Bob Duff: Pulkkinen couldn't score enough to save his spot The Detroit Red Wings placed right-winger Teemu Pulkkinen on waivers Monday.

someone will take a chance on him

Ah no loss. I expect he will be claimed. Athanasiou likely made the team.Mantha will start in Grand Rapids. Sheahan will likely play on the 4th line with Glenny. Ott and Miller rotating in. When injuries hit, like they always do, Mantha will be the first call up. Hopefully he seizes his opportunity like Athanasiou did last season.

Is one year of Vanek or ott worth getting rid of pulk?

I mean I'm not sure anyone knows just yet, but if I had to put my money on one or the other. I would say that Holland us (frank)ing up.

Is one year of Vanek or ott worth getting rid of pulk?

I mean I'm not sure anyone knows just yet, but if I had to put my money on one or the other. I would say that Holland us (frank)ing up.
- digitalbath

The leafs will gladly pick him up

Honest opinion on him?

You didn't see the practice lines today?
LOL

Abby-Larkin-Sheahan is a second line.

Is one year of Vanek or ott worth getting rid of pulk?

I mean I'm not sure anyone knows just yet, but if I had to put my money on one or the other. I would say that Holland us (frank)ing up.
- digitalbath

Holland lost out on Radulov so he signed Vanek. He lost out on Martin so he signed Ott. Jurco and Pulkkinen just didn't do enough in their opportunities. Mantha and Athanasiou have both passed them by on the depth chart. Svechnikov and Bertuzzi aren't far behind.

You didn't see the practice lines today?
LOL

Abby-Larkin-Sheahan is a second line.
- StargateSG1

Interesting. I thought he was going with Tatar-Larkin-Abdelkader.

Is one year of Vanek or ott worth getting rid of pulk?

I mean I'm not sure anyone knows just yet, but if I had to put my money on one or the other. I would say that Holland us (frank)ing up.
- digitalbath

Personally I'd take having Mantha in the NHL now as I think he's ready. But Holland and Blashill don't think his all around game is quite there yet. Mantha will likely replace Vanek full time next season. Perhaps, he gets called up when injuries arise and earns a spot this season. He has a rare blend of size and skill that can really help the Red Wings right now. Of course Vanek could have a bounce back season and score 25-30 goals.

Holland lost out on Radulov so he signed Vanek. He lost out on Martin so he signed Ott. Jurco and Pulkkinen just didn't do enough in their opportunities. Mantha and Athanasiou have both passed them by on the depth chart. Svechnikov and Bertuzzi aren't far behind.
- gergeswillems

This would probably be a good read for you

http://www.wingingitinmot...16/10/10/13222076/article

The team did everything to get him going last season – playing him on the power play, where they hoped his right-shot one-timer would be beneficial, even skating him on the same line with Pavel Datsyuk but Pulkkinen could never find any consistency.

Not that Duff reads any of these comments, or really does anything but mail in columns with 25 lazy cliches for every one fleeting instance of critical thought, but even for him, this is, wow.

Pulkkinen and Datsyuk played a whopping 65 minutes of even strength ice time together last season, which is basically the equivalent of 5 games together for a top line. Datsyuk played more even strength minutes with Anthony Mantha (77) than he did with Pulkkinen last year. And of course, Darren Helm and Datsyuk were paired together for 440 minutes, during which time Helm was able to scoring 8 whole freaking points. And during that tiny sliver of time Datsyuk and Pulkkinen were on the ice together, Detroit took 63% of the shot attempts and scored 67% of the goals.

And powerplay? Just 62 minutes, total, good for seventh among Red Wings forwards. Granted he didn't do much with the time (just 3 points), but he was still more productive with the man advantage than Larkin (5 points in 156 minutes), Sheahan (4 points in 90 minutes), Helm (0 points in 51 minutes), and broadly comparable with Abdelkader (11 points in 225 minutes).

Over the last 2 years Pulkkinen is No. 3 on the Red Wings in even strength goals per 60 minutes, minimum 600 minutes played. Only Larkin and Tatar lit the lamp at a higher rate.

Yes, the sample size is tiny, so there's potentially a lot of noise here. Maybe the conventional wisdom is correct and Pulkk is never going to stick, here or anywhere.

But don't give me this crap about how the Wings supposedly gave him lots of opportunities and "did everything" to get him going. That's utter baloney. Guys like Richards and Helm and Abdelkader played top six minutes all year with barely anything to show for it, while Pulkkinen could barely get a few games of fourth line duty, followed by getting benched when he couldn't "prove" himself.

And now they're going to lose him on waivers even while Glendening, Miller, and Ott all have NHL jobs, and a guy like Thomas Vanek is basically as good as gone after one year regardless of how good or bad he plays.

The only thing Pulk brings to the table is a hard shot that misses the net 90% of the time. He can't skate, doesn't play much defense, and is constantly pushed around. No loss.

He's definitely a loss. All I've heard Wings fans say about him is that he's got a bright future until Holland decided to dump him for nothing. Perhaps I'm wrong and he won't be claimed on waivers, but my guess is Holland could have gotten SOMETHING for him on the market. Losing a young player with any bit of potential for nothing is a loss.

He's definitely a loss. All I've heard Wings fans say about him is that he's got a bright future until Holland decided to dump him for nothing. Perhaps I'm wrong and he won't be claimed on waivers, but my guess is Holland could have gotten SOMETHING for him on the market. Losing a young player with any bit of potential for nothing is a loss.
- SolidGoldBricks

He'll probably get picked up, but that doesn't mean any team was willing to give anything in return for him except for a bad contract.

I do not understand the Wings' handling of Pulkkinen at all. The guy was great in Finland as a teenager, lit it up in the AHL (lead the league in goals in 2015 despite playing only 46 games), but in Detroit he was always stuck playing 10 minutes a night with junk linemates.

There are plenty of examples of great minor league scorers who never put it all together at the NHL level, so it's not like Pulkkinen is a sure thing. But what really grinds me is that he never really got a fair opportunity, even though:

1) Pulkkinen really didn't do a bad job with the minutes he was given -- he actually was a pretty decent even strength goal scorer once usage is factored in, and was a positive possession player (whether you use shot attempts or traditional plus-minus).

2) Players with far less offensive ability -- Helm, Abdelkader, Richards, Sheahan, arguably even a broken-down Zetterberg -- continued to receive huge minutes despite being provably terrible in those situations, and despite the fact that failure to generate offense was Detroit's No. 1 problem all year long.

3) Pulkkinen is 24, on an extremely affordable deal, and still has another round of being an RFA left, all of which make him a low risk with a very high potential upside. Even if you're somewhat pessimistic about his ability to reach his NHL potential, are guys like Miller and Ott really SO IMPORTANT that we can't get rid of any of them to make room for a player who might actually help with our scoring problems and might actually have an NHL future beyond the next couple of seasons?

I do not understand the Wings' handling of Pulkkinen at all. The guy was great in Finland as a teenager, lit it up in the AHL (lead the league in goals in 2015 despite playing only 46 games), but in Detroit he was always stuck playing 10 minutes a night with junk linemates.

There are plenty of examples of great minor league scorers who never put it all together at the NHL level, so it's not like Pulkkinen is a sure thing. But what really grinds me is that he never really got a fair opportunity, even though:

1) Pulkkinen really didn't do a bad job with the minutes he was given -- he actually was a pretty decent even strength goal scorer once usage is factored in, and was a positive possession player (whether you use shot attempts or traditional plus-minus).

2) Players with far less offensive ability -- Helm, Abdelkader, Richards, Sheahan, arguably even a broken-down Zetterberg -- continued to receive huge minutes despite being provably terrible in those situations, and despite the fact that failure to generate offense was Detroit's No. 1 problem all year long.

3) Pulkkinen is 24, on an extremely affordable deal, and still has another round of being an RFA left, all of which make him a low risk with a very high potential upside. Even if you're somewhat pessimistic about his ability to reach his NHL potential, are guys like Miller and Ott really SO IMPORTANT that we can't get rid of any of them to make room for a player who might actually help with our scoring problems and might actually have an NHL future beyond the next couple of seasons?
- Sven22

Completely agree Sven, the kid has always excelled at every level he's played. It was too early to give up on him IMO also.

I really hate the Ott signing because of this. Ott is useless in today's NHL. Abdelkader / Glendenning does his job just fine.

Completely agree Sven, the kid has always excelled at every level he's played. It was too early to give up on him IMO also.

I really hate the Ott signing because of this. Ott is useless in today's NHL. Abdelkader / Glendenning does his job just fine.
- porkchops1977

Back when Ott was signed a lot of Wings fans sort of shrugged and said, "it doesn't matter because he's an insurance signing, his contract can be buried and if everybody's healthy he'll be sent to the minors."

Well, now we've lot Frk for nothing, we'll probably lose Pulkkinen for nothing, and Steve Ott is on the opening day roster. Thanks, Ken.

The Detroit Red Wings have announced that the club has decided to assign Anthony Mantha to the clubs American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate the Grand Rapids Griffins. Along with moving Mantha the club has placed veteran defenseman Niklas Kronwall on injured reserve (IR).

same old system, same old general managing, same old story, same old outcome.

same old system, same old general managing, same old story, same old outcome.
- hockeyislife99

In other news Babcock has decided to rely on all young players in toronto. Most whom aren't ready ( defensively). Time for someone in the wings organization to wake up.

Unfortunately Ott showed more promise. Frk hasnt done anything in 3 seasons and hardly made the ahl until last year. Pulkinen is a bit harder to lose but when youre 5'6 or w.e and your biggest strength doesnt work in the nhl....you dont offer much. I agree I would have liked to see him get more nhl time but considering he tried to trade Frk and Pulks and no one bit...doesnt exactly speak highly of either

Minny just grabbed him

Minny just grabbed him
- porkchops1977

Worth noting: Minny is the team that employed Thomas Vanek last season. If Pulkkinen puts up comparable or better numbers than Vanek this season (which I think is very possible if Minnesota gives him the minutes) there will be some poetry in how absolutely daft this move is from Red Wings management.

Think it's far-fetched? Consider:

- Last season Vanek played 901 even strength minutes and scored 10 goals.
- In his entire NHL career, Teemu Pulkkinen has played 629 even strength minutes and scored 8 goals.

So, so angry right now. Even if Pulkkinen turns out to be a total bust, there's no justification for how stupid this move is. Only in Ken Holland's world is a washed-up 32-year-old expensive stopgap prioritized over a 24-year-old upcoming RFA who could probably do his job equally well. To say nothing of the fact that we'll be employing not one, not two, but THREE defensive grinders (Miller, Glendening, Ott) who couldn't find the enemy net with a map and who are, at best, only useful on the PK or when protecting a late lead.

Worth noting: Minny is the team that employed Thomas Vanek last season. If Pulkkinen puts up comparable or better numbers than Vanek this season (which I think is very possible if Minnesota gives him the minutes) there will be some poetry in how absolutely daft this move is from Red Wings management.

Think it's far-fetched? Consider:

- Last season Vanek played 901 even strength minutes and scored 10 goals.
- In his entire NHL career, Teemu Pulkkinen has played 629 even strength minutes and scored 8 goals.

So, so angry right now. Even if Pulkkinen turns out to be a total bust, there's no justification for how stupid this move is. Only in Ken Holland's world is a washed-up 32-year-old expensive stopgap prioritized over a 24-year-old upcoming RFA who could probably do his job equally well. To say nothing of the fact that we'll be employing not one, not two, but THREE defensive grinders (Miller, Glendening, Ott) who couldn't find the enemy net with a map and who are, at best, only useful on the PK or when protecting a late lead.
- Sven22

MIN picked him up because of what Pulkkinen did on Granlund's wing as teenagers. It's possible that chemistry does something for both players.

Edit: I don't know how this could bother any fan. Vanek has traditionally adapted to creating opportunities for himself and his linesmates (see Buffalo and WCOH). Pulkkinen hasn't done jack s^&* to create offense in the NHL by himself or for his linemates.

Think it's far-fetched? Consider:

- Last season Vanek played 901 even strength minutes and scored 10 goals.
- In his entire NHL career, Teemu Pulkkinen has played 629 even strength minutes and scored 8 goals.

The thing with using that comparision is that it can be very skewed with such a small sample considering how they were employed and all. But it's not as if Vanek was a defensive specialist either.

Either way, this could make Holland look really bad.