Redder Winger
Registered User
- May 4, 2017
- 3,700
- 730
Oh is that what you call being the most successful team in the league for the duration of his tenure in the organization?
You can not like where the team is now, but making statements like this are completely out of line. Ken Holland is one of the greatest things to happen to the Detroit Red Wings franchise, no matter how this story ends that will remain an unquestionable truth.
I am with people wanting an outsider. Again just to be a broken record, I want Fenton from Nashville.
I think Holland might get an extension to be honest. I don't think he is in any real trouble. Three decades of spectacular service tends to give you a ton of leeway. I would like him to move upstairs and go with Fenton though. I think we need a change.
I give Holland a little more than a decade of "spectacular" service.
Starting in 98 with the drafting of Datsyuk.
It started crumbling in 07-08 with the five year contract for Danny Cleary, got worse in 09 with the signing of Franzen instead of Hossa, and then just kept getting worse as Holland resigned the Clearys and Bertuzzis and Samuelssons and brought in the Modanos and Alfredssons and Colaiacovos and Tootoos.
He traded away first and second round picks and prospects like Jarnkrok and Backman and Janmark to get mostly useless players that amounted to nothing in Detroit. That helped Detroit accomplish nothing - Cole, Quincey, etc.
You can't blame Holland for being unable to draft and develop a replacement for Lidstrom.
But he could not draft and develop a replacement for Rafalski. Same with Brad Stuart.
Who was going to carry the torch next, from Yzerman to Fedorov to Datsyuk to Zetterberg?
We've known for a long time this team was going to need centers to replace Datsyuk and Zetterberg.
He couldn't draft them.
But he didn't give himself much of a chance.
From 1998 until drafting Riley Sheahan in 2010 (Awful pick with Kuznetsov on the board), Holland didn't use a single first round pick on a center.
Since then he's drafted two. Larkin and Rasmussen. Both of whom might not be best suited for center.
From 1998 until 2017, Holland has used some first rounders for defense. But outside of Kronwall, it's mostly been unimpressive. Kindl and Smith made the NHL, but both were disappointments.
This fall from glory was unavoidable.
It only went as long as it did because Lidstrom stuck around so long, and because, Datsyuk and Z remained so good so late into their careers (centers usually hit the wall hard at 34/35).
But I can't help but wonder if things might have gone a little bit differently if the "rebuild on the fly" plan started in say, 2010, instead of 2013.
If the didn't bring in old timers and if didn't trade away draft picks and prospects for old guys.
Maybe we have that extra good young C or D right now.
Maybe one of those kids we traded turns into something better with top 6 icetime and PP time.
I'm not how much credit Holland deserves for the 1990-1997 Red Wings.
I'm willing to give him a lot of credit for the 98-09 Wings.
What credit does he really deserve for the 10-18 Wings?