Proposal: Who should get bought out Abdelkader or Nielsen

[Retire91]

I think removal of their alternate captain status is the best option, and if you want them off the team bury or scratch them. Removing the A's would at least show some level of commitment and accountability that their type of play is not going to be stood for and the only reason they are still skating is due to their contracts. Having the A's to me totally sends the opposite message.

 

[Snuggs]

What is the point of being competitive next year, they are not going to compete for the cup. You are just as likely to get get good hockey with our first pick this year and Seider joining the roster. Exactly what good does buying out 4th liners Neilsen and Abby and adding two slightly better plugs with same term do? Now we will be in 25th place instead of 26th? Its not worth it to me. Players like Krug don't match our core age group and will want huge term and salary. There is no one in our core age that is going to be available. That has to happen through trade and Yzerman is good at that.

Stay the course and build through the draft and trades like 99.9% of every cap era cup winner. When the cup window is open that is when you talk about UFA

Now if you want to strip the A away from Neilsen and Abby now we are talking.

Well, I'm actually not suggesting swinging for the Stanley cup next but I am suggesting shifting the organization into the next step of the rebuild. We've had years now to add talent, money is coming off the books, we've got a lot of draft picks.

It's all there laid out for Yzerman to do what he exactly wants to. 40 plus Million in cap, high draft picks, good young prospects, and money to spend.

With all that ability to do (SOMETHING) I'd be mad if they just stay'd pat and let Neilson/Abdelkader play the contracts out.

I'm going to back up TSweeny and be like, it doesn't have to be a top teir FA either... a duo/trio of solid players at the positions I mentioned earlier(*G/LHD/2ndlineC) will help the Red Wings rebuild immensely along with bringing up guys like Rasmussen/Zadina/Seider/Lindstrom and having a healthy DeKeyser... I mean that's like an 8 man roster rotation... My dream additions are...

C Ryan Nugent-Hopkins
G Jacob Markstrom
LHD Erik Gustafsson

Idk what the money would be like but I'm aware Red Wings have to pay Bertuzzi/Mantha also. Anyways, with those signings, some young guys coming up, and consolidating Helm/Glendening/ Timashov to a 4th line. All the sudden the Red Wings are this... not super talented but oddly steady team. MAYBE shoot for a playoff spot expect them to pick 10-20th. (NHL is that tight)

Hell of a lot better than this season.

 

[Lil Sebastian Cossa]

Well, I'm actually not suggesting swinging for the Stanley cup next but I am suggesting shifting the organization into the next step of the rebuild. We've had years now to add talent, money is coming off the books, we've got a lot of draft picks.

It's all there laid out for Yzerman to do what he exactly wants to. 40 plus Million in cap, high draft picks, good young prospects, and money to spend.

With all that ability to do (SOMETHING) I'd be mad if they just stay'd pat and let Neilson/Abdelkader play the contracts out.

I'm going to back up TSweeny and be like, it doesn't have to be a top teir FA either... a duo/trio of solid players at the positions I mentioned earlier(*G/LHD/2ndlineC) will help the Red Wings rebuild immensely along with bringing up guys like Rasmussen/Zadina/Seider/Lindstrom and having a healthy DeKeyser... I mean that's like an 8 man roster rotation... My dream additions are...

C Ryan Nugent-Hopkins
G Jacob Markstrom
LHD Erik Gustafsson

Idk what the money would be like but I'm aware Red Wings have to pay Bertuzzi/Mantha also. Anyways, with those signings, some young guys coming up, and consolidating Helm/Glendening/ Timashov to a 4th line. All the sudden the Red Wings are this... not super talented but oddly steady team. MAYBE shoot for a playoff spot expect them to pick 10-20th. (NHL is that tight)

Hell of a lot better than this season.

yeah. All I’m saying is that a guy doesn’t have to be a 100% perfect home run like getting a Connor McDavid type from FA for it to be a good and proper move.

You don’t have to keep adding from FA to fill the roster. But as you’ve seen this year with the ability to filter in Perlini, Fabbri, Erne along with playing all of those other guys... we have negative depth. Our top guys aren’t any damn good and we have negative depth.

So don’t sign JGP who might want term. Don’t necessarily sign RNH if you’re not comfortable with that term. But if you want the young kids to develop, you can’t just toss them out there to get their heads kicked in over and over.

Stop going to extremes. Not everything is a train wreck or a bad idea or needs to fit this infinitesimally small criteria

I will defer on the choice of what guys he goes after to Stevie because he knows way more about hockey and how guys will fit together, but I am damn sure he’s not gonna sit there and bemoan there isn’t a 100% lock perfect player. Guess what, the Wings were dominant as **** with a suboptimal roster build in the mid 90s-early 2000s

 

[Retire91]

I think its not a good idea to sign someone to term that you don't think is a core player. This team is very young, 18-25. Even singing a 28 year old to 5-6 years is risky because they are going into their mid 30's when we theoretically start getting into cup windows. Not that 33-34 year old players are bad but unless they are something special and have that elite fitness age does have an impact on the game and the other higher end core players are still in their peak with a potential declining vet plug eating up cap.

We are only getting 1 top 5 talent this season. Unless we are extremely lucky in the draft or Yzerman absolutely robs someone then signing a bunch of plugs that get us out of top 10 in the draft just hits the Holland reset button to mediocrity.

What is the point of playing yourself out of the lottery when you know you still need that top 5 talent. After Holland drove this team into the ground it was going to take patience to restock the talent. I am just glad Yzerman is a GM with that patience.

 

[Snuggs]

yeah. All I’m saying is that a guy doesn’t have to be a 100% perfect home run like getting a Connor McDavid type from FA for it to be a good and proper move.

You don’t have to keep adding from FA to fill the roster. But as you’ve seen this year with the ability to filter in Perlini, Fabbri, Erne along with playing all of those other guys... we have negative depth. Our top guys aren’t any damn good and we have negative depth.

So don’t sign JGP who might want term. Don’t necessarily sign RNH if you’re not comfortable with that term. But if you want the young kids to develop, you can’t just toss them out there to get their heads kicked in over and over.

Stop going to extremes. Not everything is a train wreck or a bad idea or needs to fit this infinitesimally small criteria

I will defer on the choice of what guys he goes after to Stevie because he knows way more about hockey and how guys will fit together, but I am damn sure he’s not gonna sit there and bemoan there isn’t a 100% lock perfect player. Guess what, the Wings were dominant as **** with a suboptimal roster build in the mid 90s-early 2000s

Yeah I mean I agree completely with this. Maybe Nugent Hopkins was an extreme cause he's more of a long-term building block type play; but really Red Wings just need something at C that'll provide more than Filppula/Nielson. Namestnikov/Granlund/Galchenyuk could all be nice stop gap fillers till someone is brought up through the organization.

 

[Lil Sebastian Cossa]

I think its not a good idea to sign someone to term that you don't think is a core player. This team is very young, 18-25. Even singing a 28 year old to 5-6 years is risky because they are going into their mid 30's when we theoretically start getting into cup windows. Not that 33-34 year old players are bad but unless they are something special and have that elite fitness age does have an impact on the game and the other higher end core players are still in their peak with a potential declining vet plug eating up cap.

We are only getting 1 top 5 talent this season. Unless we are extremely lucky in the draft or Yzerman absolutely robs someone then signing a bunch of plugs that get us out of top 10 in the draft just hits the Holland reset button to mediocrity.

What is the point of playing yourself out of the lottery when you know you still need that top 5 talent. After Holland drove this team into the ground it was going to take patience to restock the talent. I am just glad Yzerman is a GM with that patience.

The Red Wings either are so far away that adding anyone from FA wouldn't matter or they're not the worst team in the league. They could sign whoever they want and they're still not very likely to make the playoffs next year.

However, the point of "playing yourself out of the lottery" is that it's professional sports and you should be trying to win.

And again, why are you jumping to "signing a bunch of plugs"? The Wings have absolute NEEDS at some positions. They cannot go into next year with the same dearth of talent they have. They can't, or they're gonna start irrevocably ruining some of those young players we are excited about. That doesn't mean that they need to keep adding and fill up their cap to the brim with mediocre players or even good players. But they literally will have to add some talent to this roster. Hell, they'll literally have to add bodies to this roster as Daley is gone, Ericsson is gone, Bowey might be gone, Nemeth and Filppula have a year and who knows about the health of DDK long term?

Stop wringing your hands on us potentially not being the worst team in the history of the league and therefore getting likely a top ten pick instead of #4. Right now, the Wings need a mediocre defense. They have been so far below average for the last three years that they've probably added a couple years to the rebuild because guys like Larkin, Mantha, Bertuzzi, AA, etc. weren't able to flourish as much as they should offensively because they've got nobody who can move the puck from the back end. They've had abysmal goalie play because their defense has been absolute shit.

The issue with Holland's last couple years was that they needed that top 5 talent and they didn't have any young players to speak of and his very aged stars were not pieces he could move due to recapture or 35+ deals. They don't have to aggressively be bad. They can try to improve right now and they'll still be pretty bad. Again, you don't go and sign whatever random guy on the market to 6+ years. I agree with you on that. But to add a goalie like Lehner or try to get Georgiev, then add a C like Nugent Hopkins on the high end who might actually solidify a second line for you... those aren't moves that are anathema to a rebuild. They're things that you HAVE to do to pull yourself out of being a piece of crap team. You can't just suck, suck, suck, and hope. Because really, what's the difference between the Wings being the worst team in hockey and not signing guys to term or the Wings being choked out by bad contracts? In the last two years... likely two draft slots.

They need to add. They don't have to make a push at the playoffs, but they do need to add pieces to improve.

 

[Ghost of Ethan Hunt]

Yeah I mean I agree completely with this. Maybe Nugent Hopkins was an extreme cause he's more of a long-term building block type play; but really Red Wings just need something at C that'll provide more than Filppula/Nielson. Namestnikov/Granlund/Galchenyuk could all be nice stop gap fillers till someone is brought up through the organization.

Granlund would be my choice, elite/1st line production in primary assists, ahead of many all-stars (before his NSH detour), excellent playmaker, decent defensively, smart/IQ, probably has to sign a shorter term/reprove his worth type contract. $4.5-$4.9x2-3 yrs would be perfect. Hasn't played C in a long time, but he'd still be better than any of our other options. Just have him work on face-offs a lot, stick Bert & Fabbri on his wings, Zadina-Larkin-Mantha. I can totally see SY pleasantly surprise us this summer in a few ways b/w the draft, UFA & RFA signings.

No thanks on Galch or Namaste.

 

[SantosHalper]

Why would Granlund sign a short term deal with rebuilding team? He's 28-years old and 2nd kid on the way, 1st was born on the same day when he got traded to Nashville. Right now Granlund is definitely looking for some stability in life. Proven NHL player in his prime, no way he's gonna sign a short term deal.

 

[Ghost of Ethan Hunt]

Why would Granlund sign a short term deal with rebuilding team? He's 28-years old and 2nd kid on the way, 1st was born on the same day when he got traded to Nashville. Right now Granlund is definitely looking for some stability in life. Proven NHL player in his prime, no way he's gonna sign a short term deal.

1. because his value is ~30-50% less than when he was in Minn., his NSH #'s sucked & they were for 79gp over 2 seasons + 1 playoff year.
2. We can give him a 2C role & plenty of TOI & prime PP opps. to boost his #'s. He could play with any combo of Mantha/Bert/Zadina/Fabbri as his wingers & sometimes with Larks. Maybe even with Lafreniere?
3. He can be a part of a young & (eventually) upcoming team
4. O6, LCA, RedBird, Wings org./Illitch's etc.
5. He may not get the 5-7 yr offers & or $ he's looking for elsewhere.
6. With the C-19 Cap likely going down, even more teams are strapped than before.
7. Some Finns probably look upto Filppula who could court him. Fellow Finn Antti Tuomisto may be on the way later.
8. Det is a cold climate like Minn & Finland. Nashville is not.

 

[nhlisawesome]

Good call on Granlund boys. I remember watching him with Minny he was a stud

 

[Gniwder]

I'm hoping that a salary cap reduction will lead to the NHL allowing one compliance buyout per team. The obvious choice would then be Abby.

 

[SantosHalper]

1. because his value is ~30-50% less than when he was in Minn., his NSH #'s sucked & they were for 79gp over 2 seasons + 1 playoff year.
2. We can give him a 2C role & plenty of TOI & prime PP opps. to boost his #'s. He could play with any combo of Mantha/Bert/Zadina/Fabbri as his wingers & sometimes with Larks. Maybe even with Lafreniere?
3. He can be a part of a young & (eventually) upcoming team
4. O6, LCA, RedBird, Wings org./Illitch's etc.
5. He may not get the 5-7 yr offers & or $ he's looking for elsewhere.
6. With the C-19 Cap likely going down, even more teams are strapped than before.
7. Some Finns probably look upto Filppula who could court him. Fellow Finn Antti Tuomisto may be on the way later.
8. Det is a cold climate like Minn & Finland. Nashville is not.

Im not saying that Granlund is not going sign with the Red Wings, im saying he's not going to sign short term deal with anyone.

1. Granlund's value is still just fine, if i remember correctly Granlund started to get more minutes and started to score more under Hynes than he did with Laviolette in Nashville. Stats guys check that. Granlund is best UFA center right now. He will get money and term.

2 and 3. are exactly reasons why he would want a long term deal with Detroit.

4. those are pluses, they may or may not effect his decision in big picture.

5. Granlund will get 5-6 year offers all around the league. I could see Granlund being in the same place were Filppula was in 2013. Filppula was 29, proven middle-6 center/winger and he signed 5x5-deal with Tampa.

7 and 8. Michigan is not going to be hard to sell. It reminds a lot of Finland, lakes, forests, comfy small towns. Good place to raise family. And im sure Filppula can sell the organization to Granlund. Im from Finland and im not sure what climate has to with anything. When we go somewhere warm we don't miss the cold and darkness. For example take look at Selänne, he hasn't really hurry himself back to Finland from Southern California when retired. Olli Jokinen still lives Florida, Kari Lehtonen still lives in Texas and what i have heard he's never coming back. Jere Lehtinen also continued living in Dallas after he retired until 2014. Then he moved back home, when he became our national team GM.