You know that's a completely different argument right?
Sure, Z is great. It's great that he's so productive at his age. It's NOT great that he's far and away our best player. He's far past his prime and not as productive as he used to be. If he's our best player we're in trouble. That's the issue.
We've never been arguing the same thing in this topic.
I was responding to the ridiculous notion of wanting Z gone now. I was saying that Z, himself, is still a very productive player. Yes, you would prefer that your best player be a young guy and not a 37 year old... but that's not the case in Detroit right now.
I've never said it was a good thing for Detroit that Z was their best player. I'm saying that he is, so for right this second, deal with it. Don't denigrate a great player's legacy because he happens to be 37 and "shouldn't" be the best player on the team.
And onto your "I want him to be PPG" point. There are only 13 guys in the league who fit that criteria. Yeah, I'd like my best player to be one of the 13 best in hockey too... but I'm not gonna cry if he's #25 in the league or so.
The problem in Detroit is the guys surrounding Z, not Z himself. If any of them (Mantha excluded, because he's been very very good) took a step forward, the Wings wouldn't be dead last. If all of them did, like you should expect that they eventually will, they could be approaching contender status. They did not, so the Wings aren't anywhere close to that.
But basically, the whole topic, I've been speaking solely about Z, not about the Wings or his place on the team currently. I've been saying that he's a great player still... not that it's a good thing he's their best.