The Red Wings need Michael Del Zotto

[yave1964]

  The New York Rangers are actively pursuing a trade for 23 year old Del Zotto who has gotten off to a rough start this year and took a lot of blame for the Rangers slow start. Rumored to be in the market for a young cap friendly forward, the Wings seem to be a team who Sather needs to contact and make something happen.

  I LOVE Del Zotto, as a 19 year old he scored 9 goals and 37 points, followed by a horrendous sophomore season, then bounced back with 10 goals and 41 points and a plus 20.

  Very cap friendly for this year and a RFA the Wings will have tons of cap room to insure locking him up if we can pry him away from the Rangers. For the life of me I cannot figure out what Slats is thinking even entertaining offers for a 23 year old puck moving blueliner with upside. The Wings are up against the cap so the Rangers would have to take a contract to make it happen, as far as the NHL ready youngster I would say:

 

TATAR: Love the kid, love his motor but if that was the cost so be it, in a heart beat.

 

NYQUIST  I would have to swallow hard and just do it. We have an absolute ton of forwards in Grand Rapids and below and as much as I feel Gus has not had a fair shake if he is the price to get Del Zotto we gotta do it.

  Lidstrom retired two years ago. Since then we have made a splash for a few forwards but have not added a single impact blueliner and it shows. We lost Lidstrom and Brad Stuart, followed by Ian White and other than a few games of Colaiacovo and five minutes or so from Kent Huskins we have stayed in the organization which is noble but not working. Brendan Smith has bombed, sadly I loved the kid in college and enjoyed watching him grow at Grand Rapids, Lashoff is okay, Dekeyser separating his shoulder kills us. Del Zotto fills the role we need for now and the future. Someone wake Holland up and tell him to go and make it happen.

[SpikeDDS]

I think Tatar is what you lose if you need to...if you can get NY to bite. I say no on Nyquist. Gus is too valuable right now. Unfortunately, right now the RWs need to split up Pav & Z, and Nyquist is the key to getting 2 dangerous lines. Helm's return plays a significant role too--he has definitely made an impact--but Gus is the key that let's Pav & Z drive the bus, and doesn't allow opponents to focus on 1 line in order to contain this team.

I called it before the season started: I understood why they left Gus in GR. I didn't like it, but I understood it. But I said back then that Gus will play hard in GR and FORCE the Wings to bring him up, and I think he has done just that. Scores on his first shift. Scores the game winner. Draws a penalty helping us go 2 men up. Great game for him. Good game for us. DESPERATELY needed win!

I don't know what Kronwall's deal is, but he is not having a good season so far. He is not playing disciplined hockey. The loss of DK hurts. Badly. And you've gotta wonder with 2 injuries in so short a career so far if he might be injury-prone. I agree to go after Del Zotto, but don't give away the store.

[yave1964]

@SpikeDDS

 

  I know saying trade Gus if you gotta after that absolutely remarkble game he had, (he almost had a goal in the second two which would have given him a hat trick, how cool would that have been?) makes me look like i have lost my mind but:

 

  We desperately need someone of Del Zotto's caliber AND

 

We have so many near NHL ready forwards chomping at the bit it is unreal. Ferraro, Glendening and Sheahan all fill the bill, two of my favorite prospects are getting used to the North American game, Pulkinen and Jarmkrok. If the cost is Gus to land Del Zotto so be it. I agree with everything you said about the way he has played at Grand Rapids and agree he is special but we have the forward depth to make a deal while we do not have a d-man in the system anywhere near Del Zotto's abilities. Marchenko maybe but he is years away. Sproul has ability but more of a stay at home player. And one of my favorites, Adam Almquist has offensive aility but will get pushed off the puck easy because he is too small.I know Holland hardly ever makes deals anymore, the least of any team in hockey over the past decade by a mile but cmon we need this guy and damn the cost.

[WingNut722]

@yave1964

 

I'm not sure the Red Wings need Del Zotto right now.  I certainly wouldn't hurry up the trade just to get him.  He is definitely having a slow season this year, and $2.5 million is a lot of money to spend on someone who's up in the air now.  The Rangers woes right now are hardly focused on Del Zotto.  Nash took a lot of time off and King Henrik also had a rough start, so I'm not exactly sure why Sather is so keen on getting rid of him.  Over the last few seasons, you have been a very big proponent for acquiring an effective defenseman.  However, I don't have too much of an issue with Detroit's blueline right now.  If Kronwall can snap out of his funk, it will help to make up for the loss of DeKeyser.  I think the issue is more in the net.  Gustavsson/Mrazek are playing adequately for backups, but Jimmy has to be lights-out.  Something is getting in his head and he's blowing a lot of easy saves and constantly giving up juicy rebounds.  Jimmy actively challenges goal scorers by coming out of the crease, but he needs to catch to puck or stop it dead.  There are too many goals from second chances that are scooped up on a 15 foot rebound with Howard way out of the paint.  

 

Despite that though, Detroit is allowing 2.65 goals against per game, which is right in the middle of the pack, but in Goals For, they are down in the bottom third.  They need to make some chances and start getting some goals.  There is way to much goal scoring talent in that locker room.  Hopefully Alfie and Weiss will be back soon, refreshed, rejuvenated, and ready to Rock 'n' Ruin.  I'll bet you 5 HF Tokens that Weiss makes a respectable comeback by the trade deadline. 

[yave1964]

@WingNut722

What is absolutely killing me with Jimmy is how many goals he is giving up with only a minute or so left in a period. It is like his concentration goes away or something, I don't know. It is frustrating, a few years ago he was money with a minute or two in a period. No more.

  I really am not worried about Weiss. He is doing all of the little things, except scoring. Part of that IMHO is because he is doing so well on faceoffs Babs is giving him too many defensive zone faceoffs. Hard to score from 200 feet lol, but I agree I think he will turn it around by the end of the year. Lots of season to go.

[WingNut722]

@yave1964

 

I had a thought the other day, that the team might be psyching themselves out and there is one person who is completely to blame for that -- Daniel Alfredsson.

 

It seems Mr. Alfredsson has come to Detroit looking a Stanley Cup in what is expected to be his Swan Song and accompanying graceful exit from the National Hockey League.  It may be that the Red Wings are now "trying" to play harder for Alfie's sake to get him that Cup (and you just KNOW Zetterberg would hand it off to him first...).  It's possible this idea is getting into their heads and they're feeling pressure.  Maybe not, maybe they're above that kind of juvenile stuff.  But you never know......

[yave1964]

@WingNut722

  I could see that. Kind of like when we picked up Hossa from the Penguins to get him his cup, only to wind up with egg on our face when we didn't close the deal for Hossa and Conklin. They just need to relax and play Wings hockey.

  One thing I saw last night that I haven't saw all season, not a single game was a strategic change, every single time the Wings crossed the blue line the d-men were firing booming slappers on net. It was semi effective, the Canes had to start respecting the defensemen and could not collapse down low, and even though the shots for the most part were wide or poor percentage it shook the Canes up and gave more room for our forwards. I loved it, positively loved it and hope to see more of it the rest of the way. It was a complete change in plans from the first 20 games, again, hope to see more of it.

[WingNut722]

@yave1964

 

I was unable to watch the game but I do recognize the change in zone philosophy.  Many teams have been catching onto the puck possession style the Wings have played for the last 15 years.  AN effective defense has been to line up all players on the blue line to disrupt the entry and knock the Wings off the puck.  This is a much better way to confound that setup, plus it keeps the goalie on his toes too, and helps keep him off balance.  Nearly 50 shots last night in regulation.  Real happy to see that.

[SpikeDDS]

I missed seeing Pav's 30-second 3-on-5 solo Keep Away performance last night. If anyone happens to be able to find that and post it, I'd love to watch it.

[SpikeDDS]

@SpikeDDS

 

  I know saying trade Gus if you gotta after that absolutely remarkble game he had, (he almost had a goal in the second two which would have given him a hat trick, how cool would that have been?) makes me look like i have lost my mind but:

 

  We desperately need someone of Del Zotto's caliber AND

 

We have so many near NHL ready forwards chomping at the bit it is unreal. Ferraro, Glendening and Sheahan all fill the bill, two of my favorite prospects are getting used to the North American game, Pulkinen and Jarmkrok. If the cost is Gus to land Del Zotto so be it. I agree with everything you said about the way he has played at Grand Rapids and agree he is special but we have the forward depth to make a deal while we do not have a d-man in the system anywhere near Del Zotto's abilities. Marchenko maybe but he is years away. Sproul has ability but more of a stay at home player. And one of my favorites, Adam Almquist has offensive aility but will get pushed off the puck easy because he is too small.I know Holland hardly ever makes deals anymore, the least of any team in hockey over the past decade by a mile but cmon we need this guy and damn the cost.

 

I wouldn't say you've lost your mind, I just think you're giving up too much too soon. I think Gus would be one of those that we would look at what he does after he leaves and want a take-back. He's got a pretty good price too, don't forget. I think he's excellent value right now. And we need goals more than we need D, if you look at our stats.

 

 

@WingNut722

What is absolutely killing me with Jimmy is how many goals he is giving up with only a minute or so left in a period. It is like his concentration goes away or something, I don't know. It is frustrating, a few years ago he was money with a minute or two in a period. No more.

  I really am not worried about Weiss. He is doing all of the little things, except scoring. Part of that IMHO is because he is doing so well on faceoffs Babs is giving him too many defensive zone faceoffs. Hard to score from 200 feet lol, but I agree I think he will turn it around by the end of the year. Lots of season to go.

 

Many of these have not been Jimmy's fault. I think the team lets down mentally, and yeah it would be nice for Jimmy to stop a few more than he has, but the bigger problem is that we are wrapping up gifts and giving them away with 30 seconds to go. Jimmy can't stop them all, especially when you give them away like we have. Less his fault than the team's IMHO. He's not killing me. The team is though, and as good as he's played in many of these games, where we've been outshot my wide margins, it's hard for me to get too tough on him.

[jammer2]

  Babcock would HATE Del Zotto on his team. His defensive play is non existent. He would find himself in the dog house real quick. I guess if you paired him with a reliable vet like Kronwall, it would take some of the heat off him. Despite the excellent point shot, I don't see him fitting in with the Wings. He would be a HUGE liability in the playoffs, opposing coachs would be licking their chops when the get the last switch at home and getting their stars out against him. I honestly think he will be out of hockey in 2-3 years, his work ethic is that bad. I just don't see a lot of upside here, keeps making the same mistakes over and over again. 

[WingNut722]

Very good point @jammer2.  Another good reason to just leave him be.