Speculation: Your 2013-2014 Detroit Red Wings

[RedWingsNow*]

Gagner's numbers, at first glance, look like he's a been a #2 guy who finally got bumped to #1 last year

 

[RedWingsNow*]

I know this won't be very popular, but I have to say it.

This team is soooooo soft.

Head to the "big bad" Eastern Conference, Ken doubles down on softies

 

[Winger98]

I don't know if I'd call Gagner a legit #1 either - but size?
Weird that fan of a team with Datsyuk, Zetterberg and Yzerman would say Gagner is too small to be a #1 center

Who are the wings on Gagner's line? I like his numbers, other than f/o percentage, but his situation reminds me a bit of Brendan Morrison in Vancouver.

 

[Frk It]

Gagner's numbers, at first glance, look like he's a been a #2 guy who finally got bumped to #1 last year

He's also the same age as Smith and Nyquist, so plenty of room to develop still.

 

[Run the Jewels]

He's also the same age as Smith and Nyquist, so plenty of room to develop still.

It really makes no sense to acquire Gagner with Z, Pavs and Weiss as our top 2 centers. He's better offensively than Weiss but Weiss is the better two-way forward. They play nearly identical mins 5v5, 4v5 and 5v4.

Trades make sense to address holes in your lineup. Scoring line center is not an area that needs to be upgraded, particularly with a player who is similar to Weiss.

 

[Phil18]

Am I the only one who can't wait to see a line with Mantha or Frk-Athanasiou-Jurco we have two guys with dirty hands and they are really young with a natural sniper that would be really nasty what you guys think ?

 

[14ari13]

Head to the "big bad" Eastern Conference, Ken doubles down on softies

It will be interesting to see what happens. Will the big bad EC force the Wings to change their philosophy.

I most certainly hope so.

 

[Unfriendly Ghost]

It will be interesting to see what happens. Will the big bad EC force the Wings to change their philosophy.

I most certainly hope so.

It's neither particularly big nor bad. It's a division of staged fighting and scrums. The Wings opt out.

 

[Bench]

It's neither particularly big nor bad. It's a division of staged fighting and scrums. The Wings opt out.

Nailed it. Skill and speed still win out in the current NHL. I might be worried if 1998 rules were in place with dudes hanging off Datsyuk like he was a monkey bar.

 

[TS Quint]

Head to the "big bad" Eastern Conference, Ken doubles down on softies

"Big bad'? You mean smaller weaker Eastern Conference.

 

[TS Quint]

It's neither particularly big nor bad. It's a division of staged fighting and scrums. The Wings opt out.

I agree. Let's see what happens when the Leafs put out that Orr/McLearen line Vs the Wings. I doubt Nyquist would have a hard time keeping the puck away from those goons.

 

[odin1981]

The East is overated as far as physicality goes. The only team I am worried about is toronto and that is because of their head coach. But then I realize they suck and didn't have 34 games to drop off the playoff contention list.

 

[RedWingsNow*]

Even if the East isn't big and bad. The Red Wings and small and soft.

 

[Wayne Crosby]

Even if the East isn't big and bad. The Red Wings and small and soft.

Small? I'm sure the average height/weight of our roster may be slightly below average, but nothing to cry about.

Soft? We have great physical forecheckers and grinders as well as our skilled guys, and don't forget kronner's reputation for his hits.

Way to only take our potential downsides and completely ignore our upsides. We play a skilled puck possession game. We play smart. Big isn't our thing because it doesn't have to be. We've won cups without it.

 

[GoAwayDanCleary]

Small? I'm sure the average height/weight of our roster may be slightly below average, but nothing to cry about.

Soft? We have great physical forecheckers and grinders as well as our skilled guys, and don't forget kronner's reputation for his hits.

Way to only take our potential downsides and completely ignore our upsides. We play a skilled puck possession game. We play smart. Big isn't our thing because it doesn't have to be. We've won cups without it.

Using Kronner in an argument against Bob won't get you very far

 

[Bench]

The team is brimming with Swedish grit. Like IKEA furniture laced with sandpaper. Beautiful to look at, rough to the touch.

 

[RedWingsNow*]

The team is brimming with Swedish grit. Like IKEA furniture laced with sandpaper. Beautiful to look at, rough to the touch.

Hah.
Ok.
Ikea furniture sucks.

This team is soft. Not sure why people are pretending otherwise.
Our defense is soft. Our forwards are soft.

This is probably the softest team we've had --- maybe ever

 

[Heaton]

Hah.
Ok.
Ikea furniture sucks.

This team is soft. Not sure why people are pretending otherwise.
Our defense is soft. Our forwards are soft.

This is probably the softest team we've had --- maybe ever

Everyone's definition of soft is different, what's yours? I think this team defense is one of the tougher we'd had in a while I really don't think Brad Stuart was the one that made our recent Wings teams 'tough'.

 

[RedWingsNow*]

Small? I'm sure the average height/weight of our roster may be slightly below average, but nothing to cry about.

Soft? We have great physical forecheckers and grinders as well as our skilled guys, and don't forget kronner's reputation for his hits.

Way to only take our potential downsides and completely ignore our upsides. We play a skilled puck possession game. We play smart. Big isn't our thing because it doesn't have to be. We've won cups without it.

When we in 08 we were pretty soft up front -- that was unquestionably our softest team. But we had Stuart and Lilja who could play reasonably tough in the corners and in front of the net.

But 02, 98 and 97? Those weren't soft teams.

Do you not remember the pressure on the Red Wings to get a big, strong forward like Shanahan? I do.
And guess what, it worked.
And that team we had in 97- That team was tough.

Our D right now is very, very soft. Who provides toughness? Ericsson? Quincey? Kronwall? Smith? Dekeyser? Kindl?

It may be the tallest defense we've had in awhile, but it's not tough.

 

[crashman]

Hah.
Ok.
Ikea furniture sucks.

This team is soft. Not sure why people are pretending otherwise.
Our defense is soft. Our forwards are soft.

This is probably the softest team we've had --- maybe ever

That's BS. The team would have been "softer" last year, and they actually played fine (usually better) against the physical teams like Anaheim, St. Louis and LA.

Alfredsson is less soft (for lack of a better term) than Brunner, and Weiss is no softer than Filppula, and if Helm, Sammy and Bertuzzi play it adds even more grit.

Our defense is actually pretty physical overall, more so than they get credit for, but there's definitely room for improvement there.

 

[RedWingsNow*]

Everyone's definition of soft is different, what's yours? I think this team defense is one of the tougher we'd had in a while I really don't think Brad Stuart was the one that made our recent Wings teams 'tough'.

Definition of soft -- When the team I'm playing against allows me to go into the corner or the front of the net without a crosscheck to the back or ribs.

It's amazing how easily people discount the kind of toughness Stuart brought. But he's not Swedish enough, I guess

 

[Run the Jewels]

Everyone's definition of soft is different, what's yours? I think this team defense is one of the tougher we'd had in a while I really don't think Brad Stuart was the one that made our recent Wings teams 'tough'.

Lidstrom was incredibly soft. How many fighting majors did he have in all his years in the NHL?

 

[Unfriendly Ghost]

The point of the game isn't to put together the toughest team possible. The point of the game is to score more goals than you let in. If you can do that with a "soft" team, who cares about the rest?

Or are we still pretending Colton Orr is going to flip out and injure Zetterberg and Datsyuk one day? and are we still pretending that having tougher players could ever stop that kind of violent act? If anything, the more tough guys you have, the more goons love playing you because then they have something to do.

Dressing an enforcer against the Wings is like having a boxer on your soccer team. It's funny how we worry about Colton Orr vs Zetterberg and Datsyuk like that's Toronto's master plan. I think Mike Babcock thinks Colton Orr vs Zetterberg and Datsyuk is Detroit's master plan.

 

[Flowah]

That's BS. The team would have been "softer" last year, and they actually played fine (usually better) against the physical teams like Anaheim, St. Louis and LA.

Alfredsson is less soft (for lack of a better term) than Brunner, and Weiss is no softer than Filppula, and if Helm, Sammy and Bertuzzi play it adds even more grit.

If Weiss were softer than Filppula, I'd call him a unicorn. Because he wouldn't exist.

 

[Heaton]

Definition of soft -- When the team I'm playing against allows me to go into the corner or the front of the net without a crosscheck to the back or ribs.

It's amazing how easily people discount the kind of toughness Stuart brought. But he's not Swedish enough, I guess

Not sure anyone around here cares about the Swedish stuff. Stuart was good, but overrated after '08 though, his physicality in the corners was slightly above average. I think Ericsson provides similar toughness there and in front of the net. I don't like to participate in those 'toughness' debates since since '02 there have been fans saying the Wings were too soft. Even in '08 people considered the Wings a soft team, the proof will be in the pudding.