I was looking at the wings salary cap situation. Oy vey...

Not looking good boys. At least not from what I'd like to see.

I could go on about the contracts and money that we're stuck with like Howard, Franzen etc. Or the re-signings that we need to do like DDK.

But there's more to this. Do you compare? If you asked wings fans what roster they'd rather have - LA or Detroit, the answer probably should be LA. Well, they're looking at a first round exit (granted they didn't limp in to the playoffs). So who's more successful?

Well for Holland, success is probably measured by at least two facets: revenue and of course cup wins or cup final appearances.

But for fans, there's a multitude of measures.

The bottom line says (if we bust and LA busts - just as an example) we are just as successful as LA and should be as content as their fans (generally). Except for the quality of hockey in LA is better, the end result was the same.

I'm at work so I won't continue to extrapolate right now.
Just curious if anyone tries to reason like that or if they would be content with a first round exit as long as the quality of hockey was better.
For instance- not having the worst power play or PK I've ever seen or having the ability to break out. Or having the ability to establish zone presence and hold it for longer than one shot.

Would you be (more) content with a first round exit if the quality of hockey wasn't as trash as it is currently?

Hate to even suggest it because it isn't the red wing way, but if Pav retires and his contract isn't traded to a cap minimum team, Holland will be playing with an $11m handicap between him and franzen. I would expect a top 10 or even top 5 pick if that's the case.

DDK and Mrazek deserve to get paid, now is a good time to lock them down for 6-7 years, maybe 4-5 for Mrazek after the Howard fiasco. That means helm, quincey, andersen, and Miller walk at a minimum, unless miller will take $1m again. That all comes with the caveat that Tatar will be looking to get paid gus money or better once Pav's contract is up, and AA and Larkin will need decent bridges at the least.

The only way I see around trading Pav is if DDK and Mrazek take two year, 4-ish million contracts, maybe with a full NMC so they know wings will protect them in expansion. After that though, both price tags go up at least 2m per year from if they sign them now long term.

And Stealth I always prefer better hockey, lol.

This post was edited by dxlightning on Apr 21 2016 09:50am

The 2003 Redwings were a 1st round exit as the #1 seed. Does that mean we should compare them to the 2016 Redwings because same success? Absolutely not, the 2003 Redwings were a much better team and a Stanley Cup contender as they won the year before and still have a stacked roster. They ran into a hot goalie + the Stanley Cup hangover was there and the effort was abysmal as reasons for the exit.

We cannot compare LA or Chicago to Detroit just because they are going to be 1st round exits this year. Because regardless of results, Chicago and LA are simply the better team. Let me ask this question. Are you afraid of Detroit when you have a 3-1 series lead on them? No, noone fears Detroit. Are you still afraid or nervous of LA or Chicago even when your up 3-1? Yes because you know they are good enough to come back. You just know they have that ability.

If Holland is going to use other teams first round exits and say same success as Detroit, then he needs to be fired ASAP

why would u guys be stuck with pavs contract?
did he sign it at 35+? if not no recapture
hes 36 now and iirc has been under contract for years?

This post was edited by dragoneth on Apr 21 2016 10:40am

He signed a 3 year contract in the summer he turned 36.

He's 37 now. 38 in july.

This post was edited by dxlightning on Apr 21 2016 10:41am

rip

Right. Of course I don't think first rd exits are all equal.
Mostly I was just bored at work thinking out loud.

If I were to write more it would have played in to the current playoff format where at least one top team in the league is guaranteed a first rd exit in the current structure.
Tsn had a good think piece on it. This year one of the top four teams in the league is guaranteed a first rd exit. And the question was should that be adjusted based on playoff structure

This post was edited by Stealth on Apr 21 2016 11:10am

Bit confused how one of the top four teams is going to have a first round exit. Washington, Dallas, St Louis, and Pittsburgh all seem to be moving on barring complete meltdowns. And if you're talking about seeds, it wouldn't be much different in the old playoff structure.

Ok 1-5 seeds

Chicago and stl finished 3 and 5 in the entire NHL and one is guaranteed a first rd exit.

It was a #mondayMustRead on tsn and I thought it was interesting. Talk about whether or not a straight 1-16 NHL standings bracket would work etc.

Owners would never go for it nor would the fans. As much as LA vs NYR might be interesting, you'd have half the games televised at 4pm in LA and half the games at 10pm in NYR. Bad travel and certainly bad for viewership. Gives a competitive advantage to teams that barely traveled. And really CHI-STL and DET-TBL are the only matchups that aren't a top 8 vs bottom 8 team. They'd theoretically have to face each other anyway if they're actually a better team than the rest of the league.

This post was edited by dxlightning on Apr 21 2016 12:24pm