Speaking of "tanking."

Look at the position Detroit is in.

They basically have a clean slate.

The longest contract they have is just 2 years.

Biggest cap hit is $6.1 million.

And the no. 6 pick in the draft.

Interesting position to be in.

Weren't we talking about "tear down" versus "tanking"?

Less pedantically (and going ahead with the tank word), every franchise makes moves prioritizing the present over the future or vice versa during the course of a season. The question is really one of degree.

When a team takes a step that significantly lowers the likelihood of current success for the benefit of future success, I would call that a tank move.

If teams are making enough tank moves, they are in tank mode. If teams are making some tank moves and some not tank moves, I would call that a "soft tank/stay competitive" mode. If teams are in win now mode and are risking the future, I would call that the reverse-tank mode.
- PT21

This is not correct. Moving older players for future assets when a team is not in a contending position, is not in any way tanking. There is no such thing as a soft tank. Tanking is intentionally fielding a non-competitive team in an attempt to gain a higher draft position. The intentional part is the key. We know this because tanking is only rarely applied to a team. Teams that are trading off vets for future assets, are still attempting to be competitive. The reverse-tank mode is beyond absurd

When you take in account there was no salary cap in the NHL prior to the 2005-2006 season the Flyers current cup drought of 46 years and counting is probably third worst in NHL history. Flyers being a large market team having an advantage over 2/3 of the NHL for an extended period of time, you have find a way to win. In this Cap/expansion era it is difficult to win. Flyers are not close, and there isn’t an ending in sight for any rational fan.


1. Leafs current drought
2. Rangers 1940-1994
3. Flyers current drought
- PLindbergh31

Florida says hello

Speaking of "tanking."

Look at the position Detroit is in.

They basically have a clean slate.

The longest contract they have is just 2 years.

Biggest cap hit is $6.1 million.

And the no. 6 pick in the draft.

Interesting position to be in.
- Captain_Ahab

They are essentially following the Avs model, their traditional rivals. With a couple of interesting twists. They are chock-full of Swedes, as per normal. And they have really loaded up on this year's shallow, unimpressive draft. They have 7 picks in the first 3 rounds, and 2 of their top 3 picks were accumulated after they learned of the peculiar nature of this year's draft (Covid/under-scouting)

It is fairly evident why. They believe their scouting gives them an advantage over other teams, and they can possibly get overlooked gold later on.

They are essentially following the Avs model, their traditional rivals. With a couple of interesting twists. They are chock-full of Swedes, as per normal. And they have really loaded up on this year's shallow, unimpressive draft. They have 7 picks in the first 3 rounds, and 2 of their top 3 picks were accumulated after they learned of the peculiar nature of this year's draft (Covid/under-scouting)

It is fairly evident why. They believe their scouting gives them an advantage over other teams, and they can possibly get overlooked gold later on.
- PT21

This is not correct factually. Detroit's 6th overall pick is originally theirs. They acquired Washington's 1st round pick, the 22nd overall in the Mantha trade. The Red Wings next pick, the 37th overall is originally theirs.

Acquiring the Caps pick had nothing to do with Covid or with scouting. It had to do with being able to make a deal at the trade deadline. It had zero to do with Covid.

Looking at the Red Wings draft history, since 2009, they've really only drafted two pretty good players past the first round. Tomas Tatar and Tyler Bertuzzi. Where is this draft advantage at?

Washington Capitals: Founded in 1974, the Capitals were a perennial doormat in their first decade of existence and very nearly went out of business in 1982 (among others, Ed Snider lent assistance to the Save the Capitals campaign, including having Flyers players record fundraising commercials geared toward fans in the Mid-Atlantic corredor). The team emerged as a solid, playoff-caliber club for most of the 1980s and 1990s. After a rough spell in the early 2000s, the Capitals reemerged with Alex Ovechkin as the face of the franchise. Overall, the Capitals have won one Stanley Cup (2017-18) in their 47-year existence and made two trips to the Cup Final (1997-98 when they were swept by Detroit plus the victorious 2018 run). They've been a perennial contender for most of the last 12 years but hit a postseason snag all but once.


Got to say in all the years of reading Bills daily writups, somehow he still finds a way to add new details that some fans did not know. I never knew of or heard of this, Knew the Caps were struggling but did not know anything further, Ed was special and the team is not the same without him, but thank you Bill for always finding a way to keep this new day in and day out. While making a list of the untouchable players on this team, Bill has to be included. We got the best writer / historian in the game.

Detroit had 4 Swedes on the roster last year.

13 Canadian players.
6 USA players
3 Czech players
2 Russian players
1 Slovakia player
1 Denmark player
1 Finland player.

Washington Capitals: Founded in 1974, the Capitals were a perennial doormat in their first decade of existence and very nearly went out of business in 1982 (among others, Ed Snider lent assistance to the Save the Capitals campaign, including having Flyers players record fundraising commercials geared toward fans in the Mid-Atlantic corredor). The team emerged as a solid, playoff-caliber club for most of the 1980s and 1990s. After a rough spell in the early 2000s, the Capitals reemerged with Alex Ovechkin as the face of the franchise. Overall, the Capitals have won one Stanley Cup (2017-18) in their 47-year existence and made two trips to the Cup Final (1997-98 when they were swept by Detroit plus the victorious 2018 run). They've been a perennial contender for most of the last 12 years but hit a postseason snag all but once.


Got to say in all the years of reading Bills daily writups, somehow he still finds a way to add new details that some fans did not know. I never knew of or heard of this, Knew the Caps were struggling but did not know anything further, Ed was special and the team is not the same without him, but thank you Bill for always finding a way to keep this new day in and day out. While making a list of the untouchable players on this team, Bill has to be included. We got the best writer / historian in the game.
- GPerogie

I am calling bs on this one. I would trade him for Makar straight up.

What Detroit has done is that they have created flexibility.

They can target free agents due to cap space.
Continue to fill the farm system with the picks they have.
Take on contracts via trades.

Many options are becoming available to them due to how they are managing the cap.

I wonder how many GM's would love to take over a team like Detroit since their hands are not tied to bad contracts or limited cap space.

Detroit had 4 Swedes on the roster last year.

13 Canadian players.
6 USA players
3 Czech players
2 Russian players
1 Slovakia player
1 Denmark player
1 Finland player.
- MJL

i think its hilarious looking stuff like this up to prove someone wrong lol. Keep it up

What Detroit has done is that they have created flexibility.

They can target free agents due to cap space.
Continue to fill the farm system with the picks they have.
Take on contracts via trades.

Many options are becoming available to them due to how they are managing the cap.

I wonder how many GM's would love to take over a team like Detroit since their hands are not tied to bad contracts or limited cap space.
- Captain_Ahab

Its not just what they did but also what they did not do. They stayed well under the salary cap the last few years. Some other teams did too.

The "Art of the Tank" is a good exercise in hockey corporate management. In most cases, you will find a few fig leaves in place. But most of the names that are picking high last few years on average: Ottawa, LA, Detroit, NJ, are also leaving many million unspent. In other words, fig leaf aside, what they are really doing is pretty clear.

And they are not reacting to a bad season by simply spending to the max the next, like we do. Remember 2007? People talk about our bad luck in not getting Kane. But if you just dip once, you may not get lucky. Suppose we did not sign every FA we could after that year. The drafts the next couple of years had Stamkos, Hedman, Pietro, Tavares. Just saying.

Of course, with our luck, maybe we would have picked the Schenn brothers anyway. So there is that.

I wouldn't call it a tank. I wouldn't go that direction since people think its based solely on getting draft picks. It's more than that.

It's like tearing a building down so a newer one can be built in its place.

It's time for the next generation of Red Wings to take hold.

It's giving Detroit the ability to build a newer and strong foundation.

It opens the door to improving the team with all options available(trade, draft,FA).

Their hands are not tied.

I am calling bs on this one. I would trade him for Makar straight up.
- PT21

Good Point.........We love ya Bill but Makar.........We'll pitch in for some snow boots for ya!

i think its hilarious looking stuff like this up to prove someone wrong lol. Keep it up
- bradster

Chock-full was hyperbole, but 3 of their top picks last year were Swedes, and given their Swedish history, and the fact that some of their top prospects chose to play in the SHL this year, my larger point of a Swedish focus by Wings was valid.

I wouldn't call it a tank. I wouldn't go that direction since people think its based solely on getting draft picks. It's more than that.

It's like tearing a building down so a newer one can be built in its place.

It's time for the next generation of Red Wings to take hold.

It's giving Detroit the ability to build a newer and strong foundation.

It opens the door to improving the team with all options available(trade, draft,FA).

Their hands are not tied.
- Captain_Ahab

How about an armored vehicle with a gun-turret, a hatch, and tracks?

How about an armored vehicle with a gun-turret, a hatch, and tracks?
- PT21

Laser beams included?

This is not correct factually. Detroit's 6th overall pick is originally theirs. They acquired Washington's 1st round pick, the 22nd overall in the Mantha trade. The Red Wings next pick, the 37th overall is originally theirs.

Acquiring the Caps pick had nothing to do with Covid or with scouting. It had to do with being able to make a deal at the trade deadline. It had zero to do with Covid.

Looking at the Red Wings draft history, since 2009, they've really only drafted two pretty good players past the first round. Tomas Tatar and Tyler Bertuzzi. Where is this draft advantage at?
- MJL

That can’t be true. That mjl guy says there’s tons of elite players outside of top 5. No way detroit doesn’t hit regularly

Great work (as usual) Bill.

Florida says hello
- Richieattack18

The Flyers Cup drought was nearly two decades before Florida existed.

Your 10th alt hasn't improved your reading comprehension has it?
Did Buffalo and Vancouver have any advantages prior to the Cap era? Are they large market franchises?
- PLindbergh31

Advantages? Biggest droughts out there were from big market teams. Throwing money at the best FA doesnt make a good team. Thats why teams like TOR, CHI, PHI, NYR had/have such long droughts. People over rate big name players

What a huge goal by Montreal after being dominated for much of the first period.

Great article on karlsson trade over on sharks blog. That’ll be us if we sign coots long term big $

Great article on karlsson trade over on sharks blog. That’ll be us if we sign coots long term big $
- Stayin alive

You think Coots is going to get 11.5 aav for 8 years?

You think Coots is going to get 11.5 aav for 8 years?
- MBFlyerfan

I think he will settle for 8M over 11.5 years

Jeff Skinner is a $9 million cap hit for 6 more years.

I don't know what Couturier will get next summer. Depends on how he plays.

If he collapses like Wayne Simmonds did at the end of his contract, then nothing. But if he has another good season.....will he be looking at a Skinner type of cap hit?