Jeremy Laura: Hungry Habs Handily Humble Wings 3-0

This team is so difficult to watch.. I couldn't imagine a healthy Montreal squad against the Wings.. so frustrating to see... this team can look so unprepared and so lackluster on too many nights .... the lack of skill and talent is grossly evident, as well as the lack of coaching.... teams play down players, as Montreal did... the season just began and I feel fatigued watching....

Jeremy Laura: Hungry Habs Handily Humble Wings 3-0
- Jeremy Laura

Please put an end to the Dekyser Seider combo!!!
Putting this anchor next to a rookie no matter how good he is just isn’t good coaching!

Blashill is 95% at fault for this game.

As stated in your last post in the comments, he healthy scratches Hronek, Stetcher, and even Osterle but continues to play DeKeyser and gives him an A to boot. His obstinate thinking of got to have a LD and RD on every pair is ______! It would be addition by subtraction at this point where DeKeyser is concerned.

We all know going in that not having Larkin and Bert for this game puts us at a disadvantage— that’s a given. He chooses to move Ras to the top line. After the 1st period alone, everyone could see it was NOT working. Does he do anything about it? Try Fabbri? Suter? Veleno? Gagner? Hell, even Stephens? No. He sees there is no spark. He sees Ras TOTALLY lost out there, and he does NADDA. It got to the point where I was yelling at the TV to not give him the puck, it was that bad

I think most of us are in agreement that this team is far from being a playoff team. That they need a legit #1 C and more time for some to develop. But thus far this season it’s been, on most nights, a pleasure to see them moving forward. The improvement. The heart that’s been lacking. Tonight there was none of that. And the coach did nothing to try and change it, that is why I say he shoulders most of the blame.

This team is so difficult to watch.. I couldn't imagine a healthy Montreal squad against the Wings.. so frustrating to see... this team can look so unprepared and so lackluster on too many nights .... the lack of skill and talent is grossly evident, as well as the lack of coaching.... teams play down players, as Montreal did... the season just began and I feel fatigued watching....
- angryagain

Thanks for voicing that. It was such a frustrating watch. I want to give Habs props because they were ready. Wings just weren’t

Blashill is 95% at fault for this game.

As stated in your last post in the comments, he healthy scratches Hronek, Stetcher, and even Osterle but continues to play DeKeyser and gives him an A to boot. His obstinate thinking of got to have a LD and RD on every pair is ______! It would be addition by subtraction at this point where DeKeyser is concerned.

We all know going in that not having Larkin and Bert for this game puts us at a disadvantage— that’s a given. He chooses to move Ras to the top line. After the 1st period alone, everyone could see it was NOT working. Does he do anything about it? Try Fabbri? Suter? Veleno? Gagner? Hell, even Stephens? No. He sees there is no spark. He sees Ras TOTALLY lost out there, and he does NADDA. It got to the point where I was yelling at the TV to not give him the puck, it was that bad

I think most of us are in agreement that this team is far from being a playoff team. That they need a legit #1 C and more time for some to develop. But thus far this season it’s been, on most nights, a pleasure to see them moving forward. The improvement. The heart that’s been lacking. Tonight there was none of that. And the coach did nothing to try and change it, that is why I say he shoulders most of the blame.
- Bren4Wings

I have no problem going 2 righty’s. We did it with lefty’s for years

I didn't think Suter was the answer to the 2nd line center problems but i was willing to give him a chance to prove me wrong. So far he has far from done that. Still early but so far he is playing like a below average 3rd line center...heck Filppula and Nielsen looked better last season than he has so far.

Rasmussen should be nowhere near the top 6. He's twice the size of Fabbri but plays like he's half his size. If Yzerman could move him on his own or as part of a package for something they need, i would be more than ok with that.

On defense we all know what needs to happen so i won't even bother saying it again.

One more thing is...why do the Wings not have a grind line anymore. They haven't had one in a long time. Yzerman more than anyone should know the importance of having a 4th line that can hit, skate and create energy for the team along with chipping in some offense from time to time. There is no reason for this team not to have one. Decent 4th line players do not cost a lot in salary or trade assets (if you can't sign some as UFAs). Stephens has the speed but lacks hands. Rowney just doesn't bring anything. Smith likes to hit and stir poop up but he does lack speed to be effective so far.

I didn't think Suter was the answer to the 2nd line center problems but i was willing to give him a chance to prove me wrong. So far he has far from done that. Still early but so far he is playing like a below average 3rd line center...heck Filppula and Nielsen looked better last season than he has so far.

Rasmussen should be nowhere near the top 6. He's twice the size of Fabbri but plays like he's half his size. If Yzerman could move him on his own or as part of a package for something they need, i would be more than ok with that.

On defense we all know what needs to happen so i won't even bother saying it again.

One more thing is...why do the Wings not have a grind line anymore. They haven't had one in a long time. Yzerman more than anyone should know the importance of having a 4th line that can hit, skate and create energy for the team along with chipping in some offense from time to time. There is no reason for this team not to have one. Decent 4th line players do not cost a lot in salary or trade assets (if you can't sign some as UFAs). Stephens has the speed but lacks hands. Rowney just doesn't bring anything. Smith likes to hit and stir poop up but he does lack speed to be effective so far.
- dcz28

I think Fabbri had a better run at center last year than what Suter is doing. Honestly though, I would like to see a trade. If Strome won’t fit in NYRs budget I wonder if Yzerman could swing a deal.

I guess you can at least say Nedeljkovic is really starting to settle in.

I think Fabbri had a better run at center last year than what Suter is doing. Honestly though, I would like to see a trade. If Strome won’t fit in NYRs budget I wonder if Yzerman could swing a deal.
- Jeremy Laura

There is also the other Strome in Chicago that i think they were looking to move before and i think has been a healthy scratch this season. Only problem is i'm not sure if either Strome are really 2nd line centers or more like 3rd line centers. What i don't want is for Yzerman to make a trade and the player just can't get it done. I don't want Eichel either with how much he would cost and the problems that come with him.

One guy that has been rumored to be traded that could fit the bill is Hertl. He does seem like a 2nd line center that can put up points and is decent on faceoffs. Not sure what he would cost and he is a UFA at the end of this season. I think he for sure would be an upgrade at center and slot in fine on the 2nd line...especially once Vrana is back. If they would roll out Larkin, Hertl and Veleno at center, i think they could put together 3 decent scoring lines.

There is also the other Strome in Chicago that i think they were looking to move before and i think has been a healthy scratch this season. Only problem is i'm not sure if either Strome are really 2nd line centers or more like 3rd line centers. What i don't want is for Yzerman to make a trade and the player just can't get it done. I don't want Eichel either with how much he would cost and the problems that come with him.

One guy that has been rumored to be traded that could fit the bill is Hertl. He does seem like a 2nd line center that can put up points and is decent on faceoffs. Not sure what he would cost and he is a UFA at the end of this season. I think he for sure would be an upgrade at center and slot in fine on the 2nd line...especially once Vrana is back. If they would roll out Larkin, Hertl and Veleno at center, i think they could put together 3 decent scoring lines.
- dcz28

Hertl would be a get for sure. He’s much happier now with Kane not in the room. May have backed off request. Kane had a line of players that wanted to leave if he wouldn’t

Hertl would be a get for sure. He’s much happier now with Kane not in the room. May have backed off request. Kane had a line of players that wanted to leave if he wouldn’t
- Jeremy Laura

Yeah plus the Sharks are in a playoff spot right now too so they might want to hold onto him for now. They might trade him at the deadline if they are out of the playoffs and he hasn't been extended but there would be no point for the Wings to trade for him at that point. They need help now or they might as well just wait for the off-season.

Pretty funny that all the people thinking Suter was a sneaky good signing and a 2C behind Larkin are jumping ship after 10 games. I said all along that Suter was propped up by Kane and DeBrincat. He's awful at faceoffs so would need to be heavily sheltered. Bingo.

We don't need a 2C. We already have a really good one named Larkin. What we need is a legit 1C. It's the biggest hole in the organization. You typically need to draft and develop a 1C.

Pretty funny that all the people thinking Suter was a sneaky good signing and a 2C behind Larkin are jumping ship after 10 games. I said all along that Suter was propped up by Kane and DeBrincat. He's awful at faceoffs so would need to be heavily sheltered. Bingo.

We don't need a 2C. We already have a really good one named Larkin. What we need is a legit 1C. It's the biggest hole in the organization. You typically need to draft and develop a 1C.
- HockeyBuzzed

Pretty funny that you think anyone gives a poop about what you post.

Blashill claims his team treated this game like an exhibition..... hmmm, I have to wonder whose fault that is.... this man has no business coaching at this level... he reminds me of Mike Kitchen who coached St Louis some years back... this team, granted, has more than its share of players who seem disinterested but with this man in charge the team will continue to be jekyll and hyde... show up one night with hunger and then disappear more often than that....

Suter was a good signing, the problem is that Kane and DeBrincat did not come with him.

The LD defense is terrible, get used to it. I was disappointed that Stevie did not go after Dunn before the X-draft. Will have to wait till next year, apparently.

Hertl is good, but he is too old and will require a $8M x 7-8 yr contract next year and why would he sign here when he could sign with a contender? And SJ is playing better than expected and will hang on to him for the time being.

The goaltending looks good and Cossa is stellar in JR this year.

Blashill claims his team treated this game like an exhibition..... hmmm, I have to wonder whose fault that is.... this man has no business coaching at this level... he reminds me of Mike Kitchen who coached St Louis some years back... this team, granted, has more than its share of players who seem disinterested but with this man in charge the team will continue to be jekyll and hyde... show up one night with hunger and then disappear more often than that....
- angryagain

Funny when Blashill was talking before the game about how the team remembers the 6-1 game against the Habs and that they weren't looking at the Habs record. That the team would have to come out strong and play hard...they did the exact opposite of what Blashill talked about.

Maybe Blashill will healthy scratch Seider and Raymond (who had half the shots on net for the team) so that he can bump DeKeyser to 30 mins of ice time and put Rowney on the 1st line. Rasmussen might have also earned more ice time in his eyes with how well he handled 1st line minutes.

Suter was a good signing, the problem is that Kane and DeBrincat did not come with him.

The LD defense is terrible, get used to it. I was disappointed that Stevie did not go after Dunn before the X-draft. Will have to wait till next year, apparently.

Hertl is good, but he is too old and will require a $8M x 7-8 yr contract next year and why would he sign here when he could sign with a contender? And SJ is playing better than expected and will hang on to him for the time being.

The goaltending looks good and Cossa is stellar in JR this year.
- HenryHockey

Hertl would have only been a short term fix. For a long term fix they need to draft one. Most of the guys that are available or might be (Eichel excluded) are not proven 2nd line centers which could mean no better than what the Wings have now. Hertl at least is a proven one but not likely now to be moved until maybe the deadline which does nothing for the Wings.

Wings really need a top end center in this next draft or they will still be in trouble next season. UFA market won't have much. Malkin, Giroux and Bergeron are getting old and i don't see them going anywhere else. That would leave Kadri and maybe Trocheck as the only options for 2nd line centers as UFAs. Veleno is probably the best option they have right now if they can't draft or sign a decent skilled center.

One more thing is...why do the Wings not have a grind line anymore. They haven't had one in a long time. Yzerman more than anyone should know the importance of having a 4th line that can hit, skate and create energy for the team along with chipping in some offense from time to time. There is no reason for this team not to have one. Decent 4th line players do not cost a lot in salary or trade assets (if you can't sign some as UFAs). Stephens has the speed but lacks hands. Rowney just doesn't bring anything. Smith likes to hit and stir poop up but he does lack speed to be effective so far.
- dcz28

The Red Wings have a lot of problems, but the quality of the fourth line is not one of them. Compared to what most other teams are running for their fourth lines, Gagner-Stephens-Rowney or Gagner-Stephens-Smith is more than competent, possibly even above average. Gagner in particular is a really good player for being a fourth liner. And if Vrana comes back, and Veleno stays up, and the team stays healthy, and all that forces guys like Namestnikov or Erne into a permanent fourth line spot, even better.

You're not going to have another "fourth line" like the Grind Line again. Not in a cap world. McCarty in his prime would have been a second or third liner on almost any team other than Detroit or Colorado. Draper was a great defensive middle six C. Maltby was a solid defensive 3RW. Those guys are not fourth liners in today's NHL. They weren't even really fourth liners when they were fourth liners. That's just what happens when half your lineup is Hall of Famers.

IMO, the Wings have an okay enough first line (not great, but easily middle of the road for an NHL team), solid fourth line, okay-to-solid right side defense, and okay goaltending.

The biggest problem areas are the middle six, the left side defense, and special teams.

EDIT TL/DR

The Red Wings aren't suffering from a lack of good fourth liners, they are suffering from having too many good fourth liners, including the entire fourth line, the entire third line, and on plenty of nights some of the top six too.

The biggest problem areas are the middle six, the left side defense, and special teams.

Yeah and I see that Stevie is content to play it out this season with mostly what he has. I only see some improvement if Stevie gets a salary dump guy from say, a team that is involved in an Eichel trade or the like. And that "up grade" would probably be a short term fix. Oh, and maybe someone from the Kracken as they will have a roster crunch when the 3 on injured reserve start to come back.

The Red Wings have a lot of problems, but the quality of the fourth line is not one of them. Compared to what most other teams are running for their fourth lines, Gagner-Stephens-Rowney or Gagner-Stephens-Smith is more than competent, possibly even above average. Gagner in particular is a really good player for being a fourth liner. And if Vrana comes back, and Veleno stays up, and the team stays healthy, and all that forces guys like Namestnikov or Erne into a permanent fourth line spot, even better.

You're not going to have another "fourth line" like the Grind Line again. Not in a cap world. McCarty in his prime would have been a second or third liner on almost any team other than Detroit or Colorado. Draper was a great defensive middle six C. Maltby was a solid defensive 3RW. Those guys are not fourth liners in today's NHL. They weren't even really fourth liners when they were fourth liners. That's just what happens when half your lineup is Hall of Famers.

IMO, the Wings have an okay enough first line (not great, but easily middle of the road for an NHL team), solid fourth line, okay-to-solid right side defense, and okay goaltending.

The biggest problem areas are the middle six, the left side defense, and special teams.

EDIT TL/DR

The Red Wings aren't suffering from a lack of good fourth liners, they are suffering from having too many good fourth liners, including the entire fourth line, the entire third line, and on plenty of nights some of the top six too.
- Sven22

I have to disagree with the Wings having a competent or above average 4th line. Not once have i seen this line do anything to energize the team or run around in the opposing zone hitting people left and right. It is also not a very good defensive line, nor are they that good in the offensive zone and they don't really play physical (aside from Smith).

There is a grind line like similar to what the Wings had back then in the NHL right now on the Islanders. Cizikas with Matt Martin and Clutterbuck. That is the type of 4th line i want to see on the Wings. I want a physical tough to play against 4th line with toughness...not whatever the hell this 4th line is. 4th liners aren't hard to get and there is plenty of them waiting for contracts every summer for cheap. Just need to get the right mix of players that play the right way.

What the Wings have is just a collection of players that are not good enough to play 2nd or 3rd line that get stuck on the 4th line and don't gel or really have an identity or purpose as a 4th line.

You are right about this not being a main problem for the Wings but i don't think Yzerman is going to find a good 1st or 2nd line center during the season to fix that problem and if he was going to fix the left side of the defense for this season he wouldn't have re-signed Staal and tried to dump DeKeyser or at the very least the stupid coach to stop playing him. I can't see any team wanting Staal or DeKeyser in a trade so the Wings are stuck with them for the season.

I have to disagree with the Wings having a competent or above average 4th line. Not once have i seen this line do anything to energize the team or run around in the opposing zone hitting people left and right. It is also not a very good defensive line, nor are they that good in the offensive zone and they don't really play physical (aside from Smith).

There is a grind line like similar to what the Wings had back then in the NHL right now on the Islanders. Cizikas with Matt Martin and Clutterbuck. That is the type of 4th line i want to see on the Wings. I want a physical tough to play against 4th line with toughness...not whatever the hell this 4th line is. 4th liners aren't hard to get and there is plenty of them waiting for contracts every summer for cheap. Just need to get the right mix of players that play the right way.

What the Wings have is just a collection of players that are not good enough to play 2nd or 3rd line that get stuck on the 4th line and don't gel or really have an identity or purpose as a 4th line.

You are right about this not being a main problem for the Wings but i don't think Yzerman is going to find a good 1st or 2nd line center during the season to fix that problem and if he was going to fix the left side of the defense for this season he wouldn't have re-signed Staal and tried to dump DeKeyser or at the very least the stupid coach to stop playing him. I can't see any team wanting Staal or DeKeyser in a trade so the Wings are stuck with them for the season.
- dcz28

Well Cizikas is arguably the best defensive bottom six center in the entire NHL, and at $2.5m per year he's paid like a high-end third liner. He's mostly driving the bus on that line, although Martin is also very very good defensively. I don't think Clutterbuck adds much value but he does certainly hit anything that moves. I don't think that's helpful in and of itself, but I'm sure you disagree.

I would agree with you that NYI has a great fourth line (or at least one that's historically been great), but that's hardly proof that similarly great fourth lines are cheap and easy to assemble. Cizikas in particular is a legitimately very good and not at all easily replaceable player. And the Isles are paying a combined $7.5 million against the cap for that line. That is an extremely expensive fourth line, and as good as they are for a fourth line, one could easily argue that some of that money could be much better spent elsewhere.

Well Cizikas is arguably the best defensive bottom six center in the entire NHL, and at $2.5m per year he's paid like a high-end third liner. He's mostly driving the bus on that line, although Martin is also very very good defensively. I don't think Clutterbuck adds much value but he does certainly hit anything that moves. I don't think that's helpful in and of itself, but I'm sure you disagree.

I would agree with you that NYI has a great fourth line (or at least one that's historically been great), but that's hardly proof that similarly great fourth lines are cheap and easy to assemble. Cizikas in particular is a legitimately very good and not at all easily replaceable player. And the Isles are paying a combined $7.5 million against the cap for that line. That is an extremely expensive fourth line, and as good as they are for a fourth line, one could easily argue that some of that money could be much better spent elsewhere.
- Sven22

Like i said, i just want a 4th line with some speed, good defensively and one that hits a lot. Hits are helpful when on the forecheck since the opponents often will rush passes or getting rid of the puck to not get hit, to try to slip a hit or brace themselves for a hit. Way too many Wings players don't finish their checks or just bear hug or lightly hit guys. 4th line guys are guys that should be finishing checks more often than not and that isn't the case for the Wings aside from Smith...he has the right mindset but lacks the speed to create turnovers a lot from it. Stephens has the speed but doesn't hit much or hard enough to scare anybody into mistake. Gagner and Rowney don't play the body much at all.


That Islanders line is one of the best and they have been together for a long time which is why they make more than most 4th lines. You can still have an effective 4th line (like i want) for less. You just need to find the right mix of players that play the right way with the right mindset. Not take skilled players and try to force them to play a style they don't want to play (or don't have the mindset to play) like Babcock tried to do with Jurco.

I know this is far from a pressing need for the Wings but it is one that is low cost to fix compared to the left side of the defense or a top 6 offensive center...although the left side of the defense could easily be improved by just sitting DeKeyser and Staal and playing Stecher, Oesterle and Lindstrom ahead of them.

Pretty funny that all the people thinking Suter was a sneaky good signing and a 2C behind Larkin are jumping ship after 10 games. I said all along that Suter was propped up by Kane and DeBrincat. He's awful at faceoffs so would need to be heavily sheltered. Bingo.

We don't need a 2C. We already have a really good one named Larkin. What we need is a legit 1C. It's the biggest hole in the organization. You typically need to draft and develop a 1C.
- HockeyBuzzed

Good grief your posts are annoying. Get off your high horse and go back to the Edmonton blog. You literally don't ever have anything even remotely interesting to post. Just snide comments...

Pretty funny that you think anyone gives a poop about what you post.
- Feds91Stammer

No.