Mr.TaterSalad

What's wrong with a union leader as President? What's wrong with Ossoff, Khanna, or Van Hollen?

My top candidates for 2028 for the Democrats are not traditional names. I'm a big fan of Democrats running a progressive outsider, who doesn't have the stench of Washington DC on them. UAW President Shawn Fain, Association of Flight Attendants-CWA President Sara Nelson, and comedian Jon Leibowitz (Jon Stewart from the Daily Show) are three names I really like in this category. Republicans found success twice running a non-traditional candidate, who railed against the "political establishment" and said that Washington D.C. was broken and they would fix it. It would be nice to see a non-racist, non-sexist, non-bigoted, non-corrupt outsider run by the Democrats. Someone who can really change the narrative on the campaign trail, is themselves a dynamic personality, and is a good public speaker, capable of delivering a new message for Democrats. Fain, Nelson, and Leibowitz all fit this bill. If Democrats are going to run a traditional candidate in 2028, with a political background, I like Jon Ossoff a lot. Ossoff fits all the characteristics of a traditional politician that you'd like to have in that he's tall, square-jawed, good looking, dynamic speaker, and has an affable personality. He's also been doing a great job delivering a new message for the Democrats with his anti-corruption, good governance agenda he's rolled out on the campaign trail. He gives you some of what you like about the outsider candidates by crusading against the corruption, grift, and money in politics that has polluted Washington D.C. As far as other traditional politicians that I like, Chris Van Holland and Ro Khanna are probably higher on my list as well. While I like AOC, I would much prefer her to run for Senate in New York, take Chuck Schumer's seat, and then run for President down the line. She's young enough that she has plenty of time to run in the future. If Elizabeth Warren were 10 years younger, she'd be at the top of my list far and away. America really blew it not making this woman President. She would have been such a smart, savvy, people-focused leader for this nation. As for who I don't like, anyone who gives off the vibe of representing the status quo and the worst of government. People like Kamala Harris, Gavin Newsom, Gretchen Whitmer don't represent fundamental, systemic change. To me, they represent a rehash of the past or more of the same old same old in politics.

Turning in my ballot today for Jocelyn Benson for Governor and Dr. Abdul El-Sayed for Senate. Happy to vote for Abdul. Happy to have a yardsign for Abdul in my front yard. Happier when he's my US Senator.

Throw in a pick with Misa and it's perfect. If we can't get a 1st, then a future 2nd.

Aren't draft picks and free agent signings binding decisions though? Why not transition him before the draft or start of free agency?

Not if they don't trade Larkin and go into the season with the current roster they have. I think they'll be second from the bottom in the Atlantic, but ahead of Toronto. I also think they'll have a better records than the Blue Jackets, Rangers, and Senators in the East and Blackhawks, Canucks Jets, and Kraken in the West. They will be stuck in purgatory and have somewhere between the 8th and 12th best lottery odds for the 1st overall pick. Larkin must be traded if they want to have good lottery odds for the #1 overall pick. Without it they are the 2010-2020 Pistons.

So you're taking the 4 1sts then if you can get them as opposed to paying him $12 million/per?

Per Jon Jansen from 97.1 . . .

Trump only hires the very best people. Same thing goes for Trump's ICE.

It depends on who the team is, but if we're rebuilding, 4 1st round picks is a very tempting offer. If is from a team that might still be drafting in the teens or early 20s over the next year or two, that's even more tempting.

Of course, it's a joke on the old "we only hire Michigan Men" bit from down the road in Ann Arbor.

The guy is a Michigan Man too, born and raised in Grand Rapids.

First and foremost, other than the Red Wings guys like Lidstrom, Horcoff, and Pushor, I know nothing about any of these guys listed. So who am I to pretend I know who the perfect replacement candidate is. I would naturally prefer someone from a successful, winning organization like a Carolina, Florida, or Vegas. But you can still find a winning GM from a less successful organization that one of those teams. What I want to see out of the next GM are the following things . . . 1. This person be given full autonomy to do what they want, when they want. I don't want an owner meddling and vetoing trades or personnel moves. The new GM should be able to make any changes they want to this roster and this front office staff. 2. They must embrace the idea that we need to rebuild this roster, not continue on with the status quo. The status quo hasn't worked and the current iteration of the rebuild has failed. The new GM must come in and make wholesale changes to this roster and work to acquire more top-end offensive talent. That's likely going to require drafting that talent with top 3-5 picks. Thus, the need to tare down the roster, tank, and start a new with high draft capital. 3. Embrace analytics and metrics. One thing some of the more successful teams of late have done, like Carolina, Colorado, Florida, and Vegas, has been their embrace of analytics. Yzerman seemed to shy away from Corsi and some of the newer analytical traits. They need an analytics department with a Director of Analytics helping to guide roster construction. It's a new era and this organization has to adopt to it. 4. Allow young players the opportunity to succeed or to fail. Going back to the Ken Holland days, and continuing on in the Yzerman era, there was at times an unwillingness and a reticence to allowing young players to come up and fail on the job. Every player has their own unique learning curve and develops on a different time table. But you have to allow each player to have an opportunity in the first place. if you keep them overseas, in the AHL, or in the press box, what are they truly learning there? Don't be afraid to call up a kid and watch him make mistakes and fail for a while. That failure will be apart of his learning curve and growth. Those mistakes, if he is a capable, smart, talented, and hardworking player will lead to his growth and production in the end. 5. Stop treating veterans as bars of gold. Yes, there are good veteran players that have made this team (and can make any team) better. DeBrinact, Gibson, Kane, are all clear examples of this. But don't suppress the growth and development of your under 24 years old players just because you want another veteran presence on this roster and you're afraid of them making a mistake. The treatment of veteran players as bars of gold and the unwillingness to allow young players to make mistakes on the job is how you end up with bad contracts and a failed rebuild. Appleton, Chiarot, Compher, Gustafsson, Husso, Perron 2.0, Petry, Talbot, and on are all examples of bad signings that did nothing but take up cap space and hold back young players. 6. Don't be a **** to your own players and recognize that you aren't always right about everything. Accept that some of your own guys will occasionally be critical of a move/s you make. Understand you aren't perfect and be open to constructive criticism and feedback from others in the front office and top guys on your roster. When you're a **** to your own guys, as Yzerman apparently was with Larkin, it makes them not want to stay here and it turns off other players from coming here in free agency or via trade. 7. Don't just hire your friends and family in the front office. Of course any GM in the league is going to bring in guys they are familiar with and trust. That's to be expected. But you also have to be willing to bring in new blood, guys that have modern ideas on how to build a team. Guys that aren't afraid to take chances on drafting and developing different types of players that who are already in your pipeline. 8. Not every forward has to be a two-way, defensively sound forward. It is ok to have guys on your roster who aren't two-way forwards and just offensive-minded players. Having a handful of offense first players, who don't give you a ton of defense is ok. If those guys are tough forecheckers, that's even better. But not every forward has to play defensively sound hockey. You can have guys that make defensive mistakes and cough up the puck occasionally because they are hella aggressive on the offensive end in the zone. 9. Don't be afraid of term length in contracts you give out to free agents or when exploring trades for players you'll have to extend. No one is saying you can't be shrewd and discern which players should and should not get longer terms on their contracts. No one is saying every guy you sign has to be 3-4 years+ on term. But don't be afraid to sign a guy to a big money deal, on a longer term contract. 10. Understand the importance of scoring depth. We are one of the least deep teams in the league when it comes to scoring. We barely roll out two full lines of players who can score above 12-15 goals and 30 points in a season. While you can't have a roster full of 60-70-80-90+ point guys, you do need more 40-45-50-55 points guys in the middle of your roster on the second and third lines. Carolina had 10 guys above 35 points on their roster this year, we had 6. Those four extra guys giving you another 50+ points for your team in goals and assists make a difference. You can't roll out third and fourth lines that contribute as little as ours do. You need more back end production. 11. Understand the importance of forechecking in today's game, especially in the East. We are not only one of the least deep teams in the Eat, we are clearly one of the softest teams. We need to get tougher on the forecheck. But this isn't about going out and bringing in more Darren McCarty's and Tony Twists. You need guys on the forecheck who will beat other teams down, take possession of the puck, and give you 35-40+ points in production. This is something Florida has done so well for the past 4-5 seasons and got them multiple cups. You can't build a roster that continues to be as soft on the forecheck as we have been.

A new GM should get full autonomy to bring in anyone they want and make any personnel changes they want. new coach, new assistant GMs, new scouts, new scouting directors. I would hope if a new GM comes in from outside the organization (ie not Draper) they would keep Hakan Andersson and his Europeans scouting staff. They've largely done a great job. I would hope they would make big changes to our North American scouting staff and to our pro-side scouting staff. Our drafting of North American players has been piss poor for a while now and changed need to be made.

That's why you put the squeeze on Larkin as a new GM. You go in and tell him that he can stay around and not expand his list of teams, but that you're going to be tanking to be as bad as possible. You essentially tell him that he hopes he enjoys spending the next 2-3 seasons on a 25 win team. Force him into expanding his list of trade partners or make him miserable on a losing team.

If he pulls his NMC, I hope the next GM calls his bluff and trades away everyone remotely good around him over the age of 25. So essentially getting rid of Cat, Copp, Faulk, and Gibson to force Larkin to submit and want to get traded.

For me, when it comes to the question of whether or not to rebuild, I have the same answer for any of the four major sports in North America. You have three good places you can be and one bad spot you can be in. The first good place a team can be in is win now mode. Win now mode is when a team is firmly committed to doing everything they can to try and win their league's championship right now. They are constantly looking to improve their roster through free agency and trades, making upgrades where necessary. Examples of teams in this category are Carolina, Colorado, Florida, Minnesota, and Vegas. The second good place a team can be in is up-and-coming mode or on the cusp of win now mode. This is a team with a ton of young talent that is maturing as a collective unit and ready to take that next step. They are ready to start adding more NHL-ready talent and pro players to add to their young core. They could surprise you with a deep run in the playoffs, but will be ready to win now within the next year. Examples of teams in this category are the San Jose Sharks and Montreal Canadians. The third good place a team can be in is rebuild mode. This is a team who is actively or has recently torn apart their roster with the explicit attempt to add more draft capital, add high end talent through high draft picks, and get younger overall. Teams in this mode aren't looking to sign NHL-ready players or pay big for veteran free agents. Examples of teams in this category are Chicago and Vancouver. Then there is the fourth category, the worst one you can be in. This one is purgatory. In any major sport, purgatory means you aren't bad enough to get high draft capital and top end talent. It means you're a middling team, signing free agents and making trades, but never in the conversation for the top players. You might make the playoffs once in a while, but usually you are the odd man out, sitting at the 9th or 10th seed. Examples of this team include Detroit. Us. That's where we are, in purgatory. We aren't bad enough to tank and compete for top draft capital. We aren't good enough to make the playoffs. We're still actively pursuing NHL players and overpaying for mediocre talent as a result. Top talent never wants to go to a team in purgatory. No team wins consistently here. No fan enjoys their team being here (at least they shouldn't). Our next GM, whoever it is, needs to commit fully to get us out of purgatory and do a full rebuild.

If you could get more draft capital or an organization's top prospect/s, then why not deal Cat. What's the point in keeping him if you're tanking and rebuilding? I say, why pass up on the future assets you can get for a guy whose timeline doesn't fit yours.

To me, fully rebuild means you are doing everything you can to get top lottery odds and ensure you have the #1 pick in next year's draft. We need to give ourselves the opportunity to draft the top player on our board. It means making an effort to get a true #1 center through the draft, capable of being a consistent 85-90+ point guy or at least getting a center who can anchor this franchise for years to come, even if they're only an 75-80 point guy. It means arming ourselves with as much draft capital as possible, being the OKC Thunder of the NHL, and going into a draft with 2-3-4 picks in a given year. If I am fully rebuilding I am trading all of Larkin, DeBrinact, Faulk, Arvidsson, Gibson, and maybe Copp for as much draft capital or prospects as possible. Larkin, Cat, Faulk, and Gibson should be able to net you firsts or top prospects in an organizations pipeline. If we are so bad we only win 20-25 games next year and we position ourselves to have top lottery odds, that's a good thing IMO.

And Michigan won a National Championship thanks to him. They cannot promote Draper or Horcoff. They need to bring in a fresh set of eyes outside of the organization, just as Michigan did with Dusty.

With Steve Yzerman out as GM of the Red Wings, should the new GM come in and fully rebuild the roster or should they continue with the current roster and try to win now?

If they just promote Draper than this will be a failure. No more "Michigan Man" thing. Go get your Dusty May. Bring in a guy from outside the organization, who has no association with the franchise first and foremost. Get a GM who is good at scouting draft prospects and understands you have to build a team with top end talent through the draft. A GM who isn't married to veteran players and will allow kids to come up, make mistakes, and learn on the job. A GM who won't be a prick to his own players and will show them respect. A GM who will be smart, aggressive, and won't ball bust every free agent over a couple million bucks.

FOR THE LOVE OF GOD PELASE REBUILD!!!!

HOLY ****! I'M STUNNED!

No need to eb desperate though, that's the thing. If our GM would just recognize the rebuild isn't working and hit the reset button we could be in a better direction.