News Article: NHL.com: Yzerman doesn't think you can build a team through FA

[StargateSG1]

Nielsen was a desperate move after Datsyuk walked away go go back to Russia, Green was a good signing but he can't stay healthy. Not sure what the Daley and Vanek signings were about.

I don't believe even Green was, a castoff from the Caps, who was their 6th, 7th D by the time he was done there?
That was a huge red flag right there

 

[RRhoads]

Green had a 3 year contract at cap hit $6M. It was a good signing. The Nielsen signing was horrible, and I said that at the time. You don't give a 32 year old 2/3 C a 6 year contract worth $5.25M per year.

 

[DInTheB]

Green had a 3 year contract at cap hit $6M. It was a good signing. The Nielsen signing was horrible, and I said that at the time. You don't give a 32 year old 2/3 C a 6 year contract worth $5.25M per year.

Signing Nielsen and Helm out of desperation was such a killer.

 

[Bench]

Signing Nielsen and Helm out of desperation was such a killer.

It was one or the other. We absolutely needed to patch the center position somehow or that season was going to be even more of a disaster. But yeah, not both.

 

[StargateSG1]

Green had a 3 year contract at cap hit $6M. It was a good signing. The Nielsen signing was horrible, and I said that at the time. You don't give a 32 year old 2/3 C a 6 year contract worth $5.25M per year.

6 Million? That's what 3rd pairing / healthy scratch D went for that year?
Give me a break!

 

[StargateSG1]

It was one or the other. We absolutely needed to patch the center position somehow or that season was going to be even more of a disaster. But yeah, not both.

No, we absolutely did not, we could have bottomed out then and drafted really high for a few years

 

[Bench]

6 Million? That's what 3rd pairing / healthy scratch D went for that year?
Give me a break!

That's where he fit on a stacked Washington blueline that replaced his skillset. He immediately became Detroit's best defender, which kind of says how much he was needed to help stabilize things.

 

[StargateSG1]

Signing Nielsen and Helm out of desperation was such a killer.

I am still waiting for a single rumor as to what any "other offer" for Helm there was.

 

[Ezekial]

Yea f*** Holland 4 years ago, let's keep talking about it and all of us should put him in our avatars.

 

[Bench]

No, we absolutely did not, we could have bottomed out then and drafted really high for a few years

There's bottoming out and then there's icing an AHL team and destroying any hope of having your young players getting to compete in games. I'm all for "tanking" but your roster has to have NHL talent at key positions, like center.

 

[Bench]

Yea **** Holland 4 years ago, let's keep talking about it and all of us should put him in our avatars.

I still haven't let go of the orange safety mesh, you think I'm going to give up on Kenny? He'll be in my heart forever.

 

[StargateSG1]

That's where he fit on a stacked Washington blueline that replaced his skillset. He immediately became Detroit's best defender, which kind of says how much he was needed to help stabilize things.

Here is another idea, he is absolutely not the player you think he is at this point.
Caps D included Orpik and Tim Gleason and other scrubs at that time.
Stop looking for excuses.
2014-15 Washington Capitals Roster and Statistics | Hockey-Reference.com

 

[Ezekial]

I still haven't let go of the orange safety mesh, you think I'm going to give up on Kenny? He'll be in my heart forever.

I remember when people thought momentarily that that was some Little Caesars inspired ceiling from the evil corporate overlords.

 

[StargateSG1]

There's bottoming out and then there's icing an AHL team and destroying any hope of having your young players getting to compete in games. I'm all for "tanking" but your roster has to have NHL talent at key positions, like center.

Oh, yeah, the "winning culture" BS.
Hawks proved you can go from losing to winning in a few seasons, if you draft high end talent.
Not to mention that Larkin was ready to play Center and Helm hasn't played Center in years.
Put it to rest

 

[Bench]

Here is another idea, he is absolutely not the player you think he is at this point.
Caps D included Orpik and Tim Gleason and other scrubs at that time.
Stop looking for excuses.
2014-15 Washington Capitals Roster and Statistics | Hockey-Reference.com

Mike Green doesn't do what Orpik does. They have different jobs. Orpik played more than Green because of that, but Green doubled his point totals. John Carlson and Niskanen completely made Green expendable on that roster. He was a redundant piece, despite putting up 45 points from the blueline.

What player do I think he is? I think he's a great first pass defender who, despite his warts, has enough defensive awareness to still log top 4 minutes on a roster that struggles to ice a competitive blueline. He's not an answer. He's a bandaid so the blueline isn't a total tire fire. That's worth short contracts for modest defender pay.

I'm all about ire for the Wings' contract situation, but it's not Mike Green, who actually provides value and isn't hamstringing cap flexibility. It's long deals like Abdelkader.

 

[Bench]

Oh, yeah, the "winning culture" BS.
Hawks proved you can go from losing to winning in a few seasons, if you draft high end talent.
Not to mention that Larkin was ready to play Center and Helm hasn't played Center in years.
Put it to rest

What winning culture? What part of me being on board with tanking is promoting winning culture. I'm promoting the idea of the games not being slaughters every night because we have AHL talent on the 2nd line getting exposed 82 times a year while Jimmy Howard starts putting vodka in his water bottle.

 

[Frk It]

Mike Green put up 104 pts in 212 games his first 3 years here and logged 22-23 minutes.

Doesn’t matter what his role in DC was, that was a good/reasonable signing.

 

[A II R]

Mike Green put up 104 pts in 212 games his first 3 years here and logged 22-23 minutes.

Doesn’t matter what his role in DC was, that was a good/reasonable signing.

Not to mention being the only defender we had who could push the pace and make the game a bit more entertaining. Until Hronek showed up, Green was the only defender producing consistent offense. He's been a great signing for the Wings.

 

[Lil Sebastian Cossa]

Oh, yeah, the "winning culture" BS.
Hawks proved you can go from losing to winning in a few seasons, if you draft high end talent.
Not to mention that Larkin was ready to play Center and Helm hasn't played Center in years.
Put it to rest

Hawks are a bit of a false positive for that test. They went from a toxic organization ran by a miserly piece of **** in Bill Wirtz to, you know, not that.

 

[Hen Kolland]

Hawks are a bit of a false positive for that test. They went from a toxic organization ran by a miserly piece of **** in Bill Wirtz to, you know, not that.

One might say they got rid of a bad, losing culture.

 

[jkutswings]

Get used to Yzerman giving nothing quotes.

If the winning comes with it, I'll be a charter member of the Emulate Bill Belichick Fan Club.

 

[Lazlo Hollyfeld]

One might say they got rid of a bad, losing culture.

Yes but by the owner dying.

 

[GreatGordie9]

Before the salary cap the Wings did build great teams through free agency. No longer the case I agree with Stevie

 

[Hen Kolland]

Yes but by the owner dying.

It’s absolutely unfortunate, but it still shows the importance of a winning culture

 

[The Zetterberg Era]

Before the salary cap the Wings did build great teams through free agency. No longer the case I agree with Stevie

The cores of those teams were homegrown. The 02 team might have added some big time guys.

Yzerman, Fedorov and Lidstrom were homegrown players. Datsyuk, Zetterberg and Franzen.

Heck Shanahan is added in large part by us trading a former #3 overall pick in Primeau.

The Red Wings success was heavily driven by draft and development, it was at the core of their 25 year run as a bigger factor than Free Agency for sure.