Agreed. The things that guy does out there, you just don't see other players making those plays. Still a top 10 player in the NHL IMO.
Friedman on HNIC reported Dats could leave for Russia when the season ends. While it would be devastating it may not be the worse thing for a team that needs a rebuild. I really don't want to see this happen ever though.
Interesting read here: http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/red-wings-need-miss-playoffs/ I see a lot of fans on Twitter upset with player usage. Some head-scratching moves for sure with regards to the young guys, especially.
Ansar Khan @AnsarKhanMLive 38m38 minutes ago Pavel Datsyuk's agent, Dan Milstein, was asked about @FriedgeHNIC report that Datsyuk might return to Russia after this season. In email ... Ansar Khan @AnsarKhanMLive 37m37 minutes ago Milstein on Datsyuk: "Pavel is concentrating on helping his team to make the playoffs and winning another Stanley Cup for the Red Wings ... Ansar Khan @AnsarKhanMLive 36m36 minutes ago Milstein (cont.): "Pavel also has one more year left on his NHL contract. We will sit down with Ken Holland at the conclusion of the season Ansar Khan @AnsarKhanMLive 36m36 minutes ago Milstein (cont). ... for our annual year end meeting."
I watched the report on that during the intermission and I'm a little confused as I don't really understand the ins and outs of NHL contracts. If he leaves for Russia since he has 1 year left, the Wings will take a $7.5m cap hit, yes? But if he retires they can place him on LTIR and won't have to take the cap hit? Could he retire from the NHL and join a Russian team after so we don't have to take the cap hit? It's upsetting knowing he may be gone but it would suck ten fold if he darted for Russia and it hurt us beyond the fact he's off the roster
Although we're actually fighting the Bruins for the 6 seed at this point, right? And with a week left, who cares about usage rates. Playing in the playoffs will be better for those guys than playing an extra 7 minutes in regular season losses.
Ken Campbell is a turd but this is worth pondering If Pavel Datsyuk were to go back home to play in the KHL next season and turn his back on the last year of his contract with the Detroit Red Wings, it would leave an enormous leadership and talent void on the roster. But it might not be the end of the world for them. In fact, if things work out they way they potentially could, it could be a boon for the Red Wings. If Datsyuk were to let the Red Wings know of his intentions early enough, it would open up some valuable cap space and allow them to go after the biggest free agent in the pool, Steven Stamkos of the Tampa Bay Lightning. Lightning GM Steve Yzerman announced Saturday that Stamkos has a blood clot and faces a recovery period of one-to-three months, meaning there is a chance the pending unrestricted free agent has played his last game for the Lightning. It is expected, however, that Stamkos will make a full recovery. This much we know: Datsyuk is considering the possibility of playing in Russia next season, despite the fact he has one year remaining on his deal with the Red Wings, a deal that will pay him $5.5 million and carry a cap hit of $7.5 million. His 37-year-old body is feeling the rigors of playing in the NHL and there is the sense he’d like to finish his career in a place that is more freewheeling and not as physical. The Red Wings know there is a possibility that Datsyuk will retire after this season. What they don’t know yet is whether Datsyuk actually will leave, nor is it believed Datsyuk has made his mind up one way or another. The rumors of Datsyuk’s departure were broached by Elliotte Friedman of Hockey Night in Canada Saturday night, confirming the same things your correspondent has been hearing on the Datsyuk front. These rumors are nothing new. I had been told that Datsyuk was prepared to leave this season, but stayed after the Red Wings made a coaching change. Now if Datsyuk were to leave, the Red Wings would be on the hook for his $7.5 million cap hit. The reason for that is he signed a multi-year deal after the age of 35 and there is now way for the team to escape that hit to its cap. However, the Red Wings would be able to trade Datsyuk to a team such as the Arizona Coyotes, a team that will be looking to get up to the salary floor next season. Even with the $4.9 million cap hit devoted to the injured Chris Pronger, the Coyotes have just over $28 million devoted to 10 players for next season. Should a team such as Arizona take on the Datsyuk contract, it would gain $7.5 million in cap space without having to pay him. It’s imperative from the Red Wings perspective that Datsyuk informs them of his decision by July 1. If he stays and the Red Wings have him for another season, don’t be surprised if Red Wings GM Ken Holland extends him for one more season in 2017-18 at the same $7.5 million cap figure. The difference this time is that if Datsyuk decides not to come back, the Red Wings will not be on the hook for the cap hit because it’s only a one-year deal. After a mid-season lull, Datsyuk has actually been very productive lately. His assist in Detroit’s 3-2 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs Saturday night gave him 10 points in his past 10 games. Datsyuk missed the first 15 games of the season with an ankle injury and one with an illness. He is scoring at a points-per-game clip of 0.76, which represents the lowest of his career with the exception of his rookie season. (For the record, Datsyuk did not speak to the media after the game Saturday night in Toronto and a call to his agent, Gary Greenstin, was not returned. Regardless of what the future holds for Datsyuk, the Red Wings will continue to lean heavily upon him as they make their frantic, late-season chase for a 25th consecutive trip to the playoffs. The Red Wings win over the Maple Leafs temporarily put them in third place in the Atlantic Division, one point ahead of the Boston Bruins, who have one game in hand. The Red Wings have three games remaining, with crucial games against the Philadelphia Flyers and Bruins on the docket. They play the Flyers at home Wednesday night in a game that starts at 8 p.m., then have to travel to Boston for a a 7 p.m. start the next night. The Red Wings are tied with the Flyers with 91 points, but Philadelphia has two games in hand. “The one thing I’ve got to manage is minutes,” said Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill. “Datsyuk and (Henrik) Zetterberg have played lots of minutes. In the end, we’re going to win and lose with our top players playing a lot of minutes and (Datsyuk) is certainly one of our top players, if not our top player.”
Swinging Stammer out of all that would be nice but that is a lot of ifs and I would hate to remember Pavs leaving like that
The idea that Stamkos would sign with Detroit seems pretty laughable based on how free agency has gone for this team the last five years.
Yeah it isn't happening. The biggest selling points would be Larkin and playing in a city where you aren't going to be hounded by the media. I assume money will be equal most places he is considering.
NHL network was carrying the Leafs feed for the game tonight and the announcers kept alluding to Stammer on the Maple Laughs next year. I found it amusing
eh, I disagree. If we're not going to let them be in high pressure situations, what makes you think Blash will let them be in those situations in an arguably more high pressure and important situation? And what has playoff runs done for the likes of Goose, Tats, Smith, etc.? They're arguably just as soft as they were when the circle of criticism and excuse making started during their first playoff experiences. I know it's not a popular train of thought, but I think it's become glaringly apparent that if you want your young guns taking over a team, you can't keep handing over key minutes to aging veterans to just grind out wins. Open things up and play towards the kids' strengths and let them learn how to deal with failure and correct their mistakes. Can't do that from the bend or the press box.
Eh, pussies are going to be pussies. I don't think making the playoffs or not would make any of those guys anything more than they are. I think sitting AA and Mantha if they aren't playing defense makes sense. I agree with you in general about letting the kids play. But with a couple weeks left in the season, do what it takes to make the playoffs. We can say what we want about the playoff streak being a drag at this point, but when it is over it is over and there is no guarantee that it ending will help going forward. More than playing time right now, don't sign shitty stopgap veterans in the offseason and give them the team from October.
I hate that we sit AA and Mantha for not playing D up to an NHL level - how are they going to learn? Also, Mantha's game is not to play defense, it's to score. I'm getting really tired of listening to the management and coaching on the team bitch that our players, who should be our pure offensive threats, don't play defense. Dangerous scoring wingers aren't paid to be shutdown, two-way players - we pay them to fill the net. And when they're not put in the position to do that, it's a detriment to the team and their development. Pulky, Jurco, Mantha and probably Svechnikov (when ready) shouldn't be leaned on for defense. That's why we have guys like abby, sheahan, helm, glenny, etc. It's like we don't know how to put our young offensive studs in a position to thrive.
We're not leaning on them for defense, but they should play defense. If they're not, on April 4, you limit their time a bit. 1st and 2nd line forwards have to be away that there is a defensive zone. They certainly don't thrive when they're constantly watching their teammates stuck in the defensive zone. If they're not playing defense against other teams' top 2 lines, they can't on our top lines.
His issue is the scoring hasn't translated, right? He's definitely a guy who should be playing more, but he's still only 23. The more I consider it, the more annoyed with Holland I get. I understand the coaches playing who they thing gives us the best chance to win, but holy fuck stop blocking the young kids with mediocre veterans.
Yeah he's been very solid defensively for us, has put himself in decent positions to score just seems to consistently not have puck luck. I still believe he can be a 20-20 guy.
Really my issue is relying so heavily on the older guys, and we still struggle. I just feel like rolling 4 lines a bit more regularly should be beneficial overall. I like Glendening and feel he has a role on this team, I'm just not sure double shifting him late in the 3rd while clinging to a lead is playoff-winning hockey. But I guess that's why I'm not the coach. I suppose it speaks more to how mediocre this current lineup/team is.
I couldn't stomach trading Datsyuk to Phoenix, even if it's in name only. You don't do that to a guy like Datsyuk. I hope they can convince him to play out his last year, but I'd rather take the hit than trade him to the coyotes of all teams.
A tidbit from Friedman's 30 Thoughts on Datsyuk: Expect a large ovation for Pavel Datsyuk on Wednesday, as the Red Wings play their final home game of the regular season, a titanic matchup against Philadelphia. Datsyuk is considering the possibility of a return to Russia for next season, one year earlier than expected. Nothing would be final until a post-season meeting, and it would not be a surprise if Detroit offers him an extra year’s contract as an incentive to stay. If he does leave, the Red Wings’ cap situation could be alleviated if someone is willing to take his salary to get to the floor. (He’s to earn $5.5M in actual cash next season.) That’s a bigger number than we’ve seen so far, as Chris Pronger ($575,000 this year and next in Arizona) and Marc Savard (same situation in Florida) are much lower on the pay scale. But, we’ve all learned to expect the unexpected. Failing that, the Red Wings and/or the NHL could block Datsyuk from playing in Russia if they wanted. WIIM had a little blurb about it too with video of Friedman's report from the weekend.
If Mantha's gonna continue to play on Datysuk's wing though he's gotta be able to have some sort of defense in his game. With Dats usually taking on a top line.
We're tied with Boston again following their shootout loss tonight, but we have a game in hand. If we win in regulation Thursday in Boston, we will clinch the 3rd seed as we'll hold the ROW tiebreaker.
Mantha sitting, Jurco to play on the 4th line. Mantha should have never been on the 4th line. If he can't play on a scoring line he's useless.
So, if everyone says he can't play on a top 6 line because he can't play good enough D, but he has to play on a scoring line, where does everyone see him? I disagree that our top 2 lines need to match up vs. an opponent's top 2 lines. Why not use a bottom 6 line as your shut down unit? It worked with Babs. I completely disagree that he is useless - I think the organization needs to find a way to use his offensive talents in a system where his current defensive deficiencies are mitigated. We seem to be one of the few organizations right now that can not find a way to bring along highly skilled, young forwards. And it seems that, as fans, we have no patience for a learning curve. We've blown through Jurco, Pulky and Mantha and deemed them all "underachievers" or "useless" because they make some mistakes or can't hang with Pav and Hank defensively. I feel like Tatar and Nyquist get WAY more rope than these guys, but people feel to remember that they have 2-3 more years of NHL experience and their once lofty offensive expectations are not being consistently met.
Most teams have three scoring lines and one shutdown line (broadly speaking). Mantha's D is good enough for him to be playing somewhere in the top 9 assuming his linemates aren't the likes of Nyquist and Tatar. Sure he doesn't need to be out there with under 3 minutes left protecting a 1 goal lead in a must win game but I don't see any reason he should be on the 4th line or scratched with the way he's been playing.
I really cannot understand some of Blashill's decisions. Smith needs to be in. Jurco, I've wanted in for sometime. Instead of a few players. But not Mantha. The line combos are so Babcockian. It's maddening.
Don't overreact to what I'm saying (maybe saying poorly). I think Mantha should be getting 3rd line and PP time in the active lineup, but it was always stupid for Blashill to play him on the 4th line if he can't/won't play him on the 2nd or 3rd line. That's what I meant by "he's useless." He's useless on the 4th line if Blashill won't play him on one of the top 3 lines, because a 4th line doesn't fit his skillset in any way. Because for a team hunting for scoring, putting Darren Helm on the 2nd line while Mantha plays on the 4th line is absurd. Totally absurd. Now if Mantha's line was giving up more goals than acceptable playing a regular shift on the top 3 lines and the coaching staff can pin it on Mantha, I don't blame them for sitting him. I do blame them if they just put him on the 4th line and he wasn't good at it. I don't care for our lines anyway. I like Justin Abdelkader, but he's never scored more than 15 even strength goals in his career. Why is he on the top line? He's simply not a good goal scorer. I'd play Pavel between Zetterberg and Larkin, leave Tats, Sheahan and Nyquist together, play Richards between AA and Mantha and have a 4th line of 3 of Helm, Abdelkader, Glendening and Jurco. I'd probably roll with Luke between Helm and Abby on most nights. Next year I'm letting Helm and Richards walk and working in Pulky and Jurco for regular duty.
Well normally in the playoffs you'll see best vs best. Last year Glendening took the triplets and Dats took Stammer iirc
Which leaves our 2nd and 3rd lines with favorable matchups where they are going against the other teams bottom 6 and shouldn't have too much to do defensively.
I can actually watch the game tonight. This season has been both maddening and exciting as hell. Expect tonight to be no different. I have plenty of beer too, so that'll help.
In regards to Richards.. He has been one of our best players the last few weeks, so I get bumping him up to Dats line. I cannot fathom sitting Mantha down though.