I'm not going to beat a dead horse regarding our "deadline acquisitions" getting healthy. It is what it is. I will say this though: if Ken Holland and the Detroit Red Wings are truly "rebuilding" or "reloading" then I think it starts with letting Filppula walk in the summer (which is why I wanted to trade him but whatever). His skill set (passer) is redundant on this team. Especially for the money he's asking for ($5MM per year). No thanks. Not for what this team needs to spend that money on (goal-scorer, top-4 defenseman). I'll be happy to have Nyquist or a FA/buyout casualty take his spot. Thanks for the service but it's a business and it's time to move on. There comes a time in all sports when a player has ran his course with a team. That time is now for Filppula. I'm not saying he's a bad player but he's just not a fit for the Detroit Red Wings moving forward.
After that it's time to waive bye-bye to Colaiacovo (buyout), Samuelsson (buyout), White (UFA), Cleary (UFA) and maybe even Miller (UFA). It's time to trim the fat and these players are hampering the development of the young players and wasting roster spots, money and in a couple cases, the strength and conditioning staff's time.
Make these subtractions and infuse a mix of the kids full-time (Nyquist and Tatar at the very least) and UFA/buyout casualties/trade(s) to replace them and Kenny can truly revive a stale roster. It's obvious there is just too much dead weight that needs to be let go. It's time to make "tough" decisions.
However, if Holland brings back any or, God help us, all of the above players (especially if he backs up the Brink's truck for Filppula) then all his talk of a "youth movement," "rebuilding," "reloading" and "transition" is nothing more than the organization blowing smoke.
The Wings are at a fork in the road and they need to choose a definitive path. Floundering in the middle isn't going to cut it anymore. We'll find out a lot about the true mindset of Holland this summer (again).
GO WINGS!!
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