Speculation: 19/20 roster

[Ghost of Ethan Hunt]

Maybe I'm undervaluing Pool Party, but .26 ppg career, granted it's the Oilers to take on Lucic's contract, no way in my book. Maybe with PoolP, Lucic 50% retention & 2 2nd's & they take back Big E.

 

[My Special Purpose]

I'm working on something that I've wanted to do for a long time. I was hoping I'd have a job by now and somebody would *pay* me to do this, but alas, it wasn't in the cards. I've put a lot of work into this already, and I just want to verify some of my thinking by asking team boards.

If you wouldn't mind, I could use your help. For the purposes of this exercise, please consider all the players *currently* on your team, including on IR. Don't consider top picks or hot prospects in Europe or the AHL, unless they have considerable time in the NHL (around 30 games or so?). I also don't care if a player is quote-unquote untouchable or not. Gretzky got traded, blah, blah, blah.

Also for the purposes of this thingy, everything counts. Age counts, talent counts, contract counts.

My question is this: if you were the GM of *another* team and you could trade for any player on *your* team, who would you trade for? Who are the top handful (don't go past 4-6)? So at the end of the day, if you look at your list, you should be able to say, "As a fan of this team, I'd hate to trade the guy at No. 3, but I'd hate to trade the guy at No. 2 more, and I'd hate to trade the guy at No. 2, but I'd hate to trade the guy at No. 1 the most."

I've taken a shot at answering below, including tiers, and age, salary, contract length. Please let me know where I'm wrong. Thanks!

1. Dylan Larkin, 22, $6.1m, 2023

2. Andreas Athanasiou, 24, $3m, 2020
3. Anthony Mantha, 24, $3.3m, 2020
4. Tyler Bertuzzi, 24, $1.4m, 2020

 

[ZDH]

Larkin
Zadina
Hronek
AA
Bert
Mantha

 

[TheMule93]

In response to you, @My Special Purpose

Dylan Larkin

Filip Zadina*

Filip Hronek
Tyler Bertuzzi
Dennis Cholowski*
Andreas Athanasiou
Anthony Mantha

*I wouldn't consider these to necessarily meet your requirements. Filip Zadina is currently on the team but he's on his 9 game stint only, and Dennis Cholowski played 50 games for us but is currently in the AHL. Edit: I re-added Hronek because he actually does meet the requirements.

Ignoring the ones with the asterisks, I guess my list would be

Dylan Larkin

Filip Hronek
Tyler Bertuzzi
Andreas Athanasiou
Anthony Mantha

 

[HIFE]

Something's got to give. I can't stand the thought of icing nearly an identical roster next season. Daley, Ericsson, Kronwall are slow and weak- DeKeyser is the same, barely a 3rd pairing defenseman. Abdelkader, Helm, Nielsen, Glendening, they're wastes of a spot. They're all such broken, shitty hockey players and are draining the life out of this team.

One or two of them has to be traded, waived, bought out; the penalties are meaningless. The Wings won't be near the playoffs for years, let alone contend. This is supposed to be a professional team, not a country club.

 

[Debrincat93]

holy hell has Danny D been horrendous this year.
the past 4 games, ive literally thought to myself that he's literally looked Ericsson bad.
Like, hes bad.

Case in point, go watch Huberdeau's goal from the other night when he pinched up to make a hit that was absolutely pointless.

His progression has been disappointing.

 

[Cyborg Yzerberg]

Bertuzzi-Larkin-Mantha
AA-Short term UFA-Zadina
Rasmussen-Nielsen-Hughes/Kakko/Turcotte/Cozens
Abdelkader-Glendening-Helm/Ehn/Turgeon

Cholowski-Hronek
Dekeyser-Green
Daley-Bowey

Howard
Bernier

Something like that I expect. Maybe they bring back Vanek again.

 

[Hinterland]

Most of you won't agree but a complete rebuild/hardcore tank is needed. Trade all of the older, useless guys, trade Bertuzzi/Athanasiou while their value is high, trade to get Fischer outta Arizona, Kunin outta Minnesota and sign some younger FA's. Keep top prospects in Grand Rapids.
So for example:

Svechnikov, Nielsen, Kunin
Mantha, Larkin, Vecchione
Smith, Rasmussen, Fischer
Ehn, Turgeon, Witkowski
Abdelkader, De La Rose

DeKeyser, Green
Hicketts, Bowey
Daley, Folin
Ericsson

Howard
Stolarz

 

[Heaton]

Most of you won't agree but a complete rebuild/hardcore tank is needed. Trade all of the older, useless guys, trade Bertuzzi/Athanasiou while their value is high, trade to get Fischer outta Arizona, Kunin outta Minnesota and sign some younger FA's. Keep top prospects in Grand Rapids.
So for example:

Svechnikov, Nielsen, Kunin
Mantha, Larkin, Vecchione
Smith, Rasmussen, Fischer
Ehn, Turgeon, Witkowski
Abdelkader, De La Rose

DeKeyser, Green
Hicketts, Bowey
Daley, Folin
Ericsson

Howard
Stolarz

I get what you're saying... but we're in that rebuild/tank right now. We're like 4 points from dead last in the league. I don't think we need to trade 4 veterans to get worse.

 

[Lil Sebastian Cossa]

Most of you won't agree but a complete rebuild/hardcore tank is needed. Trade all of the older, useless guys, trade Bertuzzi/Athanasiou while their value is high, trade to get Fischer outta Arizona, Kunin outta Minnesota and sign some younger FA's. Keep top prospects in Grand Rapids.
So for example:

Svechnikov, Nielsen, Kunin
Mantha, Larkin, Vecchione
Smith, Rasmussen, Fischer
Ehn, Turgeon, Witkowski
Abdelkader, De La Rose

DeKeyser, Green
Hicketts, Bowey
Daley, Folin
Ericsson

Howard
Stolarz

That team would win like 10 games and would actually pretty much guarantee that we'd suck for about 3-5 years. This shouldn't even come close to being done.

The way this is constructed you have NO forward lines that are any good and your D pairings all BLOW. I think Jimmy Howard or Stolarz or whoever you throw back there would commit suicide by about game 30 on this roster.

I also don't see any reason why a "hardcore" rebuild needs to be done now. We've built a lot of a young foundation. Why on Earth are you tearing it back up to make an even younger one?

 

[Snuggs]

Something's got to give. I can't stand the thought of icing nearly an identical roster next season. Daley, Ericsson, Kronwall are slow and weak- DeKeyser is the same, barely a 3rd pairing defenseman. Abdelkader, Helm, Nielsen, Glendening, they're wastes of a spot. They're all such broken, ****ty hockey players and are draining the life out of this team.

One or two of them has to be traded, waived, bought out; the penalties are meaningless. The Wings won't be near the playoffs for years, let alone contend. This is supposed to be a professional team, not a country club.

Yeah I'm kind of agreeing. They need to move Glendenning/Daley and prolly should buyout Abdelkader, sucks because he'll remain on the cap for 8 years but his roster spot alone is starting to be worth more than the money.

That would be my ideal situation though, Trade Daley/Glendenning, buyout Abdelkader, ride out DeKeyser/Nielson/Ericsson contracts. Maybe hope Seattle snags one of Nielson/Helm in 2020.

 

[Hinterland]

That team would win like 10 games and would actually pretty much guarantee that we'd suck for about 3-5 years. This shouldn't even come close to being done.

The way this is constructed you have NO forward lines that are any good and your D pairings all BLOW. I think Jimmy Howard or Stolarz or whoever you throw back there would commit suicide by about game 30 on this roster.

I also don't see any reason why a "hardcore" rebuild needs to be done now. We've built a lot of a young foundation. Why on Earth are you tearing it back up to make an even younger one?

The team would be bad (because that's the goal) but not worse than what we're seeing now. Athanasiou and Bertuzzi are pretty much the only guys with some actual upside that I let go in that scenario. Everybody else can get replaced with a better AHLer or even worse. Stolarz is better than Bernier, I expect Svetchnikov to have an immediate impact, Kunin and Fischer need a change of scenery but are top9 guys, too. Folin is a righty and a solid 5th/6th defender who only just turned 28. Vecchione is a wildcard of course but an interesting one.

 

[Number1RedWingsFan52]

Most of you won't agree but a complete rebuild/hardcore tank is needed. Trade all of the older, useless guys, trade Bertuzzi/Athanasiou while their value is high, trade to get Fischer outta Arizona, Kunin outta Minnesota and sign some younger FA's. Keep top prospects in Grand Rapids.
So for example:

Svechnikov, Nielsen, Kunin
Mantha, Larkin, Vecchione
Smith, Rasmussen, Fischer
Ehn, Turgeon, Witkowski
Abdelkader, De La Rose

DeKeyser, Green
Hicketts, Bowey
Daley, Folin
Ericsson

Howard
Stolarz

That team would be the joke of the league, And fat chance we'd be dealing either one of AA or Bertuzzi any time soon.

 

[NickH8]

Something's got to give. I can't stand the thought of icing nearly an identical roster next season. Daley, Ericsson, Kronwall are slow and weak- DeKeyser is the same, barely a 3rd pairing defenseman. Abdelkader, Helm, Nielsen, Glendening, they're wastes of a spot. They're all such broken, ****ty hockey players and are draining the life out of this team.

One or two of them has to be traded, waived, bought out; the penalties are meaningless. The Wings won't be near the playoffs for years, let alone contend. This is supposed to be a professional team, not a country club.

That really depends on if Stevey is GM during the free agency period. I wouldn't be surprised if he bought out Daley or Ericsson's last years just to make a roster spot and possibly traded Helm with salary retained.

Daley - Bought out
Helm - Traded with $1mil retained to Edmonton for mid round pick. Edmonton could use some speed in the bottom 6.
Assuming no Hughes or Kakko, sign Filppula or Gagner to a one year deal as a stop gap at center.
Run with 3 goalies because nobody is going to bite on a trade for Bernier and it allows us to make sure Rybar is eased in.
DO NOT BRING BACK VANEK
I'm assuming Kronwall retires

2019-2020
Bertuzzi - Larkin - Mantha
Athanasiou - Gagner/Filppula - Zadina
Svechnikov - Nielsen - Rasmussen
Abdelkader - Glendening - Ehn
De La Rose

DeKeyser - Hronek
Cholowski - Green
Ericsson - Hicketts
Bowey

Howard
Bernier
Rybar

 

[NickH8]

Most of you won't agree but a complete rebuild/hardcore tank is needed. Trade all of the older, useless guys, trade Bertuzzi/Athanasiou while their value is high, trade to get Fischer outta Arizona, Kunin outta Minnesota and sign some younger FA's. Keep top prospects in Grand Rapids.
So for example:

Svechnikov, Nielsen, Kunin
Mantha, Larkin, Vecchione
Smith, Rasmussen, Fischer
Ehn, Turgeon, Witkowski
Abdelkader, De La Rose

DeKeyser, Green
Hicketts, Bowey
Daley, Folin
Ericsson

Howard
Stolarz

I can't tell if you're serious or trolling. If by Smith you mean Givani then you're on crack, he's had a hard time cracking GR's lineup.

 

[Hinterland]

I can't tell if you're serious or trolling. If by Smith you mean Givani then you're on crack, he's had a hard time cracking GR's lineup.

I don't watch Grand Rapids a lot but I hear he's doing well for them. He was also really good this preseason. But he's honestly not essential for my lineup and could easily get replaced if he's not ready.

 

[raymond23]

Don't forget about Svech people

 

[Winger98]

I get what you're saying... but we're in that rebuild/tank right now. We're like 4 points from dead last in the league. I don't think we need to trade 4 veterans to get worse.

Especially when we'd likely have to either package assets with them or retain large chunks of their cap to move them. If the goal is to push a rebuild, I don't think you throw good assets after bad, taking away usable pieces that could help the rebuild.

as you say, the Wings suck anyway. Hang onto some of these vets a little longer so their contracts diminish, and then they'll be movable for something other than the Wings having to package a 2nd with them.

 

[taliababa]

Most of you won't agree but a complete rebuild/hardcore tank is needed. Trade all of the older, useless guys, trade Bertuzzi/Athanasiou while their value is high, trade to get Fischer outta Arizona, Kunin outta Minnesota and sign some younger FA's. Keep top prospects in Grand Rapids.
So for example:

Svechnikov, Nielsen, Kunin
Mantha, Larkin, Vecchione
Smith, Rasmussen, Fischer
Ehn, Turgeon, Witkowski
Abdelkader, De La Rose

DeKeyser, Green
Hicketts, Bowey
Daley, Folin
Ericsson

Howard
Stolarz

This is even dumber than your Abdelkader is a great player post.

 

[Lil Sebastian Cossa]

The team would be bad (because that's the goal) but not worse than what we're seeing now. Athanasiou and Bertuzzi are pretty much the only guys with some actual upside that I let go in that scenario. Everybody else can get replaced with a better AHLer or even worse. Stolarz is better than Bernier, I expect Svetchnikov to have an immediate impact, Kunin and Fischer need a change of scenery but are top9 guys, too. Folin is a righty and a solid 5th/6th defender who only just turned 28. Vecchione is a wildcard of course but an interesting one.

Not worse than what we're seeing now? You do remember early in the year when we had our top 4D out right? And we weren't remotely competitive? That's what you are willfully doing to the roster. I understand the philosophy of tanking, but you are willfully going to make the roster a joke.

 

[ShelbyZ]

That really depends on if Stevey is GM during the free agency period. I wouldn't be surprised if he bought out Daley or Ericsson's last years just to make a roster spot and possibly traded Helm with salary retained.

Daley - Bought out

Run with 3 goalies because nobody is going to bite on a trade for Bernier and it allows us to make sure Rybar is eased in.


Howard
Bernier
Rybar

I don't think they would need to buy out Daley. His cap hit is pretty reasonable for what he is, and his salary goes down. They could retain some salary and probably get a draft pick out of a few of the better teams not on his 15 team no trade list where he'd be a one year rental #5/6 guy.

As for Rybar, I don't see how sitting as a 3rd fiddle in the NHL is going to help get him "eased in", unless he was subject to waivers and the Wings are convinced he'll be taken. He can still go down to GR for one more year, and that's probably what's best. Let him me the main guy in GR once Sateri is gone to get as many minutes on NA ice as possible and get his confidence up. Let him get some starts if/(probably)when Bernier or Howard get injured. Then if he seems ready for the NHL for 20-21, they can carry three if they couldn't get rid of Bernier.

 

[ridilon]

holy hell has Danny D been horrendous this year.
the past 4 games, ive literally thought to myself that he's literally looked Ericsson bad.
Like, hes bad.

Case in point, go watch Huberdeau's goal from the other night when he pinched up to make a hit that was absolutely pointless.

His progression has been disappointing.

Took your advice and watched that goal. Man how painful. I'll never get that time back.

 

[Hinterland]

This is even dumber than your Abdelkader is a great player post.

Until this season, Abdelkader was a great player though. Not sure what happened to him. I wasn't worried early in the season but it's not looking good now.

 

[Hinterland]

Not worse than what we're seeing now? You do remember early in the year when we had our top 4D out right? And we weren't remotely competitive? That's what you are willfully doing to the roster. I understand the philosophy of tanking, but you are willfully going to make the roster a joke.

I'm not. It's a joke now. The only thing I'd do is not to make it better.

 

[Lil Sebastian Cossa]

I'm not. It's a joke now. The only thing I'd do is not to make it better.

Yeah, it's not a joke. When the whole roster as constructed is currently healthy, they play teams tough and lose close games.

When that prospective roster is fully healthy, they'd be getting their doors blown off.