Ken Holland's Remarks about the off-season

[Winger98]

Buffalo, hopefully. They have cap, a billion draft picks/prospects, and it's home turf for Jimmy.

If we went out and signed a guy like Miller, Howard's list might expand by a few teams, too. Sticking around in a place that just showed so little faith in you can't be too appealing.

 

[Chance on Chance]

Buffalo, hopefully. They have cap, a billion draft picks/prospects, and it's home turf for Jimmy.

I'll agree with Buffalo and Add in Washington, Calgary, Islander and possibly Winnipeg. A lot of factors would have to come together for anything like this to work out

 

[Bench]

If we went out and signed a guy like Miller, Howard's list might expand by a few teams, too. Sticking around in a place that just showed so little faith in you can't be too appealing.

Absolutely.

Personally I would just hope for Buffalo cause I think it might be where Jimmy would want to go if he was leaving. He's young enough he could grow with that team, you know? Could work out for everybody.

But this is all some pretty dramatic speculation on my part. Still, with California looking out of the picture for Miller, you have to think Detroit is on the short list...

 

[Chance on Chance]

I'm surprised San jose isnt more interested in Miller

 

[Bench]

I'm surprised San jose isnt more interested in Miller

Looks like they are in rebuild on the fly mode instead of win now. San Jose, welcome to the club.

 

[Winger98]

Absolutely.

Personally I would just hope for Buffalo cause I think it might be where Jimmy would want to go if he was leaving. He's young enough he could grow with that team, you know? Could work out for everybody.

But this is all some pretty dramatic speculation on my part. Still, with California looking out of the picture for Miller, you have to think Detroit is on the short list...

I'm not entirely sure who else would be. I have to think he wants some chance to win now, so going to a club routinely out of the playoffs doesn't make a lot of sense. Maybe Pittsburgh signs him to shake things up there? Philly?

re: San Jose

with them letting Boyle walk, I have to wonder if they aren't going to go after Niskanen. He'd fit age wise and he'd fill a need for them.

 

[Cyborg Yzerberg]

Looks like they are in rebuild on the fly mode instead of win now. San Jose, welcome to the club.

Which is weird to me, they should be competing now. Their team is very good. Thornton and Marleau don't have many years left in this league.

 

[Chance on Chance]

Which is weird to me, they should be competing now. Their team is very good. Thornton and Marleau don't have many years left in this league.

They need D. Their O is top notch but other then Valasic they're really thin but maybe a Miller type goalie would offset that

 

[Bench]

Which is weird to me, they should be competing now. Their team is very good. Thornton and Marleau don't have many years left in this league.

Detroit and San Jose are in in nearly identical boats. Teams that have a few elite pieces, and are still competitive, but haven't been able to get over the hump and subsequently have to look to their internal development to fill the gaps.

 

[icKx]

It would be if you gave him away for modest picks or longshot prospects. A rebuilding team like Buffalo would be pretty silly not to take Howard. He's price controlled and reliable, just what they need.

If you're getting Miller, who cares what the return is. An upgrade is an upgrade. Just pretend you didn't sign Howard to the extension. Tada. And yes, I know many dispute Miller is an upgrade. Having followed both over the years, Miller steals way more games. And like I keep saying, I'm actually a Howard fan. But I always like a chance to get better.

Finally, I think it's worth noting that while Holland has been loyal to a fault with his skaters, he has been quite liberal with swapping goalies. Perhaps it because he was one? I'm not sure. But was there a period in Detroit history, before Howard has settled in, that the #1 spot was a sure thing? Every off-season it seemed like Holland was scouting for a better goalie. Osgood, then Vernon, then Cuju, Hasek.... back to Osgood!

I dismissed Miller to Detroit right away but you make a compelling point about Holland's track record with goalies.

If we land Miller, trading Howard to Buffalo or whomever - even for marginal prospects - is still an upgrade. It really depends on what kind of term Miller is looking for. If he wants five years that doesn't help ease the transition with Mrazek.

 

[Cyborg Yzerberg]

Detroit and San Jose are in in nearly identical boats. Teams that have a few elite pieces, and are still competitive, but haven't been able to get over the hump and subsequently have to look to their internal development to fill the gaps.

I suppose. I think their team is better than ours. Thornton and Marleau is a wash with Zetterberg and Datsyuk. And while Tatar, Nyquist, Sheahan, and Jurco are coming into their own, much like Hertl, they already have guys like Pavelski and Couture tearing things up. Like a previous poster said, defense is their only concern IMO. They should keep competing for another season or two and just keep trying to improve their roster. Miller might offset some of their back end weaknesses.

 

[icKx]

Detroit and San Jose are in in nearly identical boats. Teams that have a few elite pieces, and are still competitive, but haven't been able to get over the hump and subsequently have to look to their internal development to fill the gaps.

I think SJ is in a much better position. Nyquist and Tatar are nice but no Couture / Pavelski.

Thornton and Marleau have also proven much more durable than Dats / Z.

They just need to retool the defense. Our needs extend into the offense.

 

[Flowah]

I think SJ is in a much better position. Nyquist and Tatar are nice but no Couture / Pavelski.

Thornton and Marleau have also proven much more durable than Dats / Z.

They just need to retool the defense. Our needs extend into the offense.

I don't think we have too many needs on offense. Part of the reason our offense sucked last year was guys like Cleary/Sammy/Bert playing ~50/25/60 games. That's a big chunk of games with a lot of lesser quality players. And of course our injuries to guys like Zetterberg, Datsyuk, Franzen, and Alfie.

And improving our defense will also bolster our offense. The lack of an RH shot and a lack of PMD's is really killing our ability to create offense. You insert a couple of defensemen who can make a good outlet pass in place of guys like Kindl and Lashoff and you have a way better team. We desperately do need improvements on defense. Not just on the defensive side of it, but in their ability to help generate offense. Lidstrom and Raffy were huge in that and we've never replaced them. We just lost a ton of points when those guys retired.

And while Pavelski is killer, I'd wait until Nyquist and Tatar get a couple seasons under their belt. Most players tend to do better after they're in the league for a few years and figure things out and develop their games. Nyquist showed he could potentially be a superstar last season. While I personally think it was a bit of an aberration, who knows?

 

[Frk It]

And while Pavelski is killer, I'd wait until Nyquist and Tatar get a couple seasons under their belt. Most players tend to do better after they're in the league for a few years and figure things out and develop their games. Nyquist showed he could potentially be a superstar last season. While I personally think it was a bit of an aberration, who knows?

Nyquist and Tatar will be both be good players. But I don't think either one will be as good of a goal scorer as Pavelski. Pavelski has a 30 and 40 goal campaign in the last 2 full seasons.

I think Little Joe is one of the more underrated guys in the league. Scores a lot of goals, and scores big goals.

 

[Crymson]

It has a better possibility than Holland trading Howard with his NMC. We still have Miller's brother in our team and who knows if they want to play at least one season together in their NHL career.

The possibility is higher, yes; it's something along the lines of .02%, versus the .01% chance that Howard will be traded.

Perhaps Miller wants to play with his brother, but more likely he wants to get his final long-term contract that'll pay him a lot of money and continue him as a starting goaltender.

Despite his Hollywood-wife, there's no goalie spots free for Miller in California. So why not come to Detroit? Even Mike Modano had Hollywood-wife and came to Detroit for one season.

Why not come to Detroit? Because Miller is still an excellent goaltender. He will want a long-term contract, he will want to be paid well, and he will want to be the starting goaltender. He will get zero of these from the Red Wings.

I don't see what bearing the location of his wife has upon this matter. As you've said, there are no starting jobs available in California; the possibility of being nearer to his spouse may have made the teams in that state a preferred option for him, but that's not going to happen, so he'll be playing elsewhere. And aside from the fact that his brother plays in Detroit, there's precisely no reason for him to play here, and several very compelling reasons (enumerated above) to do otherwise.

Modano's situation was not comparable to this one. Modano came to Detroit because his team had cut him loose and the Red Wings enticed him to sign in Detroit for one last season. He was at the tail-end of his career, had accomplished everything he set out to do in his career, and joined the team for a season because he didn't yet feel ready to retire. He had no other considerations. Miller does.

 

[Crymson]

Buffalo, hopefully. They have cap, a billion draft picks/prospects, and it's home turf for Jimmy.

Howard was born and raised in Ogdensburg, which is more than 200 miles from Buffalo and is much closer to Ottawa (50 miles) and Montreal (100 miles). Buffalo is not "home turf" for him any more than Manhattan or Long Island are, which is to say not at all. New York is a big place.

And prospects/picks, cap, whatever, the Sabres are currently an awful team and have absolutely no legacy of success. It ain't happening.

 

[Bench]

New York is a big place.

That's your problem. You're thinking too small. It's all relative. Particularly in the universe.

 

[Chance on Chance]

Looks like islanders will be off the possible destination for Howard

 

[Bench]

Looks like islanders will be off the possible destination for Howard

Islanders have this weird thing where nobody wants to go there and then they get there and they sign again. Well, not Vanek.

I don't get it.

 

[tfong]

Isle have Halak now

 

[InjuredChoker]

Islanders have this weird thing where nobody wants to go there and then they get there and they sign again. Well, not Vanek.

I don't get it.

it's still NY.

and now they have long-term stability as they move to barclays.

gotta get new owner though. or wang open up the check book little more.

 

[Crymson]

That's your problem. You're thinking too small. It's all relative. Particularly in the universe.

In that event, perhaps we could trade him to one of the Alpha Centaurian hockey clubs.

Looks like islanders will be off the possible destination for Howard

I'm not sure what's making people think that the likes of the Islanders are possible destinations for Howard. For that matter, I don't understand how there's any sense in trading the guy at all.

Islanders have this weird thing where nobody wants to go there and then they get there and they sign again. Well, not Vanek.

I don't get it.

Halak would never have gotten such a big offer elsewhere. Of all the league's GMs, only Garth Snow would be foolish enough to give him $4.5m per year.

Aside from Grabner, who was a nobody when he was traded to the Islanders, I don't recall (in the recent past, anyhow) any other notable individuals signing significant deals after arriving there via trade.

Edit: I checked the team's trade history all the way back to the 2003-2004 season. Aside from Grabner and Halak, there aren't any examples of the above.

 

[InjuredChoker]

i think 4.5 mil is ok value for halak. only 2 goalies that are realistically available have higher sv% than him since 2010 (with at least 100 gp). but they are thomas and vokoun who are pretty close to done and not realistic solutions.

i don't view him as a great goalie or even above average. but snow has made lot worse deals than that.

 

[ArGarBarGar]

I hope Miller signs somewhere else so you guys can get off this wagon.

I contend it will be a nightmare if he signs here.

 

[InjuredChoker]

ryan sproul is more likely to be on top pairing on the season opener than ryan miller being signed by holland.