3 Things I’d Pitch To Ken Holland
6 years ago
As a kid and young teenager, I loved Ken Holland and blindly defended him. Fast forward to the 2012 and 2013 off seasons and that opinion quickly changed with the additions of Weiss, Alfredsson, and Samuelsson. The ‘Kyle Quincey for a first round pick’ trade didn’t sit well either. Today, I think the entire front office and scouting staff need to be reviewed and revised. There are way too many long and bad contracts on this team.
To be clear, my best case scenario, is to win the lottery or to at least be in a position to have a chance to win the lottery this year. I think anyone who says this is a cup-contending team is out of their mind. However, I wouldn’t be surprised if this team squeaks into the second wild card spot either . A lot would have to go right and if Montreal and the Rangers are bound for dismal seasons, who knows what is going to happen. However, the Wings need to become much younger.
These are our past 5 first round picks:
2013 – Mantha
2014 – Larkin
2015 – Svechnikov
2016 – Cholowski
2017 – Rasmussen
These are great. There were a few controversies surrounding the two latter picks but both have proven many wrong, including myself. But how are all 5 of these players going to play for the Wings?
Bodies need to be moved out.
We’ve all heard “the Wings have a massive log jam in defensive prospects” but why do we have one of the worst defences in the NHL?
This is Holland’s fault.
If I could pitch a few ideas to this management, here’s what I’d say;
- Tomas Tatar is currently 26 and signed for 4 years. We aren’t going to win during this contract and these are his best years. Let’s send him to Edmonton while they’re struggling to find a winger for McDavid and get a lottery-protected first round pick back. Tatar could definitely get a first round pick in return and the 2018 draft is the year to load up on picks.
- Although Green is probably our most valuable moveable asset because he is a UFA at year’s end, I think he’d be a great player to package with someone like Ericsson to move him out. For example; Green + Ericsson for a 5th round pick. Hell, I’d take a 7th to move Ericsson out. I don’t even mind eating money on his contract because there will be two years left, the same as Hicketts’ entry level contract.
- Abdelkader is essentially Detroit’s equivalent of Dustin Brown. Unless the Kings want to swap players and throw us a few good picks or prospects, there isn’t a way we’re going to move this guy. Brown is still a serviceable 4th liner with one less year on his contract than Abdelkader.
In addition to this, if any team is even slightly interested in Dekeyser, Glendening, Helm, or Nielsen, Holland better get something done. I would also love to get Leivo from the Leafs and I don’t think Babcock would be too opposed to this idea considering we have Mike Green on our end of the deal.
These are just a few thoughts I’ve put together and would love to hear what you readers think! Feel free to share your ideas with me and thanks for reading!
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