Who can help our defense long-term?

[Thrace]

Earlier in this thread, Silkyjohnston described Suter as 'Positionally sound, real good puck mover, usually makes the right play, and eats up a ton of minutes.'

You know who else this describes? J-Bo. I'm well aware he polarizes opinion, and I understand he has negatives (lefty, not really a hitter, expensive contract, hasn't lived up to his offensive expectations in Calgary) but he's at least a semi-realistic target IMO. The Flames never seem to be sellers but they're doing terribly this season and might be looking to ship out a player or two at the deadline.

Obviously it would depend on the price, and we'd have to ship out Quincey/Cola/both to fit him in to the lineup, but I wouldn't be at all unhappy if we could pick up J-Bo as a quality stopgap until our kids are ready.

Bouwmeester-White (1a)
Kronwall-Ericsson (1b)
Smith-Kindl (yikes I guess, but wouldn't need to get big minutes at ES. Alternately give up Kindl in the deal and play Huskins with Smith)

To me, that looks like a decent blueline. Bouwmeester and Ericsson can anchor our top pairings defensively, and everyone outside of Huskins is a good puck mover. If we could get a physical PKing righty to play with Smith next year I'd be happy rolling with that for a couple of seasons.

I expect to get flak for this but to repeat myself this might be a semi-realistic option: anyone who thinks we're going to get a stud physical RD who has a history of great production and is under 25 without gutting the system is deluding themselves.

 

[InjuredChoker]

Other than the fact they are both left handed which is a question mark but probably not as big when you think about how long off these guys are. I just enjoy watching both guys play a lot more. Nurse has a ton of raw ability as he fills out he will become a very exciting prospect. The Wings should know him well from keeping tabs on Sproul. Zadorov is the best stay at home guy for me in the draft, unless you want to consider Jones that but he is just complete all around, however on pure D, Zadorov is second for me. A massive guy that loves to play the body and at 6'5" 230 lbs right now skates pretty well. Is comfortable enough with the puck which probably comes from his Russian upbringing where they value the puck a little more.

Don't get me wrong I won't be upset about Ristolainen, I just like the other two slightly more. Ristolainen's stock is falling a little lately, he hasn't had a great go of it after the WJC's from the looks of things. Of course this is a moving target in terms of who we take if we start trading some of our prospects. It really depends on who is around and is hard to predict from here out. Will be curious to see what Nurse does at the combine as I expect some decent workouts because he looks very athletic when I have seen him. Guessing Zadorov will destroy the power workouts.

Ristolainen fell all the way to 20th in the last rankings by TSN.

http://www.tsn.ca/draftcentre/feature/?id=49649

Risto hasn't fallen. That is Button list, not just TSN. Button has been low on Risto since his first ranking iirc.

IMO Risto was Finland's best D. He does go out of position sometimes and some may question his off. upside and defensive IQ though. But he's very good skater for his size and physical, hard shot and can make a good first pass.

Earlier in this thread, Silkyjohnston described Suter as 'Positionally sound, real good puck mover, usually makes the right play, and eats up a ton of minutes.'

You know who else this describes? J-Bo. I'm well aware he polarizes opinion, and I understand he has negatives (lefty, not really a hitter, expensive contract, hasn't lived up to his offensive expectations in Calgary) but he's at least a semi-realistic target IMO. The Flames never seem to be sellers but they're doing terribly this season and might be looking to ship out a player or two at the deadline.

Obviously it would depend on the price, and we'd have to ship out Quincey/Cola/both to fit him in to the lineup, but I wouldn't be at all unhappy if we could pick up J-Bo as a quality stopgap until our kids are ready.

Bouwmeester-White (1a)
Kronwall-Ericsson (1b)
Smith-Kindl (yikes I guess, but wouldn't need to get big minutes at ES. Alternately give up Kindl in the deal and play Huskins with Smith)

To me, that looks like a decent blueline. Bouwmeester and Ericsson can anchor our top pairings defensively, and everyone outside of Huskins is a good puck mover. If we could get a physical PKing righty to play with Smith next year I'd be happy rolling with that for a couple of seasons.

I expect to get flak for this but to repeat myself this might be a semi-realistic option: anyone who thinks we're going to get a stud physical RD who has a history of great production and is under 25 without gutting the system is deluding themselves.

JayBo is going to cost a lot. In a sense that it will hurt our future. The window was open for summer, he's been playing very well this season in Hartely's system. Only thing is that he's still soft.

 

[Henkka]

On paper, Ristolainen's toolbox would compliment Brendan Smith very well. Then you put Ouellet and Sproul together and there's our future TOP4.

Smith 6'2 - Ristolainen 6'3
Left-Right (offensive-defensive)

Ouellet 6'1 - Sproul 6'4
Left-Right (defensive-offensive)

Nice size, mobile and skilled defence.

 

[InjuredChoker]

And only one player with hockey sense on defense.

 

[The Zetterberg Era]

On paper, Ristolainen's toolbox would compliment Brendan Smith very well. Then you put Ouellet and Sproul together and there's our future TOP4.

Smith 6'2 - Ristolainen 6'3
Left-Right (offensive-defensive)

Ouellet 6'1 - Sproul 6'4
Left-Right (defensive-offensive)

Nice size, mobile and skilled defence.

Just so everyone knows because we talk about this a lot. But Smith has actually played on the right side for a long time, he might actually even prefer it. If we wind up with three right-handed D, by all means switch him over. However, he is probably planned to be on the right moving forward when the organization breaks these things down.

 

[Roomba With a Bauer]

Honestly, with the way things are going Ouellette and Sproul could step in next year and probably be better than all of our defenseman outside of Kronwall and Ericsson.

If Ouellette or Sproul were in the draft this year they would both be top-5 picks, even as 20 year olds. Top-5 pick quality players need to play in the NHL within a year or two of being drafted. Unfortunately they will both play the entirety of their entry-level contract in the AHL so they are cheap when they hit RFA. Book it.

 

[VladTheImpaler]

Honestly, with the way things are going Ouellette and Sproul could step in next year and probably be better than all of our defenseman outside of Kronwall and Ericsson.

If Ouellette or Sproul were in the draft this year they would both be top-5 picks, even as 20 year olds. Top-5 pick quality players need to play in the NHL within a year or two of being drafted. Unfortunately they will both play the entirety of their entry-level contract in the AHL so they are cheap when they hit RFA. Book it.

I agree. They should both get long looks in camp and pre-season next year, but I just cannot see either of them on the team to start the year after it took Smith so long to make the team. Smith wasn't as good as O or Sproul at their age though, so who knows...

 

[Roomba With a Bauer]

I agree. They should both get long looks in camp and pre-season next year, but I just cannot see either of them on the team to start the year after it took Smith so long to make the team. Smith wasn't as good as O or Sproul at their age though, so who knows...

Ryan Sproul is 3 inches taller and at least 15 pounds heavier than Smith, at 4 years younger. If you have a 6-4, 200+ pound defenseman who can score at a 1.4ppg rate, even at the OHL level, you have to try him in the NHL.

 

[Run the Jewels]

Ryan Sproul is 3 inches taller and at least 15 pounds heavier than Smith, at 4 years younger. If you have a 6-4, 200+ pound defenseman who can score at a 1.4ppg rate, even at the OHL level, you have to try him in the NHL.

One thing we can count on is Holland will make some inquiries about trades and free agent signings. All of the big time guys you'd want to acquire via free agency have been signed but there are a few guys who could fit. This summer's free agent d-men:

Rob Scuderi - most PK mins in the NHL, 2nd to Doughty in EVS TOI for LA. He'd be a legit top pairing guy. Not as versatile as Suter, Edler and Weber but still a guy you can put out there for 20+ mins a night and will play a game Mike Babcock likes. Might get overpaid since he's a defensive d-man with not much offense to his game.

Robyn Regehr - The boat has probably sailed on him being a top 4 d-man. Currently 8th in TOI at EVS for the Sabres. He plays the heaviest mins on the Buffalo PK unit so at best he'd be a replacement for Quincey if we could get anyone to take Q off our hands. However his last contract was for a shade over $4 million. At that cap hit I'd take Scuderi but wouldn't consider Regehr for even a nanosecond.

Sergei Gonchar - getting up there in age but we all know Ken Holland digs him some experience. Gonchar could be a solid pickup, he plays in all three areas including the PK. He's now a second pairing guy at EVS so it'd be debatable whether you want him to try to fill your top pairing mins. However he gets more mins than Erik Karlsson on the power play so he would fill a need for a power play QB. I'd probably pick Scuderi over Gonchar but I could see Gonchar potentially being a fit on a short 2 year deal.

Lubomir Vishnovsky - I've been championing trying to get him from the Isles this season but it looks like NY is going to keep him. My big concern is does he sign another NHL contract or does he head off to the KHL? The Isles are going nowhere fast so it would make sense for them to trade him, he'll clearly never sign a contract with them. If he signs a deal with any NHL team he is going to be adamant about receiving a NTC and we know Holland has no problem giving those out. He's getting top pairing mins on the PP in NY but second pairing mins at EVS like Gonchar. Doesn't really PK. If he played a full season this year he's currently on pace to put up a 50+ point season over an 82 game schedule. I think there could be a fit with Lubo given we are so bad at generating offense from our back end. I would not sign him at his current salary though, he'd need to be willing to take about $1.5 off the contract and in exchange give him a NTC. I'm definitely interested given how bad our d is at generating offense.

My #1 target would be Scuderi. He does nothing to address our awful offensive production from our d-men but he'd be a legit #1 here. White is currently playing top pairing mins so if you ink White to a new deal you could have a Scuderi-White top pairing. I don't like White against bigger forwards but you can always adjust your pairings as needed. Kronner would stay as a second pairing guy who would have Ericsson to try to clean up all the brain fecal matter Kronwall spatters all over the offensive zone.

My second target would be Visnovsky. He'd be a Brian Rafalski type of d-man, tons of offense but very little in the way of solid defensive play. You'd need to pair him up with either Ericsson or Lashoff, a d-man who is the epitome of stay at home while Visnovsky gets the offense going.

If we whiff on free agency - a very strong possibility IMO - and cannot work a trade then I would be very interested in seeing what Ouellet and Sproul can do. At a bare minimum they should get a long, hard look at training camp.

 

[TatarTangle]

Ryan Sproul is 3 inches taller and at least 15 pounds heavier than Smith, at 4 years younger. If you have a 6-4, 200+ pound defenseman who can score at a 1.4ppg rate, even at the OHL level, you have to try him in the NHL.

I agree but Sproul and Ouellet won't be playing in the NHL for 3-4 more years. Remember, over-ripe is everything to Ken Holland. I'd be afraid that he'd trade one of them for J-Bo but since Holland doesn't believe in trades, we're safe. Once they do make it to the NHL the Wings may have one of the biggest defensive cores in the NHL in Ericcson, Sproul and Ouellet.

 

[Laser Rayzor]

I highly doubt he makes it to UFA, but if he does Ladislav Smid would be a great pickup, good defensive guy, plays physical, blocks shots, and still relatively young

 

[InjuredChoker]

I'd go hardest of all UFA Ds on Smid. He's does it all defensively. He doesn't bring much offense but doesn't handle the puck like grenade. Basically he's younger, bigger version of Scuderi.

I'm just afraid that he'll re-sign. And if he doesn't he's going to get PAID.

 

[The Zetterberg Era]

A new assistant, lets say Ruff or McLellan (don't see him surviving this year) coming back. I actually think Ruff gets another head coaching job. But in any event we need somebody Babcock trusts and listens to, because he is an idiot with our D. The way he divides up ice time and who he punishes and rewards is completely confusing.

 

[Bench]

Sorry Kronwall's not the pp qb we need.

He's the PP QB we deserve.

 

[RedWingsNow*]

One thing we can count on is Holland will make some inquiries about trades and free agent signings. All of the big time guys you'd want to acquire via free agency have been signed but there are a few guys who could fit. This summer's free agent d-men:

Rob Scuderi - most PK mins in the NHL, 2nd to Doughty in EVS TOI for LA. He'd be a legit top pairing guy. Not as versatile as Suter, Edler and Weber but still a guy you can put out there for 20+ mins a night and will play a game Mike Babcock likes. Might get overpaid since he's a defensive d-man with not much offense to his game.

Robyn Regehr - The boat has probably sailed on him being a top 4 d-man. Currently 8th in TOI at EVS for the Sabres. He plays the heaviest mins on the Buffalo PK unit so at best he'd be a replacement for Quincey if we could get anyone to take Q off our hands. However his last contract was for a shade over $4 million. At that cap hit I'd take Scuderi but wouldn't consider Regehr for even a nanosecond.

Sergei Gonchar - getting up there in age but we all know Ken Holland digs him some experience. Gonchar could be a solid pickup, he plays in all three areas including the PK. He's now a second pairing guy at EVS so it'd be debatable whether you want him to try to fill your top pairing mins. However he gets more mins than Erik Karlsson on the power play so he would fill a need for a power play QB. I'd probably pick Scuderi over Gonchar but I could see Gonchar potentially being a fit on a short 2 year deal.

Lubomir Vishnovsky - I've been championing trying to get him from the Isles this season but it looks like NY is going to keep him. My big concern is does he sign another NHL contract or does he head off to the KHL? The Isles are going nowhere fast so it would make sense for them to trade him, he'll clearly never sign a contract with them. If he signs a deal with any NHL team he is going to be adamant about receiving a NTC and we know Holland has no problem giving those out. He's getting top pairing mins on the PP in NY but second pairing mins at EVS like Gonchar. Doesn't really PK. If he played a full season this year he's currently on pace to put up a 50+ point season over an 82 game schedule. I think there could be a fit with Lubo given we are so bad at generating offense from our back end. I would not sign him at his current salary though, he'd need to be willing to take about $1.5 off the contract and in exchange give him a NTC. I'm definitely interested given how bad our d is at generating offense.

My #1 target would be Scuderi. He does nothing to address our awful offensive production from our d-men but he'd be a legit #1 here. White is currently playing top pairing mins so if you ink White to a new deal you could have a Scuderi-White top pairing. I don't like White against bigger forwards but you can always adjust your pairings as needed. Kronner would stay as a second pairing guy who would have Ericsson to try to clean up all the brain fecal matter Kronwall spatters all over the offensive zone.

My second target would be Visnovsky. He'd be a Brian Rafalski type of d-man, tons of offense but very little in the way of solid defensive play. You'd need to pair him up with either Ericsson or Lashoff, a d-man who is the epitome of stay at home while Visnovsky gets the offense going.

If we whiff on free agency - a very strong possibility IMO - and cannot work a trade then I would be very interested in seeing what Ouellet and Sproul can do. At a bare minimum they should get a long, hard look at training camp.

Scuderi is the only guy I am interested on in that list.

 

[Bench]

Visnovsky would be an excellent stopgap. He's been playing well for the Islanders, too. He's getting up there, but he's still got game, and would help the powerplay dramatically. It would also take a huge load off Kronwall having another legitimate top pairing guy to take some of the pressure.

Then you hope some of the kids can step in by the time he's slipping and pick up the slack.

 

[sully6one]

Assuming we can get rid of some contracts I'd like to see

Kronwall- Scuderi
Smith- Ericsson
Smid- White
Lashoff