Red Wings

[froot loops]

You should be in the minority on this.

[Malto Marko]

I might be the minority here but I don't think they should retire Federovs number. He was a red wing great but he ditched us for California dreaming. Let one of his other teams retire his number. He could have been even more special in his later years with us.

You are not alone with your thoughts but as someone who felt the same as you let me make a case.

Sergi was the most talented player the Wings ever had. Problem was, he took himself out of games for a sore throat and hated his contract after he collected 26 Million in one year but thought he was underpaid at the end. This, despite the fact his Agent and he agreed that a front loaded contract was a good deal (Keep in mind, there was a poison pill in the first year of his contract that called for a huge payment if they get to the NHL finals and the Wings did and had to pay) for him.

He wanted the C and there was no way that Yzereman deserved to lose it.

With no C. He is going to a team that would give him one. He signed for less than the Wings offered to walk.

I had, and still do have a problem with that.

He now understands the mistake he made and is willing to acknowledge his NHL roots.
<Rant over>

Make him an official Wing and one of the best to ever wear the sweater.

[jaadam4]

We have a ton of HoF and great Wings to have worn the Winged wheel but all can't have their jersey retired.

Feds deserves to be in the HoF and was one of my favorite wings before he ditched us. I even secretly wanted him to come back years after he left. Retiring a jersey is a big deal.

[Malto Marko]

His deserves to be retired. No one will ever be able to equal his talent with this number.

Those who come later need to make a case for their own (Did you know, when Lidstrom came in as a rookie he wanted to wear 9 but was told it was not available?)

[Tom]

Sergei left for less money. If he left for more money people would complain that he was only in it for the money. I don't think the guy can win here. I didn't blame him for leaving. He won the MVP but couldn't keep up that pace in following seasons (probably due to playing time being reduced) and the fans never let him hear the end of it.

And if I remember correctly, that poison pill contract was accepted only because the Wings were low-balling him.

[jaadam4]

How is Franson still on the market? He's worth the risk for a 5 mil contract

[Tom]

Maybe people are mistaking him for Johan Fransen...

[Habib21]

How is Franson still on the market? He's worth the risk for a 5 mil contract

I don't know that Franson would be a drastic step up from B. Smith for twice the cost as him. I think that Brendan will get his chance to jump up on offense more this year which is what he's pretty good at. Although Franson is less of a defensive liability than B. Smith..... he is still a liability none the less. If Brendan were paired with a steady stay at home defensive partner like Ouellet then I think he'd be okay.

[jaadam4]

Maybe people are mistaking him for Johan Fransen...

Lol

[jaadam4]

Do you mean to tell me Babcock never once tried Smith as a quarterback? There's no way he's that hard headed. Everyone knows Smith is a offensive defensemen. I'm starting to think the Wings wanted the split more than Babcock.


DETROIT – Brendan Smith is a good skater with some offensive upside that hasn't been exploited since he joined the NHL. The Detroit Red Wings might seek to tap that potential this season.

Smith was an offensive defenseman and power-play quarterback at Wisconsin and Grand Rapids. He averaged more than a point game in his final season with the Badgers (15 goals, 52 points in 42 games in 2009-10) and put up 86 points (including 27 goals) in 152 games for the Griffins.

Former Red Wings coach Mike Babcock refused to give Smith much of an opportunity on the power play, for reasons he declined to reveal. He likely had concerns about Smith's penchant in pinching in, which has resulted in defensive mistakes, and his tendency to turn over the puck. Babcock in 2013 famously commented how Smith creates as many scoring chances for the opposition as he does for his own team.

New coach Jeff Blashill is more open-minded about giving Smith, who signed a two-year, $5.5 million extension last week, a chance on the power play.

"I think Brendan has that ability to do that (power play)," Blashill said. "You have to see where the whole puzzle fits at camp. He's somebody I know that's done that in the past because he's done that for me in the American League (for half the 2012-13 season)."

Blashill has a vision of how Smith can be best utilized.

"I think Brendan's best offensive ability is kind of roaming around below the tops of the circles," Blashill said. "If he's a weak-side guy on the power play, going to the net a lot, he can retrieve pucks because he's quick, he's strong, he's competitive. He's got good offensive instincts once he gets below the tops of circles. I know at Wisconsin he was on his off-side (right side) hitting one-timers. That's something we'll explore going into camp."

Defenseman Mike Green and center Brad Richards give the Red Wings two more options for a power play that ranked second in the NHL in 2014-15.

Green and Niklas Kronwall could play together on the top power-play unit or be split. Richards plays the point on the power play. Teemu Pulkkinen, with his tremendous right-handed shot, is a possibility. Other point options include Smith as well as Jakub Kindl and Danny DeKeyser, who played there on occasion last season.

"I think the positive thing for us is you'd rather have more guys that can do it than not enough," Blashill said. "I think we have more guys (now). That's a real positive from the competition standpoint and from the production standpoint."

[Habib21]

I don't know that Franson would be a drastic step up from B. Smith for twice the cost as him. I think that Brendan will get his chance to jump up on offense more this year which is what he's pretty good at. Although Franson is less of a defensive liability than B. Smith..... he is still a liability none the less. If Brendan were paired with a steady stay at home defensive partner like Ouellet then I think he'd be okay.

Love that article came out a few days after I suggested as much.

[froot loops]

4 years 19.5 million for Nyquist

http://www.freep.com/story/sports/nhl/red-wings/2015/07/10/detroit-red-wings-gustav-nyquist/29973535/

[jaadam4]

I was hoping his cap hit was going to be a little lower the next few years with Tatar deal being less but he gave up 2 years of UFA.

[jaadam4]

Looks lie Dats could be out longer than expected. The Richards signing looks even better now for depth. Larkin might make the team after all

[Malto Marko]

I think the Magic man is getting close to the end. He has spent an awful lot of time on the injured list lately.