They honestly weren't good enough to force Holland's hand. AA was better last pre-season and Mantha is going the right direction but isn't ready for a full-time NHL job. Big fan of both but in the situation of having to steal someone's job you need to be more than good, you need to be undeniable.
We have a solid forward group top to bottom. Hard to say anyone in the lineup doesn't deserve it. And we have great injury call-ups. Depth will be one of the few things we really have going for us this year.
Only way 99% of the prospects on the team make the Wings is if they run out of waiver immunity.
It simply does not matter if you outperform a veteran or a slightly older player.
This is a fact.
Anthony Mantha is not going to be any different next off season.
The Wings are in no position to stash away prospects till they are 23-24 years old.
No NHL team is in that position because it takes away valuable ELC years from that players contract.
XO and Sproul should already be waived at this point. They have no future and only exist for the beat writers to spew out nonsensical puff pieces.
IDK how anyone can conclude that the Wings have a solid group of forwards from top to bottom. It's basically just ignoring reality.
You have a 3rd line being centered by someone who struggles to put up 30 points a season.
A top line that is about to be centered by a 20 year old who ran out of gas after 40 games last year.
A 4th line that will once again end up being useless like it has been the previous five seasons.
A 2nd line that is ehhh ok, but there are certainly quite a few teams with better 2nd lines.
So maybe a 2 line team on a good day? The Wings were a two line team last year and the year before that, and i certainly wouldn't call the 2015-2016 DRW forwards "solid from top to bottom"