Maybe, but I think the Wings would need to send a D back just to make the numbers work from their end - unless they've already made other moves or have moves lined up to move out a guy or two. We already have five D under contract, Smith as an RFA, and a whole slew of kids in GR knocking on the door for longer looks with the Wings. Taking on Wisniewski without sending someone else out the door makes the back end really congested.
2015/16 Wishlist
- Thread starter The Zermanator
- Start date
Maybe, but I think the Wings would need to send a D back just to make the numbers work from their end - unless they've already made other moves or have moves lined up to move out a guy or two. We already have five D under contract, Smith as an RFA, and a whole slew of kids in GR knocking on the door for longer looks with the Wings. Taking on Wisniewski without sending someone else out the door makes the back end really congested.
Hey it said wishlist not realistic. And he is gonna be a #1 centerman for at least 6-7 more years so that takes the pressure of AA, Nosek, and Larkin to improve without a rush. Also it would allow the opportunity of putting Z and Dats on the same line to help them weather the later years of there career.
Granted as I say all this in the first paragraph I understand there is more of a chance of the earth being hit by a meteor than this actually happening however.
Is it crazy that I would want to have our D look something like this next season? Though I would feel that Green would be Zidlicky 2.0
Kronwall - Green
DD-Marchenko
XO - Jensen/Sproul
+ Mrazek full-time starter + Sheahan full season as our second line C.
Kronwall - Green
DD-Marchenko
XO - Jensen/Sproul
+ Mrazek full-time starter + Sheahan full season as our second line C.
Number1RedWingsFan52
Registered User
InjuredChoker
Registered User
Quincey increased his stock during the playoffs and only has 1 year left. Doubt retention is needed.
Ericsson is on a much harder contract to move. Even so, I still like him when he's not forced to defend top talent routinely. I understand why others aren't as thrilled, but the good outweigh the bad for me.
Honestly, after watching that Tampa defense... Maybe we just need bigger, stronger guys. When Ericsson is your only big guy on the blue line, that's an issue.
Syckle78
Registered User
Yea I don't think we'd have to retain on Q. He had a decent year, makes around market value and doesn't have crippling term. No clue what he'd garner but he's easily movable.
That's one thing Tampa did really well. They pretty much had these giants standing on the blueline and not letting anyone in.
This is the only critique I have when it comes to our strategy of gaining the zone. We either do the drop pass to let a single player walk in or dump and chase. In both instances, their size made it difficult. However, whenever we played east-west hockey out of the neutral zone and into theirs, their D wasn't as effective denying us meaningful entry. (Where we still keep possession of the puck)
This has actually been a critique of mine pretty much from the beginning of the season. When it come to our forwards especially, we need to play less puck possession on the boards and more with passing around the puck. Generally what we accomplish the most with this current strategy is killing time as we hold the puck but not generating as many chances.
The evil of what I'm proposing however, is that we will probably see a large chunk of our possession numbers drop as a result because it would generally mean more interceptions on their part
Run the Jewels
Make Detroit Great Again
We need to address the obvious **** show that is our even strength production.
Plan:
23 Man Roster
Forward
Sheahan-Pav-Mantha
Abdelkader-Z-Tatar
Helm-Athanasiou-Nyquist
Miller-Glendening-Ferraro
Jurco
Defense
DeKeyser-Ericsson
Kronwall-Green
Ouellet-Schultz
Marchenko
Jensen (carry Jensen until he either makes the team or needs to be waived)
Goal
Mrazek
Howard
Notes:
This lineup has it all, speed, skill, size, a good balance of vets and youth and offensive talent and defensive specialists.
Plan:
- Make a strong run at Mike Green.
- Trade with Chiarelli to get Justin Schultz. Send the Oil Smith and Quincey.
- Buyout Weiss, Waive Kindl and Andersson. LTIR Mule.
- Continue with the youth movement.
23 Man Roster
Forward
Sheahan-Pav-Mantha
Abdelkader-Z-Tatar
Helm-Athanasiou-Nyquist
Miller-Glendening-Ferraro
Jurco
Defense
DeKeyser-Ericsson
Kronwall-Green
Ouellet-Schultz
Marchenko
Jensen (carry Jensen until he either makes the team or needs to be waived)
Goal
Mrazek
Howard
Notes:
- Sheahan doesn't have the skill to be a center. Athanasiou looks like he does so you try him in that #3C spot. I see Sheahan as another Abdelkader who can play a defensive pivot role but will eventually become a full time winger.
- You add size and skill to your top 6 by bringing up Mantha. Sheahan has a better shot than Abby and he can play a net front role. He has the size to clear some space, so he takes Helm's spot on a scoring line.
- Nyquist should feast on Athanasiou's wing and he can be moved up the lineup if necessary. Gus should be able to give us the kind of scoring depth we haven't had since Fil and Huds left the organization.
- Our defense proved they can clog up the ice and prevent scoring, however they are among the worst in the league when it comes to generating offense. You pay a premium to get a 50+ point guy and you trade with Chiarelli to get Schultz for cheap. It's a hockey trade, one of the few trades that Ken Holland might actually be capable of making at this stage of his career.
This lineup has it all, speed, skill, size, a good balance of vets and youth and offensive talent and defensive specialists.
InjuredChoker
Registered User
no playoff team has worse top pairing than dekeyser-ericsson.
that line-up definitely doesn't 'have it all'.
that line-up definitely doesn't 'have it all'.
Run the Jewels
Make Detroit Great Again
Well you're not getting a #1 d-man, that ship sailed when Holland wasn't able to acquire Bouwmeester or Myers. Too early to make any definitive statements about DeKeyser's upside but he's our only shot at developing into a reasonably good #1 d-man. He's nearly 10 years younger than Kronwall.
InjuredChoker
Registered User
bouwmeester and myers aren't #1 dman either.
wasn't as much about dekeyser as it was about ericsson.
Run the Jewels
Make Detroit Great Again
On this team they would be. Easily. DeKeyser made Quincey look good and Ericsson is our only RD who can play on the top pairing. You have to make due with the corner we have been painted into with our awful drafting, development and player acquisition history on defense. We are lucky DeKeyser was home grown and a huge Lidstrom fan.
InjuredChoker
Registered User
bouwmeester wouldn't be. and even if he would, it doesn't matter because he has played like second pairing dman for the past year+. still bad d-core. myers might be #2 with right pairing. the forward group would be worse or much worse if we had him.
ericsson can't play on top pairing long-term without getting exposed.
we are lucky dekeyser was lidström fan and home grown.
kings are lucky their owner allowed lombardi to rebuild and they manage to suck so hard and get doughty.
sens and habs are lucky that karlsson and subban fell to them.
hawks are lucky that keith fell to them in middle of DPE.
and so on.
Syckle78
Registered User
I was going to say you don't have to have that stud #1 defenseman but you need better than a middle of the pack number one and a bunch of second pairing tweeners. But damn, when was the last time someone won without one? Pittsburgh? Still think you can build a good enough defense with couple of good first pairing guys and a really above average second pairing. It's really a shame Holland hasn't been able to find a number 2 defenseman in 5-6 years.
Holland isn't alone. There's a decent list of teams that have struggled with that goal. There's only a handful of teams with an elite blueline, and surprise, those teams tend to do really well.
I know I bring up Dallas a lot but... Dallas. They're in pretty much the exact same boat right now. And Jim Nill's biggest task will be patching that defensive black hole he's inherited. So far all he's done is swing a big miss with Gonchar and luck out Klingberg (a guy he didn't draft).
With both Nill and Holland working to reinvent their defensive corp, we'll get an interesting look into how different each of them approaches the situation. Nill already spent most of his trade assets getting Seguin and Spezza, so there's not nearly as much left to land pricey defenders.
And like Holland, he's also saddled with a potential big contract backup goalie in Lehtonen. Lehtonen, like Howard, has a limited NTC for the next 3 years and makes nearly $6 million.
Probie
Registered User
Sharks are going into a rebuild, what do you think of going after vlassic?. He's a lefty but only 28, doesn't fit their rebuild timeline, but we get about 5 good years out of him before he starts to regress....
InjuredChoker
Registered User
1. weiss plus smith plus pulkinnen plus 2016 1st rd pick for phaneuf and 2016 2nd rd pick(pittsburghs)
2. ericsson to buffalo/phoenix for a mid range pick(3rd at best, 5th at worst)
3. andersson to whomever for whatever
4. sign soderberg as free agent
5. sign petry or michalek
Zetts-Pav-Tatar
Abdelkader-Sheahan-Nyquist
Helm-Soderberg-Jurco
Miller-Glendening-Ferraro
Callahan
Defense
Kronwallr-Phaneuf
Dekeyser-Petry
Quincey-Marchenko
Ouellet
2. ericsson to buffalo/phoenix for a mid range pick(3rd at best, 5th at worst)
3. andersson to whomever for whatever
4. sign soderberg as free agent
5. sign petry or michalek
Zetts-Pav-Tatar
Abdelkader-Sheahan-Nyquist
Helm-Soderberg-Jurco
Miller-Glendening-Ferraro
Callahan
Defense
Kronwallr-Phaneuf
Dekeyser-Petry
Quincey-Marchenko
Ouellet
HomersWorld
Registered User
- Mar 8, 2012
- 665
- 90
I'd be very happy with that defensive line up but I think we're stuck with Ericsson for a while
A Helm-Soda-Jurco line could be the best 3rd line in the league. A ton of speed (Soda is a really good skater) and hopefully Jurco can harness his skill and apply it consistently at the NHL level. I like that line-up overall...kinda leery about Pav and Hank with Tats. Hopefully that bad bone bruise was the reason Datsyuk had absolutely no jump, otherwise I don't know if that 1st line has enough speed. If Pav is skating better I can dig it.
Syckle78
Registered User
Yea I'm not talking about failing to build an elite blue line. I'm talking about failing to bring in a single competent number two defenseman in 5 years. That's five free agent periods, five trade deadlines. That's a failure no matter what. There's been plenty of defenseman moved in that time period that could of upgraded that position.
Nil is building a team, he really doesn't have any urgency. Holland on the other hand completely wiffed on filling a single spot that could of maximized the end of lidstroms career and the prime of Z and Pavs. Yzerman basically built his blue line in two years. Hedman was a high pick but the rest was acquisitions.
