Q:How on earth does this team get any better outside of winning the draft lottery (make that next year’s draft lottery) with all the horrific contracts they currently have? (Justin) Abdelkader, (Darren) Helm, (Frans) Nielsen, (Jonathan) Ericsson: these are all bad contracts. Realistically, the Wings are going to have to ride these contracts out, as it seems unlikely they will be able to trade or will chose to buy out (a bad idea) any of these players. Is there any realistic possibility of improvement with these anchor albatross contracts on the books? – Saskatoon Wingnut
A: They could improve. A better power play and stronger goaltending would help. Continued growth from younger players like Dylan Larkin, Anthony Mantha, Andreas Athanasiou and Tyler Bertuzzi, coupled with contributions from potential incoming prospects Michael Rasmussen, Evgeny Svechnikov and Filip Hronek would be a boost.
But unless they make the playoffs, they’re better off not improving, record-wise, to enhance their draft lottery odds in the next couple of seasons as they rebuild. Coaches and players don’t want to hear that because they’re not focused on the future like the front office is, they’re trying to win each game.
I doubt any of the players you mentioned can be traded now, not without the Red Wings retaining a large portion of their contracts or taking a bad contract in return, and I doubt anybody on the roster will be bought out.
Continued, and I get the “tanking is good” philosophy, but I can’t see the Red Wings’ players or management changing their plan to attempt to “squeak into the playoffs” this upcoming season.
Players and coaches are paid to try to win games, and as we witnessed this past season, the Wings’ pride factor remains evident and apparent.
That doesn’t mean that the Wings are going to do anything more than struggle this upcoming season–I can’t say that I’m expecting the team to do much better than they did this past season if the blueline doesn’t improve–but the players, coach, and the GM don’t believe in tanking for tanking’s sake.
2. The Red Wings’ website (via NHL.com’s John Kreiser) posted a reminder of a significant milestone that Nicklas Lidstrom hit during the 2009 Western Conference Final vs. the Chicago Blackhawks, a.k.a. the year that some Wings fans swear that Lidstrom lost a testicle:
THIS DATE IN HISTORY: May 22
2009: Detroit Red Wings defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom sets an NHL record by playing in his 228th consecutive Stanley Cup Playoff game, a 4-3 overtime loss to the Chicago Blackhawks in Game 3 of the Western Conference Final at United Center.
Lidstrom breaks the record set by Larry Robinson from 1973-92. He finishes his NHL career with 263 postseason games played, second all-time to former teammate Chris Chelios (266), and plays on four Stanley Cup-winning teams before retiring in 2012.
Lidstrom did some color commentary for Swedish TV during the World Championship…and he still looks like he could suit up at 48 years of age.
Update: Make it three things. Team USA posted a video in which Dylan Larkin and his American World Championship-participating teammates talked about the importance of winning a bronze medal at the Worlds:
My name is George Malik, and I'm the Malik Report's editor/blogger/poster. I have been blogging about the Red Wings since 2006, when MLive hired me to work their SlapShots blog, and I joined Kukla's Korner in 2011 as The Malik Report.
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10 thoughts on “Two Things: Khan’s answers reader questions; a note about Lidstrom’s longevity”
I am hopeful for a run of 3 or 4 more years of top 5 picks to get this thing back on track. Over that time many of the bad contracts come off the books. Fingers crossed they aren’t backfilled with new bad contracts, hoping that practice died with the streak.
Maybe it’s me but I’ve seen nothing to believe Svechnikov will ever be a contributing member of this team. I know it’s a small sample size but he leaves me wanting more, a lot more.
Hey Burr. Svech was a top pick, so the media will just keep mentioning him as part of the next wave, regardless of how his game has regressed. If he was a 2nd round pick, like say Nastasiuk, he would already be removed from statements like this. But 1st rounders get the benefit of the doubt.
Since draft day, his skating has always been the biggest question mark. He had SIZE (listed at 6’3, 212). But speed was the problem. This is another reason why I disputed the notion that the Wings emphasize speed and skill at the draft. If that were true, why choose the bigger, slower Svech when we could have simply selected the smaller, faster Brock Boeser or Travis Konency? A dozen picks later you had the highly skilled, speed demon Sebastian Aho selected. It’s clear we put emphasis on size over skating, and it now appears that our 1st may end up as another bust. But hopefully Svech can prove me wrong and develop into a top 6 scorer…
“..when we could have simply selected the smaller, faster…”
or picked Mitchell Stephens another speedster who was also still around….
or could have failed worse then Boston with Zach Senyshyn….
or went even bigger with Gabriel Gagné….
So many “whatifs” are possible when we cherry pick the good players using hindsight.
If only Detroit had drafted Jagr…….oh man…..just think of what he could have done with FedOrov.
I saw a guy who did everything right in his limited time with the club.
Im not sure why AA gets the benefit of the doubt because of mixed lines, 4th line role but Svech doesnt.
That’s not meant to be rude, Burr. But would like to see any retort to that.
Svech has the tools. His skating isn’t as bad as some reviews. There’s actually a lot of positive things written about his skating. I like to think of it this way, his skating has gotten him this far and there are a lot of average skaters in the NHL…..that’s why there’s an average….there are even below average skaters.
I bet AA gets the benefit of the doubt because he makes the highlights. Fans like highlights.
I agree Burr. He’s not shown the potential people thought he had. There was a lot of talk about how he would have been on the opening day roster last season were it not for his injury. I’m imagine that disappointment was a setback for him. His play last season may have reflected his injury plus disappointment. There is a lot written about how he is his harshest critic. Personal disappointment can have deeper effects. Let’s see how he responds during training camp next season.
Of course like the guys mentioned, very skilled offensive gems
can be found later in the first and in a few cases through the next few rounds.
Svech was what, a 19th pick? Seems like a section of the draft
where there are hits and misses in fairly equal measure.
I would settle for a middle-six guy with size, willingness to go to the net and a good shot, who keeps working to get his skating and all-around game a little bit better.
Not the big difference maker we hoped to find, but a solid piece who could complement the other young forwards who are on the roster or arriving.
Svech reminds me of Jurco. Good size. Good skills. But skating was below-average. Maybe if we put more emphasis on skating, and less on size, then you don’t pick Svech at all. Guys like Boeser, Konecny, Aho were obvious selections to teams willing to forego size for speed.
I also don’t understand why we selected so many wingers through the years. Centers and d-men. Over and over and over until you’ve got a solid foundation. Every pick should be a guy that you think can either be a 1C/2C, or 1-4D. That’s it. So don’t take Givani Smith. You take Girard or Lindgren or Clague. I think they are figuring this out though. They are finally taking more d-men and centers in the last couple years.
I am hopeful for a run of 3 or 4 more years of top 5 picks to get this thing back on track. Over that time many of the bad contracts come off the books. Fingers crossed they aren’t backfilled with new bad contracts, hoping that practice died with the streak.
Maybe it’s me but I’ve seen nothing to believe Svechnikov will ever be a contributing member of this team. I know it’s a small sample size but he leaves me wanting more, a lot more.
Hey Burr. Svech was a top pick, so the media will just keep mentioning him as part of the next wave, regardless of how his game has regressed. If he was a 2nd round pick, like say Nastasiuk, he would already be removed from statements like this. But 1st rounders get the benefit of the doubt.
Since draft day, his skating has always been the biggest question mark. He had SIZE (listed at 6’3, 212). But speed was the problem. This is another reason why I disputed the notion that the Wings emphasize speed and skill at the draft. If that were true, why choose the bigger, slower Svech when we could have simply selected the smaller, faster Brock Boeser or Travis Konency? A dozen picks later you had the highly skilled, speed demon Sebastian Aho selected. It’s clear we put emphasis on size over skating, and it now appears that our 1st may end up as another bust. But hopefully Svech can prove me wrong and develop into a top 6 scorer…
“..when we could have simply selected the smaller, faster…”
or picked Mitchell Stephens another speedster who was also still around….
or could have failed worse then Boston with Zach Senyshyn….
or went even bigger with Gabriel Gagné….
So many “whatifs” are possible when we cherry pick the good players using hindsight.
If only Detroit had drafted Jagr…….oh man…..just think of what he could have done with FedOrov.
I saw a guy who did everything right in his limited time with the club.
Im not sure why AA gets the benefit of the doubt because of mixed lines, 4th line role but Svech doesnt.
That’s not meant to be rude, Burr. But would like to see any retort to that.
Svech has the tools. His skating isn’t as bad as some reviews. There’s actually a lot of positive things written about his skating. I like to think of it this way, his skating has gotten him this far and there are a lot of average skaters in the NHL…..that’s why there’s an average….there are even below average skaters.
I bet AA gets the benefit of the doubt because he makes the highlights. Fans like highlights.
I agree Burr. He’s not shown the potential people thought he had. There was a lot of talk about how he would have been on the opening day roster last season were it not for his injury. I’m imagine that disappointment was a setback for him. His play last season may have reflected his injury plus disappointment. There is a lot written about how he is his harshest critic. Personal disappointment can have deeper effects. Let’s see how he responds during training camp next season.
Of course like the guys mentioned, very skilled offensive gems
can be found later in the first and in a few cases through the next few rounds.
Svech was what, a 19th pick? Seems like a section of the draft
where there are hits and misses in fairly equal measure.
I would settle for a middle-six guy with size, willingness to go to the net and a good shot, who keeps working to get his skating and all-around game a little bit better.
Not the big difference maker we hoped to find, but a solid piece who could complement the other young forwards who are on the roster or arriving.
Svech reminds me of Jurco. Good size. Good skills. But skating was below-average. Maybe if we put more emphasis on skating, and less on size, then you don’t pick Svech at all. Guys like Boeser, Konecny, Aho were obvious selections to teams willing to forego size for speed.
I also don’t understand why we selected so many wingers through the years. Centers and d-men. Over and over and over until you’ve got a solid foundation. Every pick should be a guy that you think can either be a 1C/2C, or 1-4D. That’s it. So don’t take Givani Smith. You take Girard or Lindgren or Clague. I think they are figuring this out though. They are finally taking more d-men and centers in the last couple years.