Jeremy Laura: Detroit Red Wings 4 game western sweep - the kids are alright

Shine was sent back down to GR.

There's been a bunch of back n forth here about The Captain's deafting being unacceptable, bad, wasted.... whatever. Simple fact is, drafting alone won't win a team into the SCPO; ya gotta find guys to fill gaps via trades or UFA. Definitely been some trade & UFA issues by The Captain, no gonna argue that.

I'd offer that drafted players take time to mature, and for many DRW fans - time isn't on our side. But if you tear a house down to rafters, you ain't sleeping in it that night. You have to deliberately build a suitable structure. And accept that it's going to take time for things to hit......or not. The big thing is the plan to deploy players, there's little argument that Lalonde wasn't what was needed. Todd Mac's got this team playing well and drafted kids are pushing some vets into obscurity....thankfully. But we're still a ways away from being contenders and there are still holes to fill. But ROI is finally starting to show positive (still a way to go, no doubt). What's surprising to me is how quickly this team's made a serious charge. Maybe it's the duldrums of the season, maybe studs are holding back for fear of injury before 4 Nations, maybe it's a legit turn.

The really good thing is that we still have kids developing in the A, Europe, NCAA, etc... But we can't lose sight of continuing to draft but now maybe focus on vetter UFA/trades to push the rebuild a bit? I don't know the answer to that. Not sure any of us do....but any more misses like Chiarot or Holl are going to show more negatively than ever.

I mean, it was said here by someone else, but bears repeating: Imagine this team with Walman and/or Ghost. We'd probably be in better shape with them under TM. But....this team's good....been said here by several. And it's only going to get better. Wanna see ASP & Buchelnikov playing in NA, MBN probably won't see NA ice for another year & change.

Those that say we need a super-stud or 2? I don't disagree, but Raymond's showing serious potential, Mo Sides is legit. Eddy's got chops....These are guys who change the opposing team's focus when they're on the ice and take over a game with little effort.

I wanted to see improvement over last year, and danged if I'm seeing it!!!

Shine was sent back down to GR.
- HenryHockey

Dude was nice to watch. Wonder who's coming back?

EDIT: Just read he went down, seems part of getting him back to GR, combined with his contract status? Kinda confusing, but that easy to do to me sometimes!!

Shine was sent back down to GR.
- HenryHockey

Detroit is off til Saturday. May be a cap accrual thing. No clue for sure

Dude was nice to watch. Wonder who's coming back?

EDIT: Just read he went down, seems part of getting him back to GR, combined with his contract status? Kinda confusing, but that easy to do to me sometimes!!
- mcmastermike1968

As a 31 year old who signed his first NHL contract this year, Shine is waiver exempt for the remainder of this season.

Sending him down when he is not needed helps the Red Wings bank a little extra cap space -- and every dollar they save there is an extra dollar of Kane's performance bonus that doesn't get tacked onto next year's cap sheet. Frankly as long as the Wings are off and/or have at least 12 healthy forwards they can ice I imagine that they will leave the roster spot unfilled.

There's been a bunch of back n forth here about The Captain's deafting being unacceptable, bad, wasted.... whatever. Simple fact is, drafting alone won't win a team into the SCPO; ya gotta find guys to fill gaps via trades or UFA. Definitely been some trade & UFA issues by The Captain, no gonna argue that.

I'd offer that drafted players take time to mature, and for many DRW fans - time isn't on our side. But if you tear a house down to rafters, you ain't sleeping in it that night. You have to deliberately build a suitable structure. And accept that it's going to take time for things to hit......or not. The big thing is the plan to deploy players, there's little argument that Lalonde wasn't what was needed. Todd Mac's got this team playing well and drafted kids are pushing some vets into obscurity....thankfully. But we're still a ways away from being contenders and there are still holes to fill. But ROI is finally starting to show positive (still a way to go, no doubt). What's surprising to me is how quickly this team's made a serious charge. Maybe it's the duldrums of the season, maybe studs are holding back for fear of injury before 4 Nations, maybe it's a legit turn.

The really good thing is that we still have kids developing in the A, Europe, NCAA, etc... But we can't lose sight of continuing to draft but now maybe focus on vetter UFA/trades to push the rebuild a bit? I don't know the answer to that. Not sure any of us do....but any more misses like Chiarot or Holl are going to show more negatively than ever.

I mean, it was said here by someone else, but bears repeating: Imagine this team with Walman and/or Ghost. We'd probably be in better shape with them under TM. But....this team's good....been said here by several. And it's only going to get better. Wanna see ASP & Buchelnikov playing in NA, MBN probably won't see NA ice for another year & change.

Those that say we need a super-stud or 2? I don't disagree, but Raymond's showing serious potential, Mo Sides is legit. Eddy's got chops....These are guys who change the opposing team's focus when they're on the ice and take over a game with little effort.

I wanted to see improvement over last year, and danged if I'm seeing it!!!
- mcmastermike1968

It would be nice if Tarasenko would regain his scoring touch!

It would be nice if Tarasenko would regain his scoring touch!

- HenryHockey

+1 on that... Really need to find a way to get him out of this slump. But I wouldn't mess with the top line. Not right now at least...

There's been a bunch of back n forth here about The Captain's deafting being unacceptable, bad, wasted.... whatever. Simple fact is, drafting alone won't win a team into the SCPO; ya gotta find guys to fill gaps via trades or UFA. Definitely been some trade & UFA issues by The Captain, no gonna argue that.

I'd offer that drafted players take time to mature, and for many DRW fans - time isn't on our side. But if you tear a house down to rafters, you ain't sleeping in it that night. You have to deliberately build a suitable structure. And accept that it's going to take time for things to hit......or not. The big thing is the plan to deploy players, there's little argument that Lalonde wasn't what was needed. Todd Mac's got this team playing well and drafted kids are pushing some vets into obscurity....thankfully. But we're still a ways away from being contenders and there are still holes to fill. But ROI is finally starting to show positive (still a way to go, no doubt). What's surprising to me is how quickly this team's made a serious charge. Maybe it's the duldrums of the season, maybe studs are holding back for fear of injury before 4 Nations, maybe it's a legit turn.

The really good thing is that we still have kids developing in the A, Europe, NCAA, etc... But we can't lose sight of continuing to draft but now maybe focus on vetter UFA/trades to push the rebuild a bit? I don't know the answer to that. Not sure any of us do....but any more misses like Chiarot or Holl are going to show more negatively than ever.

I mean, it was said here by someone else, but bears repeating: Imagine this team with Walman and/or Ghost. We'd probably be in better shape with them under TM. But....this team's good....been said here by several. And it's only going to get better. Wanna see ASP & Buchelnikov playing in NA, MBN probably won't see NA ice for another year & change.

Those that say we need a super-stud or 2? I don't disagree, but Raymond's showing serious potential, Mo Sides is legit. Eddy's got chops....These are guys who change the opposing team's focus when they're on the ice and take over a game with little effort.

I wanted to see improvement over last year, and danged if I'm seeing it!!!

You hear Yzerman talk quite a bit about acquiring assets over the past several years. Some of those assets will be used to acquire other assets. If you look at Florida team over the past two years, they only have two drafted players on their roster, but after years of being in the lottery, they had assets to trade and filled a few gaps with UFAs. Personally, I'm glad Yzerman didn't go after any of the top ranked UFAs over the past few years, how many of them became difference makers for their new teams? If you sign higher ranking UFAs, you're overpaying and you're committing to them for too long.

Yzerman has taken a lot of heat for some of the UFAs he's signed, but none of them were meant to be building blocks, but just placeholders. They have 8 UFAs coming up this year, and hopefully a few will be replaced by prospects. Five more are coming off next year. Obviously, the pipeline doesn't have 13 players who will be ready over the next two years, but they do probably have half that. At that point, they'll have a lot more options than they had over the past few years. They'll have prospects who have value, cap-wise, they'll have money to spend and most importantly, they won't need to sign placeholders, but players that complement the team. These next few years are the most important of the rebuild.

Jeremy Laura: Detroit Red Wings 4 game western sweep - the kids are alright
- Jeremy Laura

The coaching staff has been stellar!

The coaching staff has been stellar!
- Hockeyfan39

I was, for a while, a bit of a pro wrestling (sports entertainment, right) fan. I saw Mick Foley talk about needing a “chair shot” to the forehead to get into a particular match. I was kind of shocked, especially with what he’s dealt with.

McLellan’s first full practice, apparently, was easy to hear for the press that were there. Not a chair shot, but an emphatic reminder that these were hockey players, you’ve done it your whole life, start doing it again. Stopping drills that were sloppy, try it again.

The results have been beyond, and the goalies have had some hard nights helping in the success. But the team looks like they woke up. Like the environment had been filled with more oxygen and a lot of coffee. They just seem to be enjoying the game again and Raymond looks like a very special part of this team’s future. Been more fun to watch.

As I'm looking forward to the game against Tampa... I think it would be wise to bring up Watson from GR. I'm guessing this could easily turn into a chippy, physical game. Watson adds some much needed size and toughness to help protect his teammates. The last thing I want is to see is Cernak, Cirelli or Hedman taking shots at the the Wings top players. I hope somebody staples Kucherov right into the boards... he's a dirty player.

As I'm looking forward to the game against Tampa... I think it would be wise to bring up Watson from GR. I'm guessing this could easily turn into a chippy, physical game. Watson adds some much needed size and toughness to help protect his teammates. The last thing I want is to see is Cernak, Cirelli or Hedman taking shots at the the Wings top players. I hope somebody staples Kucherov right into the boards... he's a dirty player.
- Vladdie_Kon1

Keep Watson where he is, we have Elmer the Giant Soderblom!!!!!!!!!

Elmer drops the gloves:
https://x.com/LGRWProspec...tatus/1873168778714071224

Labatte is 6'5" 225 and has totalled 716 PIMs in 420 AHL games.