SO the money earmarked for stamkos turned into nielsen,helm and vanek ?

Where is he gonna pull a superstar out of? His ass? lol
- HomestyleMelt

the draft. but the team is too busy finishing in 8th place and losing in the first round to do that. so yeah, nevermind

SO the money earmarked for stamkos turned into nielsen,helm and vanek ?
- GardinerExpress

hey u dont have to tell me. some of these wings fans are all for it though

whats the take on Tatar and Nyqvist? They seemed like to have a ton of potential but kind of disappeared last season.

hey u dont have to tell me. some of these wings fans are all for it though
- wingz4life

Why do you assume he was saying that was a bad thing lol. You want a superstar from the draft but they arent going to tank. So why complain about Holland and these moves. lol They will not tank...thats not what the organization wants

whats the take on Tatar and Nyqvist? They seemed like to have a ton of potential but kind of disappeared last season.
- sammy87

they get pushed around when the going gets tough. they are still relatively younger but im all for trading one of them away in a package for a defenseman.

they get pushed around when the going gets tough. they are still relatively younger but im all for trading one of them away in a package for a defenseman.
- wingz4life

Well we agree on that at least lol. Maybe Helm was a sign and trade. Or all these forwards are brought in so they cant trade some for Fowler or Trouba.

Why do you assume he was saying that was a bad thing lol. You want a superstar from the draft but they arent going to tank. So why complain about Holland and these moves. lol They will not tank...thats not what the organization wants
- HomestyleMelt

yeah you are right. I love the moves today. Nielsen you know hes great, hes 32 and we have him for 6 years, sweet. Vanek hes going to score 30 and Helm for another 5 years. Helm is fast so thats good.

Looking forward to another season with Ericsson, Smith and the rest of those STUDS back there on defense.

Well we agree on that at least lol. Maybe Helm was a sign and trade. Or all these forwards are brought in so they cant trade some for Fowler or Trouba.
- HomestyleMelt

Kenny? make a trade?

Kenny? make a trade?
- wingz4life

Then dont watch lol why watch if you dont like how our organization works and runs the team lol then why watch just to complain

Then dont watch lol why watch if you dont like how our organization works and runs the team lol then why watch just to complain
- HomestyleMelt

i have the right to complain.

#freetherookies.
Getting drafted by the wings is like walking on fire, first it seems like something you are pumped about, then comes the pain of spending most of your career in the ahl.

We need size , strength, oh and someone to that can score. All of which we have in nhl ready prospects for a much cheaper price.

whats the take on Tatar and Nyqvist? They seemed like to have a ton of potential but kind of disappeared last season.
- sammy87

Well, we hired this hotshot new coach who thought cutting their playing time by 2 minutes was a good idea. We have those min to abdelkader. Makes sense on a team that scored well the year before, then struggled this year, right? Ride our amazing d-men.

#freetherookies.
Getting drafted by the wings is like walking on fire, first it seems like something you are pumped about, then comes the pain of spending most of your career in the ahl.
- hockeyislife99

This too. I don't mind the Nielsen. Maybe the vanek. But at some point we need to open spots up. Can't tell me in 3 years a 35 year old Nielsen is better than a 24 year old AA (or Dominic turgeon? Not sure who'd be comparable). Or that jarnkrok kid....

Not surprised by the Nielsen signing. Datsyuk leaving created a void that needed to be addressed. Needed a center that could play top 6 minutes - not sure that Sheahan could fill that spot, and Larkin will likely stay on the wing again.
Little disappointed with the term tho, 3-4 years would've been better.

Vanek is a low risk option for one year. Was surprised by it tho, already so many other young forward options. Big body that doesn't skate especially well or play hard. Not hard to imagine it being a total failure, but if he produces it has potential to be a steal. Still, I'd probably prefer letting the kids play.

No issue with Ott. At least he brings some grit, which this team lacks, and he's a good faceoff/pk guy.

But right now there are way too many forwards. Roster right now is something like:

Abdelkader - Zetterberg - Larkin
Tatar - Nielsen - Vanek
Helm - Sheahan - Nyquist
Miller - Ott - Athanasiou
Jurco - Glendenning - Pulkkinen
Mantha

Kronwall - Green
DeKeyser - Marchenko
Smith - Ericsson
Ouellet

Mrazek/Howard

Gotta figure Holland is gonna do what he can to upgrade the D. As is, this is probably a bubble team again. Assuming the team can stay healthy (which it won't).

Not surprised by the Nielsen signing. Datsyuk leaving created a void that needed to be addressed. Needed a center that could play top 6 minutes - not sure that Sheahan could fill that spot, and Larkin will likely stay on the wing again.
Little disappointed with the term tho, 3-4 years would've been better.

Vanek is a low risk option for one year. Was surprised by it tho, already so many other young forward options. Big body that doesn't skate especially well or play hard. Not hard to imagine it being a total failure, but if he produces it has potential to be a steal. Still, I'd probably prefer letting the kids play.

No issue with Ott. At least he brings some grit, which this team lacks, and he's a good faceoff/pk guy.

But right now there are way too many forwards. Roster right now is something like:

Abdelkader - Zetterberg - Larkin
Tatar - Nielsen - Vanek
Helm - Sheahan - Nyquist
Miller - Ott - Athanasiou
Jurco - Glendenning - Pulkkinen
Mantha

Kronwall - Green
DeKeyser - Marchenko
Smith - Ericsson
Ouellet

Mrazek/Howard

Gotta figure Holland is gonna do what he can to upgrade the D. As is, this is probably a bubble team again. Assuming the team can stay healthy (which it won't).
- daredwingsman19

i agree. the forwards are OK i guess. if we can just get a guy like Shattenkirk that would seem to slot everyone in their proper spots. It would push one of Green/Kronwall down to the second unit and then that means less minutes for Ericsson and Smith which is always

It’s easy to get up in arms about the length of the deal, until you look around and see that’s what everyone was getting, and if you wanted to play the game, you had to ante up.

-Duffer

This line of thinking infuriates me.

"Everybody else was doing it" is not, has never been, and never will be a reasonable justification for signing a stupid FA deal. If other teams want to give Helm $20 million over 5 years, let them. Good teams don't panic and overpay because they're scared they might leave with nothing. If the market prices aren't reasonable, then have the discipline to sit it out and wait for a better opportunity at another time.

The Helm deal is straight up brutal, which makes me sad because I genuinely like Darren Helm and would have considered bring him back on a reasonable deal. But both the money and term are indefensible.

Nielsen -- I think he's a good, very underrated all-situation 2C (a "Red Wing mold" player, if you will) and $5.25 million is totally reasonable for the player he is today. Problem is that he's 32 and that sucker goes on for another six years. To me it seems like a repeat of the Kronwall deal -- it looks like a fair price or even a bargain for a year or two, but it's almost certainly gonna reek by the end.

Vanek seems like the wrong risk at the wrong time. In different circumstances I wouldn't object too terribly much to a 1-year gamble on a guy who was close to a point-per-game player not all that long ago, but it's a puzzling move considering the logjam we already have at forward. At this stage of his career even a rebounding Vanek is a one-trick pony -- a PP weapon who sucks wind in defensive situations. If he reclaims the scoring touch he had pre-Minny the gamble could pay off, but he's a liability outside of sheltered minutes, there's no guarantee he'll be good enough to justify those sheltered top six deployments, and at $2.6 million he can't be buried if it turns out he sucks.

Ott, don't get me started. If he gets banished straight to GR and never returns I'll forgive Ken for this one. If not and we're seeing Ott, Glenny, Miller, and Helm pulling down 1/3 of the regular forward slots while Jurco, Pulkkinen, Mantha, and AA get stuck in the minors or the press box, well, it's not going to be good for my blood pressure.

There was an opportunity here to let some UFAs go and make room for the kids. Give Mantha a shot. Give AA a shot. Pick one of Jurco or Pulkkinen (if you can't find room for both) and give him a shot. Four guys up front -- Datsyuk, Richards, Helm, and Miller -- were coming off the books. Seems like the smart money was to go big after one, maybe two guys on Day 1, then pick up a couple of buryable bargain vets later in the offseason as insurance in case the kids weren't ready or a few guys got hurt.

Instead, they resigned BOTH Miller AND Helm, then brought in two multi-million vets, PLUS added Ott for good measure. They made the logjam even worse than it already was to begin with! And nobody under the age of 24 besides Dylan Larkin ever gets to play because apparently Ken Holland can't stand the thought of having fewer than 14 freaking veteran forwards ready to go at all times.

This line of thinking infuriates me.

"Everybody else was doing it" is not, has never been, and never will be a reasonable justification for signing a stupid FA deal. If other teams want to give Helm $20 million over 5 years, let them. Good teams don't panic and overpay because they're scared they might leave with nothing. If the market prices aren't reasonable, then have the discipline to sit it out and wait for a better opportunity at another time.

The Helm deal is straight up brutal, which makes me sad because I genuinely like Darren Helm and would have considered bring him back on a reasonable deal. But both the money and term are indefensible.

Nielsen -- I think he's a good, very underrated all-situation 2C (a "Red Wing mold" player, if you will) and $5.25 million is totally reasonable for the player he is today. Problem is that he's 32 and that sucker goes on for another six years. To me it seems like a repeat of the Kronwall deal -- it looks like a fair price or even a bargain for a year or two, but it's almost certainly gonna reek by the end.

Vanek seems like the wrong risk at the wrong time. In different circumstances I wouldn't object too terribly much to a 1-year gamble on a guy who was close to a point-per-game player not all that long ago, but it's a puzzling move considering the logjam we already have at forward. At this stage of his career even a rebounding Vanek is a one-trick pony -- a PP weapon who sucks wind in defensive situations. If he reclaims the scoring touch he had pre-Minny the gamble could pay off, but he's a liability outside of sheltered minutes, there's no guarantee he'll be good enough to justify those sheltered top six deployments, and at $2.6 million he can't be buried if it turns out he sucks.

Ott, don't get me started. If he gets banished straight to GR and never returns I'll forgive Ken for this one. If not and we're seeing Ott, Glenny, Miller, and Helm pulling down 1/3 of the regular forward slots while Jurco, Pulkkinen, Mantha, and AA get stuck in the minors or the press box, well, it's not going to be good for my blood pressure.

There was an opportunity here to let some UFAs go and make room for the kids. Give Mantha a shot. Give AA a shot. Pick one of Jurco or Pulkkinen (if you can't find room for both) and give him a shot. Four guys up front -- Datsyuk, Richards, Helm, and Miller -- were coming off the books. Seems like the smart money was to go big after one, maybe two guys on Day 1, then pick up a couple of buryable bargain vets later in the offseason as insurance in case the kids weren't ready or a few guys got hurt.

Instead, they resigned BOTH Miller AND Helm, then brought in two multi-million vets, PLUS added Ott for good measure. They made the logjam even worse than it already was to begin with! And nobody under the age of 24 besides Dylan Larkin ever gets to play because apparently Ken Holland can't stand the thought of having fewer than 14 freaking veteran forwards ready to go at all times.
- Sven22

I agree with this. Helm is the one that pisses me off the most though. No reason what so ever to give Helm that kind of money and term for what he does. Chimera or Grabner could have done the same for less money and term or they could have gone with the young guys and given them more ice time and roles. To me this also means get use to seeing Helm in the top 6 at that salary and term which really makes my skin crawl.

I can deal with the others even if I not that happy with the term on Nielsen. I'll wait and see what he looks like with the Wings.

Vanek I don't mind too much given it's one year but I hate the logjam it adds to for the young guys.

Those that say this sets up a trade for defense I think don't know Hollands history. They will go to camp with everyone and then lose some young guys on waivers for nothing.

When was the last time we signed a player under 30 that wasn't an RFA?

From passing on Chych at the draft for a meaningless contract dump, to wrapping up $4 mil in a player who's job is done by Miller and Glen for half the price combined, Kenny needs to (frank)ing go.

Our number 1 issue... We have no strong number 1 defenseman. We have no number 2 defenseman. We have a bunch of 4, 5, and 6's trying to play top minutes. So what do we do? Go sign average forwards and neglect our biggest issue.

Kenny got some bad luck with the retirement of Rafalski immediately followed by the retirement of Lids... But he has done nothing to bolster that back end. He's a fool, and he can't hide behind that open checkbook he used to have.

AND Nielsen isnt a #2 C. Hes a #3 ask NYI fans who have watched him for the past 10 seasons. They had him in his prime so they saw him at his best. DET is getting a declining player on the wrong side of 30.
- wingz4life

Not so sure I agree with you about him being on the decline he's coming off the 3 best seasons of his career

When was the last time we signed a player under 30 that wasn't an RFA?

From passing on Chych at the draft for a meaningless contract dump, to wrapping up $4 mil in a player who's job is done by Miller and Glen for half the price combined, Kenny needs to (frank)ing go.

Our number 1 issue... We have no strong number 1 defenseman. We have no number 2 defenseman. We have a bunch of 4, 5, and 6's trying to play top minutes. So what do we do? Go sign average forwards and neglect our biggest issue.

Kenny got some bad luck with the retirement of Rafalski immediately followed by the retirement of Lids... But he has done nothing to bolster that back end. He's a fool, and he can't hide behind that open checkbook he used to have.
- snipesydangle

To be fair there is/was no defenseman that fit the needs of the Wings on the UFA market. Wings had no shot at Subban or Weber. They couldn't compete with Hall for Larsson (not that they would have wanted to). My fear now is Holland making a trade for a defenseman by giving up way too much for someone that is going to end up not being the #1 guy they need anyways. I'm not sold on Fowler being that top end guy and he will cost a ton to trade for. Shattenkirk might be that guy but he also would cost a ton and he only has 1 year left on his deal and the Blues won't let a team interested in trading for him talk to him about a contract extension so you might end up with one year of him. The only other guy rumored is Trouba and he will also cost a ton to trade for and at this point he isn't a number 1 either but he has the potential.

One day later and I'm still pissed about that Helm contract. Just a giant waste of cap space for something that can be done for a small fraction of the price by many players. Now we know what it would have felt like if Holland had matched the Bruins contract for Marty Lapointe because Holland keeps on doing it every off-season.

To be fair there is/was no defenseman that fit the needs of the Wings on the UFA market. Wings had no shot at Subban or Weber. They couldn't compete with Hall for Larsson (not that they would have wanted to). My fear now is Holland making a trade for a defenseman by giving up way too much for someone that is going to end up not being the #1 guy they need anyways. I'm not sold on Fowler being that top end guy and he will cost a ton to trade for. Shattenkirk might be that guy but he also would cost a ton and he only has 1 year left on his deal and the Blues won't let a team interested in trading for him talk to him about a contract extension so you might end up with one year of him. The only other guy rumored is Trouba and he will also cost a ton to trade for and at this point he isn't a number 1 either but he has the potential.

One day later and I'm still pissed about that Helm contract. Just a giant waste of cap space for something that can be done for a small fraction of the price by many players. Now we know what it would have felt like if Holland had matched the Bruins contract for Marty Lapointe because Holland keeps on doing it every off-season.
- dcz28

I think that's why I'm mad they didn't draft Chychryn. All we draft defensively are a bunch of "we'll see in 4 years"...

I know that every trade seems like we'll have to give up a ton, but at some point we have to just let go and take a chance.

At this point I think they'd have a quicker chance at getting back to being a contender by doing a rebuild.

Look at the bright side. I see no way we lose anyone in the expansion draft. We don't have to protect half the team due to crazy contracts. 40% of the rest of the guys nobody wants regardless of contract. Only the remaining handful need to be protected. The new team will need a goalie though! Jimmy...

I think that's why I'm mad they didn't draft Chychryn. All we draft defensively are a bunch of "we'll see in 4 years"...

I know that every trade seems like we'll have to give up a ton, but at some point we have to just let go and take a chance.

At this point I think they'd have a quicker chance at getting back to being a contender by doing a rebuild.
- snipesydangle

Tyson Barrie. Anybody have thoughts? Might be the cheapest option. Good puck mover.