Torts is going on with an OTL. It’s only fitting. I am also too exhausted to root for this team to lose. We are going to lose a lot next season and the lottery stakes are much higher in 2022.
Not saying this team is going to be good next year but I expect them to be even better than this year. Wouldn't shock me if they are picking in the 10 range next year. Reasons I believe this 1. Continued roster turnover, we have an insane amount of cap space and Yzerman found some good deals last offseason. I expect guys coming in are going to be better than the guys we are losing. I mean in one offseason Yzerman took the team from historically one of worst to 6-7 worst. I expect continued improvement. 2. Younger players. Zadina has looks good and I think he has another level. Seider will likely be up next year. Guys like Bergrren or Veleno could give a push for a spot too. Rasmussen showed improvement this year, it'll be interesting to see if he can keep doing that. also think Larkin will surely play better than he did this year too 3. Guys back from injury. Bertuzzi is a spark plug, I think him being gone not only do you lose his production, but he plays well with Larkin. Fabbri as well was a huge part of the offense when healthy, if he's back that will help. I know this isn't an "injury" but Vrana for a full season beats likely what we got from part time injured Mantha
The flip side to that is we won’t be playing Columbus and Chicago 16 times. We get Toronto back, plus Ottawa is going to be much improved next season. Montreal and Buffalo are a wash for those Columbus and Chicago. And Greiss and Bernier were both very good by the end of this season. If Bernier walks in FA the chances are his replacement won’t be nearly as good.
Vrana and Zadina are playing for the CR at the World Championships. Berggren will be playing for Sweden, and I assume Seider will play for Germany. The traditional powers won’t likely have the usual fire power you would see in a normal year but it should be good experience, especially for a guy like Berggren. Not sure that anyone else of note gets an invite. If Canada gets desperate enough, perhaps Veleno gets a shot. I really doubt that happens though.
I heard Seider might not play to get some rest, as he's played quite a bit over the past year. Forget who though?
It might be the case and it’s probably the best decision. He really enjoys playing for the Germans though, so I feel like that might win out in the end.
Seider's style of play seems like it puts him at risk from an injury perspective, and I'd kind of prefer he stopped playing in some of these extra things before I actually get to watch him in Detroit.
Can’t wait for Seider to debut for Detroit. Real shame that one of him and Hronek aren’t left handed. Style wise would be near perfect compliments for a D pairing.
When do we think a decision will be made/announced on Blashill? Seems like he's not exactly in a position to demand anything and if Yzerman wants to give him another deal it would be done pretty quick.
While I think Blash returns, he has to ditch his staff. I am not sure who would be lining up to fill those slots though. That’s a huge potential complication.
If Blashill doesn't have a hire ready to go that can realistically make Yzerman believe he can fix the power play, I don't see how bringing him back is even an option. We're probably not that far off from league average if we fix the power play (and get a little better luck with health), but I don't see how anyone can be confident Blashill and this staff is going to fix it.
I agree with this and I also think it’s inevitable we just have another retread HC ready to replace Bylsma.
Abby is playing for the US at the World Championships, so I now change my vote to not allowing Mo to go.
I didn’t want to bump this thread because people are expecting Blashill news but I am bumping it because it’s weird there isn’t Blashill news. I assume they are trying to hammer out terms on a new deal but man this is a slow process.
We now need Vancouver to get one point in its final three games to lock up the sixth best lotto odds and at worst the 8th pick.
It’s bizarre we have zero clarity on Blashill. I still imagine he returns, but he’s out of contract next month, so it could just be both sides are seeing what’s out there before circling back around. Really weird.
The release doesn’t mention terms. My guess is that means he’s getting one year and probably a team option for 2022-23. I remain resolute that Yzerman is doing this to pursue the tank in earnest one more year and then look to get his guy.
This annoys me, and I feel like it would annoy everyone more if it was anyone but Yzerman doing it. He earned his rep for building TB and I'm not saying we shouldn't trust him, but no one else in this city could do this without a huge negative fan reaction. The press release not saying how long he was extended and using his AHL credentials for reasons why is pretty telling that even they know this is dumb.
It’s a weird situation to be in and Yzerman is afforded the luxury of being a legend here, but he’s bold enough to stick with bad and I respect that. I just don’t think Yzerman feels confident he can land his guy right now because he knows this ship is still a few years away from being righted. I want Blash gone but if the alternative is a retread that will achieve the same results, you may as well stick with what you know.
Outside of the Blashill thing most moves Yzerman has made since taking over have been good. He inherited dog crap. He also has a track record. He's easily done the best job imo of the GM in Detroit currently, so I dont think it's just his name getting him by Don't forget the Illitches own the Wings too. They may not want to spend on a coach, so Yzerman may be waiting to pick that fight when he thinks it matters more.
So why not hire someone who might become the guy? I get that hockey coaches come and go unlike other pro sports coaches in a lot of cases, but this is still dumb to me. And I don't buy the Ilitch stuff about spending, either. They might not be volunteering to do it, but I doubt they're telling Yzerman no on much of anything he wants to do.
Many NHL coaches are risk averse. I am sure with the right offer, we could get anyone, but this team is 2-3 years from competing for a playoff spot, which limits the pool, imo. I also wouldn’t be shocked if Yzerman ends up being the one that picks the next assistant coach, and that coach ends up replacing Blashill (assuming they don’t blow the opportunity).
Another way of looking at this is that Yzerman is planning to churn the roster even further the next season, so having a new coach come in next season to implement a new system might be a fruitless effort when there could be another overhaul in the works. We don’t have anyone but Larkin and Panik under contract after next season. I assume we sign Vrana and Hronek long term, but if a team makes a good offer, who knows what happens with those guys? I think the roster we see opening night 2022 will be more indicative of what this core truly is. Right now I think only Larkin, Seider and Raymond are safely a part of that group.
I get all of that. But part of the problem of what you're talking about is the young players we have are not progressing like you want. Zadina was a consensus top 5-6 pick a few years back. If you're telling me he hasn't played well enough to be safely in the group of guys who will for sure be here in 18 months, at what point is a coach important enough that you need someone else to get the most out of players who need to be important pieces of the future? Hronek is another one. Has he developed like he should? Cholowski and Rasmussen might have been reaches in the first round, but we're talking about Rasmussen getting better now to the point where maybe he can stick as a top 9 forward. What's the point of any of this if none of that matters? I don't believe that a coach who provides an upgrade over what we've seen just isn't out there. I get the "trust in Yzerman" thing. I want to and generally am. And I get that we're still not where you want to be, and that he's not responsible for the players Holland picked or the contracts he gave out that we're trying to come out of. I get all of that. But, at some point, the performance still needs to matter, and this move suggests that it doesn't. That kind of sucks.
How many of you are actually watching a lot games? I don't care what his stats look like, you can watch Zadina and tell he is getting better and has special potential. He is the best forward on the ice for Wings most nights.
Oh it sucks that we are unwatchable and my preference is to have a new coach as quick as possible. The problem is that of the guys you mentioned, only Zadina hasn’t progressed as we would like. At times he looks brilliant, but he isn’t consistent. Hronek is miscast but we also don’t really have any other options. Like Hronek shouldn’t be on the PP at all, and definitely shouldn’t be our top D. That’s just a byproduct of the talent we lack. Rasmussen was never going to be more than he is today, imo. To Blash’s credit there, Rasmussen hasn’t looked bad at center. I think he’s a guy that Blash has helped. That’s not enough to justify keeping him, but it is what it is. I do think he’s hurt Cholowski’s development, but I blame Holland for that as well because he was involved in the decision to rush Cholowski to the pro’s. I am not writing off Zadina as a very good top six forward, but if you look at the guys Holland drafted his last three years here, he really didn’t take any upside guys beyond Zadina and Berggren. I’m not sure any coach would squeeze much more juice out of Rasmussen, Svech or Cholowski.
I watched every game this year with the exception of only a few. He looked very good at times. I think his getting Covid was something that impacted a big stretch of his season. When he is on, he was our best forward. His counting stats sucked because he has no one talented to play with though. I do worry his finishing isn’t translating at this level but even if he isn’t a 30 goal guy, he should be a 60 point guy because of his playmaking. I think the biggest issue for him is keeping him with a guy like Vrana. His time with Larkin didn’t work for either guy.
Lindstrom is likely the guy we lose to Seattle at this point, so if that happens, we will be down to only three players from that class still with the team. Two of them might not ever sign with us (Petruzelli and Adams, though I expect Petruzelli does sign). That’s a travesty and it literally cost us the first year we started rebuilding.
Zadina is the one I think is a huge style clash with Blashill system. He still has played a real solid two way game but offensive stats lagging because of his linemates and system. He's got 3 goals in 3 games in Carlson Games so far for Czech I'm higher on him now than I was prior to season just seeing how great he has been end to end. He can contribute without scoring, when he finds the groove scoring wise (and I think he will), he is going to be a top 6 guy for sure, and I still think a top line forward
I'm in on Zadina. I don't think he's done as well as he's capable, but I don't think most of that is his fault, either. And that was kind of my point.
I don't think we really disagree that much. I'm just really frustrated by Detroit sports, and the idea of us continuing to not try to move forward for another year or two annoys me because that's all anyone with the 4 teams says.
Yeah I agree. The Tigers are definitely mired in shit, but the Pistons seem like they could take a step forward next year and while the Lions will suck, that’s easier to take because it’s just kinda there thing. The Wings have the most hope but they also have the most deliberate GM. It’ll be great in five years but Yzerman isn’t going to be afraid to let the bottom completely fall out. As sad as it is, I don’t think that’s happened yet.