sagnam

Maybe send him to NJ so we can get the Hughes brothers.

This team was proped up for a bulk of the season by Gibson and he had to be unbeatable for this team to win. I hate to say maybe next year because what’s there to look forward to? More of the same? Maybe a rookie who struggles because they didn’t play this season and will eventually get sent back to the AHL in favor of some average vet. Who am I kidding? I’ll watch next year too.

Lions sign S Chuck Clark

Oh boy

Lions forced Frank Ragnow to pay back part of his signing bonus when he retired I’m not a fan. Signing bonus should be the players money at signing. I don’t care if they retire the next day. Milestone bonuses are different obviously.

It’s possible Lions offered him immediately and they signed his replacement later. I’m not worried about him leaving, especially if he was somehow blocking TeSlaa, but they have entirely different skill sets so playing Raymond over him last year was a decision.

Kalif Raymond: I chose Bears over Lions to play in Ben Johnson’s offense

Yeah, the draft was 100% the time. I said earlier I’d have done a 1st, ASP, and Danielson and more. I wouldn’t have included Edvinsson though, that would be too much for me.

You might be on to something. Maybe it’s becuase of Larkin that they don’t want to sign here.

The point was that the Hughes brothers playing together isn’t tied to NJ. It could just as easily be Larkin and his NJ-esque magnetism. But without either one here already it’s infinitely less likely.

It’s been 2 years for 24. I’m fine if you want to bring this up next year for 25. Didn’t take 3 years to know for 2021, 2022 ,or 2023, which kinda proves the point.

Brad sure is living high off the first three drafts. He’s been objectively bad the last two. Not sure I’m still on the side of “In Brad we Trust” anymore. He’s going to have to actually draft a playmaker again for me to believe. I don’t trust that we actually know how he builds a board given his best drafts were when he needed everything. Since then he’s drafted very much for need and it shows. Unless we want to believe that Arnold and Williams were the best players left regardless of positions, and not his highest rated CB and DL. This team would look a lot better with Emmanwori right now. Of course we didn’t need safety help so he wasn’t in consideration. 2022/23 he probably would have been. BPA is a fallacy. Brad has shown he can identify great players. Now he needs to show he can find good players at positions the team needs, or he needs to start drafting great players again even if he already has good players at those positions and then figure out what to do with the extras.

Why would anyone want to come to Detroit? Players want to get paid first, and ideally win too. What do you expect if you are an organization that has shown to not make moves to get better but instead sign a middling free agent or two and then rely on draft and develop while also burying your drafted players in the AHL. I believe this shows players that this organization cares more about future teams than the current one. It was bad enough that Larkin, who is apparently a pretty good teammate and a guy who has been through the worst, finally got fed up and said something. It’s a common issue with sports teams. Wanting to protect future potential, which primarily benefits the owner and GM, at the cost of immediate help, which primarily hurts the fans and players. Spending future assets to make the playoffs and potentially win a cup should outweigh hoarding draft picks and collecting prospects in the AHL. It was completely possible that Quinn Hughes could have led to Jack Hughes. If everyone really loves Larkin then why not? There is nothing magical about NJ. Instead we kept ASP and Danielson in the AHL, so now this season is probably lost, and there is no guarantee either of those guy are in the NHL next year. Maybe they just don’t have it.

Having an offense that has no toughness and that needs to dump because then can’t carry the zone is not a recipe for success. Your goalie can only steal so many games. Pick one, abrasive or skilled. Not abrasive and not skilled shouldn’t be an option. I’d rather have ASP making mistakes but moving the puck than this dump and retreat style we are playing now.

I assumed this was the case when they signed him. I wouldn’t be surprised if they don’t draft an OT with a realistic shot to play.