Detroit Red Wings: It’s time for Ken Holland to make a move
By Mike Rizzo
The Detroit Red Wings are in a bad spot. Not bad enough to get a top five pick and not good enough to win the Stanley Cup. I have the solution.
The Detroit Red Wings are struggling. After winning six straight they have gone 2-8-1, including a current four game losing streak.
The Red Wings are also dead last in the Atlantic Division and three points away from being dead last in the Eastern Conference. But a glass half full view, the Red Wings are only five points away from third in the Atlantic.
I really believe this team isn’t bad enough to finish in the bottom five. But the Red Wings still find themselves at a crossroads.
It’s time for Ken Holland to do something. I don’t care if they’re like the Tigers and make everybody available with the exception of Anthony Mantha, Dylan Larkin, Petr Mrazek and Andreas Athanasiou.
Everybody else, whether on the Red Wings or on the Grand Rapid Griffins should be available. This team needs a top defender and a top six forward.
Cam Fowler is available and the Red Wings have shown interest in him. The Red Wings need someone like him desperately.
But that’s not all they need. They need to keep Mantha up permanently, they need Athanasiou back, they need to keep Tyler Bertuzzi up.
I could name you all the prospects they need to bring up but I’ll just let you look at the Griffins roster.
Now that I’ve depressed all of you it’s time to tell you more bad stuff. For those of you that want Jonathan Ericsson gone, no team is taking that contract and we have Ken Holland to thank for that.
For the 2018-19 season the Red Wings have $51 million committed to Frans Nielsen, Henrik Zetterberg, Justin Abdelkader, Jimmy Howard, Niklas Kronwall, Jonathan Ericsson, Danny DeKeyser and Gustav Nyquist.
That’s really depressing and Holland has to be hoping the salary cap goes up a lot in the next three years or else the worst is yet to come.
The only players that could be moved are Howard, Nyquist and DeKeyser. The Red Wings would be foolish to move DeKeyser due to him being the best defenseman they have, which isn’t saying much.
No team is knocking on the Red Wings door to take Ericsson, Abdelkader and Kronwall off their hands.
Once again, thank you Ken Holland…
Hope is not lost though, this team can be fixed and here is the solution. STOP signing players like Steve Ott, and STOP re-signing players to horrible contracts.
START bringing up Mantha, Bertuzzi and these other young guys and give them the keys to this franchise.
Instead of giving Athanasiou 11 minutes of ice time, give him 15 or more. The future of this team depends on the progress that the young players make.
Prospects, in my opinion, can only reach their full potential by playing against NHL competition night in and night out. The minors have a place but the Red Wings overripe these guys. This is the time for the Red Wings to ride it out with them.
Ken Holland’s future could very well be determined in the next two to three years and I think he needs to start giving the prospects a shot.
This team may very well miss the playoffs, but I feel like missing it with players like Mantha, Athanasiou and Bertuzzi playing full time is more beneficial to the future than riding it out with 35-year old players. Those guys will have ups and downs but the sooner they play, the sooner they get rid of bad habits.
Mantha, in the four games he’s been up here has two points including a beautiful goal on Sunday. He has been one of the best players on this team. Why he wasn’t up here before the season is beyond me.
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Oh wait, it’s because of Ken Holland’s contracts. It’s because of Holland signing guys like Steve Ott. I hate being negative but things aren’t pleasant right now for the Red Wings.
A lot of the blame is on Holland right now, I’m frustrated and this fan base is frustrated. It’s time for Ken Holland to make some moves and save this season and perhaps his job.
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