1984Echoes

As long as Za'Darius is coming back I'm good...

And/or Draft Position Watch: We're basically tied at the 13th spot at the moment but... do we move further up the draft or win a few games and move back by season's end...?

This team is just, annually... Too, too frail.

And Mize appears to have also risen from the dead. It's a good thing if these two are back on track and even a little closer to the old expectations...

Along these lines... I still consider the Wings in the "Pistons Phase" of the past few years... "accumulator of talent". That's why I agreed with you on Rantanen. Wrong time to pay this cost. He's a perfect "Brendan Shanahan Last Piece of the Puzzle". And we're not there yet. We need to still be trying to accumulate young talent. By draft, trade, or lucky FA signing. Not trading important future assets yet... at least until we're searching for that mythical "last piece"....

Who is your 1st line centerman with Rantanen? You have two top wingers in Raymond and Rantanen, but who centers? PS: I would have traded DeBrincat for Cozens.

Alex Lyon is a UFA and will be gone in the offseason. Having Talbot and Mrazek, IMO... Says NOTHING about Cossa's NHL time next year. I think Cossa and his NHL-readiness (or not quite there as of...) say everything about how much NHL time he gets. IE: Blow the doors off in training camp and trade one of those other two. Start in Grand Rapids (if he's not quite ready) and blow the doors off down there showing that he's ready for the NHL... move one of the other two. Not ready until the trade deadline but showing it right before then...? Trade one before the deadline. Mrazek is "Cossa-readiness Insurance"... nothing more. IMO.

On Rantanan... No. I agree with you. This team isn't ready for a Rantanan trade. I consider him to be about as close to a Brendan Shanahan as could possibly be without actually being Shanny. So yes... I would LOVE Rantanan on this team, as the "missing piece"... With the problem being that we're not currently in the position to be hunting, or trading for, an expensive "missing piece". In fact... a Raymond-Larkin-Rantanan line would be "outstanding"!!! No... I was looking in a different area... Call it the "Dark Side of the Moon".

The one I HATED... Was trading Walman PLUS a 2nd in the summer.... WTF?!?! I HATED it then and I hate it even more now. Trade an up and coming D, partnered on the 1st pairing with Seider... I know he's not a 1st pair D but... DON'T dump Petry. DON'T dump Holl. DON'T move Maata. SIGN Gustafson? AGAIN... WTF?!?! This one BURNS me big time. There was NO OTHER way to make room on D except to trade Walman...? BS.

Stevie's not selling off... He's playing "Status Quo".

I'm keeping my eye on that this offseason to see what happens... If anything.

Alex Lyon is a UFA so it's a wash... This trade is just to get the team through this season... that's it. Petry is also a UFA this offseason so I'll take that as a HUGE PLUS...

Oh, I wanted the Moon...

Great. But he's still a band aid.

"Moving the deck chairs around" they're calling it and that's fine... They lost Copp so Smith is a band aid. Agree on Mrazek. I'm looking to shift over to Cossa this season or next season... So I'm just guessing... but Talbot might still be moved...

Cheap(er) FA's I'm looking for (might still be some bank but less expensive than the top tier guys): X-Receiver (I still want Patrick back, I think he'll be inexpensive): Darius Slayton, Josh Reynolds (on a 1-year now that he's been released), Cooper Kupp (ONLY after he's released.. I don't want to trade for him...). Get him cheap and I think Goff would LOVE to have him... CB: Carlton Davis, except I think he's going to try and break the bank... so NOT him. Same with Charvarious Ward although I would love to sign him. But no... I'll go with Paulson Adebo. DE: I want Za'Darius Smith back at DE. And either a draft pick for the future of the position or sign Dayo Adeyingbo. Or both. I have no interest in Hendrickson... Myles Garrett on the other hand...

Sweep out the dead wood. Bring up the kids.

You didn't get the memo? Trump already flushed it down the toilet.

I think if they repeal then Obama SPECIFICALLY should come back and run in 2028. No choice in the matter and he knows it. He either runs and saves this country from itself... Or our Democracy and Constitution die along with Trump and his MAGAt followers... laughing their asses off.

Putin's of course... "Duhhhhh!"

Awesome!!! Hungary, which is in Putin's pocket, needed to be sidelined quite a long time ago. The unanimous 100% EU vote requirement is ridiculous. If they want it stringent... do it at 85-90% to allow 3-4 nations to dissent but still carry a motion or act...

Yes.

I just said this to my dad yesterday as we were talking about the Wings... This team is missing the playoff-level toughness required to make it. I told him we need at least 3 or 4 guys on the team that play at that level. He suggested the Grind Line. I suggested Brendan Shanahan. We need both. It's not just that Debrincat has toughness (but with Cicarelli-size) or that we should forecheck more (ala Hongbit)... But the players have to be at the current level of size/ toughness/ physicality/ skill of whatever the current iteration of those guys are... PLUS also a couple playoff-level defenders (with size, toughness AND skill) like Trouba or similar... And as you say: Rasmussen has the size but can't/ won't/ doesn't use it. He's missing that highest level of toughness (playoff-level) needed...

Damn I've been screaming this at the top of my lungs right from the start. But only my walls were listening...

The EU is getting those rare earths. Book it. Done deal.