they now sit 8 points ahead of New Jersey and 9 ahead of Washington who are both battling to grab a post season slot. The irony is that it may take fewer points to grab 3rd in the Metro than a Wild Card spot.
So, the crowds are getting pretty rowdy at the Pizza Palace. Yes, chanting “we want the cup” is way off but it just looked like people having a good time after some rough sledding. This is probably the most fun and least pressure that will be had by the team and fans alike. Once expectations really set in across the board things get ugly. More on that in a bit.
For the defensive market, the amount of available candidates for trade seems to increase each day. Ivan Provorov is picking up steam in the rumor mill as well as a “Chycrun is more likely to move in the offseason” remark that usually means the bidding isn’t where the GM wants it to be but will probably close a deal soon.
Philadelphia is now a club looking for more defensive depth with the usual suspects in Toronto and Edmonton looking for top defenders but with little cap to work with. For Detroit fans, Philly may be the market that is the most interesting. IF the Flyers are looking for bodies out of need due to injury more teams are scrambling for the available names. I don’t want to see him go, but seeing Philly make an offer to Gostisbehere would make some sense. Some of the NHLPA are complaining that the late deadline is going to make it harder to “mesh” with new teammates so you may see market offers for players to return to their old clubs.
This gets to the final point, pressure. The Bally Sports crew have joked that they’re actually being asked by opposing fans and teams what has changed with this Detroit team. The pre season talk had Detroit a few steps behind Ottawa with the Metropolitan grabbing both of the wild card spots. Detroit’s positioning and scoring uptick is being met with frustration and consternation.
The Red Wings are rebuilding. Yzerman pretty much cleaned house. What in the world happened? An earlier surprise was last season with Walman climbing the ranks. Add Lyon’s performance and the addition of Debrincat and then Kane along with Sprong and Compher and the Forward group had a pretty nice overhaul along with the “3rd goalie” becoming the clear number 1. Add to that a really high shooting percentage and a room that seems to be more mature and full of confidence and you get a surprise in the standings.
In the meantime, there are teams who have a lot of pressure to find themselves in the finals. Toronto is an obvious top pick. Matthews and Nylander are going to add to the money committed to the forward core. I’ve only heard it mentioned once (and in pure speculation) that Nylander could be dangled for a dman before his no trade kicks in. Whatever moves Toronto would or could make is going to be under the microscope. Vegas and Colorado both look at the time frame of their window being open. Florida has closed the gap and sits in front of Boston after the Bruins had an unreal run at the beginning of the season. New York went all in last year and have high expectations. But, who is looking at this year’s post season as the “make or break” more than anyone? I’m going to let you make the list. Vancouver has Petterson’s extension in the cycle every day. Give me your top 3 clubs that, if they don’t make it to the finals the organization is going to shake things up.
As always, I look forward to the discussion in the comments!
Detroit Red Wings Blogger • 
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