WN Monday Mailbag: April 11th

*does double take* We’ve made it! With hot takes and excitement come new and curious readers, and as such, we hit the streets looking to hear a few of your questions! We’d like to do this every Monday if possible, so whenever you have something to pick our brain about, don’t hesitate to tweet @thewingsnation with your questions. Let’s begin!

I wrote about this in greater detail the other day, but I believe that it could have helped. More optimistic fans and writers will probably say that Detroit’s plan doesn’t change based on their current position, but if we’re being realistic about things, there is a less than zero chance that the team is going to accept a full-on rebuild while “the streak” is going. Heck, it might not even be a rebuild; any sort of move becomes a bigger assumed risk if the team is on the bubble.

I do think that Ken Holland crossed the line by openly bashing Mantha yesterday, but I can see the logic behind a decision like this. Mantha brings a great offensive skillset to the table, but there’s no room to utilize him in the top six at the moment. Athanasiou, on the other hand, is naturally gifted but more importantly uses his defensive intelligence and blazing speed to be an impact player in the bottom six as well. You can plug him into more spots for a positive impact, and that versatility is beneficial to the team. Because he’s constantly rotating his role as well, Athanasiou can still learn a lot in a little bit of ice time.

I think so. If anything, his play encourages it; he’s reminded the rest of the league that he’s a legitimate goaltender who merely has a rough contract. A team who his worried more about their puck-stopping than their cap space will be more inclined than ever before, and while Petr Mrazek’s end-of-season was rough, he’s still “the guy” long term. The Wings should absolutely value the cap space more.

I can’t see Toronto being an option here. Shedding Datsyuk’s salary puts Detroit in the Steven Stamkos sweepstakes, which is currently believed to consist of the Maple Leafs sitting in a corner until July while trying not to laugh too hard. The incentive going back would have to be so absurdly high, with that considered, that I don’t think that either side would be left happy.

As we say in Vancouver, “MUFB, Adam”