News Article: Trade Rumors: Elliotte Friedman Speculates on Potential Athanasiou Trade With Hurricanes

[Ezekial]

At the end of the article Friedman mentions he heard Wings trying to move this defense man. That's why i posted. Sorry to interrupt. You can PM me if you like. This involves your team, not mine. By all means continue on the BIG Ken Holland trade talk. We know how often those happen. For the record AA is a helluva player.

January 23, 2018
http://hfboards.mandatory.com/threads/mckenzie-says-wings-shopping-ouellet.2439477

This thread is about Friedman reporting he thinks an AA for Justin Faulk swap makes sense.

 

[ShelbyZ]

Lost all credibility with "AA is a helluva player" IMO.

 

[Redder Winger]

AA never requested a trade.

AA was a joke last night, if he wants to play more minutes he needs to play like he did mid December thru January

It's amazing that anyone liked this post.
AA was fine last night.
Sure, would have better had he gotten shots off on two occasions in the slot.

The idea that Glendening was good last night is a joke.
Check the CF numbers.

Check the +/- numbers.

Look at who was where when goals were scored.

Glendening got promoted because he's Blashill's west Michigan golfing buddy.

 

[chances14]

I can't take any poster seriously if they actually consider jeff moss a legitimate and credible news source. Most of his "sources" seem to be nothing but third hand gossip. jeff moss has had a personal vendetta against zetterberg for years. frankly, I'm shocked hfboards even allows his articles to be linked here

if you want idea of what a clown that guy is, take 5 minutes and go look at his twitter feed

 

[kliq]

I can't take any poster seriously if they actually consider jeff moss a legitimate and credible news source. Most of his "sources" seem to be nothing but third hand gossip. jeff moss has had a personal vendetta against zetterberg for years. frankly, I'm shocked hfboards even allows his articles to be linked here

if you want idea of what a clown that guy is, take 5 minutes and go look at his twitter feed

Is he the same idiot that talks about the "Swedish Mafia"?

 

[turkleton85]

I don't understand why some people here didn't want to make this trade when Faulk was slumping. Now that he's heated up, no way AA will get this trade done. It's now going to need to involve Larkin. And that might be something to consider for a player of Faulk's caliber.

I said it before, if Wings landed both Faulk and Dahlin they suddenly go from the bottom of a rebuilding team to peak of an upswing of a rebuild.

I think it was just pure speculation by friedman, nothing with real substance, wasn't it? Even with AA on a hot and faulk on a cold streak, this would be an unrealistic scenario. If this was some real scenario, any GM would have to get decapitated in the town centre if they didn't swap AA for (healthy) faulk. Let alone the guy who offers faulk for athanasiou

AA is a very exciting player, i really like him and he can be a difference maker, but at 23 it's fair to wonder if he has any room left in his development. He's is a piece that would be great on a contender that isn't dependent on his performance

 

[Claypool]

AA is a very exciting player, i really like him and he can be a difference maker, but at 23 it's fair to wonder if he has any room left in his development. He's is a piece that would be great on a contender that isn't dependent on his performance

He's played a 140 games in the league. He also missed an entire training camp this year. I think he'll put up 50+ points next season.

 

[Shaman464]

He's played a 140 games in the league. He also missed an entire training camp this year. I think he'll put up 50+ points next season.

Or he'll put up 30. Other teams seem to understand him. He's not surprising anyone. He's great when he gives a f***. He's trash the rest of the time. He could have been a top 50 forward if he wasn't an insolent person. He is his biggest enemy and given every piece of evidence that will be his biggest hurdle.

 

[turkleton85]

He's played a 140 games in the league. He also missed an entire training camp this year. I think he'll put up 50+ points next season.

If he wasn't this inconsistent / if he was used in ways that make more sense (PP for example), he'd be a 50 pt player this year. Blashhill might be part of the problem, but just like shaman464 said, he himself is part of it as well. And even if he was a 50+ pt winger, faulk as a 40-50 point defender would have far more value

 

[Dotter]

It's amazing that anyone liked this post.
AA was fine last night.
Sure, would have better had he gotten shots off on two occasions in the slot.

The idea that Glendening was good last night is a joke.
Check the CF numbers.

Check the +/- numbers.

Look at who was where when goals were scored.

Glendening got promoted because he's Blashill's west Michigan golfing buddy.

That's not true. He's the type of player coaches love. Babcock wasn't from Michigan and he also liked Glendening. And no doubt he'd love to have him in Toronto.

AA has gone cold (probably due to the team not pushing the stretch pass as much of late), but that doesn't mean he's a garbage player. He is who he is, and that's a top 9 tweener. He's a fun player to watch but he won't ever be a core player. Very tradeable.

 

[Flowah]

AA is a very exciting player, i really like him and he can be a difference maker, but at 23 it's fair to wonder if he has any room left in his development. He's is a piece that would be great on a contender that isn't dependent on his performance

imo, 90% of AA's problem is his work ethic.

Work ethic is something that can be fixed at any age, hard though it may be. Unlike skating speed and stickhandling which has an extreme physical component meaning you have hard limits on what you can do.

 

[Lil Sebastian Cossa]

AA is a helluva player. When he wants to be. That's the only problem with him.

He has the physical tools and hockey sense to be special. He really does. It's why Blash and Holland say at every turn "When Double A is engaged, he's a special player." That much is true. He just seems to be completely uninterested in being engaged unless he's being directly prodded by benchings and threats to his NHL time.

AA is a less talented Alex Semin. Same motivation issues. That's why Washington kept giving Semin one year deals or two year deals to keep prodding him to be good... and he SUCKED when Carolina gave him long term security. Some guys are rinkrats that are self driven (Larkin). Other guys need prodding (Mantha, AA). That's why all the *****ing about AA being misused is nonsense. He's never shown any proclivity for initiative beyond keeping himself in good physical health. He's never shown himself to be a "first out on the ice, last off the ice, extra skating or film or whatever" type of guy. That doesn't mean he's a bad person or bad player... just that you simply don't give him the latitude that you give a guy like Larkin. Larkin you know is going to kill himself to be better on the ice. AA... just won't.

 

[Lil Sebastian Cossa]

Who's broken more stories in Detroit than Jeff Moss? Maybe the national media, but the local media is a joke. Granted Moss can go overboard but he's factual. I understand you only wanna hear how great everything is. Sorry to bother you.....

Since he's broken so many stories, you can enlighten us onto which ones, right? If he's such a bastion of journalistic initiative and accuracy, surely there must be examples top of mind for you.

And what is his ratio of true "broken stories" to "clickbait **** that has no basis in reality, but he's a blogger so he doesn't actually have to do legwork but just throw crap nonstop against a wall".

 

[Redder Winger]

AA is a helluva player. When he wants to be. That's the only problem with him.

He has the physical tools and hockey sense to be special. He really does. It's why Blash and Holland say at every turn "When Double A is engaged, he's a special player." That much is true. He just seems to be completely uninterested in being engaged unless he's being directly prodded by benchings and threats to his NHL time.

AA is a less talented Alex Semin. Same motivation issues. That's why Washington kept giving Semin one year deals or two year deals to keep prodding him to be good... and he SUCKED when Carolina gave him long term security. Some guys are rinkrats that are self driven (Larkin). Other guys need prodding (Mantha, AA). That's why all the *****ing about AA being misused is nonsense. He's never shown any proclivity for initiative beyond keeping himself in good physical health. He's never shown himself to be a "first out on the ice, last off the ice, extra skating or film or whatever" type of guy. That doesn't mean he's a bad person or bad player... just that you simply don't give him the latitude that you give a guy like Larkin. Larkin you know is going to kill himself to be better on the ice. AA... just won't.

LOL.
What a load of crap.

Was AA dogging it the other night when he got put on Line 4?
Nope.

That's just a coach trying to juggle his line up.
But a coach who doesn't have the balls do to anything but bench his kids..

 

[jkutswings]

Neither Blashill nor AA is doing themselves any favors in the, "my overall performance deserves a reward" department. And I don't see the status of either changing anytime soon.

 

[Redder Winger]

Neither Blashill nor AA is doing themselves any favors in the, "my overall performance deserves a reward" department. And I don't see the status of either changing anytime soon.

The Red Wings don't get him the puck enough.

When players get him the puck, he produces.
When they don't, he doesn't.

Now, maybe AA isn't doing a good job getting open. And he could always be better at going and winning puck battles. That's my biggest beef with AA is that he lets up instead of crashes guys.
There are two main things I'd do with AA.
I'd sit him down in a clockwork orange style brainwashing chamber and have him watch Fedorov and Datsyuk, nonstop, for two weeks.
And I'd sit him down to watch him own game film and zap him with a taser everytime he pulled up short and waved a stick at someone, instead of skating right through the check.

 

[Shaman464]

The Red Wings don't get him the puck enough.

When players get him the puck, he produces.
When they don't, he doesn't.

Trash

Don't blame other players. When he's disengaged I have seen players give him the lead pass that he should be able to get some open ice with, and what does he do? He halfheartedly goes after it, loses the race and then does his own thing. So don't blame other players like they are just hogging the puck between them and AA is the poor little brother jumping around hoping someone will finally pass it to him.

 

[Frk It]

The Red Wings don't get him the puck enough.

I'd sit him down in a clockwork orange style brainwashing chamber and have him watch Fedorov and Datsyuk, nonstop, for two weeks.

Yeah, if you're not getting the puck enough... go take the puck.

Work ethic is something that can be fixed at any age, hard though it may be.

With some people... certainly not with everyone.

 

[OldnotDeadWings]

I’m not sure it’s work ethic with AA, though that could be part of it. I think it’s more along the lines of whether he has the self-awareness to understand both what works for him and what doesn’t work, and the willingness or even humility to accept and embrace what he needs to do differently to become a better player. Sheahan for example never lacked in work ethic. But he’s a 6-3 220-pound guy who didn’t understand or accept that playing with a chip on his shoulder, even a tiny chip, would have made him a more effective player.

I think it’s very difficult to change the way a player thinks about himself, especially if he is already inclined to believe he is the cat’s whiskers.

 

[Redder Winger]

Don't blame other players. When he's disengaged I have seen players give him the lead pass that he should be able to get some open ice with, and what does he do? He halfheartedly goes after it, loses the race and then does his own thing. So don't blame other players like they are just hogging the puck between them and AA is the poor little brother jumping around hoping someone will finally pass it to him.

Sorry. But passing is an issue on this team.
You can say it's "blaming others."

And you never see AA go half-hearted after a pass. If there's one area where you can never question AA's desire, it's when he sniffs a breakout pass.

 

[Redder Winger]

Yeah, if you're not getting the puck enough... go take the puck.

.

No doubt.
But AA's gift is transitional play.

And too often, I see AA charging up the wing, or up center, and the Red Wing instead passes to the other side to a guy with no head of steam and no options. Poor play recognition? Lack of confidence? I don't know what it is, but the Red Wings haven't put the puck on his stick often in the last 2-3 weeks.

 

[Frk It]

No doubt.
But AA's gift is transitional play.

And too often, I see AA charging up the wing, or up center, and the Red Wing instead passes to the other side to a guy with no head of steam and no options. Poor play recognition? Lack of confidence? I don't know what it is, but the Red Wings haven't put the puck on his stick often in the last 2-3 weeks.

The transition starts with your defenseman, and we have trash defenseman. That's probably the biggest issue.

 

[Redder Winger]

The transition starts with your defenseman, and we have trash defenseman. That's probably the biggest issue.

It's also the forwards. (In some cases, they're rushed because they're getting bad passes).
And look, AA is not a pretty passer either.

That's why I wanted a Vilardi or a Robert Thomas kind of playmaking center.
It's why I'm not keen on trading Nyquist.

The Red Wings used to be a team where like 7-8 of the 12 forwards were good passers.

Now we have maybe 2 or 3.

And to your point, in 08, we had Lidstrom, Rafalski, Kronwall and Stuart.
Today we have Green and Kronwall.

 

[Shaman464]

Sorry. But passing is an issue on this team.
You can say it's "blaming others."

And you never see AA go half-hearted after a pass. If there's one area where you can never question AA's desire, it's when he sniffs a breakout pass.

There is more to hockey than 'give it to AA and hope for the best'. And his desire is definitely in question. He spends whole games just giving up on plays. In general his biggest problem is his desire on the ice.

 

[saska sault]

Keep AA.. value isnt as high in the trade market, as hes worth to us. We arent getting Faulk for him or any comparable without adding a large+. We have control of him for a few years.. lets see what happens. Or original investment in him is small, hes surpassed expectations so far.