So if he had 0 points in these 3 games would you not be crying about his lack of effort or non existent production or his lack of defensive awareness? Yes. My point is you will always have something against him and now that he has 4 goals and 7 points and has had the strongest preseason of the Wings you still are going to find a way to try to slander his play. Just hope he continues it and at this point the way he and Vanek are playing why can't he continue to play well?
GDT: Red Wings @ Blackhawks - 8:30PM ET (preseason Game 5)
- Thread starter Henkka
- Start date
HIFE
Registered User
Best game I've ever seen AA have. Like it used to be said about Helm- speed kills.
As someone who badmouthed signing Vanek I will be perfectly happy to be proven wrong. I didn't think there was enough chemistry to warrant the deal but so far he and AA have been exceptional together. Athanaiou is driving the play but Vanek is the perfect passenger to create offense.
Larkin appeared to be a little tired but nice slapper.
Hicketts has been and still is on the bottom of my list of potential D. He's undersized, slow, always scrambling to make a play and ices the puck way too much. Not a fan and don't think much could sway my evaluation.
As someone who badmouthed signing Vanek I will be perfectly happy to be proven wrong. I didn't think there was enough chemistry to warrant the deal but so far he and AA have been exceptional together. Athanaiou is driving the play but Vanek is the perfect passenger to create offense.
Larkin appeared to be a little tired but nice slapper.
Hicketts has been and still is on the bottom of my list of potential D. He's undersized, slow, always scrambling to make a play and ices the puck way too much. Not a fan and don't think much could sway my evaluation.
The Zetterberg Era
Ball Hockey Sucks
WesNichols14
Registered User
If holland knew z wasnt coming back then the vanek signing was a great decision. Especially if his options were basically vanek or filpulla. He will put up roughly the same amount of points as z would but his chemistry with AA really provides some options in the trade future.
Ulysses31
Registered User
Chalk it up to preseason, established stars don’t try at all before season starts so things look more equal than they are.
Pavels Dog
Registered User
Cautiously optimistic about our future while keeping in mind that we’re still likely to suck this regular season.
The positive thing is we’ve been seeing such a nice depth of prospects making a good impression. Smith, Saarijarvi, Veleno, Sulak.. it hasn’t been just the top guys. And Berggren, Lindstrom, Setkov, Kotkansalo etc. aren’t even here. Future is bright.
turkleton85
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jkutswings
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We have fundamentally different viewpoints on AA. Him playing well is a very good thing, but the disconnect is that you like it because your want to see his career as a Red Wing take off, while I like it because it boosts his trade value.
He clearly has skills, and it's great that he's utilizing them better this preseason. But I so desperately want to grow the defense - and see AA as one of the few logical trade chips we have - that the sooner he could yield another decent blue liner, the better.
Filppula
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What a depressing way to view a young player, just as a pawn to trade away. AA is young, has size, has wheels, can score. A firing AA is great for this team long term, not to trade away. If we could become more consistent he’s certainly got 50-60 point potential.
KJoe88
Forever Lost.
I’ve been a huge downer of AA. Have criticized him throughout his time here.
But he’s shown up. The thing with me is that he’s seemed to have matured a bit. It’s like he realized the whole drama thing wasn’t going to work and came ready to play. I’m actually not even thrilled about his offense. We all knew he had potential high end skills.
I was more impressed with his few nice backchecks he had. I enjoyed that more because now he’s given me hope that we could have potentially two extremely elite and defensively responsible 2C players in him and Larkin.
I’m very pleased with our preseason. I thought Zadina played well too. He hasn’t shined offensively yet and after game one he’s adjusted nicely. His skills are glaringly there - they just haven’t erupted yet. I still believe he should start the season for at least a few games. But I’m not a management so it’s a good thing considering I may be wrong about Zadina.
The defense was poop tonight and Howie was... yikes. I like Howie too, lol, but man was he bad. That Toews goal was really awful. But still, I really like Cholo, Hronek, and Sulak. Hicketts was decent too for the first time in my eyes. Two should make it. I just don’t know who to pick. I think I’d have to go with Hronek and Sulak. I know Cholo has been good too but his defense doesn’t seem to be as stable despite the +/-. I wouldn’t mind him dominating the AHL and really upgrading his offense even further.
My boy Mantha also has impressed me a lot. He seems a lot more polished. His reach is crazy. I think he’ll have a good year. I like that he wants to be assertive in making plays too; He’s trying to pass and get involved as much as he can. Really want big things from him his year even if the team does suck.
I love our future as long as our young players develop and depending on what happens with Larkin, AA and Veleno we may need only defenseman to finish off the core imo. Though I’m not very keen on the draft class next year, so maybe a center besides the obvious would be a better choice ALSO depending on what happens with Cholo, Hronek and Sulak, etc. :p
Point is our young guys have shown a lot so far. Hopefully they keep it up!
But he’s shown up. The thing with me is that he’s seemed to have matured a bit. It’s like he realized the whole drama thing wasn’t going to work and came ready to play. I’m actually not even thrilled about his offense. We all knew he had potential high end skills.
I was more impressed with his few nice backchecks he had. I enjoyed that more because now he’s given me hope that we could have potentially two extremely elite and defensively responsible 2C players in him and Larkin.
I’m very pleased with our preseason. I thought Zadina played well too. He hasn’t shined offensively yet and after game one he’s adjusted nicely. His skills are glaringly there - they just haven’t erupted yet. I still believe he should start the season for at least a few games. But I’m not a management so it’s a good thing considering I may be wrong about Zadina.
The defense was poop tonight and Howie was... yikes. I like Howie too, lol, but man was he bad. That Toews goal was really awful. But still, I really like Cholo, Hronek, and Sulak. Hicketts was decent too for the first time in my eyes. Two should make it. I just don’t know who to pick. I think I’d have to go with Hronek and Sulak. I know Cholo has been good too but his defense doesn’t seem to be as stable despite the +/-. I wouldn’t mind him dominating the AHL and really upgrading his offense even further.
My boy Mantha also has impressed me a lot. He seems a lot more polished. His reach is crazy. I think he’ll have a good year. I like that he wants to be assertive in making plays too; He’s trying to pass and get involved as much as he can. Really want big things from him his year even if the team does suck.
I love our future as long as our young players develop and depending on what happens with Larkin, AA and Veleno we may need only defenseman to finish off the core imo. Though I’m not very keen on the draft class next year, so maybe a center besides the obvious would be a better choice ALSO depending on what happens with Cholo, Hronek and Sulak, etc. :p
Point is our young guys have shown a lot so far. Hopefully they keep it up!
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Cyborg Yzerberg
Registered User
Knew all the hatred and vitriol over AA was misplaced. People will either come around on him or they won’t. It’s just how these things go.
jkutswings
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It's depressing to want to improve the defense, and to have to choose which forward(s) I'd be willing to trade to do so?
Even if Hronek and Cholowski AND Sulak all stick with the team, they still need 1-2 more really good defensemen. And I'm not going to assume that all these guys pan out, plus McIsaac pans out, PLUS either Karlsson or Trouba come here. It's statistically one in a million that all those possibilities come up aces, so I'm expecting at least one trade. And I'm not trading Larkin or Zadina, so realistically, it probably comes down to AA and/or Mantha.
I'm not kicking the guy's puppy here. I'm saying that sooner or later, Detroit should move a forward for a defenseman, and the better AA plays, the better the return to help the defense. Replace his name with Mantha if you like, but you need to give to get.
KJoe88
Forever Lost.
^you are really sleeping on Mantha if you are thinking about trading him so early on. After this season ends, we’ll have a good idea on what happens with our d-core then. Like you said, depends on who we draft, sign, etc
But Mantha is a no from me atm.
I was just upset at his shenanigans with the contract. If he put that aside I think he would’ve had a better year last year and been a better Wing.
But he has seemed to have worked hard, so good for him. So far he’s been electric.
But Mantha is a no from me atm.
I was just upset at his shenanigans with the contract. If he put that aside I think he would’ve had a better year last year and been a better Wing.
But he has seemed to have worked hard, so good for him. So far he’s been electric.
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Cyborg Yzerberg
Registered User
Players are entitled to try and get as much as they can for their contracts. That sort of thing just doesn’t bother me.
KJoe88
Forever Lost.
He went about it in a terrible way though. Holding out, etc. really put a bad attitude label all over him.
Again, it’s over and he’s seemed to work hard, so let’s hope things work out for him now.
Heaton
Moderator
How else is he supposed to maximize his contract value if he doesn't 'hold out'? The Wings are just as culpable as he is to the hold out.
jkutswings
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Personally, I don't want to trade Mantha at all. I think he will continue to grow into a guy who regularly scores 25-30 goals and 50-60 points. I would trade AA long before Mantha. I just meant that if AA specifically isn't the player that somebody else wanted to deal, then pick another kid with potential to package for a defenseman.
ShelbyZ
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This. He was signed to start in GR, so this was inevitable unless one of Howard or Bernier weren't able to start the year.
Although there's probably a 99% chance Sateri clears, the timing might be strategic since Michael Hutchinson just cleared and teams that might be interested in claiming or trading for a cheap goalie are probably waiting to see what the Leafs do with the McElhinney/Sparks/Pickard backup battle royale. Sparks probably tops waiver wish lists since he was the top goalie in the AHL last season.
Pavels Dog
Registered User
I think in order to return the kind of d-man you want, AA would need to improve to the point where he becomes nearly untouchable.
The reason a team like Toronto is discussed in trades for D is because they have Matthews, Marner, Tavares and Nylander up front. We have basically 1 guy anywhere near that level. Until we have 3 or 4 or 5 and our D is still garbage, we don't really need to think too hard about trading guys like AA who have legit upside.
jkutswings
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Calculated risk. If Detroit waits until all the players involved are known commodities, they're probably too late to make anything other than an overpayment in the trade, and the rebuild might fall short. The degree of certainty you're ascribing to this type of deal is typically reserved for adding one last splash in free agency, once the bulk of the team is built.
I personally think that AA will never consistently be more than a middle six winger that occasionally moonlights at middle six center. Others are free to disagree, but if that's my take on him, then it would be logical to "sell high" (likely as part of a package) if I can find a team rich in defense but needing offense (Carolina, Calgary, Anaheim, Nashville), rather than wait for him to level off (while hoping he continues to rise to any further perceived potential).
EDIT: Think of that 40 game stretch that Nyquist had. Lots of fans were thrilled at the time, but in hindsight, it would have been very interesting to see what return he could've landed, before he came back down to earth.
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Even as a huge AA skeptic I have nothing bad to say about his play this preseason. My fingers are crossed that he keeps it up and improves the team or his trade value.
RedMenace
Registered User
Watching the Leafs vs. Canadiens game the other night, Sparks was bad. I mean, REALLY. BAD. He barely looked like an ECHL goalie, let alone an NHL backup.
