Erik Marsh: SPRING WINGS

no talk of Mantha

no talk of Mantha
- Jurco_28

He's still way too young to even come close to cracking the lineup.

He's still way too young to even come close to cracking the lineup.
- aborody

I would bet he wears the winged wheel at least once next season

I would bet he wears the winged wheel at least once next season
- JohnnySoze

I bet he plays 1 or 2 pre-season games at most. He's nowhere near ready. He's never even played an AHL game.

I bet he plays 1 or 2 pre-season games at most. He's nowhere near ready. He's never even played an AHL game.
- aborody

(frank) it, give him AHL next year than NHL next year. We need some (frank)ing scorers right now, not 12 grinders. The Eurotwins are getting old and Nyquist/Tatar can't do it alone.

He's still way too young to even come close to cracking the lineup.
- aborody

I don't think his age will be the determining factor on him being in the NHL or not next season. I do think he will start in the AHL next season but given his size already, if he does good in the AHL, he could be called up faster than the Wings usually do with young players. It will also depend on the roster decisions made this summer and injuries.

Luke Glendening made solid case for himself with his great defensive play.

Am I the only one that doesn't think he was great defensively? I thought he was average defensively, brutal offensively, average to below average in faceoffs. The part of his game that I found good was getting under opponents skin and he didn't do much of that in the playoffs.

Given the amount of centers already under contract with plenty of options, I think he should be 13th forward at best or more likely waived and sent to the minors. Wings need more size, grit and toughness in their bottom 6...or should I say they need to have some since they don't really have any. Seems to me like most of the bottom 6 are smaller guys that don't hit much or don't hit hard, they don't fight, not great defensive forwards and ok at killing penalties not good or great.

Am I the only one that doesn't think he was great defensively? I thought he was average defensively, brutal offensively, average to below average in faceoffs. The part of his game that I found good was getting under opponents skin and he didn't do much of that in the playoffs.

Given the amount of centers already under contract with plenty of options, I think he should be 13th forward at best or more likely waived and sent to the minors. Wings need more size, grit and toughness in their bottom 6...or should I say they need to have some since they don't really have any. Seems to me like most of the bottom 6 are smaller guys that don't hit much or don't hit hard, they don't fight, not great defensive forwards and ok at killing penalties not good or great.
- dcz28

I agree...he's like a less good helm lol centres should be Pav/Z , Weiss , helm, and sheahan....

40-13-14
93-90-x
21-43-26
20-15-8

55-52
65-2
Sproul-Marchenko (right handed d men!!!!!)

With jimmy and let mrazek finally come up! With the way Howard played last year...mrazek could have made a push to almost start I bet.... Gus is too injury prone and it's time to groom mrazek

What about Pulkkinen? He had quite decent season in AHL? No room for him?

If I were the Wings I'd look to rebuild a bit. Right now I can't see the roster competing for one of the top 4 seeds in the East. The Red Wings have always been an example of greatness in my eyes. Not just a team that squeeks into the playoffs year after year.

I'd trade Franzen to get a 1st and another good player back.

Also, I can't see you guys retaining #11. He will move onto Boston and finally get his cup next year.

I agree...he's like a less good helm lol centres should be Pav/Z , Weiss , helm, and sheahan....

40-13-14
93-90-x
21-43-26
20-15-8

55-52
65-2
Sproul-Marchenko (right handed d men!!!!!)

With jimmy and let mrazek finally come up! With the way Howard played last year...mrazek could have made a push to almost start I bet.... Gus is too injury prone and it's time to groom mrazek
- HomestyleMelt

Switch 43 and 15 and get rid of Weiss. The kid line of sheahan tatar and jurco was strong together so i'd keep that intact and i'd let weiss go and try and bring in someone who will actually play a few games from FA.

Am I the only one that doesn't think he was great defensively?
- dcz28

Nope!

I would subjectively say that Glendening seems to be fairly competent in defensive situations. That is, he kills penalties well, he defends well off the puck, etc. But the problem is that hockey is not neatly divided into offense and defense. You're always to some extent playing both, and how good you are at one affects the other.

The fact that Glendening can't generate any offense and is pretty much useless when the Red Wings have the puck makes him a significantly worse defender. I don't care how great you are off the puck; a great off-the-puck defender who spends the entire game hemmed in his own zone is going to see more goals whiz into his own net than an average off-the-puck defender who can actually keep the puck away from the opposition.

It really is true, I think, in the NHL that the best defense is a good offense. If you want to stop the opposition from scoring goals, the best way to do that is to never let them get the puck in the first place.

Here's a deployment chart for Red Wing forwards last year.



Here's how you understand this:

1) Left and right represents defensive vs. offensive use. Further left means the player took a greater share of his faceoffs in the defensive zone. Further right means he took more faceoffs in the offensive zone.

2) Size of circle represents ice time.

3) Color of circle represents the shot attempts made by both teams while that player was on the ice. Darker blue means Detroit took more shot attempts. Darker red means their opponents took more shot attempts.

4) Up and down represents an estimate of strength of opposition, based on weighted ice time of on-ice opponents. Although this matters somewhat, in practice I don't think the differences in strength of opposition are that significant in the aggregate, so I don't think it matters as much as the other three things.

You'll notice that Glendening got almost an equal balance of offensize and defensive zone draws, and played more or less average quality of competetition. In fact, he probably had the most "normal" deployment of any Red Wing forward.

You'll also notice that the Red Wings got HAMMERED in even strength shot attempts with Glendening on the ice. He and Cleary are sort of a two-man tag team of awful by this metric; everybody else on the team was at least within a stone's throw of average or better.

Notable here as well are Joakim Andersson and Drew Miller. They were both more likely to start deep in the defensive zone than Luke Glendening was this season, and yet the Red Wings did a better job limiting chances against and generating offense with them on the ice. Andersson, as you'll recall, also plays center and was scratched late in the season and in the playoffs in favor of Glendening. This made me want to repeatedly punch a wall.

Here's one more resource: http://stats.hockeyanalys...ue&season=2013-14&sit=5v5

It's a measure of how teammates performed with and without certain linemates on the ice, and while you want to be careful not to read TOO much into the numbers, it can be a useful tool sometimes if you're trying to figure out what players were more likely to be driving their line's success (or failure), and what players were likely to be "passengers."

Glendening's most frequent forward linemates were Drew Miller, Patrick Eaves, Dan Cleary, Justin Abdelkader, and Todd Bertuzzi. Every single one of those players performed better apart from Glendening than with him, often by laughable margins (5%-7% better overall shot attempts ratio).

Same goes for the defense. Every single regular Red Wings defenseman (Kronwall, Ericsson, DeKeyser, Quincey, Smith, Lashoff, Kindl) was above 50% in shot attempts ratio without Glendening on the ice. Only Smith and Kindl were above 50% when Gledening was on the ice, and only Kindl was actually better with Glendening on the ice than without him. And again, the differences was often quite stark (DDK, for example: 41.4% in nearly 200 minutes with Glendening; 50.6% in ~900 minutes without him).

Too long, didn't read: Luke Glendening is not very good. The few things he does well (kills penalties, plays decent off-the-puck defense) get completely washed out in the long run by the things he is terrible at (generating offense, keeping the puck out of the opposition's hands). Unless you plan to only play him 6 minutes per night, and only in very specific situations, he is a liability. I do not want him on the team next year, let alone skating a regular shift, and I'm unhappy that he's going to be anyway.

And on Mantha ...

About 10 years ago, Gabriel Desjardins of Behind the Net did a pretty comprehensive study of what he called "league equivalency"; basically he was looking at players who jumped from one league to another and seeing how much of their scoring in the lower level was retained in their first year of play at the higher level. By looking at enough players over time, the theory goes, we can start to get a good estimate of how difficult it is to score in one league over another, and we can crudely project how a player who was successful in one league might perform in another. Since then, various other writers have expanded on that research and have continued to check and update the numbers.

Based on a quick reading of the data, it looks to me that, for a 19-year-old junior player jumping straight to the NHL, a very middle of the road expectation would be that he would retain somewhere around 25%-30% of his scoring in his rookie year, with a low of about 15% and a high of about 40%.

Mantha scored 120 points in 57 games this season as a 19-year-old junior, just over 2 points per game. Let's say the Red Wings want to play him in the NHL next season. What might we expect out of him in his rookie season, based on past precedent? The figures are based on Mantha playing 82 games:

Disaster projection: 26 points
Middle-of-the-road projection: 43-52 points
Miracle projection: 70 points

Something to think about. Maybe Mantha's game doesn't translate as well to the NHL as a typical junior. Maybe the Wings want to see him prove himself in the AHL first. (They probably do.) But I also wouldn't be surprised if Mantha could already be a competent NHL second liner as early as right now. Data from past players making the junior-to-NHL leap suggest it's within the realm of the realistic.

If I were the Wings I'd look to rebuild a bit. Right now I can't see the roster competing for one of the top 4 seeds in the East. The Red Wings have always been an example of greatness in my eyes. Not just a team that squeeks into the playoffs year after year.

I'd trade Franzen to get a 1st and another good player back.

Also, I can't see you guys retaining #11. He will move onto Boston and finally get his cup next year.
- riceroni

The Wings are already rebuilding a bit. They have more prospect depth then they have had in a very long time. They don't need to blow it up, just keep replacing the washed up vets with some of the young guys they already have. The only thing I think they are really missing is top 6 center prospects and power forwards and those guys more often than not go in the top 10 - 15 of the drafts. Wings also won't be able to find spots for all those prospects (not all of them will make it either) so using some in trades to get what they don't have is a possibility...just hope Holland doesn't waste them like he did with Jarnkrok.

Some interesting stuff Sven. I don't really look at advanced stats much and I can't say I understand all of it at this point but interesting to see that my eyes aren't playing tricks on me or that my dislike for the way he is being used is blinding how I see his game. For all the qualities that Babcock has as a coach, he sure has a weird love for some average to below average players. Lashoff is another I don't understand. I'm not a big fan of Kindl but scratching him while Lashoff plays is baffling. Not playing Smith on the powerplay, using Abdelkader on the top line. Just don't really understand what his thinking is on some of those decisions.

I really hope that Quincey isn't back even if he wasn't horrible late in the season or playoffs. Him with Smith, Kindl or Lashoff is a disaster. The only guy he looked good with really was DeKeyser but that was because DeKeyser was smart enough to see that Quincey pinches a lot and gets burned and he chases players around even going onto his partners side a lot. If his partner doesn't notice him doing that or notice it on time, the other team has one side of the ice with nobody covering it. Plus his shot attempts are brutal. The best way to upgrade the defense for next season is by upgrading Quincey and Lashoff...maybe Kindl too if he is not going to be used much. Kronwall and Smith should be the 2 defensemen that are locks for the PP units.


Also interesting on Mantha. I would be very surprised if he made the Wings next season...at least to start the season. Given that with Babcock the tie goes to the vet (even if it's not even close to a tie) but Babcock also has a hard on for players with some size so this could help him in Babcocks eyes. I'm hoping Mantha's team makes it to the Memorial Cup so I can watch him play but if they don't, I guess he might join the Griffins and I might get to see him play too.

I have long wondered if, perhaps, since coaches are working with the players every day, they tend to overrate guys who work exceptionally hard, who have a good attitude in practice, who completely buy into and obediently play the system and do everything they are asked to do -- even if they are not as good as other players.

I also, personally and subjectively, put Glendening into a category of players that I consider to be "stealth bad." He doesn't LOOK terrible when you watch him play, but he provides no offense to speak of and the numbers clearly indicate that Detroit is getting killed possession-wise when he's on the ice. If you watch just one game -- or even a number of games -- without looking at a stat sheet you wouldn't necessarily pick him out as being one of the worst players, but when you look at the RESULTS of what happens for Detroit when he's on the ice, it becomes clear that he's just not effective. At all.

I suspect that's because when we evaluate players mostly with our eyes alone, we tend to look for players who make the "big mistake," obvious situations where a guy makes a stupid decision or blows his coverage or makes a terrible pass that turns into a giveaway and a goal against.

Glendening doesn't make a ton of "big mistakes"; his problem isn't his head, it's the fact he just isn't very talented. And so even though he might be a hard worker and he might be a smart decision-maker and he might do all the "right things," he's losing close battle after close battle on both ends of the ice against players who are just flat-out better hockey players than he is. And so he manages to be hopelessly ineffective night after night even though he looks like he's doing everything correctly.

That's my theory anyway.

I have long wondered if, perhaps, since coaches are working with the players every day, they tend to overrate guys who work exceptionally hard, who have a good attitude in practice, who completely buy into and obediently play the system and do everything they are asked to do -- even if they are not as good as other players.

I also, personally and subjectively, put Glendening into a category of players that I consider to be "stealth bad." He doesn't LOOK terrible when you watch him play, but he provides no offense to speak of and the numbers clearly indicate that Detroit is getting killed possession-wise when he's on the ice. If you watch just one game -- or even a number of games -- without looking at a stat sheet you wouldn't necessarily pick him out as being one of the worst players, but when you look at the RESULTS of what happens for Detroit when he's on the ice, it becomes clear that he's just not effective. At all.

I suspect that's because when we evaluate players mostly with our eyes alone, we tend to look for players who make the "big mistake," obvious situations where a guy makes a stupid decision or blows his coverage or makes a terrible pass that turns into a giveaway and a goal against.

Glendening doesn't make a ton of "big mistakes"; his problem isn't his head, it's the fact he just isn't very talented. And so even though he might be a hard worker and he might be a smart decision-maker and he might do all the "right things," he's losing close battle after close battle on both ends of the ice against players who are just flat-out better hockey players than he is. And so he manages to be hopelessly ineffective night after night even though he looks like he's doing everything correctly.

That's my theory anyway.
- Sven22

You're right that he doesn't make huge mistakes often. After some were praising his defensive game and trying to justify the ice time Babcock was giving him I did watch him more closely than I normally would if I was just watching the game. It is easy to see he doesn't have good hands and his offensive instinct isn't all that great either. His faceoff skills (that I have seen so far) aren't good enough for a defensive center. He wasn't bad at killing penalties but I didn't see him and think I was glad he was out there killing penalties for the Wings...just didn't wow me at any point like some players have with a great PK shift. Given the numbers you showed, isn't much point to keeping him around...sure he was a rookie and could improve but given how he was used by the coach, I'm not sure I would be willing to lose other players and hope he improves enough to be effective to keep him on the team. Plus it's not like 4th line defensive players with no hands are expensive or hard to replace. Personally I would rather have a defensive guy with a bit more size, grit and toughness that kills penalties than him.


You are probably right about him being a guy that does everything Babcock asks without question in practices and games. Maybe him and Babcock also have other interests in common that makes him like Glendening more than another who only has hockey in common with him...who knows.


I just hope Holland takes some of his toys away for his own good but given Babcock's contract status, he might fold like he did with Cleary and let Babcock have what he wants. This team needs some change on defense, bottom 6 forwards and maybe top 6 if they can someone that fits for next season.

The Wings are already rebuilding a bit. They have more prospect depth then they have had in a very long time. They don't need to blow it up, just keep replacing the washed up vets with some of the young guys they already have. The only thing I think they are really missing is top 6 center prospects and power forwards and those guys more often than not go in the top 10 - 15 of the drafts. Wings also won't be able to find spots for all those prospects (not all of them will make it either) so using some in trades to get what they don't have is a possibility...just hope Holland doesn't waste them like he did with Jarnkrok.
- dcz28

I wasn't a fan of that deal for Legwand at all at the time, and now with the talk of boosting the D core a bit it's pretty frustrating to have given up a good prospect that could have been a good piece in a bigger deal for an impact player on the back end. Jarnkrok + Kindl + 2nd for a decent defenceman would be a lot nicer than Jarnrok + Eaves + 2nd for 2 months of Legwand.

dcz, you and I are pretty much in agreement here. I think we've probably already said way more than what's needed to be said on this topic, but I'm bored and have nothing to do at work, so indulge me at least one more time ...

The vast majority of guys who end up sticking around in the NHL, even the grinders, tend to dominate offensively, or at least be among the very very best players on their team or in their region, when they're still kids:

- Jordin Tootoo led the Brandon Wheat Kings in scoring in 2002 at age 18, and repeated the feat in 2003.
- Patrick Eaves led Boston College in scoring as a junior.
- Darren Helm led the Medicine Hat Tigers in scoring as a 19-year-old.
- Drew Miller led Michigan State in scoring as a junior.
- Cory Emmerton led the Kingston Frontenacs in scoring as a 17-year-old.
- Justin Abdelkader was second in team scoring for Michigan State (nearly a point per game) as a junior, and the team leader (Tim Kennedy) also made the NHL.
- Brian Lashoff was the Barrie Colts' top-scoring defenseman as a 17-year-old.

I'll even point out here that Brad Marsh, father of our esteemed blogger and pretty much THE archetype for the pure defensive defensemen (his 23 career NHL goals are the fewest among any player with 1,000+ games played) was a point-per-game for the London Knights in 1978, neck and neck for his team's defense scoring lead with Rob Ramage (who also had a storied NHL career).

You get the picture.

Glendening?

He was not a dominant high school player, at least not at the level you would expect of someone with NHL potential (only led EGR in scoring 2 of 4 seasons). No college offered him an athletic scholarship after graduation. A year later Michigan offered him a chance to be a walk-on.

He was not a dominant player in college, although he did eventually earn a scholarship and was recognized for his defensive play. Statistically his best year was his senior season, and even then he only scored 10 goals, put up half a point per game, and finished seventh in team scoring at age 22.

He was never drafted and was not signed by any NHL teams after his college career ended, eventually taking a AHL-only tryout contract (with Providence; released after playing 3 games) and then signing an AHL-only deal with the hometown Griffins (where he was initially assigned to the ECHL).

He was not a dominant player in the AHL. He's scored just over half a point per game at the level, playing mostly as a second/third line center on a stacked AHL roster with great teammates.

He's just finished his first NHL season, where he scored at a rate of 1 point every 8 games. As a 24-year-old.

There is absolutely nothing about this guy over the last, I don't know, 11 years of play that suggests he has or ever will have NHL-level scoring ability. That portion of his game looks like it's going to cap out at "above-average minor leaguer" level. All he has to hang his hat on is his defensive ability, and if he doesn't win faceoffs, he doesn't have the hands or the wheels to force turnovers, and he can't keep the puck out of the hands of the opposition for more than a few moments at a time, he isn't doing much good for the team defensively either.

I get that he's a "great story" of a local kid that nobody ever believed in, who worked hard and had to earn his opportunities, who beat the odds and made the NHL as a regular role player. Especially being from Grand Rapids myself, I really wish I could just sit back and enjoy the story and celebrate what he's accomplished. But I can't, because even though I admire him as an athlete I do not think he deserves to be in the NHL. He's not good enough, and there are plenty of better (and typically younger as well) players stuck in GR waiting for an opportunity while Glendening grinds away 12-15 minutes per night in the NHL.

I like Glendening, but he's a guy you put on the ice to kill time and rest other players. He does alright defensively, but he doesn't generate anything offensively.

Franzen is the other problem for me. This is the last chance has to use a compliance buyout on him, and he's not going to get any better. He's got the tools in his shed to be an elite player, but it seems he only uses them when he's on his period. For that reason, I'd shuttle him out.

Let all the UFAs walk save for Gustavsson (if you can get him on a short-term deal). Wings need to pick up a power forward (and there really aren't any available).

Niskanen or Boyle (short-term) would fill holes on the back end. I'd bench Lashoff and start getting Ouellet and Marchenko some ice time.

I like Glendening, but he's a guy you put on the ice to kill time and rest other players. He does alright defensively, but he doesn't generate anything offensively.

Franzen is the other problem for me. This is the last chance has to use a compliance buyout on him, and he's not going to get any better. He's got the tools in his shed to be an elite player, but it seems he only uses them when he's on his period. For that reason, I'd shuttle him out.

Let all the UFAs walk save for Gustavsson (if you can get him on a short-term deal). Wings need to pick up a power forward (and there really aren't any available).

Niskanen or Boyle (short-term) would fill holes on the back end. I'd bench Lashoff and start getting Ouellet and Marchenko some ice time.
- Craola

Although I agree Franzen us a problem I don't believe buying him out is the best option.

Let's say hypothetically we buy him out, he would just re sign somewhere else and we would be stuck with too too for another year in Grand Rapids and his 2 million dollar cap hit.

The better option is buy out tootoo and then trade Franzen because he at least has trade value because of his cap hit being as low as it is, especially so because the cap is raising making his low hit more appealing for teams to use more money elsewhere.

I think Franzen could be packaged with a prospect or pick for a good D man. We were pretty close to getting
Ehrhoff right?

What I'd really like to see is the wings some how sign Ryan Miller and then trade Jimmy Howard for some defense. That's a long shot but it isn't impossible.

dcz, you and I are pretty much in agreement here. I think we've probably already said way more than what's needed to be said on this topic, but I'm bored and have nothing to do at work, so indulge me at least one more time ...

The vast majority of guys who end up sticking around in the NHL, even the grinders, tend to dominate offensively, or at least be among the very very best players on their team or in their region, when they're still kids:

- Jordin Tootoo led the Brandon Wheat Kings in scoring in 2002 at age 18, and repeated the feat in 2003.
- Patrick Eaves led Boston College in scoring as a junior.
- Darren Helm led the Medicine Hat Tigers in scoring as a 19-year-old.
- Drew Miller led Michigan State in scoring as a junior.
- Cory Emmerton led the Kingston Frontenacs in scoring as a 17-year-old.
- Justin Abdelkader was second in team scoring for Michigan State (nearly a point per game) as a junior, and the team leader (Tim Kennedy) also made the NHL.
- Brian Lashoff was the Barrie Colts' top-scoring defenseman as a 17-year-old.

I'll even point out here that Brad Marsh, father of our esteemed blogger and pretty much THE archetype for the pure defensive defensemen (his 23 career NHL goals are the fewest among any player with 1,000+ games played) was a point-per-game for the London Knights in 1978, neck and neck for his team's defense scoring lead with Rob Ramage (who also had a storied NHL career).

You get the picture.

Glendening?

He was not a dominant high school player, at least not at the level you would expect of someone with NHL potential (only led EGR in scoring 2 of 4 seasons). No college offered him an athletic scholarship after graduation. A year later Michigan offered him a chance to be a walk-on.

He was not a dominant player in college, although he did eventually earn a scholarship and was recognized for his defensive play. Statistically his best year was his senior season, and even then he only scored 10 goals, put up half a point per game, and finished seventh in team scoring at age 22.

He was never drafted and was not signed by any NHL teams after his college career ended, eventually taking a AHL-only tryout contract (with Providence; released after playing 3 games) and then signing an AHL-only deal with the hometown Griffins (where he was initially assigned to the ECHL).

He was not a dominant player in the AHL. He's scored just over half a point per game at the level, playing mostly as a second/third line center on a stacked AHL roster with great teammates.

He's just finished his first NHL season, where he scored at a rate of 1 point every 8 games. As a 24-year-old.

There is absolutely nothing about this guy over the last, I don't know, 11 years of play that suggests he has or ever will have NHL-level scoring ability. That portion of his game looks like it's going to cap out at "above-average minor leaguer" level. All he has to hang his hat on is his defensive ability, and if he doesn't win faceoffs, he doesn't have the hands or the wheels to force turnovers, and he can't keep the puck out of the hands of the opposition for more than a few moments at a time, he isn't doing much good for the team defensively either.

I get that he's a "great story" of a local kid that nobody ever believed in, who worked hard and had to earn his opportunities, who beat the odds and made the NHL as a regular role player. Especially being from Grand Rapids myself, I really wish I could just sit back and enjoy the story and celebrate what he's accomplished. But I can't, because even though I admire him as an athlete I do not think he deserves to be in the NHL. He's not good enough, and there are plenty of better (and typically younger as well) players stuck in GR waiting for an opportunity while Glendening grinds away 12-15 minutes per night in the NHL.
- Sven22

I agree and this last part is why he shouldn't be with the Wings. Like you I don't hate him...he is what he is and a great story of never quit but a great story shouldn't give him priority over more deserving prospects that have paid their dues in the AHL and/or are just flat out better than him and would bring more to the team.

I wasn't a fan of that deal for Legwand at all at the time, and now with the talk of boosting the D core a bit it's pretty frustrating to have given up a good prospect that could have been a good piece in a bigger deal for an impact player on the back end. Jarnkrok + Kindl + 2nd for a decent defenceman would be a lot nicer than Jarnrok + Eaves + 2nd for 2 months of Legwand.
- tmanv

I agree...hated it then and still hate it now no matter how Jarnkrok ends up. If Jarnkork had no future with the Wings as Holland put it, then why trade him for a bandaid. That asset could have been part of a package for a power forward or top 4 defenseman (under 30 years old)...you know something they could use moving forward. I wasn't a big fan of the Quincey deal but this one is worst.

I like Glendening, but he's a guy you put on the ice to kill time and rest other players. He does alright defensively, but he doesn't generate anything offensively.

Franzen is the other problem for me. This is the last chance has to use a compliance buyout on him, and he's not going to get any better. He's got the tools in his shed to be an elite player, but it seems he only uses them when he's on his period. For that reason, I'd shuttle him out.

Let all the UFAs walk save for Gustavsson (if you can get him on a short-term deal). Wings need to pick up a power forward (and there really aren't any available).

Niskanen or Boyle (short-term) would fill holes on the back end. I'd bench Lashoff and start getting Ouellet and Marchenko some ice time.
- Craola

Franzen won't be bought out. Traded maybe but even that I doubt.

Alfredsson will be back if he chooses to play for another year but if he does, I hope Holland convinces him to take less money to give the team more flexibility to add some players and make the team stronger. I would let Gus walk...too injury prone and Mrazek can do the job and maybe even challenge Howard for the starting job. They would still have McCollum, Paterson and Pearce for GR and Toledo. Only power forward that I can think of that might be available is Stewart in Buffalo.

Niskanen will be in high demand if he hits the market...would they pay him more than Kronwall? I doubt they would and he likely will get better offers. Boyle could be a stopgap for a year. Wings need to be careful with contracts on defense with so many prospects coming that soon enough will run out of waiver options.

I agree that Lashoff needs to be replaced. He's not good enough defensively not to be replaced with a youngster with a brighter future that might have some learning to do on the defensive end but much higher potential and much better offensively.