Red Wings March 2026 Games Thread

[buddha]

yzerman has to take the blame for this.  its his team now.

yet another year, yet another collapse.  enough is enough.

pathetic.

[buddha]

i want to buy a ticket for their next home game just to boo them.

pathetic.  

[GalagaGuy]

[Shinzaki]

Small tweaks on the edges aren't getting it done.  Time to move on.  Other than Cat, Simon and Mo...clear it out 

[Jason_R]

He dropped the gloves last night. 

[1984Echoes]

PATHETIC.

Just...

Absolutely...

pathetic.

[1984Echoes]

I'm on board with... moving out all the past-their-prime vets and bringing up a bunch of kids.

Let them struggle. Let them make rookie mistakes.

Let them rise to the occasion if they are able to do so.

Send anyone who can't get past their struggles back down to GR for more seasoning.

If it's a bad year and we finish bottom 10 team sobeit.

Just...

Do...

Something...

Different.

[Jason_R]

Wouldn’t it be nice if Kenny had drafted one of the fifteen players in 2017 who were picked behind Rasmussen but have better career numbers? But why draft Robert Thomas or Jason Robertson when you can dream about putting together a trade package for them eight years later. 

[1984Echoes]

Jettison:

Hamonic, JVR, Compher, Perron, Talbot.

Rasmussen? 

Should Albert Johansson be on the trading block along with Compher and Ras? Who would want any of them? A bottom-feeder looking for a "vet" for a future 6th or 7th? DO IT Yzerman!!!

And DON'T replace them with more horse **** "veterans" that are past their prime or not any good to begin with.

Excuse my language but... Bring up the ****ing kids and ride them to WHATEVER record we get with them.

DO something DIFFERENT Yzerman!

YEEESH!!!

Pathetic.

[lordstanley]

Larkin has to be traded this summer. 

[lordstanley]

5-7-2 for 12 pts in 14 games in March. 7-11-3 for 17 pts in 21 games since late January - only the Canucks have been worse. 

[sagnam]

1 hour ago, lordstanley said:

Larkin has to be traded this summer. 

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

[Jason_R]

5 hours ago, lordstanley said:

Larkin has to be traded this summer. 

Seider is the only untouchable IMO but it is hard to imagine a Larkin trade that makes the team better. Not saying there isn’t one but you’d need to get one of about 25 top centers back just to tread water. 

I’m not sure Larkin is the problem though. I still see too many players that are just here for the paycheck with not enough competition to force them to earn it. 

I’ve said it before but the rebuild isn’t over until Copp, Compher, and Rasmussen are off the books and replaced by some combination of Danielson, MBN, Lombardi, Genborg, Bear, and maybe a free agent. And in the meantime, re-sign DeBrincat. 

[Sports_Freak]

So, the cupboards were bare when Stevie took over....I agree. But is it asking too much to even make at least one playoff appearance after 9 years? I know we had some unlucky draft positions but...9 years? Is his seat getting hot?

[buddha]

you need a management change.

[Jason_R]

The management change needed was to trade out Ken Holland for Jim Nill. 

[buddha]

8 minutes ago, Jason_R said:

The management change needed was to trade out Ken Holland for Jim Nill. 

yes.

but the current management team hasnt done enough to keep their jobs, imo.  theyve been passed by multiple other organizations, some of whom have no business passing them (boston, pittsburgh, and possibly philly).

im yzerman's biggest fan.  in fact, he can stay.  but there needs to be some serious changes to the front office if he does.

otoh, if they wanted to overhaul to entire front office, get rid of the reliance on former red wing players, and start with a fresh new approach, that would be fine too.  probably even preferable.

[Jason_R]

Other than Celebrini, 9 of the top 10 current NHL points leaders were drafted in 2015 or earlier. Four were drafted ten seasons ago (2015), one eleven seasons ago, one twelve seasons ago, one thirteen seasons ago (David Pastrnak, drafted after Larkin), and two fourteen seasons ago. 

It is tough to hear but we are still paying the price for Holland’s poor drafting today and will still be paying the price for it for another five seasons easily. 

A long rebuild was inevitable and the only one with a leash long enough for it is Steve Yzerman. 

[lordstanley]

6 hours ago, Jason_R said:

Seider is the only untouchable IMO but it is hard to imagine a Larkin trade that makes the team better. Not saying there isn’t one but you’d need to get one of about 25 top centers back just to tread water. 

 

You trade him for a package of picks and prospects and then turn around and trade those picks and prospects for someone similar to Larkin but a few years younger. Supplement with a prospect or pick of our own if necessary. So 3 teams involved, even if it's not actually a 3-team trade. At least resets the clock to an extent.

[lordstanley]

57 minutes ago, Jason_R said:

Other than Celebrini, 9 of the top 10 current NHL points leaders were drafted in 2015 or earlier. Four were drafted ten seasons ago (2015), one eleven seasons ago, one twelve seasons ago, one thirteen seasons ago (David Pastrnak, drafted after Larkin), and two fourteen seasons ago. 

It is tough to hear but we are still paying the price for Holland’s poor drafting today and will still be paying the price for it for another five seasons easily. 

A long rebuild was inevitable and the only one with a leash long enough for it is Steve Yzerman. 

The depressing thing though is that we were just as excited about this prospect pool - ranked top 10 at the time - as we are about today's prospect pool. And that was in 2014, when the Wings had made the playoffs 23 consecutive seasons, won a Cup six years earlier, been to an SCF five years earlier, and had pushed the Hawks to Game 7 of the 2nd round a year earlier. I'm not arguing that some of Kaspar, Danielson, MBN, ASP, Bear, Cossa, Augustine, Lombardi will become NHL players. But it's starting to look they might turn out like any random batch of mid-1st round prospects, which many teams have. This idea of "we're not building to make the playoffs, we're building to win the Cup" is the part that we all should have serious doubts about.

1. Anthony Mantha, RW
2. Dylan Larkin, C
3. Xavier Oullett, D
4. Ryan Sproul, D
5. Teemu Pulkkinen, LW
6. Petr Mrazek, G
7. Mattias Backman, D
8. Tyler Bertuzzi, LW
9. Axel Holmstrom, C
10. Alexey Marchenko, D

Edited 22 hours ago by lordstanley

[Jason_R]

54 minutes ago, buddha said:

yes.

but the current management team hasnt done enough to keep their jobs, imo.  theyve been passed by multiple other organizations, some of whom have no business passing them (boston, pittsburgh, and possibly philly).

im yzerman's biggest fan.  in fact, he can stay.  but there needs to be some serious changes to the front office if he does.

otoh, if they wanted to overhaul to entire front office, get rid of the reliance on former red wing players, and start with a fresh new approach, that would be fine too.  probably even preferable.

There is clearly something off in the locker room. I don’t know what it is. Maybe there is something stifling about the culture of the old Red Wings dynasty in the front office. Maybe it is just that they have a lot of small players, and big players who play small. I tend to think the latter explains a lot. They are still relying a lot on hired guns. 

The interesting thing to me about this season is what’s going on in Grand Rapids. The Griffins are having a great season, despite injuries to Danielson and Mazur. I get that a lot of those players are past prospect status and a lot of the prospects will never make it. But the kids are now playing meaningful hockey in a system where they have to earn their ice time. 

This is a big offseason for Yzerman. He can’t do nothing. I believe he took a swing at Thomas and at Petterson at the trade deadline and couldn’t make either work. I expect him to bring in a top-six forward with some size. Fingers crossed. 

[Jason_R]

16 minutes ago, lordstanley said:

The depressing thing though is that we were just as excited about this prospect pool - ranked top 10 at the time - as we are about today's prospect pool. And that was in 2014, when the Wings had made the playoffs 23 consecutive seasons, won a Cup six years earlier, been to an SCF five years earlier, and had pushed the Hawks to Game 7 of the 2nd round a year earlier. I'm not arguing that some of Kaspar, Danielson, MBN, ASP, Bear, Cossa, Augustine, Lombardi will become NHL players. But it's starting to look they might turn out like any random batch of mid-1st round prospects, which many teams have. This idea of "we're not building to make the playoffs, we're building to win the Cup" is the part that we all should have serious doubts about.

1. Anthony Mantha, RW
2. Dylan Larkin, C
3. Xavier Oullett, D
4. Ryan Sproul, D
5. Teemu Pulkkinen, LW
6. Petr Mrazek, G
7. Mattias Backman, D
8. Tyler Bertuzzi, LW
9. Axel Holmstrom, C
10. Alexey Marchenko, D

The Mantha trade has not worked out. If there is a culture problem in Detroit, the explanation for it runs through the question of why both Mantha and apparently Soderblom are flourishing in Pittsburgh when we couldn’t get rid of them fast enough. 

[buddha]

i think sidney crosby and evgeni malkin make a lot of players better.  including mantha and chinakov.

larkin made kasper a lot better last year.  then they decided kasper had to be a center and he went right back to underperformance (given his draft position).  in the brief times he has returned to line one this season, the production has not followed.

the grand rapids success has been built off veteran AAAA players, not prospect success.  

all the things the "prospect gurus" said about danielson and kasper (good, solid players who are more likely to end up as low second, high third line players) appears to be true.  asp is too small.  lombardi is too small.  mazur is too small.  mbn is too slow.  tuomisto cant skate.  wallinder doesnt play with size.  

the wings "have a type."  hard working, responsible players.  no more mantha's and athanasiou's for detroit.  well....they have worked their way to being in the bottom of the middle of the league.  theyre in the worst possible position: not good enough to make the playoffs and not bad enough to get a star.

they may be in the worst position in the entire league.

i think jason is right that detroit was in a bad spot when yzerman got here.  i think yzerman is on the seider/raymond timeline, not the larkin timeline.  but its been 7 years now and you STILL cant find a defense prospect to replace ben chairot?  how many drafts do you need?

if johansson v.2 hits, genborg hits, lombardi grows, mazur gets a better doctor, danielson find some magic beans that make him aggressive, asp starts lifting weights, and mbn learns to finish, maybe they have something?

but right now kasper and danielson look more like andrew copp than dylan larkin.  asp's ceiling is gotishbere and not karlsson.  mbn looks like a plugger.  

that equals borderline playoff team forever.  is that what we want?

[buddha]

37 minutes ago, Jason_R said:

The Mantha trade has not worked out. If there is a culture problem in Detroit, the explanation for it runs through the question of why both Mantha and apparently Soderblom are flourishing in Pittsburgh when we couldn’t get rid of them fast enough. 

mantha trade will depend on cossa, i think.  early returns on the trade are negative.

[Shinzaki]

If we're going to lose anyway...and since January 1st we have been pretty bad...I'd rather lose watching guys like Danielson, ASP, Lombardi, Cossa and MBN gaining experience.  

At least then we'd know if they can contribute at all down the line.

Edited 21 hours ago by Shinzaki