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March 2024 Game Thread


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When Tampa was controlling the play for so long in the third period...I did not think we were even getting a point.

Some rumblings on 97.1 before the game the game regarding a possible change behind the bench after the season 

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Posted (edited)
1 hour ago, Shinzaki said:

When Tampa was controlling the play for so long in the third period...I did not think we were even getting a point.

Some rumblings on 97.1 before the game the game regarding a possible change behind the bench after the season 

I think Lalonde’s job should be in jeopardy if the Wings miss the playoffs. 3-10-2 is amazing, especially with many of those games not even being competitive. He will definitely keep his job though into next season.  Yzerman likes him, Yzerman chose him, and when all is said and done the Wings likely will show around 10 points  improvement over last season’s 80 pts. Firing him would be admitting that the expectation for this season was playoffs. I think that should have been the expectation, but Yzerman denies it. 

Edited by lordstanley
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Edvinssson screwed by the scorer, should have gotten an assist on the last goal, and he should have been up a month ago. Have no idea what the org was thinking on him.

Larkin still doesn't look 100% to me - he's gutting it out. 

Veleno has played himself into Lalondes penalty box. Perron suddenly re-appears.

 

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7 minutes ago, 1984Echoes said:

Yzerman would broom out Lalonde if he could garner a huge coaching upgrade.

But I don't think there are all that many of those out there...

Is Berube a "clear" upgrade over Lalonde?

IDK about Lalonde. When he started out, he took pretty much the same team that Blashill had and had them player faster, pressuring the puck better, etc. But the team we have seen too much of last month looks painfully like it's reverted to Blashill's last season - i.e. sloppy passing and unable to pressure the puck in the D zone. But at this point we at least believe the talent has been upgraded - so why the regression? Wings need more speed and more size - or at least more toughness, up front; more of what was hoped for in Mantha and Ras and which neither turned into. Also a combination nobody is trading away.

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24 minutes ago, gehringer_2 said:

... But the team we have seen too much of last month looks painfully like it's reverted to Blashill's last season - i.e. sloppy passing and unable to pressure the puck in the D zone... Wings need more speed and more size - or at least more toughness, up front...

To break it down more simply:

They need a higher level of talent.

Yzerman has patched together a competitive team. But he's using lots of bubble gum and Elmer's glue.

The more extensive list of problems as a result of that:

It's a good enough job to make the team playoff-competitive, but we also can see ALL of the warts that go along with that: With almost nothing in high-end skills: (A) Larkin goes down and we nosedive; (B) As you've pointed out, our puck control is ****, leading to all sorts of problems: 1. The other team has control of the puck way too long, and we're always on the losing end of shot attempts. 2. So that means our goalie has to constantly win games for us. 3. Our passing is beyond sloppy. 4. We dump and chase versus having controlled entries into the offensive zone... That's improving, but we have a ways to go. 5. It seems the other teams' almost always control the entry into our zone, it's always a goal chance for them. 6. We don't control our entries so we fight for puck control after a dump & chase which SOMETIMES leads to a potential scoring chance but MOSTLY just hands control of the puck back over to the other team. 7. We run into CONSTANT turnovers due to our lack of puck control and/or passing. 8. We scrap for pucks and goals... which is getting us wins and maybe even into the playoffs this year... but that's not enough for sustainability, nor reaching the HIGHER level of playoff competitiveness that EVERYONE wants for this team...

I am all on-board with Yzerman building us a playoff-competitive team, even one built out of pieces and parts, because... it's time.

But in order to turn this Pinocchio into a "REAL boy"...

They have to get a higher skill level.

Edvinsson is a huge part of that... Noone is able to outreach him for the puck when it's on his stick, and he shields it so well anyways. Noone is able to knock him off the puck either, which, I don't know if you would call that "toughness", but it has the same effect.

We need to move off of flawed skill and/or defense players: Like Gostisbehere, Petry, Perron, maybe even Veleno, and replace them with some of the kids that Yzerman has lined up. I know that's a scary thought for quite a lot of people, including Yzerman... but it needs to be done.

That means, Kasper, Cossa, Tuomisto, and maybe even Wallinder and Mazur (I don't know if the last two are NHL-ready... but I'll just throw out a guess that they are...). They are faster, bigger, stronger on the puck, etc... than what we have.

I think we need to re-sign Kane for two years. He's not a perfect solution, but I think he is basically a "coach on ice", similar to a "Larionov", trying to teach the rest of the team how to pass and puck control better... Just my thoughts on that.

Finally, Yzerman needs to find some money somewhere, to be able to invest in at least one high-end top-6 forward talent. By free agency or trade or however he can. Just my 'pinion...

 

 

Edited by 1984Echoes
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18 minutes ago, 1984Echoes said:

I think we need to re-sign Kane for two years.

I wouldn't be averse, but it they could get Stamkos this off-season that might be better. But one old $$$ guy is probably enough.

Edited by gehringer_2
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Stamkos, based on age and potential contract demands (exceeding the cost of Kane, IMO...), makes me prefer Kane.

Kane was a special situation because of the injury (and had already played with the Rangers last year after accepting a trade). Leading to:

I think Kane would stick with us on a team-friendly veteran contract versus the cost of chasing Stamkos. So I wanna stick with Kane and instead chase after a younger/ higher-end free agent. I don't know if Yzerman can make the money work (Aside from some expensive extensions on our horizon, he'd also have to move several veterans either by not re-signing them as free agents or by actively trading them...), or if the player would have any willingness to come to Detroit, but I am looking at someone like: Sam Reinhart (highly unlikely), Jake Guentzel (??? maybe have a shot?), Elias Lindholm (VERY high on my want list...), Stamkos as a fallback (maybe...?)

Just thinking out loud here...

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3 minutes ago, 1984Echoes said:

Stamkos, based on age and potential contract demands (exceeding the cost of Kane, IMO...), makes me prefer Kane.

Kane was a special situation because of the injury (and had already played with the Rangers last year after accepting a trade). Leading to:

IDK if Kane will have any soft hearted feeling for the Wings that would  translate into $$ or not. Maybe depends on how the rest of the season goes! The attraction of Stamkos of course is that he is a center. His +/- is in the tank this season though. +/- may be a crappy stat but it's still not a good sign. Probably a moot question, if TB makes a decent playoff effort I think they find a way to retain him.

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They're having cap issues so he might free up. He's already stated how disappointed he is in their offers, or lack thereof...

But I still think he's not much different than Kane and will end up costing quite a bit more than him. I'd rather earmark for Kane and another top-6 forward separately so I consider them two different players. 

And Kane versus Reinhart/ Lindholm/ Guentzel loses, IMO. Given that Yzerman can make the money work, of course...

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