News Article: “There’s going to be changes,†Henrik Zetterberg

[Ezekial]

Smith is more important to our long term success then kronwall, ericsson, marchenko, quincey.

Maybe, but probably not.

We'll know soon though. DDK and Marchy are rfas and likely (definitely) getting deals from us. If we make a move for a d man or resign Quincey, Smith's contract is up after next season and I doubt he's retained.

 

[Pavels Dog]

U mean the same mgmthats such crap

Smith played well all season, team and organizational politics got in the way

Smith is more important to our long term success then kronwall, ericsson, marchenko, quincey.

That's like saying Martin Frk is more important to our long term success than Brad Richards, Pavel Datsyuk, Drew Miller and Johan Franzen.

Smith is probably gone this summer. I'd be surprised if he wasn't.

 

[Frk It]

Like it or not when you are in a playoff position you don't trade away important cogs of your team for a pick or prospect.

And Smith? Bet his value was through the roof at the trade deadline. Lots of contenders would want to add the 'missing piece'. Shame that we missed that spike in value he had. I'm sure this summer when we trade him for a conditional 7th people will say we could have gotten a 1st at the deadline

Helm is an important cog? Did you miss the part where he played 13 min a night in the playoffs?

Pretty sure you play your "important cogs" more than that, no?

Smith may not have had much value, I'll give you that, but Helm was a prime candidate to sell at the deadline.

 

[Zetterberg4Captain]

That's like saying Martin Frk is more important to our long term success than Brad Richards, Pavel Datsyuk, Drew Miller and Johan Franzen.

Smith is probably gone this summer. I'd be surprised if he wasn't.

except those are free agents or retiring players

smith is exactly what we need to keep and build around, the guys I mentioned are detrimental to our success

 

[sarcastro]

Smith can be a usable defenseman if they get the balance right, and if he can manage to keep his head on straight. But if he can be moved in a deal for a good defenseman, I'm all about it.

 

[The Zetterberg Era]

except those are free agents or retiring players

smith is exactly what we need to keep and build around, the guys I mentioned are detrimental to our success

Do you really believe UFA Smith wants any part of sticking around after the treatment he has gotten to date?

I mean you all know how huge of a Smith fan I am. Was really happy with how well he played this year and the fit he is in Blashill's system. But he still wound up scratched for no reason.

For me this has gone beyond the point of what he could be with us. We have screwed up enough, I could never see him sticking around when the team doesn't have control. We are as good as dead at that point so it is probably time to turn the page while packaging up for a difference making D-man. He is a guy that the other city is going to like and wonder why he had so many detractors though as soon as he shows up.

 

[Pavels Dog]

except those are free agents or retiring players

smith is exactly what we need to keep and build around, the guys I mentioned are detrimental to our success

You literally mentioned a free agent as well as Kronwall who is closing in on retirement himself and Ericsson who could end up on LTIR at any moment due to his hip.

Smith is not someone you build around. I'm no fan of Blashill and I know Babcock is viewed as the worst coach of all time around here, but if Smith was ANY good at some point these coaches would have realized it. Holland is shopping him around, no one seems interested.. why, oh why does no one understand how amazing Brendan Smith is except a handful of hfboards posters?

Helm is an important cog? Did you miss the part where he played 13 min a night in the playoffs?

Pretty sure you play your "important cogs" more than that, no?

Smith may not have had much value, I'll give you that, but Helm was a prime candidate to sell at the deadline.

So by that logic we should trade AA because Blash plays him 5 minutes a night. 13 minutes is borderline top 6 minutes in Blashill's system where only Dats/Z get huge minutes.

We didn't buy at the deadline. That's pretty much all you can ask as long as we are a playoff team. No one sells when they are in a playoff position.

 

[Frk It]

You literally mentioned a free agent as well as Kronwall who is closing in on retirement himself and Ericsson who could end up on LTIR at any moment due to his hip.

Smith is not someone you build around. I'm no fan of Blashill and I know Babcock is viewed as the worst coach of all time around here, but if Smith was ANY good at some point these coaches would have realized it. Holland is shopping him around, no one seems interested.. why, oh why does no one understand how amazing Brendan Smith is except a handful of hfboards posters?


So by that logic we should trade AA because Blash plays him 5 minutes a night. 13 minutes is borderline top 6 minutes in Blashill's system where only Dats/Z get huge minutes.

We didn't buy at the deadline. That's pretty much all you can ask as long as we are a playoff team. No one sells when they are in a playoff position.

13 minutes is closer to 4th line than top 6.

And nice strawman with AA. Cause those situations are exactly the same.

 

[Frk It]

Sorry, having a pretty lousy day.

You're not wrong. I guess it's just frustrating that we're not making strides to overhaul the roster; but also not selling assets to acquire picks and rebuild.

We're just kind of in no man's land right now.

 

[Pavels Dog]

13 minutes is closer to 4th line than top 6.

And nice strawman with AA. Cause those situations are exactly the same.

Just saying you can't expect the GM to make a trade decision about a player based on how the coach may or may not use him at some point in the future. Helm played plenty in the regular season. And we're talking about a lifelong Red Wing that we may still re-sign. It would have made more sense to trade Brad Richards or Kyle Quincey.

When you hit the offseason, 29 out of 30 teams are thinking they could have traded their upcoming UFAs for picks/prospects. At least we're not one of the teams that bought at the deadline and ended up missing the playoffs or exiting 1st round anyway.

 

[Zetterberg4Captain]

You literally mentioned a free agent as well as Kronwall who is closing in on retirement himself and Ericsson who could end up on LTIR at any moment due to his hip.

Smith is not someone you build around. I'm no fan of Blashill and I know Babcock is viewed as the worst coach of all time around here, but if Smith was ANY good at some point these coaches would have realized it. Holland is shopping him around, no one seems interested.. why, oh why does no one understand how amazing Brendan Smith is except a handful of hfboards posters? .

quince is a free agent, the other kronwall and ericsson, are played as though they're top pairing dmen and relying on them to one day retire isn't a valid comparison

I am not saying build around smith as though he is the key guy, but yes, given his age, size and skating ability he is someone I want us to build with and not throw away for scrapes(that job goes to ericsson and howard)

 

[RabidBadger]

Smith can be a usable defenseman if they get the balance right, and if he can manage to keep his head on straight. But if he can be moved in a deal for a good defenseman, I'm all about it.

I'll second that as one of the few Smitty supporters on this board. I think his best work has been with Kronwall or Marchenko. I'd much rather see Smitty with Kronner than Big E.
I don't think it was a coincidence the team finally played like they had a pair against tampa until Smitty (and Petey) were put in the lineup. But if he can be part of trade bringing a good return, I'm all for it.

 

[jolly roger]

You literally mentioned a free agent as well as Kronwall who is closing in on retirement himself and Ericsson who could end up on LTIR at any moment due to his hip.

Smith is not someone you build around. I'm no fan of Blashill and I know Babcock is viewed as the worst coach of all time around here, but if Smith was ANY good at some point these coaches would have realized it. Holland is shopping him around, no one seems interested.. why, oh why does no one understand how amazing Brendan Smith is except a handful of hfboards posters?


So by that logic we should trade AA because Blash plays him 5 minutes a night. 13 minutes is borderline top 6 minutes in Blashill's system where only Dats/Z get huge minutes.

We didn't buy at the deadline. That's pretty much all you can ask as long as we are a playoff team. No one sells when they are in a playoff position.

Look for someone like Mantha or AA to get packaged with Howard to get D. You can't get rid of Howard without adding value like a young wing.

 

[SoupGuru]

Are we really talking about how Smith is awesome and we should build around him? The guy is as smart as a bag of hammers, wouldn't know good positioning if it bit him on the leg, can't make a pass to save his soul, and can't cash in on the opportunities he's presented with in the offensive zone. Truly a stalwart on our blue line.

It's pretty obvious that he clashes with his coaches, too. Blashill said something this season that I interpreted as "Smith is not doing the things we want in practice and while he may not be out of place on the roster come game time, he needs to pull his head out before we consider it."

 

[sarcastro]

I'll second that as one of the few Smitty supporters on this board. I think his best work has been with Kronwall or Marchenko. I'd much rather see Smitty with Kronner than Big E.
I don't think it was a coincidence the team finally played like they had a pair against tampa until Smitty (and Petey) were put in the lineup. But if he can be part of trade bringing a good return, I'm all for it.

This is the most depressing thing about this team's outlook. They can't go anywhere if they don't fix the D. They can't fix the D without getting rid of Ericsson. And they're not going to even consider getting rid of Ericsson.

The rest of this is purely academic. Which is irritating.

How would Smith look on a properly constructed defense? How would Green look on a properly constructed defense? Would Kronwall still look this bad if he didn't have Ericsson dragging him down even further?

We'll never know, because Ericsson has a lifetime VIP pass that gets him into the lineup no matter how long the line is.

 

[Zetterberg4Captain]

Are we really talking about how Smith is awesome and we should build around him? The guy is as smart as a bag of hammers, wouldn't know good positioning if it bit him on the leg, can't make a pass to save his soul, and can't cash in on the opportunities he's presented with in the offensive zone. Truly a stalwart on our blue line.

It's pretty obvious that he clashes with his coaches, too. Blashill said something this season that I interpreted as "Smith is not doing the things we want in practice and while he may not be out of place on the roster come game time, he needs to pull his head out before we consider it."

no no no, i and others are not saying we should build around smith like a team would karlsson or doughty but that yes, smith is someone we should keep and build with as part of the solution

guys like quincey, ericsson, marchenko and even kronwall are NOT part of the solution and they from this day forward never will be as they're either too old, too slow, too injured, too expensive or too soft

 

[Pavels Dog]

This is the most depressing thing about this team's outlook. They can't go anywhere if they don't fix the D. They can't fix the D without getting rid of Ericsson.

Oh please

 

[Zetterberg4Captain]

Oh please

no good team in the league has a 5-6 dman signed for 4 or more years to go at over 4 million a season that is neither offensive, an amazing/best in the league shut down dman or an intimidating dont go near the front of the net kind of guy

 

[Cyborg Yzerberg]

Oh please

Ericsson is definitely an anchor on both our cap and defense.

 

[WingedWheel1987]

You can't fix this roster by picking around the sides. Any fix is going to require bringing in a #1, #2, and #3 defenseman. Also a #1 center.

You either rebuild or continue to waste time.

 

[SoupGuru]

no no no, i and others are not saying we should build around smith like a team would karlsson or doughty but that yes, smith is someone we should keep and build with as part of the solution

guys like quincey, ericsson, marchenko and even kronwall are NOT part of the solution and they from this day forward never will be as they're either too old, too slow, too injured, too expensive or too soft

If Smith is part of the answer, then we're asking the wrong question.

 

[Pavels Dog]

Ericsson is definitely an anchor on both our cap and defense.

Ericsson's contract and level of play are almost completely irrelevant to our ability to fix our defense.

no good team in the league has a 5-6 dman signed for 4 or more years to go at over 4 million a season that is neither offensive, an amazing/best in the league shut down dman or an intimidating dont go near the front of the net kind of guy

If Washington can build a dominant team with that Brooks Orpik contract, no one should be under the delusion that Jonathan Ericsson is the only reason we can't acquire some top-pairing d-men.

 

[we like our team*]

are we pretending that smith is good again?

 

[Lazlo Hollyfeld]

Ericsson's contract and level of play are almost completely irrelevant to our ability to fix our defense.


If Washington can build a dominant team with that Brooks Orpik contract, no one should be under the delusion that Jonathan Ericsson is the only reason we can't acquire some top-pairing d-men.

But everything is Ericsson's fault!

It couldn't possibly be the fault of the guy who handed out that contract and has failed to make any moves to fix the blueline!

are we pretending that smith is good again?

Yes, because he didn't play very much. If he starts to get a lot of icetime then he'll get another shot at being a whipping boy.

 

[FissionFire]

This team is too comfortable. It would do them well if Holland traded a big central player and shook things up. Especially one of the Swedes. Moving Kronwall or Ericsson or Nyquist might start making players play with more urgency instead of feeling secure.

Datsyuk retiring might be a positive if it finally provides the impetus for shaking things up. Especially if we can't move the cap hit and have to be a lottery team. Thank goodness Holland didn't trade off next years 1st at the deadline.