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Larkin is a 2C on a good team. Every other center on this team is a 3C at best on a good team. Every bottom six winger on this team is fourth line at best on a good team. Chiarot is a bottom pairing guy on a good team. Petry and Holl aren't playing on a good team. Talbot is the backup on a good team.

Been saying it for SEASONS with an S now... but we are again stuck in the mushy middle. Worse, we are not even inching into wild card spots... now we will pick outside of the top 10 instead of top 3 or top 5 (again). Its all so tiresome. The problem is the team literally has no direction. Are we a rebuilder? Are we a potential contender? SY seems to not know (or worse, not care). I have absolutely zero confidence in his ability to do anything of significance this offseason. In fact, I would probably be happiest if he cuts his losses and sheds contracts instead of "loading up" for another failed season... The roster situation is not good. We can shed Kane, Smith, and Petry this summer... but still we will not be able to make a reasonable pass at a significant impact player (like Marner). Its eerily similar to the late Holland era. Directionless. Handcuffed by bloated contracts. Poor on ice product. After Xmas Despicable Me got fired... Todd comes in and seemingly saves the season... and then all the wheels on the bus fall off (again). If SY hasnt read the tea leaves, and realized the problem is his roster, and not his coach, by this point, we are so epicly fuqqed... for a while... This team needs radical, and wholesale change. I think SY is one of the very few sports managers who likely has a leash long enough to admit that to his boss and not lose his job. Does he have the humility to actually do it? We will see. When I say radical change, i mean major moves. 1. Larkin has to go He's captained a group that continually falls short and dissapoints year after year. He's approaching 30... This isnt a playing days yzerman who wins scoring titles and wins cups late in life... This is a very mediocre run of the mill 1C at best. Illitch and SY have chained us to this poor excuse for a "leader" with his most recent contract, and hes a "hometown" jersey seller... so i doubt the org will have the nuts to move on from him... but again (and we toldyaso) everyone in the room knows we are not delivering a cup while he remains as the teams leader and focal point. I would regain a lot of faith in this org if they nutted up and sat Larkin down this summer and asked him where he wants to be traded. We love you. We appreciate all youve done. But its time for you to go run shotgun to a mackinnon while we retool. 2. Buyouts - Gus, Vlad, and Holl If we have to watch these three skate out onto Lil C ice this fall I will continue to punish u ppl with Lions threads. Bc that is all I will care about. SY - admit your mistake and send them packing - them remaining rostered will scream of hubris (and poor management). 3. Trade - Rasmussen Its been a fun experiment. But he is not the product advertised, or even particularly good at being the alternative player we tried to develop him into. Not trading him now - while he still has youth and value - will become another regreted toldyaso so moment in 2-3 years time. 4. Re-sign - no one Sorry Kaner. You're old and poor definsively. Go relax in your glory years on the next suckers roster. Further, the last thing this team needs is more plugs. Shedding would help more than adding. --------------------------------------------- Imagine this scenario: >larkin agrees to a trade, and we send him to his boyhood fan team the tronna leafs. In exchange we acquire the rights to negotiate with Mitch Marner. Leafs get a solid player with term, and we get a verified superstar they can no longer afford. >Ras is sent away for a solid young RHD. >We buyout the losers Unfortunately I dont think SY has a big enough peepee for any of this and will likely just add more crap ass players to the roster... honestly i wouldnt be mad if we went back to marc staal-esque moves and took on cap for picks. But its not likely. -------------------------------------------- Lastly, I wanna make one more point about the deadhorse walman and fabbri trades, that I thought about the other day... Its generally accepted at this point that SY was trying to clear cap for Stamkos, but - as reported - pizzabro didnt get back to him in time to approve the signing and we lost the player. No big deal. Im not mad about losing out on stammer. He's been mostly pizz poor for Nash. However, HOW DA FUQ did you not get approval from ur boss for this move months prior? Did SY literally not start checking who was available in FA until day of??? And why TF are you giving away picks and solid young players to clear space BEFORE getting approval to sign the player you want to do this for??? Im sorry fellow fans - but I really think SY has been a different manager since returning to Detroit. The hunger and dilligence are gone. Hes in retirement mode in a position he knows he can half ass and not be fired from. And hes built a nepotistic office of all his old buddies that are doing the same thing. 7 years. The savior is 7 years in and has not saved us from, nor accomplished, anything. Therefore my radical move #5 is fire yzerman. We are rapidly approaching that conversation and reality.

Just for grins looked at the month by month between us and the cats this year and last. 2024-25 2023-2024 Panthers Pts Wings Panthers Wings Oct 7-3-1 15 Oct 4-5-1 9 Oct 4-3-1 9 Oct 6-3-1 13 Nov 8 - 6 16 Nov 6-6-1. 13 Nov 10-4-1 21 Nov 6-4-2 14 Dec 8 -4 -1 17 Dec 5-7-2. 12 Dec 8-5 16 Dec 5-9-1 11 ================================================================================= 48 34 46 38 Jan 7-6-1 15 Jan 10-3-1 21 Jan 9-2-2 20 Jan 9-2-2 20 Feb 6-2 12 Feb 5-2-1 13 Feb 9-2 18 Feb 7-3 14 Mar 7-4 14 Mar 3-9 6 Mar 7-6-1 15 Mar 3-9-2 8 ================================================================================== 41 40 53 42 Because this seemed like a pattern I went back to 2022-23 Panthers Wings Oct 8-0-1 17 Oct 4-3-2 10 Nov 7-4-2 16 Nov 7-3-3 17 Dec 5-3-1 11 Dec 5-6-2. 12 ================================== 44 39 Jan 12-2-1 25 Jan 5-7-1 11 Feb 3-4 6 Feb 7-5 12 Mar 11-2-1 23 Mar 5-9-1 11 ====================================== 54 34 We never cracked 40 points or over in the first 3 months of the season vs the Cats whose worst record was 41. IMHO we have a sloppy start and then struggle to get back into contention and either injuries or mental fatigue becomes a factor and we die off. Been a pattern for the past 3 seasons under 2 coaches

Now that Mrazek is back SY has a chance to do something incredible this offseason... Nyquist, Tatar, Mantha, and Glendening are all UFAs... DO IT. RUN IT BACK DADDY. BOYZ BACK IN TOWN. FUQQ IT! WHY NOT?

Well, did we find joy in this season? Was it a close call? Are we filled with happiness or frustration? Nonetheless, the Wings are officially out of the running for playoff contention. Right now, they stand 11th from the bottom, with a 2.5% chance of winning the lottery. Should they intentionally lose the final three games to improve their position in the lottery? Should they send Kasper, Soderblom, and Edvinsson to Grand Rapids to assist in their potential victory? Should they trade the first-round pick to bolster the team in specific areas? Does Steve Yzerman sign more vets or change up and go youth this time? What will Patrick Kane do? Which player(s) get bought out? Waived? Traded? Do they keep the pick and draft another player that'll possibly be up in 3-5 years? It's time to start discussing the off-season! Here are the top 20 prospects according to McKenzie Also of note, Yzerman has 3 draft picks he has to sign this summer, or they become UFA's Liam Dower Nilsson - June 1, 2025 Red Savage - Aug 15,2025 Sam Stange - Aug 15, 2025

I was thinking Berggren and their 4th back to them for just Howard. If they want a RHD, I'll give them Tuomisto. BTW Wings win 6-4 tonight vs. Dallas. I watched the 3rd period, where the hell was that team through March? Ugh!

I remember @The 91 of Ryans mocking me for starting a Truscott thread a while back lol... WELL WE GOT OUR MAN ya dirty lobster fisherman! I don't know that you, I, or the Wings are going to be that impressed with Truscott. Sure he's a former 5th round pick and played a top role for UofM, but that Wolverine program has also fallen off a bit under Brandon Naurato. There's a reason he only got an AHL deal. I suspect he's more of a Lashoff than a Dekeyser... However he seems like a real character guy. Multi year captain at UofM. Got his degree. Is pursuing graduate school. Won the HCA "unsung hero" award this past season. And Naurato talks pretty glowingly about his leadership on and off the ice. I could see him with an A or a C on his chest for the Griffs pretty quickly, but might never win a contract from the Wings. That said, im certainly rooting for the kid. ------------------------------------- I like your idea about Isaac Howard. Howard was a beast for MSU this year. And all the Tampa fans are discussing trading him with their lack of roster spots for him and him not signing his ELC to recommit to MSU for another season. It may be a trade that is easy to work. Brisebois and SY's close relationship... Nightingale being a former Wings AC... his wings teammates in Savage and Augustine at MSU... TBL needs cost controlled RHD and draft picks.... To TBL: RHD Anton Johansson + Detroit's extra 3rd from NYR (TBL doesnt have a 3rd) To DET: The negotiating rights to RHD Nick Perbix + LW Isaac Howard Anton Johansson has impressed since arriving to the Griffs this year with 5 pts in 9 games from the backend. Traditionally a more large (6'4") stay at home Dman. Detroit wont need him with Seider already established and ASP coming up behind him, but he might be perfect for Tampa. A prospect they can actually use, unlike Howard. Perbix has quietly been very good for tampa, but they cant afford to keep him, so hes going to hit the market this summer anyway, and would be a great young placeholder until ASP is ready. And Brisebois certainly prolly wants some draft capital. We have an extra third. They have no thirds. Sure Howard was basically a high 2nd - but thats the price for only negotiating rights. Git er done kenny

I dont truly know if its time to trade away a 1st for a NOW upgrade... but at the very least that move would be CLEAR DIRECTION for this team. It's fuqqing maddening to me, this fence sitting. Again we didnt make the playoffs. Again we sold nothing for futures. And again we are going into an offseason where SY will likely have to pay to get rid of his own trash. It's inexcusable. I dont know what direction is best. I tend to lean more towards conserving, and acquiring more futures, as long as we arent in the playoffs... but SY isnt doing that, so screw it, why not. Spend the picks. Go all in. Its better than acquiring more mediocre vets and missing the playoffs again... which we all know is exactly what SY is going to do... Imagine if we had actually sold last year... Walman, thats an extra 1st, now we have MBN and Cole Eiserman. Sprong, Ghostbear, Fabbri, Veleno... thats multiple extra mid round picks. This year we could have sold Ras, Berggren, and maybe even pitched getting Kane onto a contender. BOYYYYY IT SURE WOULD BE EASIER TO STOMACH SPENDING A 1ST TO GET A BYRAM IF WE HAD, YA KNOW, AN EXTRA 1ST TO SPEND say it with me folks... IF WE DONT BELIEVE ENOUGH IN THIS TEAM TO BOLSTER THE ROSTER AT THE TDL THEN WE DONT BELIEVE ENOUGH IN THIS TEAM TO HORDE EXPIRING CONTRACTS EITHER Im sick of this pathetic team and SYs bullspit these last two years. Are we watching the same teams? We clearly arent ready to compete for anything. The roster is soooo physically and mentally soft. After SY gets finished wasting our cap space and picks to get rid of his own roster trash this summer, so he can go shopping for his next round of mediocre plugs all over again, please for the love of all that is holy at least get plugs who have a little sandpaper on them. This team is so easily outworked, pushed around, and soft. Ras = little girl. Eddvinsson = wears sun dresses. For petes sake, the grittiest player on this team is a 5'6" little dwarf man named Debrincat. I wonder if its time to hand this team to Draper, or Horcoff, or Lidstrom. Sheit maybe even Fedorov, or someone else not in the org. If I'm Illitch... i just watched you panic sell your coach (likely to save ur own azz) and that worked for about 2 seconds... but in the end it only delayed the inevitable fall, which came, and now youre going into ur 7/8 season here, and still havent delivered me a single playoff birth. If SY isnt seriously being talked about needing to be replaced behind closed doors, i would honestly be shocked. And looking at our contracts I have zero confidence we can make the moves necessary to avoid this same outcome next year... sux to say, but i wouldnt be upset to see the captain dismissed at this point. Shame its come to this.

I agree with a lot of this! One thing I am mad about is, when is it time to trade a 1st for a player that immediately makes your team better? How many 1st round picks do we need right now? Giving away one in a package, for, lets say a Byram, isn't going to kill our draft capital in the future. Like you said, we'll be picking outside the top 10 again, so yippee! I think if we could package with the 1st, Ras, Berg, maybe a 3rd and/or a prospect like Viro or Tuomisto, it'd be worth getting a player like Byram. I've been off the Rasmussen bandwagon for a long time, he does need to go. He is easily replaceable from within. He doesn't even use his body. Another failed Holland pick. I do give Yzerman credit for his drafting, his 1st round picks are top notch! But again, using one, just ONE, to upgrade your team immediately would not kill them. We need younger, NHL players, under 25, now. That being said, I wouldn't mind if Yzerman threw a bunch of cash at Ekblad, but heck, he's only 29. I actually wouldn't mind if he traded for Stamkos. 3 more years at $8M isn't really that bad considering the cap going up in each of the next three years. I know he has a NMC, but considering that he was inches from signing the same contract with Detroit before Nashville, he'd probably waive it to come here. Send them Rasmussen in a package.

Some juicey drama unfolding with NYR... Calvin De Haan is reportedly very unhappy with how hes been treated in NY, and, according to himself, is prepared to unload about it once the season ends. For reference, De Haan was with the Avs until the Rags traded for him at the TDL. The Rags played him in 3 games after being acquired (2 of which were shutout wins, and De Haan had zero goals scored against him in all 3 games) and then healthy scratched him for the remainder of the season. So essentially, they ripped him from a cup contender, didnt use him at all, and now the Rags have missed the playoffs. Couple this with the other rumors: >all the trouba drama that finally resulted in them trading their captain mid season >Chytill mutually agreed to be traded, indicating the players lack of wanting to remain on the team >Kakko also traded, and has mostly thrived since joining Seattle, unlike his time in NYR... >rumors swirling about bad blood between GM Drury and assistant captain Chris Kreider.. >Lavy won them the pres trophy last year (year 1) but now has missed the playoffs the very next year... this doesnt happen often >they circumvented Barclay Goodrows NTC by waiving him, and SJS agreeing to claim him, which Goodrow was publicly angry about Will be interesting to see what unfolds. Hoping that De Haan and guys like Trouba trauma dump on us this offseason.

MBN had another goal called back (goalie interference) and added an assist. His line looked really solid, playing a playoff type physical game. He wasn't killing guys, but rather taking them out of the play which is an improvement I think over earlier in the year when he was trying to nail people. I'm excited. He's going to make our top 9 tougher. Yeah!

So Keith Gave - former detroit beat reporter - posted on X that the Wings org feels the league is anti detroit and actively unermines the wings and theyre not happy about it (he was responding in regards to things like losing lottery picks specifically) Weve suspected this for years. Do you believe it? Do you believe it more now that Gave is reporting this is how the org feels?

This team has been soft for 25 years. They had talent for much of that period and that made their soft play less relevant. Now they're soft and not talented. A bad combination.

Shapiro is reporting Griffs may very well have MBN, ASP... AND Trey for the calder playoffs. Mrazek and Talbot deals end after next season. It would be excellent if the wings can get Trey inked this summer and get him to forego his junior college season. Talbot/Mrazek tandem in DET Cossa/Augustine tandem in GR With Cossa cycling into the DET lineup when Talbs and Mraz are getting gassed and hurt. With the real aim of him slowly prepping to take over the net after next season. At that point I think SY will seek a mentoring vet for Cossa to backstop him on a short term deal. Allowing Augustine to cook by himself in GR for at least a season or two before our holy tandem takes shape.

Id second this. Seems like Walman 2.0 in terms of the on-ice product. I love depth defensemen with really good even strength scoring. Those are guys who are winning the puck.

Playing time has caught up to Larkin and Ray Ray. Seider has played the hardest minutes and looks pooped as well. We need more muscle. Period. The Cats have it figured out. They don't play hard every shift or every game, just enough to keep fresh and ready for the playoffs. We're spent and soft.

Ekblad? Here's something I cooked up on puckpedia. Retain Kane at a discount, sign Marner and Ekblad. Still allowing room for Mazur, Shine and Wallinder as a 7th D. That's 10 players on the NHL roster now all 25 and under. Only 7 players are 30+. The other 5 are between 27-29. (bought out Tarasenko and Holl)

They both look lethargic after the stupid 4 Nations thingy. Always felt that the 4 Nations killed our momentum as we were on a bit of a roll in Jan(10-3). We were 3 - 1 going into the break 2 weeks later the wheels pretty much come off the bus. Which begs the question why do the wheels come off mid Feb into March? Correct me but this meltdown has happened the last 3 years with 2 different coaches. Close to the same roster so is it lack of focus/youth/lack of faith?/not getting help at trade deadline?

The problem is Larkin and Raymond have disappeared. Raymond has fallen under a PPG and Larkin has just slowed down.

Chychrun anyone? I wonder how much he would cost assuming he would want to come here. He would solve our LD situation perfectly.

From 2024 opening night to 2025 opening night: Veleno out Kasper in Fischer out soderblom in Motte out Maxur in Maybe we ship out Berggren to give Danielson a spot

Keep an eye on Max Plante. He’s been awesome in the NCAA. Scoring in the same company as some pretty highly respected (and older) prospects from recent drafts. He and Finnie are both studs and our center depth outside of Larkin is going to be insane for the next few years. Danielson, Kasper, Plante, Finnie. This should get you hard now that we’ve all seen how good Marco has been in a big NHL role.

He would have already broken the record had there been stoppages in league play and shortened seasons.

....so, is the season pretty much a wrap?