CloneHakanPlease*
Guest
I personally think yes, but I would like to know this forum's stance on the matter. I hope it doesn't come off as too knee jerky, because I honestly have felt this way for awhile. Below is my reasoning I posted in a thread tonight.
Ken Holland inherited a cup winning roster in 98, used the same nucleus and basically unlimited and unrivaled spending power to secure hall of famers who were coming here regardless in 2002, and had a few Hakan Anderson gems pan out for him in 2008, of which he himself takes NO credit for. Rafalski was a good move, but he was a Detroit boy and was probably coming here regardless. His last GREAT signing was Hossa, and even then Hossa's agent called Holland, not the other way around. Holland wasn't even considering signing Hossa, Hossa is the one who initiated it. This man gets too much undeserved credit and his overripe philosophy is running this team into the ground. His extensions on dime a dozen players like Eaves are above free agent market value and generally are for far too long relative to where this team will be. Is anybody really excited we have Bertuzzi for another year after this?
The worst thing is, he isn't even trying to get creative. Sure he went and tried to sign Suter (lowballed him), but he didn't have much of a backup plan. In today's NHL you can't wait till free agency, it isnt a sure thing. He probably thought keeping the cap space open would be good for Edler next offseason, but guess who just extended with the Canucks? Heck, he didn't even take a flyer at Wade Redden, a former all-star for a 1 year 800k deal that St. Louis just got him for. Say what you want about Redden, but the only reason he was in the AHL was his 6 million dollar salary. He is overrated but still much better than Carlo Colavico. Even if plays just barely better than Kindl, why not at least try? Or maybe instead of letting him rot in the minors, Holland actually allowed Smith to ease into the NHL and be tutored by Lidstrom last year, opposed to bringing him up to a top 4 role after a whopping 15 games of NHL experience.
Since our last true cup contending roster in 09, we've lost Hossa, Hudler, Holmstrom, Rafalski, Stuart, and Lidstrom and have essentially replaced them with Bertuzzi, bringing back Sammuelson, Quincy, Tootoo and Smith. I don't mind any players on the 2nd group, but you dont have to be a genius to realize that is a MASSIVE exodus of talent. Keep in mind that while we've gotten younger, our GOOD and key players have gotten older and regressed with the exception of Filppula. I don't expect guys like Nyquist to be Zetterberg good, hell I'd be happy if he scored at the same rate as Hudler, but we'll never find out if Holland keeps signing veterans who are marginally better than the young guys RIGHT now and have NO room to improve, only regress.
This team lacks clear direction, and I honestly think Holland isnt sure whether or not he still wants to make us a contender or go for a rebuild, and hasnt been sure the past 3 seasons. I'd be ok with us even failing a bit for a few seasons if I knew it would be worth it in the end, ala 2005-06 Pittsburgh, but Holland keeps having an instance on signing older players who don't catapult us to the next level and hold us back for the future. We have capspace and a billionaire owner. Would it really be so much of a travesty to take a risk here and then?
I feel like next year will be our last chance to win a cup with Datsyuk and Zetterberg leading the charge. Unfortunately I don't see that happening due to us being binded by contracts like Sammy's and Bert's, as it allows for no real meaningful changeover.
He's made some good signings, and he's made some good trades, but I honestly think Ken Holland is mismanaging this situation horribly and it will only get worse next year. I do not think Ken Holland is a bad general manager, but I do have a hard time calling him one of the greats. He was put in a situation to win, and made the right moves, but lots of them at the time were obvious or in retrospect lucky. I feel he is an average GM at best, and criticism of his job the past few years is warranted.
Ken Holland inherited a cup winning roster in 98, used the same nucleus and basically unlimited and unrivaled spending power to secure hall of famers who were coming here regardless in 2002, and had a few Hakan Anderson gems pan out for him in 2008, of which he himself takes NO credit for. Rafalski was a good move, but he was a Detroit boy and was probably coming here regardless. His last GREAT signing was Hossa, and even then Hossa's agent called Holland, not the other way around. Holland wasn't even considering signing Hossa, Hossa is the one who initiated it. This man gets too much undeserved credit and his overripe philosophy is running this team into the ground. His extensions on dime a dozen players like Eaves are above free agent market value and generally are for far too long relative to where this team will be. Is anybody really excited we have Bertuzzi for another year after this?
The worst thing is, he isn't even trying to get creative. Sure he went and tried to sign Suter (lowballed him), but he didn't have much of a backup plan. In today's NHL you can't wait till free agency, it isnt a sure thing. He probably thought keeping the cap space open would be good for Edler next offseason, but guess who just extended with the Canucks? Heck, he didn't even take a flyer at Wade Redden, a former all-star for a 1 year 800k deal that St. Louis just got him for. Say what you want about Redden, but the only reason he was in the AHL was his 6 million dollar salary. He is overrated but still much better than Carlo Colavico. Even if plays just barely better than Kindl, why not at least try? Or maybe instead of letting him rot in the minors, Holland actually allowed Smith to ease into the NHL and be tutored by Lidstrom last year, opposed to bringing him up to a top 4 role after a whopping 15 games of NHL experience.
Since our last true cup contending roster in 09, we've lost Hossa, Hudler, Holmstrom, Rafalski, Stuart, and Lidstrom and have essentially replaced them with Bertuzzi, bringing back Sammuelson, Quincy, Tootoo and Smith. I don't mind any players on the 2nd group, but you dont have to be a genius to realize that is a MASSIVE exodus of talent. Keep in mind that while we've gotten younger, our GOOD and key players have gotten older and regressed with the exception of Filppula. I don't expect guys like Nyquist to be Zetterberg good, hell I'd be happy if he scored at the same rate as Hudler, but we'll never find out if Holland keeps signing veterans who are marginally better than the young guys RIGHT now and have NO room to improve, only regress.
This team lacks clear direction, and I honestly think Holland isnt sure whether or not he still wants to make us a contender or go for a rebuild, and hasnt been sure the past 3 seasons. I'd be ok with us even failing a bit for a few seasons if I knew it would be worth it in the end, ala 2005-06 Pittsburgh, but Holland keeps having an instance on signing older players who don't catapult us to the next level and hold us back for the future. We have capspace and a billionaire owner. Would it really be so much of a travesty to take a risk here and then?
I feel like next year will be our last chance to win a cup with Datsyuk and Zetterberg leading the charge. Unfortunately I don't see that happening due to us being binded by contracts like Sammy's and Bert's, as it allows for no real meaningful changeover.
He's made some good signings, and he's made some good trades, but I honestly think Ken Holland is mismanaging this situation horribly and it will only get worse next year. I do not think Ken Holland is a bad general manager, but I do have a hard time calling him one of the greats. He was put in a situation to win, and made the right moves, but lots of them at the time were obvious or in retrospect lucky. I feel he is an average GM at best, and criticism of his job the past few years is warranted.