Not happening. Holland already mentioned he would much prefer having Mrazek start 55 AHL games, and play on a regular basis, than start 20 NHL games, sometimes having over a week in between appearances. I do not necessarily disagree with this philosophy, however if this is his mindset, he should not have signed Howard for that many years. I have no issue going with Howard and Monster again next year, but at what point does Mrazek come up and have a legitimate chance at starting 35+ games?
I agree, but how much are we willing to pay to get a Top 4 Right-handed D. They just are nit really out there, and the few that are don't really impress me. Dan Boyle would be nice for a year or 2, but is it really worth throwing 6 million dollars per year for Dan Boyle?
There was no reason to sign Howard for 6 years, but chances are Howard wanted term in order to sign and at the time I doubt the team had much choice. I also doubt they expected Mrazek to progress as quickly as he did.
I think Monster is probably going to be playing elsewhere next season, the Wings will likely go with someone on a 1 year deal. I expect Mrazek to be the "Backup" after next season, and I think he will get more and more starts until he eventually steals the starting job. Similar to how Howard took the role from Osgood.
What is a realistic way to get more RH d on our pairings? We have 5 that are penciled in long term. Kronner, Smith, Dekeyser, E, Ouellet. Surely 1 has to go right?
Man that's a tough call. I'd probably part with E or Ouellet right now. Smiths' ceiling is just too high and Kronner is our clear #1. Dekesyer is a huge body and plays just very solidly.
To me... of that group Smith is the odd guy out.
To me... of that group Smith is the odd guy out.
I watched his second half of the season and his playoffs and I might agree with you if I didn't see his potential as being just so much higher than what Dekesyer could end up as. Ericsson is pretty much a known quantity at this point. I still see Smith as being able to impress us within the next couple of years.
Please Babcock! PP time for Smitty!
Man that's a tough call. I'd probably part with E or Ouellet right now. Smiths' ceiling is just too high and Kronner is our clear #1. Dekesyer is a huge body and plays just very solidly.
I don't disagree about his potential. I just look at how he's used and it looks to me that Babcock has made his mind up about him.
Ericsson could end up being the odd guy out if Ouellet excels at the NHL level, while not as big I see Ouellet playing a shut down role similar to the role E fills.
What does it cost to get him? Is he good defensively?
I'd sell high on Smith. After that, Ouellet.
I'd keep Sproul, Backman, Jensen, Marchenko.
EDIT: I'd also be ok with Boyle for a year or two, help the young guys with puck movement. No, he isn't a top line guy, but paired with someone like Ericsson, he'd be ok.
I'd sell high on Smith. After that, Ouellet.
I'd keep Sproul, Backman, Jensen, Marchenko.
EDIT: I'd also be ok with Boyle for a year or two, help the young guys with puck movement. No, he isn't a top line guy, but paired with someone like Ericsson, he'd be ok.
Ericsson + 1st for Eberle
Sign Vanek in the off-season or promote Mantha and trade Tatar + Kindl +2nd for Ehrhoff
Vanek/Mantha-Datsyuk-Eberle
Nyquist-Zetterberg-Franzen
Sheahan-Weiss-Jurco
Glendening-Helm-Abdelkader
Smith-Kronwall
Ehrhoff - DeKeyser
Sproul-Ouellet
Marchenko
Howard
Gustavsson
/pipedream
Too small of a team. We will get crushed by Boston and then have them laugh at us while we are on the ground.
Too small of a team. We will get crushed by Boston and then have them laugh at us while we are on the ground.
Skill wins, it's exactly why Chicago has been so good for so long now.
Skill wins, it's exactly why Chicago has been so good for so long now.
skill wins when paired with grit
Chicago has more size than us. We don't have a Bickel or seabrook. Plus their skilled players are actually skilled.
In complete agreement. The wings have skill but not enough to compete with top teams in a 7 game series and some of that skill is hitting major decline age. The team has maybe 1-2 grit on a scale of 1-10 10 being the highest. Wings players are either skilled or grit the wings have no players like Marchand who brings both. Zetterberg has a kind of grit, a determination and overcoming adversity kind of grit but not a physically intimidating kind of grit. Abby has grit but practcally no skill. You can't have top liners that are either or. When you have someone on the top line that brings little to no offense its trouble no matter how much grit he has.
Babcock tries to sprinkle in grit with skill but the problem is the gritty players are bringing zero skill for the skilled players to work with or they are too past their prime to carry the play.