Armchair GMs: What moves would you make to maximize the roster?

[Classicnamesup]

That trade is absolutely outrageous, not even close to real life.

I would gladly take Bufflin but we all know the scary UFA market out there for high end players, silly term and cap and half of them are buyout candidates 3 years later. That being said, this team desperately needs some quality dmen and I would be fine taking a sizable risk on Buff. We got Green somehow, throw some money and 4-5 years at Buff and see what happens.

I imagine he wants to test the market so trading a ton to get at him a month early is probably not worth it.


As for armchair GM moves, play Kronwall with Smith for ****s sakes

 

[Number1RedWingsFan52]

Gustad got a 1st. And he's going to be the best available d-man.

Major difference in trading a 1st for Gustad then talking about a trade for Buff who is most likely only a rental for us for Larkin+1st. You give up Larkin++ for Ekman Larson Ekblad Shattenkirk, Karlsson and Faulk not for Byfuglien.

 

[Henkka]

I like the idea of Faulk too but he will definitely take a monster package.

Marchenko + Smith + Sproul + Nosek + Frk + Tvrdon + Andersson + Paterson + pick
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Faulk

We could easily do that and not miss a beat for now or the future.

If we can keep everybody from this forward core, we can trade pretty much everybody else away:

Tatar - Sheahan - Nyquist
Bertuzzi - Larkin - Pulkkinen
Svechnkov - AA - Mantha
Nastasiuk - Glendening - Ferraro

VET - VET
DeKeyser - (Faulk)
Ouellet - Jensen

Mrazek

 

[Frk It]

Marchenko + Smith + Sproul + Nosek + Frk + Tvrdon + Paterson + pick
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Faulk

We could easily do that and not miss a beat for now or the future.

That's a lot of quantity, but not much quality.

 

[Henkka]

That's a lot of quantity, but not much quality.

Yeah, just shows our depth, if some team will want to get depth. But I don't see Carolina letting Faulk away, there's no reason for it. They have cap space and other great D prospects Fleury and hanifin are lefties. Righty Faulk is most valuable.

I would look closer to St. Louis, who would have Salary Cap problem coming with Shattenkirk and other extensions in next 2 years. Tarasenko 7.5M already created a huge pressure.

Idea with St. Louis could work.

- Not a division rival
- possible salary problem and has already Norris level Pietrangelo at same position as Shatty
- are missing organizational depth
- have promising Colton Parayko to replace Shatty internally and cheap

Nashville with Jones is another scenario. They have to load millions for Forsberg soon and that could cause trade pressure. And they have Weber the for the next decade at same position, just like Blues has Pietro.

 

[Lil Sebastian Cossa]

Marchenko + Smith + Sproul + Nosek + Frk + Tvrdon + Andersson + Paterson + pick
<>
Faulk

We could easily do that and not miss a beat for now or the future.

If we can keep everybody from this forward core, we can trade pretty much everybody else away:

Tatar - Sheahan - Nyquist
Bertuzzi - Larkin - Pulkkinen
Svechnkov - AA - Mantha
Nastasiuk - Glendening - Ferraro

VET - VET
DeKeyser - (Faulk)
Ouellet - Jensen

Mrazek

That shows we have a bunch of prospects that are mediocre at best.

Marchenko is a good bottom pairing guy, but not much more. Smith is still a crapshoot but could reasonably be a top 4 guy somewhere if he tightens his game up. The rest of those pieces are so replaceable as to be completely worthless in a trade. They are good organizational depth and maybe they somehow develop into a guy with some NHL value because some of them are young, but most in that package are never wases.

I mean, if you had Justin Faulk would you even think about trading him for that for one millisecond?

 

[Henkka]

I mean, if you had Justin Faulk would you even think about trading him for that for one millisecond?

I already answered for that. No, I wouldn't trade him, if I don't have any problems with the cap and have acceptable organizational depth.

Find the right team and right fit, when the trade complements both parties.

 

[The Zetterberg Era]

Yeah, just shows our depth, if some team will want to get depth. But I don't see Carolina letting Faulk away, there's no reason for it. They have cap space and other great D prospects Fleury and hanifin are lefties. Righty Faulk is most valuable.

I would look closer to St. Louis, who would have Salary Cap problem coming with Shattenkirk and other extensions in next 2 years. Tarasenko 7.5M already created a huge pressure.

Idea with St. Louis could work.

- Not a division rival
- possible salary problem and has already Norris level Pietrangelo at same position as Shatty
- are missing organizational depth
- have promising Colton Parayko to replace Shatty internally and cheap

Nashville with Jones is another scenario. They have to load millions for Forsberg soon and that could cause trade pressure. And they have Weber the for the next decade at same position, just like Blues has Pietro.

I would move Weber before I would move Jones if I was Nashville. I realize they have payed a lot in, but they don't have to honor his NTC, so he is open season to all 29 soon to be 31 other teams.

He will be overtaken shortly in terms of true talent by Jones. I go with Josi and Jones for the future, roll the improving Ryan Ellis up to 2nd pairing. The beauty being you still run three stud PP guys out even with the disappearance of Weber. That is the smart move for me, tough in the market where he is Captain and biggest star. But if the right package comes I am much more interested in moving Weber than Jones if I am Poile.

Imagine what a RNH and Eberle for Weber package does for Nasville. The cash might get tight, but the haul Weber can bring even while starting to decline will be tremendous.

The names thrown around will cost a decent amount. Faulk and Shattenkirk are big packages. One thing I hope that could be interesting long-term here is Blashill should become a top name for Team USA at events. Now hopefully he is unable to attend the World Championships for obvious reasons, but he should become in quick order one of the most celebrated US coaches. It could attract a lot of the US guys our way and the States is pumping out no shortage of intriguing back-end guys here lately. For now we have to develop what we have, move methodically. It would be great if one of these guys materialized on the open market or for a reasonable trade but it isn't likely and that is an unfortunate reality.

 

[Birko19]

Any reason you are open to trading AA? He seems like a keeper, he may not be a 30-30 guy but he's going to be a better version of helm IMO. I agree with everything else.

I do like AA but I put him in that category the same reason why I put Jurco there. They're talented young players and there's promise, but we need to start dishing out quality if we want good returns. I was also going to put Pulkky in that category but there's something about goal scoring ability that really wants me to keep him.

 

[PuckDynasty]

Is there any logical reason why Ken Holland wouldn't make moves to maximize the roster?

 

[Ricelund]

For everyone that's suggesting a trade for Justin Faulk... have you forgotten about Ilitch and Karmanos?

 

[TheMule93]

For everyone that's suggesting a trade for Justin Faulk... have you forgotten about Ilitch and Karmanos?

There's no way Carolina moves Faulk anyway. He's the cornerstone of their rebuild.

Our best chance for getting a franchise D might just be grooming Dekeyser on the power play. He had 31pts last season... If he got #1 PP time I'm sure he could start putting up 40-50 points consistently

 

[sean3250]

There's no way Carolina moves Faulk anyway. He's the cornerstone of their rebuild.

Our best chance for getting a franchise D might just be grooming Dekeyser on the power play. He had 31pts last season... If he got #1 PP time I'm sure he could start putting up 40-50 points consistently

He would need to improve a decent bit defensively as well.

 

[Shaman464]

Is there any logical reason why Ken Holland wouldn't make moves to maximize the roster?

Because when has he? He let good to great talent leave in UFA/waivers.

 

[RedMachine87]

Is there any logical reason why Ken Holland wouldn't make moves to maximize the roster?

Honestly, I've been a big Holland supporter for a long time, but my admiration is mostly for his ability to draft/develop, and even more so, his business acumen - in that he runs an incredibly organized, effective company where the scouting/leadership roles are routinely filled w/ good-to-great hockey minds. There always seems to be a succession plan. Simply put, he's an excellent leader.

But...he's far from beyond reproach. And if there's any one area he's struggled with most recently, it's improving the roster via trade. Either because he's overly conservative and wants to maintain the status quo/his legacy, or because he can't find any trade partners. My guess is the former.

 

[Actual Thought*]

I would stay the course. Continue to build through the draft and rent some depth at the deadline. If a can't miss trade presents itself you make it. However traded are less common in the cap era so I wouldn't bank on that happening. If Blast is 75% of his billing we should sweep the playoffs in 16 games with the current roster after winning 65 games or so.

 

[The Zetterberg Era]

I would stay the course. Continue to build through the draft and rent some depth at the deadline. If a can't miss trade presents itself you make it. However traded are less common in the cap era so I wouldn't bank on that happening. If Blast is 75% of his billing we should sweep the playoffs in 16 games with the current roster after winning 65 games or so.

If Babcock was the huge difference you're making out between the two we wouldn't have one cup in the decade under him either.....

 

[DanZ]

He would need to improve a decent bit defensively as well.

Not really. DeKeyser is already great defensively. However, I don't think he has the offensive skill to be a #1 defenseman. He will still be a fixture on our defense for years to come though and I'm happy about that.

 

[Pavels Dog]

Not really. DeKeyser is already great defensively. However, I don't think he has the offensive skill to be a #1 defenseman. He will still be a fixture on our defense for years to come though and I'm happy about that.

Pair him with a skilled offensive d-man and I think he'd be just fine as #1, at least in a few years time. There's no rule for how many points a #1 D-man has to put up. In fact most guys who score 50+ points are not true #1 D-men. A lot of #1s are in the 30-50 point range.

 

[DanZ]

Pair him with a skilled offensive d-man and I think he'd be just fine as #1, at least in a few years time. There's no rule for how many points a #1 D-man has to put up. In fact most guys who score 50+ points are not true #1 D-men. A lot of #1s are in the 30-50 point range.

I want the Wings to win the Cup though and it doesn't really happen without an elite #1 these days. Keith, Doughty, Chara, Lidstrom, Pronger... Those are the recent cup winners and I don't see DeKeyser reaching that level, although I'd love to be surprised. He's still young and clearly smart. It takes longer for defensemen to hit their primes and DeKeyser was a late bloomer to begin with. He needs to learn an offensive game though.

 

[Zetterberg4Captain]

with franzen now clearly back in the fold how much are we over the cap once datsyuk is back around game #10?

i would really hope our plan isnt to waive guys to solve the problem

 

[Retire91]

I would replace Holland with Yzerman to maximize the roster.

 

[DanZ]

I would replace Holland with Yzerman to maximize the roster.

Definition of what have you done for me lately. Yzerman has a couple of good years and he's already better than Holland?

 

[Retire91]

Definition of what have you done for me lately. Yzerman has a couple of good years and he's already better than Holland?

5-6 seasons is "lately"?

 

[PuckDynasty]

Honestly, I've been a big Holland supporter for a long time, but my admiration is mostly for his ability to draft/develop, and even more so, his business acumen - in that he runs an incredibly organized, effective company where the scouting/leadership roles are routinely filled w/ good-to-great hockey minds. There always seems to be a succession plan. Simply put, he's an excellent leader.

But...he's far from beyond reproach. And if there's any one area he's struggled with most recently, it's improving the roster via trade. Either because he's overly conservative and wants to maintain the status quo/his legacy, or because he can't find any trade partners. My guess is the former.

I don't find that he's above reproach either. But he has to balance many things to put together a roster, not the least of which is the Cap. When you look at Chicago and Boston and see them having to dump some really good players due to the cap, you have to respect how Holland has handled that. Outside of Suter and Parise, who didn't come to Detroit because it wasn't Minnesota, the Wings haven't lost out on any really prime free agents. Most who have signed megacontracts over the past few years haven't lived up to the contract.

He also has to appease an owner, his boss, like most people do. When you see other teams who have won the Cup and then sank to the bottom and are still there, the fact that Holland has been able to keep this team competitive has been a credit to him.

The Wings are trying to rebuild a roster based on very lousy draft picks over the past decade. Yet we've still picked up guys with talent who can be solid NHL players.

Dave Dombrowski with the Tigers made bold moves and Ilitch canned his ass. Do you think Holland is going to make risky trades based on that?

I have respect for the fact that he is the professional and I am the fan and that he has some idea of what he's doing.