Jeremy Laura: Hart and soul, Wings lose 2-1 in tight contest against Flyers

Start the fire sale!

Tonight was actually a good game; we played tight, just beaten by a goalie who had a better night than Husso. I've no issues with the game, you could see the frustration on the 2d goal; these guys are getting pissed....and that's a good thing. They need to hurt with each loss; hurt at losing, pride needs to hurt; it shows a sense of ownership. That, to me, shows development and a team on the rise. Good things lay ahead.

Walman needs an extension....YESTERDAY. This guy is just damn good. He was all over the place tonight, even stole a couple pucks that should've resulted in a criminal investigation. He's on his way to stud-dom. Imagine Wally, Mo Sides, and Ya Know My Name is Simon (..."and I like to make drawrings...".....old cartoon, anyone???) That's the basis of a dang good d-line.

I know agents are a "thing", but the sneaky crap some of them seem to do really brings disrepute to the profession. Resorting to putting out crap stories to get their player signed is childish, and that's being nice. Smears the off-ice "game". Shameful.

The TDL will bring change. Who goes? I'm not the smartest dude on this board, but would like to see Horvat in the Winged Wheel, just not sure who we'd have to give up. Thoughts?!?!

On the Bo Horvat rumors I hope we don't trade for him. He's a UFA at the end of the season. No team in contention can probably afford to sign him to a long term deal making him a rental most likely. I hope Yzerman waits till free agency. I was also thinking same thing goes with Larkin.

Tonight was actually a good game; we played tight, just beaten by a goalie who had a better night than Husso. I've no issues with the game, you could see the frustration on the 2d goal; these guys are getting pissed....and that's a good thing. They need to hurt with each loss; hurt at losing, pride needs to hurt; it shows a sense of ownership. That, to me, shows development and a team on the rise. Good things lay ahead.

Walman needs an extension....YESTERDAY. This guy is just damn good. He was all over the place tonight, even stole a couple pucks that should've resulted in a criminal investigation. He's on his way to stud-dom. Imagine Wally, Mo Sides, and Ya Know My Name is Simon (..."and I like to make drawrings...".....old cartoon, anyone???) That's the basis of a dang good d-line.

I know agents are a "thing", but the sneaky crap some of them seem to do really brings disrepute to the profession. Resorting to putting out crap stories to get their player signed is childish, and that's being nice. Smears the off-ice "game". Shameful.

The TDL will bring change. Who goes? I'm not the smartest dude on this board, but would like to see Horvat in the Winged Wheel, just not sure who we'd have to give up. Thoughts?!?!
- mcmastermike1968

Incidentally, it's kind of hilarious to me how much Yzerman has taken advantage of the St. Louis Blues specifically since he took over in Detroit.

Fabbri for De La Rose, straight up. Fabbri scored more goals in his first game with Detroit (2) than De La Rose did in his 47 career games with St. Louis (1).

Walman, Sundqvist, and a pick for Leddy and Witkowski. The Wings got the best player and arguably the best two players in the deal, plus a second-rounder.

Signed Perron as a cap casualty after the Blues threw way too much money at Leddy for ... some reason, I guess.

Two pretty bad trade fleecings, plus scooping up a productive contributor well below market value that the Blues never should have let walk in the first place. And that's not even counting Husso for a third rounder, which may or may not pan out great but it's definitely a reasonable cost for a reasonable bet.

Incidentally, it's kind of hilarious to me how much Yzerman has taken advantage of the St. Louis Blues specifically since he took over in Detroit.

Fabbri for De La Rose, straight up. Fabbri scored more goals in his first game with Detroit (2) than De La Rose did in his 47 career games with St. Louis (1).

Walman, Sundqvist, and a pick for Leddy and Witkowski. The Wings got the best player and arguably the best two players in the deal, plus a second-rounder.

Signed Perron as a cap casualty after the Blues threw way too much money at Leddy for ... some reason, I guess.

Two pretty bad trade fleecings, plus scooping up a productive contributor well below market value that the Blues never should have let walk in the first place. And that's not even counting Husso for a third rounder, which may or may not pan out great but it's definitely a reasonable cost for a reasonable bet.
- Sven22

Great take. I was sure we’d see a steady stream out of TB but St Louis is the giving tree for now

As a fan, I take no pride in saying this, but now that we're in the bottom 10, we might as well go on in on the Bedard sweepstakes. Sure, Detroit gets no draft luck, but I really think this kid is going to be a bona fide superstar so it would be nice to have a chance. While I would have loved to have gotten Dahlin or Jack Hughes, and I think both are stars and will be great players for a long time, I don't think we've seen a true superstar since the 2015 and 2016 drafts. It's been 35 years since we've had a top 3 pick and I think this is the year to pick in the top 3 or 4. This draft has a true superstar and possibly 3 all-star caliber players.

We have some really good players and a really bright future, but I think we need a star player to build excitement around and this may be their last opportunity to draft one for a while.

As a fan, I take no pride in saying this, but now that we're in the bottom 10, we might as well go on in on the Bedard sweepstakes. Sure, Detroit gets no draft luck, but I really think this kid is going to be a bona fide superstar so it would be nice to have a chance. While I would have loved to have gotten Dahlin or Jack Hughes, and I think both are stars and will be great players for a long time, I don't think we've seen a true superstar since the 2015 and 2016 drafts. It's been 35 years since we've had a top 3 pick and I think this is the year to pick in the top 3 or 4. This draft has a true superstar and possibly 3 all-star caliber players.

We have some really good players and a really bright future, but I think we need a star player to build excitement around and this may be their last opportunity to draft one for a while.
- bluelineenforcer

This topic has been discussed a lot in the comments recently, and I get it, but also for numerous reasons I think it's too late to tank. Detroit has too much talent and the dregs of the league have too much of a head start.

Right now there are five NHL teams under .400, and none of them feel like flukes. Montreal probably belongs there too, if not for some puck luck and their OT/SO record. And those teams are likely to get worse, not better, as the season goes on and the incentive to tank goes up.

The Red Wings would have to play almost impossibly bad hockey the rest of the way just to finish .400. They could only get 20 points out of 74 remaining, which is .270 (or a 44-point full season pace). And even that probably only gets you to 26th-28th place. That gives you a 6.5%-8.5% chance at Bedard (roughly 1-in-12 to 1-in-15) and 13.4%-17.3% chance at the top 2 -- and if you don't win either lottery drawing, you're picking 5th-7th overall depending on finish.

I get the appeal of wanting to stay at 23rd place or lower because then at least you have a shot, and Detroit might well end up in the bottom 10 anyway just by staying the course. But going "all in" on Bedard at this point would mean making a lot of very poor return tank moves (selling off valuable assets for middling draft picks, taking other organizations' garbage contracts, etc.) that will inevitably set the team back at least a couple of years, whether we ultimately get Bedard or not. And if we don't get him, it's probably more like a 3-5 year setback.

I totally agree with you this team needs star players, and Bedard being the best-projected draft pick to come around since McDavid (or at least Matthews). But I'm not sure I'm on board with locking in another ~2 or so years of terrible hockey (and risking even more than that) for a 1-in-12 chance that we might get a guy who might be a superstar.

This topic has been discussed a lot in the comments recently, and I get it, but also for numerous reasons I think it's too late to tank. Detroit has too much talent and the dregs of the league have too much of a head start.

Right now there are five NHL teams under .400, and none of them feel like flukes. Montreal probably belongs there too, if not for some puck luck and their OT/SO record. And those teams are likely to get worse, not better, as the season goes on and the incentive to tank goes up.

The Red Wings would have to play almost impossibly bad hockey the rest of the way just to finish .400. They could only get 20 points out of 74 remaining, which is .270 (or a 44-point full season pace). And even that probably only gets you to 26th-28th place. That gives you a 6.5%-8.5% chance at Bedard (roughly 1-in-12 to 1-in-15) and 13.4%-17.3% chance at the top 2 -- and if you don't win either lottery drawing, you're picking 5th-7th overall depending on finish.

I get the appeal of wanting to stay at 23rd place or lower because then at least you have a shot, and Detroit might well end up in the bottom 10 anyway just by staying the course. But going "all in" on Bedard at this point would mean making a lot of very poor return tank moves (selling off valuable assets for middling draft picks, taking other organizations' garbage contracts, etc.) that will inevitably set the team back at least a couple of years, whether we ultimately get Bedard or not. And if we don't get him, it's probably more like a 3-5 year setback.

I totally agree with you this team needs star players, and Bedard being the best-projected draft pick to come around since McDavid (or at least Matthews). But I'm not sure I'm on board with locking in another ~2 or so years of terrible hockey (and risking even more than that) for a 1-in-12 chance that we might get a guy who might be a superstar.
- Sven22

I agree with you, I just think it would be nice if Detroit got a top 3 or 4 pick this year, as I have a feeling the top 4 picks will be stars. It's been a while since there's been a draft this deep. It's a long shot to get to #1, but the Rangers grabbed a #2 pick after they made the playoffs in 2019. I don't think they made the right pick, but after years of the Wings moving down in the lottery, it would be nice to move up for a change.

Vrana called back up to Detroit and is practicing with the team again. Will be interesting to see how quick he's back in the lineup.
- Vladdie_Kon1

You sure about that? Not seeing Vrana being talked about by any of the official Red Wings insider's. Vrana wasn't skating with the team yesterday. Maybe today? IDK.

On the Bo Horvat rumors I hope we don't trade for him. He's a UFA at the end of the season. No team in contention can probably afford to sign him to a long term deal making him a rental most likely. I hope Yzerman waits till free agency. I was also thinking same thing goes with Larkin.
- TheSeer

Last night on NHL tonight Elliot Friedman named a couple of teams sniffing around on Horvat. Also mentioned it as rumors just rumors but Yzerman "you never know."

Makes you wonder what we would have to give up. Any thoughts of giving up a 1st seem absurd whether it's this year or even 2024/2025.

You sure about that? Not seeing Vrana being talked about by any of the official Red Wings insider's. Vrana wasn't skating with the team yesterday. Maybe today? IDK.
- TheSeer

Please disregard my last post.... I just verified it was an old article on MLive that somehow linked to my Facebook feed. I'll remove my previous post.

But at least he's finally scoring in Grand Rapids now. We'll see where this saga ends up soon I hope.

Please disregard my last post.... I just verified it was an old article on MLive that somehow linked to my Facebook feed. I'll remove my previous post.

But at least he's finally scoring in Grand Rapids now. We'll see where this saga ends up soon I hope.
- Vladdie_Kon1

I can’t say for sure, but Vrana may have to pass through waivers to come back up after he made it down. With the daily cap “reduction” it’s a bigger risk. Post deadline he could probably make an appearance

I can’t say for sure, but Vrana may have to pass through waivers to come back up after he made it down. With the daily cap “reduction” it’s a bigger risk. Post deadline he could probably make an appearance
- Jeremy Laura

There are no re-entry waivers anymore under the current CBA.

There are no re-entry waivers anymore under the current CBA.
- Sven22

In the words of the great Bob and Doug McKenzie “That’s beauty, eh!” “Now I’m going to the brewery”

Luff activated, sent to GR for conditioning

In the words of the great Bob and Doug McKenzie “That’s beauty, eh!” “Now I’m going to the brewery”
- Jeremy Laura

Some of you may note I left the second half of the second quote out. I’m pretty sure it’s about a non PC as it gets. I’ll say this, I lived about 3 miles from the facility that “the three Christs of Ypsilanti” was based on. 3 patients all thought they were Jesus. Richard G. Was in it, but they shot it in New York. The buildings were still in tact last I knew.