And it look's like we lost out again!!!

[Oddbob]

Everyone here talks about Nelson coming in and fixing things a lot. Yet he is exactly the same as Blashill, brought in by the team to coach the Griffins, win in Grand Rapids and then come to Detroit, with the inside Wings teaching and team strategy built in. Isn't he exactly the opposite we should want behind the bench, if we want a fresh voice coaching?

 

[The Zetterberg Era]

Chaka just picked up Raanta, Stepan and Hjamersson and got rid of Smith.

I think they will be a lot better than you think a lot sooner than you think.

He is a far better GM than Holland is these days.

There questions about whether or not Hammer and Stepan are declining. They both look like players that have begun declining at an earlier than expected age. It does happen. Hopefully Stepan can at just 27 have a bit of comeback I know his stats were not terrible aside from his continuing being a poor face-off guy, but I thought his play dipped notably over the second half. Hjalmarsson wouldn't be the first stay at home guy with a lot of playoff miles to hit a wall at 30.

I really like Keller that is the big thing happening in Arizona.

I think Raanta is a great backup that isn't going to be #1, but Smith is inconsistent and often trash so that is likely a wash or a little better for them.

I also happen to be pretty high on Connor Murphy so that was painful to see him land in Hawks jersey. I think he is more physical and a better skater than Hammer but does not have the veteran savvy. I like Hammer, but those moves were meh for me. I guess they could work out great, the real problem for me is OEL is going to bounce unless Keller immediately changes that outlook.

If Raanta folds under the weight of being a starter we will be likely in a very similar neighborhood in terms of where these teams are.

 

[The Zetterberg Era]

Everyone here talks about Nelson coming in and fixing things a lot. Yet he is exactly the same as Blashill, brought in by the team to coach the Griffins, win in Grand Rapids and then come to Detroit, with the inside Wings teaching and team strategy built in. Isn't he exactly the opposite we should want behind the bench, if we want a fresh voice coaching?

Nelson didn't have a bad brief run with Edmonton, though he didn't get the job either. I think there is hope that Nelson is better with D-man. We have a bottom five group, I don't think he can get much more out of them is going to be the problem.

 

[Oddbob]

Nelson didn't have a bad brief run with Edmonton, though he didn't get the job either. I think there is hope that Nelson is better with D-man. We have a bottom five group, I don't think he can get much more out of them is going to be the problem.

I just think we need a coach, that coaches for himself, not on what he learned from Babcock (Blashill) or Wings Way (Nelson). Just like we could use a fresh voice making trades, we need one behind the bench. We need to go completely out of the organization.

Also, everyone wants Holland out, but lets say he steps up stairs after next season. I can actually see Ryan Martin (Inside and Wing Way) being the new GM, rather than the Illitch's going outside for a new man.

 

[The Zetterberg Era]

I just think we need a coach, that coaches for himself, not on what he learned from Babcock (Blashill) or Wings Way (Nelson). Just like we could use a fresh voice making trades, we need one behind the bench. We need to go completely out of the organization.

Also, everyone wants Holland out, but lets say he steps up stairs after next season. I can actually see Ryan Martin (Inside and Wing Way) being the new GM, rather than the Illitch's going outside for a new man.

If Ryan Martin is names GM I will have to go on hiatus for a bit, because every post I could make will be infraction level stuff.... That is how disappointed I would be, keep in mind he is supposed to be a cap manager and he bricked that a couple years ago. I don't understand the faith in him, his elevation comes as the spiral of the organization started. Maybe unfair to him, but I don't find him impressive in the least.

We need to go outside, Holland can move upstairs but I think that is non-negotiable in terms of Martin is not qualified and shouldn't be in the running.

Nelson probably isn't totally rooted in the Wings, he does run Blashill's system to some extent. Keep in mind this is now commonplace in the AHL in terms of a lot of people like to ignore that your NHL head coach does dictate things to the minor league guy.

Blashill style for a decade as a head coach in several leagues is a high paced transition game for the record. He did adopt parts of Babcock's possession driving game which was also a Wings tenant as he should have. We have seen Blashill run this system at three different stops and marginal attempts at it in Detroit. We have a d that is currently unable to run it. Now there is an argument that his is too rudimentary to work at the NHL level. But to a certain extent what he likes to run is what is currently sweeping the NHL. It is the same system Lavy has run for years that young Americans Copper and Blashill copied and tried to refine. Sullivan also runs a similar system in Pittsburgh. We just aren't executing it because we aren't good enough. But also perhaps Blashill just cannot get high level pros interested in executing it for him and is destined to be a great college, junior or AHL level coach. Time will tell there.

The system works at an AHL level because we have enough talent down there to execute it relative to their peers. The Red Wings way of playing hockey and the tweaks toward possession and high level transition are the tenants of a good team. The problem here is our back-end is pathetic. What the coach generally relents to is dropping our forwards back more to cover for it, we cannot actually transition is a huge part of our problem. Now he probably needs more breakout plays but honestly I don't have the fix, we don't have enough talent to play his preferred system. A great coach might find more ways through I don't know and my opinion of Blashill might fall apart there. But I wish at least he would go down swinging attempting to make them play high paced hockey. It will probably fail spectacularly but at least Blashill would have more to talk about in his next interview than trying to limp a team through with boring hockey to mediocre or poor results.

 

[Henkka]

I just think we need a coach, that coaches for himself, not on what he learned from Babcock (Blashill) or Wings Way (Nelson). Just like we could use a fresh voice making trades, we need one behind the bench. We need to go completely out of the organization.

Also, everyone wants Holland out, but lets say he steps up stairs after next season. I can actually see Ryan Martin (Inside and Wing Way) being the new GM, rather than the Illitch's going outside for a new man.

Wasn't it Ryan Martin who did build the Griffins Championship team?

 

[The Zetterberg Era]

Wasn't it Ryan Martin who did build the Griffins Championship team?

He is also supposed to be the cap expert that bricked that a couple seasons ago. Heck that got Tallon fired and he is a good NHL executive with tremendous history of finding NHL talent.

 

[mouser]

They are also a really bad hockey team and I would bet almost anything that in two years their best player is going to walk. Bright future, okay I know Chayka is popular with some of the people around this board. But he is a far way off from actually having a good hockey team on his hands. Keller does look promising, but we will see, the idea all those kids max their potential and that OEL actually sticks around I think is very low. I think they are building the struggling version of Edmonton and that is what it will be when OEL leaves in two seasons.

I think what Chayka signaled with the trade of #7OA is that he believes the team has collected enough talent from bottoming out and believes it's time to support the upward track with a few pieces here and there.

Personally I would have kept the 7OA and given it one more year, then start making the moves next summer. In hindsight what Chayka did makes a lot of sense--Arizona got very lucky in the 2016 draft hitting two 1st round picks that are ready to be big contributors a year later. Most of the earlier year picks are established or expected to start bearing fruit this season. While the 7OA is a nice prospect, they're not in the NHL for at least a year, maybe two, and may not even be an important contributor until 2020 or later

There's a pretty big stable of young talent beyond the obvious ones like Keller and Strome. Going by draft years:

2013 1st: F Max Domi. Established, well known, did miss a chunk of 2016-17 with a broken hand.
2013 3rd: F Anthony Duclair. What to make of him? Is he the player from last season or the 20-20 guy from the year before? Tippett didnt handle him the best last year, see what happens with a new coach.
2014 1st: F Brendan Perlini. Promising rookie season between the NHL/AHL. Looks to be at least a solid 3rd liner, with top 6 potential.
2014 2nd: C Christian Dvorak. Great rookie season. At least a 3rd line center, maybe 2nd line.
2015 1st: C Dylan Strome. Waiting to see what his NHL potential turns out to be. Hope the plan is to give him a shot to win the 3rd line center job this year, if not then give him top line AHL minutes on callup. Arizona is in great shape if he can be a top 6 center by 2018-19. He's probably the lynchpin if this is just a good team or very good team exiting the rebuild based on how he turns out as an NHL player.
2015 1st: F Lawson Crouse. Uncertain where to project him. Tippett stapled him to the 4th line with almost no opportunity to show what his offensive upside could be, if any. Would have preferred he be sent back to juniors instead of that. Need to see what a new coach does with him this season before finalizing an opinion of what his offensive potential is.
2015 1st: F Nick Merkley. Jury's still out, looks like a bottom 6 guy after two post-draft junior years.
2015 2nd: F Christian Fischer. Outstanding AHL season, looks like the real deal in end of season NHL callup. Ranked top 5/top 10 on many spring prospect lists, top 6 potential.
2016 1st: Clayton Keller. Looks like a 1st line winger. Possibility could split some NHL/AHL time this season.
2016 1st: Jacob Chychrun. He earned his minutes and deserved to be in the NHL at 18 this season--the team didn't gift him minutes as frequently happens when 18 year olds stick on the NHL roster. Showed a very good hockey IQ for an 18 year NHL rookie defender. We'll see if he takes another step in his second season. Rookie season makes him look like a safe bet to be a top 4 guy.

There's a lot to be excited about for a head coach.

 

[Goalie guy]

I think the one thing we can all agree on is our team is a mess in a bad way. And it really sucks for all of us. And the only way to show our displeasure is not going to games and we all know that is not going to happen.

 

[GBFP]

I'm keeping my sanity by assuming that Holland is around in his final year of his contract with the hopes of luring Stevie Y back after this season, and Blashill is coming back because the ownership doesn't want to fire him and give a new coach a 3-4 yr contract that might impede a new GM/Director of Hockey Ops from coming in here, or firing said coach after one season to allow new GM to hire his own guy.

 

[The Zetterberg Era]

I think what Chayka signaled with the trade of #7OA is that he believes the team has collected enough talent from bottoming out and believes it's time to support the upward track with a few pieces here and there.

Personally I would have kept the 7OA and given it one more year, then start making the moves next summer. In hindsight what Chayka did makes a lot of sense--Arizona got very lucky in the 2016 draft hitting two 1st round picks that are ready to be big contributors a year later. Most of the earlier year picks are established or expected to start bearing fruit this season. While the 7OA is a nice prospect, they're not in the NHL for at least a year, maybe two, and may not even be an important contributor until 2020 or later

There's a pretty big stable of young talent beyond the obvious ones like Keller and Strome. Going by draft years:

2013 1st: F Max Domi. Established, well known, did miss a chunk of 2016-17 with a broken hand.
2013 3rd: F Anthony Duclair. What to make of him? Is he the player from last season or the 20-20 guy from the year before? Tippett didnt handle him the best last year, see what happens with a new coach.
2014 1st: F Brendan Perlini. Promising rookie season between the NHL/AHL. Looks to be at least a solid 3rd liner, with top 6 potential.
2014 2nd: C Christian Dvorak. Great rookie season. At least a 3rd line center, maybe 2nd line.
2015 1st: C Dylan Strome. Waiting to see what his NHL potential turns out to be. Hope the plan is to give him a shot to win the 3rd line center job this year, if not then give him top line AHL minutes on callup. Arizona is in great shape if he can be a top 6 center by 2018-19. He's probably the lynchpin if this is just a good team or very good team exiting the rebuild based on how he turns out as an NHL player.
2015 1st: F Lawson Crouse. Uncertain where to project him. Tippett stapled him to the 4th line with almost no opportunity to show what his offensive upside could be, if any. Would have preferred he be sent back to juniors instead of that. Need to see what a new coach does with him this season before finalizing an opinion of what his offensive potential is.
2015 1st: F Nick Merkley. Jury's still out, looks like a bottom 6 guy after two post-draft junior years.
2015 2nd: F Christian Fischer. Outstanding AHL season, looks like the real deal in end of season NHL callup. Ranked top 5/top 10 on many spring prospect lists, top 6 potential.
2016 1st: Clayton Keller. Looks like a 1st line winger. Possibility could split some NHL/AHL time this season.
2016 1st: Jacob Chychrun. He earned his minutes and deserved to be in the NHL at 18 this season--the team didn't gift him minutes as frequently happens when 18 year olds stick on the NHL roster. Showed a very good hockey IQ for an 18 year NHL rookie defender. We'll see if he takes another step in his second season. Rookie season makes him look like a safe bet to be a top 4 guy.

There's a lot to be excited about for a head coach.

I know that is what he is selling Mouser, I don't value Arizona's youth the same way. Youth with high expectations also has a way of getting you in big trouble. I do think Hjalmarsson and Stepan are good room guys so that probably does help a little in terms of these moves and avoiding the full on part of my next statement. But I do get that Edmonton vibe here sans McDavid. They have gutted their team and placed a bunch of players in a tough environment for wins and really just day to day especially given the uncertainty about the organization as a whole in that area where OEL, Hammer and Stepan have to deliver these young guys to wins in front of a guy getting his first crack as a legitimate NHL starter.

That is a lot of variables, if they stumble out of the starting blocks when do these guys start to doubt themselves. We already saw Duclair implode through a tough season. Domi's injury issues because of his diabetes is going to always be an issue, I wish him luck but that is a tough disease to have in the NHL where recovery timelines are tough. In any event I do wish them luck, I am just saying it isn't as easy as now this is all going to work. Winnipeg and Edmonton had a lot of talent or have a lot of talent for a long time and it just didn't fall into place for whatever reason. So I agree that this falls huge on Strome can he and Keller shoulder that burden. I am not sure, I am doubtful it happens this year. Again if it doesn't take off if Raanta can't deliver where are they and what is happening with all these guys as they keeping losing a bunch together and OEL jumps ship?

 

[Syckle78]

Scotty Bowman isn't winning with the dead weight on this team

Nobody is,that wasn't the point.

 

[guinness]

Arizona's terrible, why even make the comparison? They have lots of high picks, but that's because they haven't made the PO since 2011-2012, finishing no better in their division than 4th in that time - they actually did worse last season than the one before.

For a team that is young, talented, blah, blah, blah. And I think Tippett is a better coach than Blashill.

Yeah, the Wings could easily be that bad too, and I hope they draft well if playing that poorly, and not just Oilers level bad (who took a McDavid to finally pull themselves out of the muck).

 

[Dotter]

I sincerely hope he gets the gig and has a prosperous NHL career. That said, it doesn't matter who our head coach is right now.

 

[Goalie guy]

I'm keeping my sanity by assuming that Holland is around in his final year of his contract with the hopes of luring Stevie Y back after this season, and Blashill is coming back because the ownership doesn't want to fire him and give a new coach a 3-4 yr contract that might impede a new GM/Director of Hockey Ops from coming in here, or firing said coach after one season to allow new GM to hire his own guy.

I don't think we are getting Stevie Y back here any time soon he would be nuts to leave where he is to come back to this hot mess. Better team, better weather, better city, Better taxes.

 

[mouser]

I know that is what he is selling Mouser, I don't value Arizona's youth the same way. Youth with high expectations also has a way of getting you in big trouble. I do think Hjalmarsson and Stepan are good room guys so that probably does help a little in terms of these moves and avoiding the full on part of my next statement. But I do get that Edmonton vibe here sans McDavid. They have gutted their team and placed a bunch of players in a tough environment for wins and really just day to day especially given the uncertainty about the organization as a whole in that area where OEL, Hammer and Stepan have to deliver these young guys to wins in front of a guy getting his first crack as a legitimate NHL starter.

That is a lot of variables, if they stumble out of the starting blocks when do these guys start to doubt themselves. We already saw Duclair implode through a tough season. Domi's injury issues because of his diabetes is going to always be an issue, I wish him luck but that is a tough disease to have in the NHL where recovery timelines are tough. In any event I do wish them luck, I am just saying it isn't as easy as now this is all going to work. Winnipeg and Edmonton had a lot of talent or have a lot of talent for a long time and it just didn't fall into place for whatever reason. So I agree that this falls huge on Strome can he and Keller shoulder that burden. I am not sure, I am doubtful it happens this year. Again if it doesn't take off if Raanta can't deliver where are they and what is happening with all these guys as they keeping losing a bunch together and OEL jumps ship?

I don't see how they gutted their team. What has Arizona given up in the past week?

- Dave Tippett. Way overdue. Will the next coach solve everything? Who knows, either way it was time to move on and Tippett's coaching was having a major negative impact on developing the youngsters. (Where have we heard that before?)
- Shane Doan. Love Doan, but he was overdone last year. Wish both sides could have sorted out a great retirement announcement for him.
- Mike Smith. I actually like Smith but I don't think anyone would describe this move as gutting the team. Hopefully Raanta works out well, if not he's only under contract for one year at $1m now. Time to see if he's the real deal before committing big dollars.
- Connor Murphy. I like Murphy as well. Swapping him for Hjalmarsson is a big upgrade, especially as most expect Hjalmarsson to play on his offside on the top pairing with OEL. That should make OEL more effective and is an excellent top pair.
- Laurent Dauphin. B prospect, high chance never becomes an NHL player.
- 7th overall pick. As I said I didn't like this, but that pick is 2-3 years away from being an important contributor as best. Maybe it hurts looking back in a few years, but it certainly doesn't gut the team today.
- Anthony DeAngelo. This is the only asset the Coyotes traded away that might turn into a shorter-term bad decision. I don't like it, but wouldn't call it gutting the team either.

I don't get the narrative that OEL is just waiting to leave. Haven't seen any reason for folks expressing this opinion other then "it's Arizona, why wouldn't he". As I'm sure you know the Swedish players tend to be pretty loyal to their teams. Arizona just named OEL captain. Traded for a great partner to play with him in fellow Swede Hjalmarsson. Even signed OEL's little brother to a contract to play down the road on the AHL squad. I'm sure there will be some that look at all that through roseless glasses and say "ah, this proves Arizona is afraid they're going to lose OEL", in spite of not a single comment, rumor or anything from OEL that he might want to leave AZ.

In case it isn't clear, I'm not defending AZ having a great start or playoff year in 2017-18. I can understand why it's time to make the move now even if they don't see big standings improvements until 2018-19 or 2019-20.

 

[The Zetterberg Era]

I don't think we are getting Stevie Y back here any time soon he would be nuts to leave where he is to come back to this hot mess. Better team, better weather, better city, Better taxes.

You realize Stevie has never sold his Bloomfield Hills home right. That his family never moved to Tampa with him. Now he probably should list his condo or whatever in Florida as his permanent address for tax reasons but I am not sure if he can with his wife and children all primarily in Michigan. I am not sure that is how that works, I would think he does have that ironed out as 6 months is the requirement down here. But he commutes on the regular in and out of Michigan this entire time.

He doesn't view Detroit that way he has gone out of his way to live there this entire time.. As someone that lives two hours from Tampa I cannot really agree either. I don't think there is an area in Tampa as nice as the area Yzerman lives in when home in Bloomfield Hills.

I don't think he is coming back for the record. He isn't going to quit on Tampa even if the pull is strong to come back to Detroit. He has unfinished business there, he hasn't gotten them over the hump. Honestly after the whole Trams thing with the Tigers and how Dumars eventually ended with the Pistons even while delivering us another title I am not sure I want to watch people turn on Yzerman. Heck we have spent years/months demonizing a guy that delivered one of the greatest quarter century runs in league history. It would be tough to watch Yzerman become a villain in this city. Starting to feel weird watching what is happening to Sakic in Colorado.

 

[RedWingsfan55]

People wanted Babcock gone and Blashill won in GR too.

I don't quite understand the fascination with shuffling deck chairs on this team. Until the roster gets better, there's likely only so much to be done with this team.

Agreed I mean blashill does make questionable decision. But it's easier to be armchair GM. Fact is the team is horrible and that needs to be addressed first.

 

[Goalie guy]

You realize Stevie has never sold his Bloomfield Hills home right. That his family never moved to Tampa with him. Now he probably should list his condo or whatever in Florida as his permanent address for tax reasons but I am not sure if he can with his wife and children all primarily in Michigan. I am not sure that is how that works, I would think he does have that ironed out as 6 months is the requirement down here. But he commutes on the regular in and out of Michigan this entire time.

He doesn't view Detroit that way he has gone out of his way to live there this entire time.. As someone that lives two hours from Tampa I cannot really agree either. I don't think there is an area in Tampa as nice as the area Yzerman lives in when home in Bloomfield Hills.

I don't think he is coming back for the record. He isn't going to quit on Tampa even if the pull is strong to come back to Detroit. He has unfinished business there, he hasn't gotten them over the hump. Honestly after the whole Trams thing with the Tigers and how Dumars eventually ended with the Pistons even while delivering us another title I am not sure I want to watch people turn on Yzerman. Heck we have spent years/months demonizing a guy that delivered one of the greatest quarter century runs in league history. It would be tough to watch Yzerman become a villain in this city. Starting to feel weird watching what is happening to Sakic in Colorado.

I'm born and raised in south east mi, yes the burbs are nice, very nice even. I think now that hes gone he should stay gone as well.

 

[The Zetterberg Era]

I don't see how they gutted their team. What has Arizona given up in the past week?

- Dave Tippett. Way overdue. Will the next coach solve everything? Who knows, either way it was time to move on and Tippett's coaching was having a major negative impact on developing the youngsters. (Where have we heard that before?)
- Shane Doan. Love Doan, but he was overdone last year. Wish both sides could have sorted out a great retirement announcement for him.
- Mike Smith. I actually like Smith but I don't think anyone would describe this move as gutting the team. Hopefully Raanta works out well, if not he's only under contract for one year at $1m now. Time to see if he's the real deal before committing big dollars.
- Connor Murphy. I like Murphy as well. Swapping him for Hjalmarsson is a big upgrade, especially as most expect Hjalmarsson to play on his offside on the top pairing with OEL. That should make OEL more effective and is an excellent top pair.
- Laurent Dauphin. B prospect, high chance never becomes an NHL player.
- 7th overall pick. As I said I didn't like this, but that pick is 2-3 years away from being an important contributor as best. Maybe it hurts looking back in a few years, but it certainly doesn't gut the team today.
- Anthony DeAngelo. This is the only asset the Coyotes traded away that might turn into a shorter-term bad decision. I don't like it, but wouldn't call it gutting the team either.

I don't get the narrative that OEL is just waiting to leave. Haven't seen any reason for folks expressing this opinion other then "it's Arizona, why wouldn't he". As I'm sure you know the Swedish players tend to be pretty loyal to their teams. Arizona just named OEL captain. Traded for a great partner to play with him in fellow Swede Hjalmarsson. Even signed OEL's little brother to a contract to play down the road on the AHL squad. I'm sure there will be some that look at all that through roseless glasses and say "ah, this proves Arizona is afraid they're going to lose OEL", in spite of not a single comment, rumor or anything from OEL that he might want to leave AZ.

In case it isn't clear, I'm not defending AZ having a great start or playoff year in 2017-18. I can understand why it's time to make the move now even if they don't see big standings improvements until 2018-19 or 2019-20.

It is a pretty massive culture shift there in terms of Hanzal, Vrbata (hopefully they can work something out here), Smith, Tippett and of course Doan these are guys that are used to answering the questions. Used to answering the weird currently they have four players 30 or over. It is a very young group, if the losses start piling up it could be extremely problematic. Both right handed D-man are slow plodding players that have trouble moving the puck. There is some things to be worried about. I think next year is going to be plenty bumpy. I guess having Vancouver and Vegas so a weak division should help though the teams at the top are plenty scary. Still this is a big shift to youth in quick order, hopefully they are ready for some of the growing pains. I expect a few.

 

[Lil Sebastian Cossa]

Agreed, trotting out the same losing formula is the better idea because otherwise you might also fail.

I'd argue that running to bring up your Calder Cup winning coach while forcing your current coach out of town is "trotting out the same losing formula". I mean, it's literally what we did two years ago.

Give me an honest to goodness coaching search and find the best candidate. Not just the guy down the street.

 

[mouser]

It is a pretty massive culture shift there in terms of Hanzal, Vrbata (hopefully they can work something out here), Smith, Tippett and of course Doan these are guys that are used to answering the questions. Used to answering the weird currently they have four players 30 or over. It is a very young group, if the losses start piling up it could be extremely problematic. Both right handed D-man are slow plodding players that have trouble moving the puck. There is some things to be worried about. I think next year is going to be plenty bumpy. I guess having Vancouver and Vegas so a weak division should help though the teams at the top are plenty scary. Still this is a big shift to youth in quick order, hopefully they are ready for some of the growing pains. I expect a few.

Hjalmarsson covers the top RHD pairing. Even though it's his offhand side he's filled that role for years in Chicago and has done well.

Schenn is okay as a 3rd pairing RHD. He's never going to live up to his draft position, but was acceptable on a 3rd line cheap contract. I expected he was expansion bait when AZ first signed him, but he played well enough to hold onto a 3rd line spot.

The biggest question for Arizona we're waiting to see answered is how to cover the 2nd pairing RHD slot. I don't think the promising kid on the farm Kyle Wood is ready, especially if Schenn has to be pushed up to 2nd pairing to fit him. Waiting to see what happens on July 1st or if other trades are made. Wondering if they might try Gologoski on the right side paired with Chychrun.

I expect lots of growing pains. Though they're a lot more palatable to fans when young upcoming players create optimism for the future.

 

[Chris 84]

Holland is the problem, blashill isn't great but no coach would win with this roster

agree 100%

 

[njx9]

Blashill is a good coach in a bad situation.

I don't buy it. He's abjectly failed to develop anyone on the roster, to the point of causing almost everyone to actively regress. Mantha, the only guy who actually looked like a bright spot in terms of player development, was apparently doing so poorly off the stat sheet that, on a team with 5-10 games left and was in the bottom 5 of the NHL (i.e. had nothing, whatsoever, to play for), he had to get his clock cleaned in practice by one of the vets.

That's not a good coach. He might have decent X's and O's, and I think you're right that no one would really know, given the overall talent mismanagement, but he's an objectively garbage player coach in the NHL.

I wouldn't expect anyone else to win with this roster, but I want someone else behind the bench solely so that the team doesn't waste another year of AA by only playing him a handful of minutes a game in favor of garbage like Sheahan. I want someone on the bench who's actually somewhat committed to making sure Larkin is given every conceivable opportunity to play at C. I want someone on the bench who won't keep trotting out bad players, at the expense of younger players. In each of those regards, Blashill is a bad coach. And I see no reason to expect that he'll get better as his roster gets worse.

 

[Frk It]

If Ryan Martin is names GM I will have to go on hiatus for a bit, because every post I could make will be infraction level stuff.... That is how disappointed I would be, keep in mind he is supposed to be a cap manager and he bricked that a couple years ago.

Same.

IWe need to go outside, Holland can move upstairs but I think that is non-negotiable in terms of Martin is not qualified and shouldn't be in the running.

Absolutely.

IBlashill style for a decade as a head coach in several leagues is a high paced transition game for the record. He did adopt parts of Babcock's possession driving game which was also a Wings tenant as he should have. We have seen Blashill run this system at three different stops and marginal attempts at it in Detroit. We have a d that is currently unable to run it. Now there is an argument that his is too rudimentary to work at the NHL level. But to a certain extent what he likes to run is what is currently sweeping the NHL. It is the same system Lavy has run for years that young Americans Copper and Blashill copied and tried to refine. Sullivan also runs a similar system in Pittsburgh. We just aren't executing it because we aren't good enough. But also perhaps Blashill just cannot get high level pros interested in executing it for him and is destined to be a great college, junior or AHL level coach. Time will tell there.

So when a guy only has 1 system, and that system doesn't work for the team he is coaching, he's not responsible for switching it up and finding something that works? The fact that other people can win with a similar system is kind of irrelevant to point out, IMO. Babcock got results out of some very different groups, specifically on the back end.