Relax Hockeytown - Everything's Alright

Many of you may be wondering, why haven’t the Red Wings had a big time free agent signing this offseason? Doesn’t Ken Holland see the need for some new talent on a team that hasn’t won a cup since 2008 and that quickly approaching the five year mark?  Well Wings fans, I don’t think there is any cause for concern right now because there isn’t the talent out there that I’d want the Red Wings to spend their dollars on. Guys upfront like Filppula, Helm and Emmerton will have to provide some scoring power and on defense you're going to see some new faces who'll have a great opportunity to step up. 

My opinion, I'm glad to see that they didn't make any high profile signings.  I'm intrigued by the fact they've got some young talent in the works that will have the opportunity to have significant ice time this season.  Brenden Smith, Gustav Nyquist Jan Mursak and Jakub Kindl could be the future for the Red Wings.  In past years, playing time has been at a premium but that's changed.

Sure, if they would have added Parise and Suter then we’d be talking about a whole different ballgame.  However, just because they didn't sign either of those two and didn’t waste their money on the likes of Alexander Semin or Jaromir Jagr or Matt Carle doesn’t signal the end of their playoff streak.  I still see the Wings as a dominate team in the Central.  Just by process of elimination they are still on top.  The Predators and Jackets lost key players and the ‘Hawks and Blues but I'm not worried - this division is very much winnable. 

The extra dollars Holland has to work with allows him to reassess the situation and play free agency the right way and not the Joe D way (cough cough 40 million for Charlie V cough cough).  Rest easy Hockeytown, all is well western front. 

For Pachla and Chando

I haven’t written one of these in a while so the next few posts, allow me to touch on some past events that I’ve been meaning to discuss.

Pistons Draft Recap

Joe D for the third consecutive year has had the best player on the board for the Pistons fall right into his lap.  Andre Drummond, the seven foot center from  UCONN  will anchor the middle for Detroit this
fall.  As many of you know already, I do really like this pick.  The ‘stones are going to have a very formidable young nucleus of players in Monroe, Knight and Drummond that should help the front office to build around these three musketeers.

Drummond will provide much needed help side defense for Monroe and be a more typical shot blocking center.  He has Tayshaun-like wingspan and is already big in size.  I see all too often young centers out of
college getting drafted that are talented but lack the body mass to go up against NBA centers.  Though very green, Drummond already has the size at 270 lbs. which will help him heading into this season.
Now the question begs, do the Pistons make the playoffs? Well, with the way this offseason has been, the likelihood of them getting a 6-8 seed is plausible.  It still doesn’t change the fact that they need
quality players around their young core.  The Pistons do not return to a playoff calibur team unless one of two things happens. 1. The threesome of Monroe-Knight-Drummond are actually really good and Joe D puts some average to above-average players with them or 2. They tank, get another high pick and strike it rich with the next Kevin Durant and build around that marquee talent.

Since 1984 only 8 teams have gone on to win the NBA championship.  There isn’t much parity in the NBA and this nonsensical GM approach has eliminated any competitiveness in the league.  Look no further to this Dwight Howard trade for a reason why nothing has changed in this league.   The Pistons have history on their side so it’s not an impossible quest for another championship.  They weren’t supposed to do it in ’04 so who’s to say they couldn’t do it again sometime in the next 5-10 years.

Check back tomorrow for a Red Wings season preview.  Mike Pachla and Dan Chandonais have really been pressuring me to get another blog published.  If you see them on the street, be sure to say HI and thank them for their endless support.

Fire up CHIPS – I live in Mt. Pleasant