https://x.com/detroitredwings/status/1808606924138492124?s=46
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I like it a lot.
Woah!!
Like both the term and the AAV
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I finally feel like we did something to improve the team.
A couple of negativesā¦
He isnāt much for playing defense, and it didnāt really work out well in NY when he and Kane played on the same line.
I love this move, though. Iām happy.
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Another 2 year deal.
Itās becoming more clear that the āplanā is remain just competitive enough to keep the wolves at bayā¦.
and then hope the young guys are ready for the ā26-27 season.
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Which deep down we all kinda knew that.
Like either bandade players, miss the playoffs, maybe get a few good drafts and let the rookies develop. And be VERY competitive in 2026
OR
Blow all the cap space and draft picks, sign long term deals, make the playoffs and get blasted the next 3 years, end up picking late in the draft, block the kids from coming up. And likely not be VERY competitive until 2028.
So pick your poison.
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Good move IMO.
I think expecting growth from Griffins players is fine but the # of players we would have been counting was a bit extreme.
Tarasenko alleviates some of that and offers some PP options. Hoping he has a strong year at full strength!
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Do hockey rebuilds normally take that long?
They do when they are starting from NOTHING.
When stevey took the job. They had Larkin. No one else. No extra draft capital, and were paying $10m+ to dead bodies.
The only prospects they had that are still with the team.
Rass, Veleno, Berg,
Every other prospect Steve has brought in.
It takes that long to build a whole roster unless you get a slam dunk #1 draft pick.
They only thing they COULD have done to boost it would have been to Trade away Larkin early to get more picks and prospects
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The Wings that won the Cups were like 3rd iterations deep of them trying to rise from the Dead Things eraā¦
Ogrodnick as the only guy worth a shit, then all of the next group of Klima and Chiasson and Carson and LaPointe and Primeau and Coffey and Federko and McKegney as old FA misses, the two headed goalies of the mid late 80s with Probieā¦THEN you start to see the Grinders show up and Kozlov and Federov and Vladdy and Lidstromā¦THEN the FA floodgates with Shanny and later all the HoFsā¦
THEN the next wave worked with Zetts and Pavel and Franzen and Kronwall etc.
They arent yet in final form to make another runā¦they are probably at the Primeau/Coffey/Carson/Federko stageā¦The At Least They Dont Suck and play Entertaining Hockey stage.
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I guess Iāll jump in and say that I am very, very leery of this deal.
Vlad didnāt look good in NY, and he was more or less a total ghost in the playoffs. I watched literslly every single NHL playoff game last postseason and he really didnt make much of a difference for FLA.
I wish theyād have a little bit more of a discount here, but Iām absolutely willing and hoping to eat crow here. I just wouldāve preferred Perron to stay on board.
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They need a Jim Nill type on their scouting team
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The Tarasenko signing is one that made me seriously doubt what Steve Yzerman is doing, or being told to do. I do not follow hockey as closely as I used to in the 90ās-2010s. However, I still keep up with the playoffs, and follow teams I think are interesting.
I work in KC, and my job HQ was in St. Louis so I spent a lot of time there and a lot of my coworkers were Blues fans. I followed the 2019 Blues run because the worst to first was a great story, theyād never won a Cup even though I thought in the early 2000ās they were one of the few teams that was close to the late 90ās Wings team. Tarasenko was a big part of the 2019 Blues as one of their main goal scorers, but once the Finals started, the dude was invisible. He floats, he is a cherry picker and even then he is not as skilled as I thought. Basically, Tarasenko belonged on the 1991-1996 Wings teams. Sure, the Bruins made him a defensive focal point, but still, you can at least play hard and contribute.
In the 2019 season, Tarasenko shredded his shoulder, and you can argue he was never the same player. The Blues eventually had enough of Tarasenko, traded him and he bounced around until he ended up in Florida. I watched the Florida run, because it was interesting. Again, all I saw was a āskillā player who vanishes in the playoffs and was playing on their 4th line. No shock, Florida was done with him too. I heard the reports the Wings were interested in him but I figured this was the lazy Detroit media who just want to sign ANYONE, and the guy is now a 2 time Cup champion! Forget the fact he did nothing on either title run, and isnāt even a good regular season guy anymore, donāt let details get in the way of a good story, right? I figured, knowing Steve Yzerman and how he knows what makes a good player vs a poser, and knowing that heās seen his fill of guys who are all offense, no defense and choke in the playoffs. Hell, letās be fair, he WAS one! Yzerman changed his game to become a winner afterall. Knowing all of that, there is NO WAY Yzerman would sign a guy like Tarasenko. Yzerman then signs Tarasenko. Who proceeds to do exactly what he has done since 2019.
Iāve said before what I think the Wings problem is, and itās Chris Illitch. However, Yzerman has had his screwups, Walman and Tarasenko being two that are indefensible in my eyes. I donāt care if the owner says to sign some ānameā player for cheap, as a GM your job is to say āNo, this dude isnāt worth it, we can sign this guy instead that will give us the same production, for less money and may even accidentally play defense every now and then.ā
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