Jason_R

Yes and what do I know, I last played hockey when I was eight. But it seems like this season has revealed some untapped offensive potential in the defensive corps. And it makes me wonder when I see guy like Faulk coming in from a different system, streaking up the ice as a defenseman, creating a passing lane for a breakout pass from a forward, then burying a breakaway chance… what have the Wings been coaching their defensemen to do previously. Has this kind of selective aggressiveness by defensemen been encouraged or discouraged? Either way I like it and hope to see more of it.

Of course the roster isn’t good enough but you play with who you have and you have to maximize their effectiveness. When you are talking about needing incremental improvements to make the playoffs, you can’t afford to under-utilize talent. It should raise questions when we see players leave for other teams and suddenly flourish elsewhere. The roster not being good enough is why ASP made his NHL debut at age 20 weighing probably 165 pounds. Nobody thought when camp started that he would make the NHL roster; everyone thought he needed time in GR to acclimate to NA play and bulk up to grown man weight. The roster was thin enough that they called him up and put him in a role he wasn’t ready for. Now that Faulk is here to anchor the second unit, is ASP ready for sheltered minutes on the third pair and on PP2?

Faulk was back the other night, and scored a majestic goal splitting the defenders and finishing a breakaway. Edvinsson had a brilliant move to set up a goal last week. ASP can drive offensive play. Seider is offensively skilled. Even Johansson has flashed some offensive flair. If you don’t have the forwards to drive offense at 5v5, you need to allow your defense to drive offense, and you need a system that has your defensively responsible but offensively limited forwards to cover for them.

Rasumussen is on for another two years too! 🫠 This is partly (mostly?) wishful thinking, but I expect Stevie to make a significant trade in the offseason.

I feel for him. I'm sure he loved playing with Detroit and he was a good player and a good Lion. It is hard to see guys like him go, but it is the mark of a good team that they let good players go.

I’m not trying to meme this into existence and I’m not saying I want him and I’m not saying this isn’t a smokescreen, but the smoke is there.

I get it but his timeline is not the fan timeline. That is the real point. I believe his timeline (and Ilitch’s) is when C/C/R come off the books.

There was enough smoke around him being involved in conversations about trades for a couple of high end forwards that I believe he was trying to pull off something big. I don’t expect he will be a big player in FA until he gets Copp/Compher/ Rasmussen off the books. But I expect he will revisit potential trades over the summer and I don’t rule out the possibility that he could surprise us.

In 2019-20, the Wings had 39 points, 0.275 points percentage. In 20-21, the Covid season, they had 48 points (0.429). In 21-22, 74 points (0.451). In 22-23, 80 points (0.488). In 23-24, 91 points (0.555). In 24-25, back down to 86 points (0.524). This season, with four games left, they are at 89 points (0.571). As disappointing as the end of this season has been, they are likely to finish this season with their best record since their last playoff season. As disappointing as it was not to get a big trade at the deadline, Faulk’s return last night is a reminder that he is a significant upgrade on the second pair over ASP. If we had Faulk all this season it seems pretty easy to say this team would have made the playoffs. He will let the team play ASP on the third pairing and pp2 while he develops I think Steve was looking to make a big deal at the deadline for a top forward and I expect him to fill that gap this summer. I also expect we will see the team move on from at least one under-performing vet.

Sewell and Hutchinson were pretty obvious. Charlie Campbell had them high on Gibbs. I feel like in 2024 a lot of the buzz was with Quinyon Mitchell who went two picks early and left them with Arnold. I think most people were matching Detroit with defensive ends last year but they picked Tyleik Williams. The draft is a crap shoot and Brad has a history of surprising people.

I’m sure Larkin has been less than 100%. I suspect Raymond has. But my sense is that Yzerman is safe regardless. As I have said before, I think his rebuild timeline ends when Copp, Compher, and Rasmussen contracts end. I would bet he and Ilitch have discussed this.

Rasmussen is still on the team because of his contract rather than because of his size. This is part of the culture problem with the team. Some guys are stuck behind him and Compher, the rest are stuck with them. I also thought it was a bad message to extend Chiarot for so long. His job was to hold down a spot until the kids were ready. You’re telling me it’s going to be another three years before Tuomisto or Wallinder are ready? The message seems to be that Stevie is running the team not to lose, and in this sense the players seem to have bought in.

I’m not trying to will this into existence BTW, but you have Charlie Campbell and Daniel Jeremiah both reporting that Detroit is eyeing Proctor. Most mocks have Proctor going in the mid-20s.

I agree with your first paragraph but I still think something isn't adding up. McLellan has gone further than I've ever seen a head coach go in calling out his players for lack of effort and heart. But it hasn't amounted to anything. I don't know, maybe it is as simple as the young kids see veteran players who aren't producing getting pencilled into the lineup every night, so the young kids internalize that there is no room for them to "win" a job, they just have to not lose one. I'm not sure about the roster construction. Yes, the team has relied on a lot of smaller players, but the team has some big players who just play small. Yes, Soderblom, also Rasmussen. But they have plenty of guys who are big enough to finish checks and just don't. There is clearly a culture issue. I'm only half joking here, but I think Mac should bring in Dan Campbell for the exit interviews because this team is missing grit.

I found Wheeler's piece weird because he said, "He doesn’t have obvious starter talent or size, but I could see him getting there or at the very least becoming a solid, reliable tandem goalie," while also saying that he almost ranked him over Cossa. Then he had Bear ranked over Danielson, MBN, and Finnie which had me wondering whether he is simply over-rating a prospect who has not yet shown himself in the NHL. But the elephant in the room here is why it seems that prospects and veterans come to the Wings and struggle, or leave the Wings then flourish. There is too much of a culture of not making mistakes and not enough of a culture of playing with 100% effort on every shift.