Helene St. James Is Detroit Still a Desirable Destination?

[Fugu]

Helene asking what we've all been asking (and some of us saying).
http://www.freep.com/article/20140701/SPORTS05/307010145
Look at the numbers though:

It was an utter dud for Detroit.

They got rejected by Dan Boyle, who signed with the New York Rangers for two years and $9 million, less than the two years and $10 million offered by the Wings.

They got rejected by Stephane Robidas, who went to Toronto for three years and $9 million, an offer the Wings would have matched.

They got rejected by Anton Stralman to the point that Stralman's agent, Marc Levine, when contacted by the Free Press to ask if Stralman was interested in Detroit, the answer was a succinct, "no."
Stralman ended up signing with Tampa Bay for five years and $22.5 milion.

Matt Niskanen, the premier right-shooting defenseman on the market, didn't have Detroit on his short list, either.

That's left the Wings with few options for upgrading a defense badly in need of a top-four addition. There's trading, but the teams that have desirable additions, like Arizona with Keith Yandle or Buffalo with Tyler Myers, would ask for either of Gustav Nyquist or Tomas Tatar or Tomas Jurco or Antonthy Mantha in return, plus a high draft pick. Teams don't surrender top-four defensemen for free.
...
The trend isn't entirely new – two years ago when he was first on the move, Detroit was not on the list of destinations for Jarome Iginla, whose futile search for a Stanley Cup took him to Pittsburgh and Boston, and now, the Colorado Avalanche. Detroit wasn't on the trade-approved list of Ryan Kesler, a native of Livonia, when he wanted out of Vancouver in spring.

I think Wiz also didn't have them on his list, and he's a Michigander, iirc.

She goes on to ask about the city, team, coach, but just like us, doesn't know and feels mgt needs to figure it out.

Click to read more...

 

[Vladdy84]

It's a desirable destination if you're an over-the-hill rummy. Once Babcock leaves and the new arena is built. We'll see more players eager to play here

 

[lilja4mvp*]

it's obviously not, unless you're dan cleary.

hope that helps, helene.

 

[The Geelee]

Nope. Whether its the city, the coach or the ultimate decline of the team's quality, players don't want to come here anymore. Something has to change

 

[Birko19]

It's simple, be a contender and they'll have interest.

 

[Roy S]

Where was this narrative last year when Weiss and Alfredsson were sought after FA's and signed with the Wings?

There are a lot of variables involved when player's decide where to go and a lot of stuff goes on behind the scenes that no one has any idea about.

If they ever become a legit contender again, they'd have no problem attracting FA's but even then, a lot goes into who the players will actually sign with. Personal connections on the team or in the area among them.

 

[Frk It]

Thank you for branching this off to it's own thread Fugu.

I would genuinely like to know what everyone's opinions are, as to why this seems to be the case.

I think that if we made 1 or 2 additions today, we could've catapulted ourselves into being a top 3 team in then East, and I anticipated Holland being able to sell that.

To walk away with nothing, after multiples seasons in a row where we have failed to address the defense is just inexcusable.

 

[Bench]

It's not. We have to accept that.

Wings need a deep playoff run to bring back some of the allure. They got smashed by the Bruins. Everybody saw it.

 

[joe89]

Why sign with a team that could be elite when you can sign with a team that's already elite.

 

[Fugu]

It's simple, be a contender and they'll have interest.

Tampa, Toronto and Florida?

 

[Flowah]

Where was this narrative last year when Weiss and Alfredsson were sought after FA's and signed with the Wings?

A guy coming off injury problems that played for a while in Michigan and we basically had team Sweden here during an Olympic year. Plus Ottawa insulted Alfie with their original offer and compelled him to look elsewhere.

Was Weiss even that big of a FA? I thought there were lots of questions marks around him. He's certainly not on the level of Iginla or Ehrhoff.

 

[joe89]

Tampa, Toronto and Florida?

After today Tampa arguably has the best D in the East + Stamkos and Drouin up front. Decent starting point.

 

[bababooeyII]

Where was this narrative last year when Weiss and Alfredsson were sought after FA's and signed with the Wings?

Wow, the Wings outbid Toronto for Weiss how is that working out thus far? And Alfredsson reached out to us and Boston, but the Swedish connection here was what made us the favorites, and if Alfredsson gets treated fairly by Ottawa then he's not a Red Wing. The problem remains that in 99% of the cases players don't want to come here unless we overpay and even in that scenario even if we overpay they won't take our money.

 

[Crymson]

George Malik @georgemalik · 5m
The players actually like playing for Babcock. They live in the suburbs. There's a new rink on the horizon.

There's that, at least.

 

[Roy S]

A guy coming off injury problems that played for a while in Michigan and we basically had team Sweden here during an Olympic year. Plus Ottawa insulted Alfie with their original offer and compelled him to look elsewhere.

Was Weiss even that big of a FA? I thought there were lots of questions marks around him. He's certainly not on the level of Iginla or Ehrhoff.

Weiss was sought after by multiple teams and it came down to Detroit and St Louis. Ottawa and Boston were in on Alfredsson.

Sure, they had personal connections to the area or to the team and that helped in signing them. That did them in today with other players. That's what happens a lot of times in free agency.

 

[Unfriendly Ghost]

I think this is primarily a question of who. Swedes still want to play in Detroit, Stralman notwithstanding. (Not sure what that's about. I have a hunch that Detroit's Swedish appeal mostly extends to the National Team, of which Stralman is not exactly a card-carrying member.)

But Canadians and Americans who are not from Detroit/on the border do not seem particularly interested in coming here. In fact, a lot of them don't seem to even consider Detroit. Iginla is a good example: he's never seemed even remotely interested, even when Detroit was an excellent team waiting for him.

 

[Reality Check]

It's simple, be a contender and they'll have interest.

/Thread

Otherwise, you'll have to overpay dearly. No thanks.

 

[Fugu]

Ansar Khan ‏@AnsarKhanMLive 59s Wings offered Dan Boyle three years at $12.5 million ($5M, $5M and $2.5M) but he took two years, $9 million from Rangers.




That's $4.167 MM AAV for three.


Rangers: 2 yrs, $4.5 MM AAV




Net of $3.5 MM more from the Wings, and one extra year.

 

[Fugu]

There's that, at least.

Yes, and how does George know that? Nothing against Malik, have talked to him many times over the years, but I don't think he's that "in" with the players.

 

[Fugu]

After today Tampa arguably has the best D in the East + Stamkos and Drouin up front. Decent starting point.

After today. Who's selling the UFAs on what the D will look like after today? They don't know that they'll get all their guys, so there is a risk, and some selling going on.

 

[Bench]

Tampa, Toronto and Florida?

Tampa, sure...

But are you saying Toronto and Florida have snagged desirable UFAs? I don't really see it that way.

 

[bababooeyII]

Yes, and how does George know that? Nothing against Malik, have talked to him many times over the years, but I don't think he's that "in" with the players.

He doesn't know that, simple as that. And like a player would actually tell him anyways.

 

[Vladdy84]

Yes, and how does George know that? Nothing against Malik, have talked to him many times over the years, but I don't think he's that "in" with the players.

Yeah. Ask Flip, Hudler, Mule, Tatar etc. How they feel about playing for Babcock.

 

[Unfriendly Ghost]

After today Tampa arguably has the best D in the East + Stamkos and Drouin up front. Decent starting point.

The caveat being that no defense in the East is particularly good.

 

[bababooeyII]

Tampa, sure...

But are you saying Toronto and Florida have snagged desirable UFAs? I don't really see it that way.

No, but the players they targeted they were able to sign. Yes they overpaid but the Wings couldn't even do that