Speculation: 2019 UFA targets

[Shaman464]

They either need to make 3-4 major signings or they should get a role player or two and stand pat.

To realistically turn this team into something that isn't a bubble team by puck drop October 2019 they would need Duchene, Karlsson, Stralman and likely either Hughes or Kakko.

 

[Leadzedder]

Kronwall.

Rational thinking puts Kronwall back on the roster. You all talk about not losing our winning culture during these down years. But yet a lot want to send Kronwall into space. Makes no sense.

Now what does make sense is having enough roster spots to accommodate our young d. So the complaint should be Ericsson or Daley. If Kronwall can play we’d be lucky to have him.


Edit-- I meant at a reduced cap hit.

 

[avssuc]

I am falsely hoping Yzerman comes in before 2 seasons from now, and clears all our current veteran D and goes full fresh for next season. No Ericsson, Daley, Dekeyser, Kronwall with the exception of Green, he can stay.

Lol, Yzerman is great, but he's no magician.

 

[obey86]

Kronwall.

Rational thinking puts Kronwall back on the roster. You all talk about not losing our winning culture during these down years. But yet a lot want to send Kronwall into space. Makes no sense.

Now what does make sense is having enough roster spots to accommodate our young d. So the complaint should be Ericsson or Daley. If Kronwall can play we’d be lucky to have him.

If we want to keep the "winning culture" or whatever they should dump Kronwall like the hot trash he is and get someone who can actually skate and who is better and thus will, ya know, help them win more.

When did "winning culture" become synonymous with keeping all the old crappy players on the team when they aren't any good anymore?

 

[jkutswings]

If we want to keep the "winning culture" or whatever they should dump Kronwall like the hot trash he is and get someone who can actually skate and who is better and thus will, ya know, help them win more.

When did "winning culture" become synonymous with keeping all the old crappy players on the team when they aren't any good anymore?

For 2019-20, Detroit adds retired players Nick Lidstrom and Niklas Kronwall to their staff as defense coaches. Then everybody wins.

 

[NickH8]

Yeah I get what you are saying, and I would be perfectly fine not doing anything. I don't think this is the approach Holland will take though. Holland will almost certainly go and fill the lineup with other players.

For some reason I see him going extremely hard after Stralman. That is the exact type of signing Holland loves to do. I'm calling right now that Stralman or Chiarot will be Wings next year.

I wouldn't mind Stralman if Kronwall retires and one of Daley or Ericsson are traded. That won't happen though.

 

[NickH8]

Kronwall.

Rational thinking puts Kronwall back on the roster. You all talk about not losing our winning culture during these down years. But yet a lot want to send Kronwall into space. Makes no sense.

Now what does make sense is having enough roster spots to accommodate our young d. So the complaint should be Ericsson or Daley. If Kronwall can play we’d be lucky to have him.


Edit-- I meant at a reduced cap hit.

In Ken Holland's interviews after the deadline he said it's up to Kronwall if he wants to stay.
Think about that for a second...
Does that sound like a winning culture? A bad player can just decide if he wants to stay or not because of nostalgia, is that a winning culture? We should thank Kronner for the memories and move on. I know it's tough but he for sure isn't making many new memories. Cholowski and Hronek are the ones who actually have a chance at doing that and Kronwall staying directly affects the development of one of them.

 

[Shaman464]

In Ken Holland's interviews after the deadline he said it's up to Kronwall if he wants to stay.
Think about that for a second...
Does that sound like a winning culture? A bad player can just decide if he wants to stay or not because of nostalgia, is that a winning culture? We should thank Kronner for the memories and move on. I know it's tough but he for sure isn't making many new memories. Cholowski and Hronek are the ones who actually have a chance at doing that and Kronwall staying directly affects the development of one of them.

For defense, I want the kids to beat the aging vets for a roster spot. If Hronek/Cholo can't beat one of Kronner, Daley, DDK, Ericsson, or Green, they should still be learning in the AHL.

 

[NickH8]

For defense, I want the kids to beat the aging vets for a roster spot. If Hronek/Cholo can't beat one of Kronner, Daley, DDK, Ericsson, or Green, they should still be learning in the AHL.

You and I both know Blashil and Holland are super reluctant to send down Daley and Ericsson. Blashil scratching Ericsson for a couple games doesn't change that. One veteran defenseman not named Green or DeKeyser has to go.
Basically I'm not betting on Holland sending down a veteran who hasn't gone full Cleary mode until I see it.

 

[jkutswings]

For defense, I want the kids to beat the aging vets for a roster spot. If Hronek/Cholo can't beat one of Kronner, Daley, DDK, Ericsson, or Green, they should still be learning in the AHL.

But having kids in the AHL doesn't mean we have to keep a decrepit Kronwall over a better guy via trade or free agency.

 

[Shaman464]

But having kids in the AHL doesn't mean we have to keep a decrepit Kronwall over a better guy via trade or free agency.

Definitely not. I hope Kronwall will know when its time, and if he doesn't the org will nicely let him know.

You and I both know Blashil and Holland are super reluctant to send down Daley and Ericsson. Blashil scratching Ericsson for a couple games doesn't change that. One veteran defenseman not named Green or DeKeyser has to go.
Basically I'm not betting on Holland sending down a veteran who hasn't gone full Cleary mode until I see it.

I wanted Kronwall to be traded, and if they move Daley or send down Bowey or Witkowski my heart won't be broken. In the end though, if they aren't beating these guys out for a spot (objectively) than they shouldn't be in the NHL.

 

[PelagicJoe]

Kronwall should honestly retire while he still has the ability to walk. Do not sign him again this off season. Same goes for Ericsson once his contract is up.
Howard we can sign again if it's for one year and super cheap.

 

[PelagicJoe]

For 2019-20, Detroit adds retired players Nick Lidstrom and Niklas Kronwall to their staff as defense coaches. Then everybody wins.

I would love it if Lidstrom came back as a defense coach. We desperately need it. Kids mentoring Cholo and Hronek would be awesome.

 

[Steve Yzerlland]

Kronwall.

Rational thinking puts Kronwall back on the roster. You all talk about not losing our winning culture during these down years. But yet a lot want to send Kronwall into space. Makes no sense.

Now what does make sense is having enough roster spots to accommodate our young d. So the complaint should be Ericsson or Daley. If Kronwall can play we’d be lucky to have him.


Edit-- I meant at a reduced cap hit.

How the hell is Kronwall going to stop the losing culture? Hip checks and press conferences? He doesn't need to come back. That's the problem with "our culture" overly loyal to past-their-prime "greats". It's time to move on.

 

[LeighDx59]

As far as free agency goes, Erik Karlsson should be the prime target. I wouldnt even be opposed to bringing Nyquist back if it meant Karlsson came with him even though im not sure bringing Gus back is the right move. Panarin would be great but its highly unlikely he comes here. The only other big name i'd shoot for is Duchene, just because having Larkin/Duchene as our 1-2 punch as our centers would be great plus you can afford to move Mantha or Athanasiou for help on the back end.

I also wouldnt be opposed to Edler if he was available, though we would have to move Daley/Ericsson/DeKeyser to make it happen which would be awesome. As long as Cholowski and Hronek arent blocked.

 

[Leadzedder]

If we want to keep the "winning culture" or whatever they should dump Kronwall like the hot trash he is and get someone who can actually skate and who is better and thus will, ya know, help them win more.

When did "winning culture" become synonymous with keeping all the old crappy players on the team when they aren't any good anymore?

Yeah, I guess I didn’t need to type that if I wasn’t prepared to defend the position.

I watched 1 game this year (last game). Is he worse than Ericsson or Daley? I thought he was serviceable. My point was he’s really the last from the old guard. The leadership portion of it. All things being equal I’d prefer him over E and Daley.

You need some vets and I’d bet he’s the best one for trying to maintain the old culture.

 

[Ghost of Ethan Hunt]

As far as free agency goes, Erik Karlsson should be the prime target. I wouldnt even be opposed to bringing Nyquist back if it meant Karlsson came with him even though im not sure bringing Gus back is the right move. Panarin would be great but its highly unlikely he comes here. The only other big name i'd shoot for is Duchene, just because having Larkin/Duchene as our 1-2 punch as our centers would be great plus you can afford to move Mantha or Athanasiou for help on the back end.

I also wouldnt be opposed to Edler if he was available, though we would have to move Daley/Ericsson/DeKeyser to make it happen which would be awesome. As long as Cholowski and Hronek arent blocked.

Agree on Duchene, since Veleno is likely at least 2 yrs. away from filling a 2C role, probably closer to 3yrs (if he makes it at all)...

Disagree on moving Mantha. AA is who I'd move for D help, but only for a Top 2-3 Dman. No to Edler, prefer Stralman instead. Move Daley & Big E asap. No to Gus unless its 3-4 yrs Max & $4.9 Max (doubtful)...we'll need the $ for Mantha/Bert/AA & then Hronek/Cholo etc. Go for Josi & Pietrangelo in 2020 & maybe RFA Trouba this summer for a trade&sign? (use AA+pick?) Send a pick to SEA to keep their mits of Hronek or Cholo in the expansion draft. Find a way to trade Nielsen with retention. Trade Green next TDL. Only resign Kronner if Daley & Big E are gone this summer.

We'll be struggling for offense next year maybe even more so next year, maybe Kevin Hayes to fill in Nyquist's spot/role. Dump Abby & Frk asap.

Bert-Larkin-Mantha
Zadina-Duchene-Hayes
Svech-Nielsen-Veleno
Helm-LGD-JDLR
Ehn
Turgeon?

Trouba-Green
DDK-Hronek
Cholo-Stralman?
Kronner
__________________
Plus: Duchene, Hayes, Zadina, Veleno, Turgeon, Trouba, Stralman.
Minus: Frk, Abby, Daley & Big E;
_____________________________________________
..in 2020-21 our D (after the expansion draft):
Josi-Pietrangelo
Trouba-Hronek
DDK-Cholo
trade Stralman, or just rotate 7 D, there's always injuries.

EDIT- nvm, expansion is 2021, so just throw a pick at SEA & a prospect to keep our core players.

 

[Kronwalled55]

There's no way Kronwall comes back. This team might be even worse next season. It doesn't look like he's having much fun out there anymore and I don't really blame him.

 

[Claypool]

I would absolutely pay Panarin $11 million a season for seven seasons.

 

[Hen Kolland]

Agree on Duchene, since Veleno is likely at least 2 yrs. away from filling a 2C role, probably closer to 3yrs (if he makes it at all)...

Disagree on moving Mantha. AA is who I'd move for D help, but only for a Top 2-3 Dman. No to Edler, prefer Stralman instead. Move Daley & Big E asap. No to Gus unless its 3-4 yrs Max & $4.9 Max (doubtful)...we'll need the $ for Mantha/Bert/AA & then Hronek/Cholo etc. Go for Josi & Pietrangelo in 2020 & maybe RFA Trouba this summer for a trade&sign? (use AA+pick?) Send a pick to SEA to keep their mits of Hronek or Cholo in the expansion draft. Find a way to trade Nielsen with retention. Trade Green next TDL. Only resign Kronner if Daley & Big E are gone this summer.

We'll be struggling for offense next year maybe even more so next year, maybe Kevin Hayes to fill in Nyquist's spot/role. Dump Abby & Frk asap.

Bert-Larkin-Mantha
Zadina-Duchene-Hayes
Svech-Nielsen-Veleno
Helm-LGD-JDLR
Ehn
Turgeon?

Trouba-Green
DDK-Hronek
Cholo-Stralman?
Kronner
__________________
Plus: Duchene, Hayes, Zadina, Veleno, Turgeon, Trouba, Stralman.
Minus: Frk, Abby, Daley & Big E;
_____________________________________________
..in 2020-21 our D (after the expansion draft):
Josi-Pietrangelo
Trouba-Hronek
DDK-Cholo
trade Stralman, or just rotate 7 D, there's always injuries.

EDIT- nvm, expansion is 2021, so just throw a pick at SEA & a prospect to keep our core players.

Holy shit, there’s a lot to unpack here. I’ll start with the painfully obvious, where is the money coming from? Josi+Pietrangelo+Trouba is probably going to be over $25m in cap space. Duchene and Hayes will probably going to be around $15m in cap space. I won’t even look at Stralman for the purpose of this post. You still have Nielsen and Dekeyser and Helm taking up close to $15m. Larkin will need to be resigned but he’s already over $6m by himself. That’s $60m in cap there in 9 of the 20/21 skaters you will need, this post won’t even look at goalie situation. You completely ignored how you are attempting to get rid of Ericsson, Daley, and Abdelkader and their contracts that nobody will want to touch. Just getting rid of them would be buyouts or high retention on trades, which costs against the cap. Then consider that you will eventually need to resign your current young players in Mantha, Bert, Hronek, Cholowski, Rasmussen, Zadina, Veleno, and so on. None of your UFA signings are taking into consideration the term of the deal; Pietrangelo, Josi, Trouba, Duchene, and maybe to a lesser extent Hayes will all be looking signing max term contracts.

Financially this off the charts. Not to mention the massive culture shift that it would result in by essentially replacing half the starting lineup with players who don’t come from the organization.

 

[Ghost of Ethan Hunt]

Holy ****, there’s a lot to unpack here. I’ll start with the painfully obvious, where is the money coming from? Josi+Pietrangelo+Trouba is probably going to be over $25m in cap space. Duchene and Hayes will probably going to be around $15m in cap space. I won’t even look at Stralman for the purpose of this post. You still have Nielsen and Dekeyser and Helm taking up close to $15m. Larkin will need to be resigned but he’s already over $6m by himself. That’s $60m in cap there in 9 of the 20/21 skaters you will need, this post won’t even look at goalie situation. You completely ignored how you are attempting to get rid of Ericsson, Daley, and Abdelkader and their contracts that nobody will want to touch. Just getting rid of them would be buyouts or high retention on trades, which costs against the cap. Then consider that you will eventually need to resign your current young players in Mantha, Bert, Hronek, Cholowski, Rasmussen, Zadina, Veleno, and so on. None of your UFA signings are taking into consideration the term of the deal; Pietrangelo, Josi, Trouba, Duchene, and maybe to a lesser extent Hayes will all be looking signing max term contracts.

Financially this off the charts. Not to mention the massive culture shift that it would result in by essentially replacing half the starting lineup with players who don’t come from the organization.

You're right. It's been a long week w/o much sleep. Thanks for the correction. Though I think Hayes & especially Stralman aren't max contract types. Maybe 4-5 for Hayes, 2-3 for Stralman..anymore term & it wouldn't be worth it.

 

[Hen Kolland]

You're right. It's been a long week w/o much sleep. Thanks for the correction. Though I think Hayes & especially Stralman aren't max contract types. Maybe 4-5 for Hayes, 2-3 for Stralman..anymore term & it wouldn't be worth it.

Stralman I’d be okay with at 2-3 years considering our team, assuming we don’t want to go big in the next year or two. I think Hayes would demand more than what we would be comfortable with.

I love the idea of going big on defense next year. I personally think Trouba will be heading to UFA status next year, if Josi or Pietrangelo, I would make a healthy offer to either one of them. If we managed to grab two players who slot in as top pairing caliber players, I think we’d be cooking with fire.

 

[RedWingsfan55]

For me I make two big name splashes as plan A, plan B is 3 signings but not as sexy. This includes RFA offer sheets to.
Only stipulation would be no repeat position and only 1 RFA obviously.

Plan A. Sign any 2 of:
Vasilevsky-g(rfa)
Point-c(rfa)
Karlsson-d(ufa)
Panarin-winger(ufa)
Duchene-c(ufa)


Plan B. Sign 3(3 because I think these guys would be "cheap" enough to get 3.
Duchene-c(ufa)
Laine-winger(rfa)
Gardiner-d(ufa) I'd be upset on missing on Karlsson he is plan b and much worse....
Trouba and ya about 5 or 6 others im forgetting.

The wet dream would be duchene, Karlsson and vasilevsky. But we dont have the cap and tampa would match an offer on their goalie I believe.

 

[Snuggs]

I'm hoping they move Trevor Daley on draft day, maybe move another contract(Helm/Ericsson), luck out in the draft with a top 2 pick... and attempt to sign/trade for Trouba and sign Erik Karlsson

Yzerman is hired as GM/Vice President, Holland steps down to a advisor role.

Jeff Blashill is fired or not resigned(I do think the younger players are quitting on him), and Rikard Gronborg is hired as HC.

As far as forwards I actually wouldn't mind bring back Nyquist or going after a lesser type foward like Marcus Johansson.

No 1 year veteran signings with NTC at all. Lesson learned. I don't wanna sign many forwards to long-term deals because I want to give certain younger guys more of a chance with expanded roles and better defense and movement.

 

[Reddwit]

Although it won't be pretty, I really think Duchene should be our top target.

Our lack of center depth is really hurting us and there's no immediate internal solution. Nielsen/Glendening are embarrassing in their roles. AA can't cut it. Veleno and/or Hughes&Co. shouldn't be rushed into that role (if they can even play C or play it at a high level).

Larkin is going to get sick of being the only viable center real fast and it only hurts our many young-ish/up-and-coming wingers not to have a solid option in the middle 6 to host them. We need a top 6 center and if we're going to be faced with Nielsen-like contract demands from middling junk, we might as well spend the extra dough to get the top dog.

So many teams will be interested in his services so I won't get my hopes up. I think he ends up in Dallas. But we need to be competitive for him regardless.

If not, I'd explore trade options and avoid Hayes at all costs. I'd be interested in RNH/Kadri/JT Miller or Johnson. If we're striking out on free agents, we'll have a lot of cap space, and EDM/TOR/TB could use it, so that might lessen the burden on our end....