MLive’s Ansar Khan has filed a Friday mailbag article, and among the questions posited to Khan:
Q: What is the Wings’ defense going to look like next season? I think they shouldn’t bring back (Mike) Green, buy out (Jonathan Ericsson), let (Niklas) Kronwall retire, trade one of (Trevor) Daley or (Danny) DeKeyser and bring up (Joe) Hicketts and (Filip) Hronek. We need changes and it starts on D. — Sal
A: You might be batting 0 for 7. I think they will re-sign Green. I highly doubt they’ll buy out Ericsson (two years remaining at a $4.25 million cap hit), who’s had a decent season. Kronwall has played 60 of the 63 games, managing his chronically bad knee, so there’s no reason to believe he won’t return next season for the final year of his contract.
Daley has a good cap hit ($3.17 million) for a puck-moving defenseman who logs 20 minutes a game in your top four and plays against other teams’ top lines. DeKeyser has played better the second half of the season, and even if they wanted to move him, I think it would be difficult with four years remaining at a cap hit of $5 million. Plus, he has a no-trade clause, and there’s no reason to believe this Michigan native would waive it. I think the only way Hicketts or Hronek makes the season-opening roster is if they beat out Nick Jensen to play in the top six.
I think they’ll try to move Xavier Ouellet in the off-season. That might be the only change on the blue line. I agree some change is needed and that relying solely on internal improvement is not the way to go.
Wow.. what a sinking feeling. The same. No progress.
Both young D men should get a look this spring. Or Mr. Holland is content to let our prospects begin to give up hope on the Wings, and anxiously await the day they are old enough for automatic waivers.
I think Khan is correct here. Unfortunately.
Not that complicated…
Kronwall – NTC
Dekeyser – NTC
Ericsson – NTC
Daley – NTC
Gotta have that veteran presence to keep that winning culture alive.
Now add:
Green – because letting him walk for nothing is kinda embarassing so let’s spin the importance of bringing him back. That was the plan along. Just like Nielsen was our UFA target all along. Right Kenny.
So that leaves one spot for either Jensen, Ouellet, Hicketts, Hronek, Cholowski. Solid plan Kenny!
lets just hope that if they do resign Green, it is for one year with no NTC or NMC… wishful thinking I am sure, but at least it might make it possible to get a bag of pucks for him at next years TDL
Figaro says:
March 2, 2018 at 3:03 PM
I think Khan is correct here. Unfortunately.
Very high odds for the Wings D not to change a lot. Older with maybe less skill if that is possible
Even the forwards are not going to change a lot.
Depressing
This would be very sad to see. However, we are seeing more and more that Holland is open to a more aggressive…uh….rebuild. So what is the point in getting upset about something that hasn’t happened yet?
The Wings may let prospects over ripen, but they seem to figure out who can and cant stick in the league pretty well. So if they determine any of the young guys are not ready, I am good with that. The problem would then go back to drafting and developing first, these abhorrent contracts second.
Disagree that we are good at figuring out who can and can’t stick around the NHL. Jarnkrok is the best example, simply because of the ridiculous soundbite about being years away from the NHL.
Why did we sign Ouellet to a 2-year deal at $1.25M? Why not move him a year ago and let someone else sign him. We could have used that cap space, and more importantly the roster spot, on someone with more upside.
Why is the impetus for change always driven by whether someone from Grand Rapids is ready to steal a job. How about we make a hockey trade to upgrade our roster. Last summer we could have shipped Nyquist or Tatar off to Anaheim for Vatanen. So you don’t need to sit around and wait for Hickett’s to steal Jensen’s job. You acquire Vatanen and slot every down a notch. But trades are hard.
If they are recognized as not good enough yet, and probably won’t be good enough ever,(which I fear is correct) then trade them before they visibly fail to crack the roster.
Mr. Holland likes to over-ripen their trade value… to rotten trade value, with no options but a low, low price of “No options left”.
Right, but trying to get max value for a player like say, Mike Green, gets you lambasted by the haters. So there is no making everyone happy!
Stanley Cup Mite!