Libor Sulak?

The thing that is so unfortunate about the Wings is that their back end costs a fortune and is mostly ineffective. Daley was an over pay, and thank goodness Howard and Kronwall are about to come off the books. Wings need to understand its rebuild time instead of fighting to compete. Move these UFA's, try to find trade partners for Nielsen and stop giving up prospects for roster players.

well we understand that but Kenny has no clue. he is still trying to walk the line between rebuild and competing. yeah daley is a bit overpaid but atleast he can play a bit and 3 million isn't crazy for a vet like him. Its not his contract that's a problem. cholo , hronek and hicketts should all get tons of ice to see who can play and help them make some choices.

Take what Toronto did, make a rookie line and go nuts. Worst case scenario they're not better then what the team is now. I only see upside.

I get bringing green back but I would have done it for 1 year. vanek only keeps minutes away from svechnikov I feel. id rather lose with the kids than miss the playoffs anyways with the vets. all that happens is we pick 9th or 11th without judging our young talent instead of 5th with knowing what we have

Detroit is overloaded with bad contracts on the backend; overpayments and NTC's. They understand it's rebuild time; look at all the moves they've made the last couple of years. They are bogged down mostly by contracts that were given to keep the playoff streak alive. As soon as the streak ended they've made good trades and have been stockpiling draft picks. The majority of experts had Detroit as the big winner of this past draft. They have 11 draft picks next year and they have trade deadline assets in Nyquist, Howard, and Vanek (NTC should not be a big roadblock if the team is a contender). They have a young developing forward core in Larkin, Mantha, Athanasiou, Bertuzzi, Zadina, and Rasmussen (more coming in Svechnikov, Veleno, and Berrgren); A bunch of good defense prospects that are just starting to develop. Holland wants to surround that core with proven veterans who can help make the team competitive and not discourage the developing players. Look at Edmonton, Arizona, and Buffalo; they've been bottom dwelling teams trying to rebuild for the last decade. Players like Hall win the Hart trophy after being traded. O'Reilly goes public about his lost love of the game. You have to show the players that the organization cares about your development. Looking back at Toronto's rebuild, the first couple of years they added a lot of veteran contracts and unloaded them around the deadline or offseason. This is exactly what Detroit is doing.

Finding a partner for a Nielsen contract is not impossible, but it will be hard to do; he still has some term left and a high cap hit for what he brings.

What prospects has Detroit given up for roster players? I don't see any trade in the past 3 years where this occurred. Are you talking about giving roster spots to veterans over prospects? The past couple of seasons the only prospects I can think of who hasn't gotten a spot on the roster has been Svechnikov and Hicketts. Hronek is ready and should make the team. Cholowski and Saarijarvi still need developing time in the AHL. Then next year one of those two make the team with Kronwall gone.

Detroit is in the rebuilding phase, I don't understand what makes people think they are not.

Sorry, I wasn't meaning trade, I was meaning literal roster spots. I guess I didn't understand bringing Vanek and Daley, if Daley is truly a good dressing room guy then sweet. What I have heard about Vanek is the opposite and I feel like he is just sapping minutes. I more so meant let the kids play, don't take ice time. I agree on the moves, they got an AMAZING return from Vegas, like unbelievable and the picks are there. If Detroit can stay true and not rush, they will be scary in 3-5 years.

Thanks for the clarification. I'm not sure about Daley's presence in the dressing room, but he is a guy that has been on a lot of winning teams (Chicago, Pittsburg). We needed a defenseman who could skate the puck out of our zone and be responsible in his own end; Daley was that guy when we signed him. As for the Vanek signing I've been up and down about it. The only roster spot he will be taking up is Svechnikov, whom I am worried about his development. He had an off year though coming back from injuries, hopefully, he starts strong in Grand Rapids and gets the first call-up. The only other player right now that I see a veteran taking a spot of is Hicketts. But Hicketts has a low ceiling so his development isn't the highest priority.


They will definitely be contenders in this time frame. They look to be modeling their rebuild after Winnipeg, which excites me greatly. They have most of the forward pieces needed and a good amount of supporting defensemen in the pipeline; they just need a game changer on the blue line and a solid goalie to pan out after.

Drafting good D-Man is doable, its goalies that is so hard. It would be interesting if they went after Pickard or Sparks in Toronto? Both just killed it in the Marlies, I know that doesn't always mean they can play at the NHL level, but who knows?

Totally agree with drafting goalies; they are slower to develop and are hard to scout at the age they enter the draft. Detroit has for the past few years drafted goalies in the third round hoping one of them pans out. I'm of the opinion you can make a trade for an up and coming goalie that is stuck behind a good starter. Sort of like Schiender in Vancouver or Andersson in Anaheim or recently Grubauer in Washington.