I would think some teams would be interested in Howard, say he was to be traded.
Edmonton in a package for a scoring winger (Eberle?)
Phoenix for some picks.
Dallas for some picks (the Jim Nill connection).
I wouldn't trade him over the summer but more around the Christmas break when/if he gets his form back.
Funny how everyone thinks Defense is our issue and what we need to address. We're loaded on the back.
Kronwall
Ericsson
Dekeyser
Smith
Quincey
Marchenko
Ouellet
Kindl
Lashoff
Sproul
Jensen
Holland completely BLEW IT this year by missing out on Yandle. A true #1 guy like that is going to go on the market very rarely. That was the guy we should have gone after hard.
I think what we really need to start focusing on is a true #1 center. The franchise type guy, ala Yzerman. Zetterberg looks like he's playing with lead in his skates.
_________
Shehan
Athanasiou
Glendening
Who's the top line C after Datsyuk and Z retire? Larkin? I hope so.
We don't have a younger guy who is trending up to be a dominant center or d-man. We clearly do in net.
The defense is pretty much all blue collar defensive-defenseman types. I agree Yandle would have addressed a very obvious need but my #1 target was Tyler Myers. If you acquired Myers you would be looking at this lineup:
Kronwall-Myers
DeKeyser-Ericsson
Quincey-Smith
I left off Zidlicky because my guess is a deal wouldn't have been made if we had Myers.
When it comes to centers it is more the same, almost exclusively defensive pivots. Sheahan has never been a scorer since he started college, Joker will never break 20 points, Glendening is a great defensive forward but hasn't shown any real offensive skill in college or the NHL. We will probably have a better handle on Larkin next year since he will not be on a line with Zach Hyman who was a Hobey Baker finalist this season.
Andreas Athansiou is showing some good signs in the OHL and Grand Rapids and I think he will factor into the mix within the next year or two.
So there's no one who is a clear #1 center candidate. We are more likely to have a bunch of guys who are best slotted in as #2-4 centers.
Funny how everyone thinks Defense is our issue and what we need to address. We're loaded on the back.
Kronwall
Ericsson
Dekeyser
Smith
Quincey
Marchenko
Ouellet
Kindl
Lashoff
Sproul
Jensen
"We don't have a younger guy who is trending upward to be #1" . We have 2.
DeKeyser is AWESOME. I don't know if you have been around long, but Quincey was the player everyone liked to hate on BEFORE he got paired with Danny DeKeyser. Now, everyone loves Quincey. What's the real reason? Sure, Quincey seems to have settled a bit, and isn't making as many errors. But the bigger reason is that Danny DeKeyser IS THAT GOOD.
Brendan Smith needs one or 2 more years, and he'll be the 2nd best defenseman on our team. He's got great offensive upside, and if you think he's so bad defensively, recognize this - Tampa Bay has only scored ONCE on us when he's been in the line-up this series = OT goal in game 4 (he was out of the lineup for the last half of the 3rd period after getting hit in the jaw off a shot).
Those 2 guys are FANTASTIC! Does Smith make some bonehead plays? yah. Sure. All 25 year old defensemen do. Do his stand out more because Jimmy Howard turned EVERY SINGLE ONE of our turnovers into a goal for the other team? Absolutely. Mrazek is fixing that problem right now. Smith's knuckleheadedness will be much more easily forgiven now that Jimmy Howard is a thing of the past.
Funny how everyone thinks Defense is our issue and what we need to address. We're loaded on the back.
Kronwall
Ericsson
Dekeyser
Smith
Quincey
Marchenko
Ouellet
Kindl
Lashoff
Sproul
Jensen
Holland completely BLEW IT this year by missing out on Yandle. A true #1 guy like that is going to go on the market very rarely. That was the guy we should have gone after hard.
I think what we really need to start focusing on is a true #1 center. The franchise type guy, ala Yzerman. Zetterberg looks like he's playing with lead in his skates.
_________
Shehan
Athanasiou
Glendening
Who's the top line C after Datsyuk and Z retire? Larkin? I hope so.
Oh trust me, I've been around for quite some time.
I agree that DeKeyser has looked really good and has turned it up a notch come playoff time. Can he become a 40+ point d-man? That remains to be seen. With Smith there's far too much variance for a guy with 200+ NHL games under his belt. I have more faith in DeKeyser being a point producer than I do with Smith.
That's why I used Mrazek as an example of a young guy who is dominant. Pavs was dominant as a very young player centering Brett Hull. Genius is immediately recognizable. Mrazek has that in spades.
he's not #1 dman.
He's a top pairing defenseman at the very least. And a good one at that.
I would think some teams would be interested in Howard, say he was to be traded.
Edmonton in a package for a scoring winger (Eberle?)
Phoenix for some picks.
Dallas for some picks (the Jim Nill connection).
I wouldn't trade him over the summer but more around the Christmas break when/if he gets his form back.
Eberle or Yakupov please.
Is Mike Smith a free agent?
Eberle or Yakupov please.
Is Mike Smith a free agent?
he is good but he's usage is more like 2nd to 3rd pair dman. can't PK. can't play RD. wouldn't be top pairing guy for us.
if you have one to two pairings that can take the hard matchups (yotes some years ago and especially rangers now), there aren't many dman that would be better to play those sheltered minutes than yandle.
Yandle has played top pairing minutes in the past and has done well, sure his numbers are much more gaudy when he's on second pair, but that is logical. Not being able play right side or PK hardly disqualifies a defenseman as a top pairing defenseman, incidentally. Having Yandle on the second pair with Dekeyser here would be an absolute blessing too.
for red wings it does.
yandle-dekeyser would make for a great pairing but top pair RD is still tire fire. and no assets left to get one. unless we magically strike on green or something in FA.
i'd want the latter to happen first before i think about doing trade for yandle or player like that (since yandle won't be going anywhere this offseason).
Have to improve the depth of the team regardless. Yandle would have improved the team's possession metrics exponentially. Can't just be afraid to move assets because it doesn't address a very specific, very hard to address need. Yandle is a top pairing defenseman. He doesn't have to play on our top pair to make a substantial difference on our blue line, so. We aren't going to get a right handed top pair guy on the market in the near future.(not that we'll get Yandle either. That boat sailed.)