goblueram

July 10th, 2014 at 5:01 PM ^

I think he is a great representative of the game, he's humble, hardworking, and gives great interviews. 

Having said this, based on his lack of production alone this signing should not have happened.  The Wings fanbase is irate about this one.  Kenny Holland better hope for great things from Cleary and Quincey this year...

Maybe Cleary will prove us all wrong.  I'm on the record with my bold (stupid) prediction of him scoring 14 goals this season.  LGRW

SWPro

July 10th, 2014 at 6:43 PM ^

He is a great guy I agree.

 

I also love the fact that he went from "great prospect" to a "will never amount to anything" to a "never was" to a solid contributor. However that is where it ends for me.

 

He just really has no place on this team.

 

Detroit can't decide if it wants to win now or if it wants to build for the future.

 

If they want to win now then trading the prospects and taking a risk spending big in free agency (and maybe overpaying) is what you have to do.

 

If you are building for the future you look to see what you can get in trade from guys like Dats/Zetts/etc. Because (1) you can likely still get a good return from them in the next 1-2 years and (2) those guys deserve a chance to win now.

Lionsfan

July 10th, 2014 at 5:06 PM ^

I really don't know what to say. The Wings have slowly been creeping backwards since 2009, and Holland has done jack all to improve the team since then.

It's time for him to go

HipsterCat

July 10th, 2014 at 5:11 PM ^

we havent had any major signing because we dont want to give up any of our prosepects in a trade, and frankly detroit isnt exactly a hotspot that people want to live in with all the econmic struggles that have been going on the last couple years. 

honestly with nyquist, tatar, sheahan, probablly jurco up with the wings all season and possibly mantha if he wins a job out of camp we will be fine. Weiss sounds like hes on track to be back healthy and if datsyuk and zetterberg are back to full strength we will be fucking stacked at forward. D is still a weakness but we have a couple prospects there as well. Hell we still made the playoffs last season with datsyuk and zetterberg missing like half the season each.

goblueram

July 10th, 2014 at 5:23 PM ^

Nyquist, Tatar, Sheahan, Jurco, Mantha...problem is we have to start running some numbers here.  Cleary takes up another spot, which is going to leave Jurco and Mantha out since they can still get sent back and forth from GR to Detroit.  

Pav, Z, Franzen

Alfie (presumably), Weiss, Nyquist

Tatar, Helm, Abdelkader

Miller, Glendening, Sheahan, Anderson, Cleary

Jurco is an odd man out.  

h0ckey87

July 10th, 2014 at 5:23 PM ^

I know you're trying to be optimistic, I like our young talent (especially on D, in grand rapids) but when we resigned Quincey for 4.5 MILLION, I lost all faith. Holland went on record saying Niskanen (28 yr old) in his prime was too pricey, he signed with Wash. For 5.5...

SWPro

July 10th, 2014 at 6:35 PM ^

In fairness to Holland, and don't get me wrong I am no happy with him right now, Niskanen reportedly turned down 7 years at $6 million/ea with the Wings. Quiency was picked up at 2 years for $4.25 million/ea.

 

Quiency is not Niskanen but his deal was way more budget friendly/low risk.

Lionsfan

July 10th, 2014 at 5:30 PM ^

It's really hard to buy the "Detroit is a struggling city where athletes don't want to live" meme when the city has, you know, 3 other professional teams. The Lions, Tigers, and even the goddamned Pistons haven't had as much trouble attracting free agents as the Wings have had.

I mean that argument implies that athletes have to live exactly in city borders, and can't just go live in the suburbs, like the rest of the rich people in SE Michigan.

 

Second, see the tweet below. Guys like Jurco and Mantha aren't going to be up with the Wings, because of signing over the hill guys like Cleary and to a certain degree Alfredsson. Did you forget that last year Nyquist and Tatar both started the year in Grand Rapids? Imagine where we would have been if instead of Cleary last year (8 pts in 52 games) if we had Nyquist the whole year?

This is a shitty signing, on top of several years of shitty signings and roster management

Meson

July 10th, 2014 at 11:18 PM ^

Tatar started the year in Detroit, he couldn't be sent down to Grand Rapids without clearing waivers (and he certainly would have been taken). That being said, he was a healthy scratch many times during the year when he should've gotten playing experience.

Lionsfan

July 10th, 2014 at 5:19 PM ^

This just infuriates me:

This organization absolutely refuses to give the younger players a chance, and instead we're signing over the hill players who aren't helping the team.

What's that Quincey? You're playing bottom pair minutes and everybody can't wait for you to be out of town? Hahaha nope! How about 2 more years and a raise!

Same for you Cleary. I know you only 8 points in 52 games last year but made 1.75 million, but fuck everything, I said the Wings would take care of you this year, and instead of giving you a scouting job somewhere, I'm going to give you another hockey contract, and give you a raise!

Meson

July 10th, 2014 at 5:24 PM ^

Dumb, dumb, dumb.

I usually defend Holland's decisions but this is indefensible. I'm hoping beyond hope that they re-signed him to be a veteran presence for the youngsters and a healthy scratch for most of the year. He's gonna take up a roster spot that should be someone else's.

It does make me wonder if Alfie's told Holland that he's not coming back. This move would be *ever so slightly* less dumb.

Lionsfan

July 10th, 2014 at 5:39 PM ^

Dany Heatley - 1 year deal with Anaheim, 1 million flat. No bonuses. 2013-2014 stats

2013-14 Minnesota Wild NHL 76 12 16 28 18 -18 11 1 5 6 4

per HockeyDB

Danny Cleary - 1 year deal with Detroit. 1.5 million plus 1 million in bonuses. 2013-2014 stats

2013-14 Detroit Red Wings NHL 52 4 4 8 31 -11 -- -- -- -- --

per HockeyDB

 

Those last few lines, where Cleary has all 0's, are playoff stats. Yet he earns more....

 

Fire Holland

SWPro

July 10th, 2014 at 6:41 PM ^

Yes.

 

1 million times yes.

 

I saw that Heatley was available I could not understand why the Wings weren't signing him at 1 year for $2 million.

 

I know he has lost a step and is not a great skater but your hands don't slow down. Put Heatley on the PP with Getzlaf and Perry and he scores 20 goals by accident. The same thing would have happened with Dats and Z.

MaizeAndBlueWahoo

July 10th, 2014 at 6:01 PM ^

I thought, for sure this is going to be a two-way thing.  I guess not.  What a total waste of money.  Apparently they learned nothing from the disastrous re-signing of Samuelsson.  Cleary was a useful third-liner, once upon a time.

Everyone Murders

July 10th, 2014 at 6:23 PM ^

This is a transparent effort to capture the (approx. 500K pop.) Newfoundland and Labrador markets.

 You watching the Wings tonight?

You betcha - they've got Newfoundland and Labrador's only Stanley Cup winner on the team. 

 

alum96

July 10th, 2014 at 9:16 PM ^

Thought this was a joke.  wow.

Go with the young kids and let them learn - these are not 19 year olds (well aside from Mantha).  Pathetic.  Have been a Kenny supporter but this sort of thing really makes me question what the hell is going on. 

Michology 101

July 10th, 2014 at 10:50 PM ^

The salary cap has really changed everything. We’re no longer the New York Yankees of the NHL. Mike Llitch didn’t mine spending money to produce a winner. Ken Holland could buy any superstar player we wanted, and that made him look like he was doing a great GM job. Though was he really?

Holland’s job was actually very easy back then… because every superstar knew Detroit was one of the few places where they could get big money. They all wanted to come here and get paid. So Holland didn’t have to do much persuading.

The times have changed and now Holland has to make more clever decisions with the roster. We’re going to see how good of a GM he really is… in the next few years. I’m not digging this Cleary resigning, either.

I hope Holland proves he’s smart enough to still get it done in this salary cap era.

ppudge

July 10th, 2014 at 10:51 PM ^

We need to seriously look at replacing Holland. His last good move was the one year deal for Hossa. And that was flawed because he then decided to offer a long-term deal to Franzen instead of Hossa during that season.

flashOverride

July 11th, 2014 at 12:01 AM ^

This is infuriating. Since at least 2011 if not earlier, we've heard every offseason and trade deadline that the Wings won't be making any big moves because the asking price is one or two of the numerous elite (so we're repeatedly told) prospects in GR. Just be patient, they tell us. We're not pulling the trigger on the blockbuster move because these guys are the real deal and once they hit the NHL ice, oh baby, better stand back. Then the chances come to offload wastes of space like Cleary and Quincey and let one of these coveted, jealously guarded kids come up, and they fucking re-up these losers. Or they let them go, wait a few years, and bring them back, ala Samuelsson. Or they give up a prospect and a draft pick to get a 33 year-old for six weeks and then nothing. You either make moves to win a Cup, or you go with the youth. This is just inexplicable. So who will be the next prospect after Jarnkrok to demand a trade while Cleary plays 15 wasted minutes per night? 

Cap space. We hear about how precious it is. We hear about how the Red Wings have some and they're going to make a splash with it. In nine days, they've taken $5.75 million of next year's, poured gasoline on it, and flicked a match. Meanwhile Chicago, a team AT THE CAP, adds Brad Richards. The rest of the league is running circles around Ken Holland. 

sambora114

July 11th, 2014 at 8:22 AM ^

But a bit of a sad panda over this signing

Red Wings have excellent forward depth (especially is Weiss is servicable). If the prospects are so valued, let's get them on the roster and in meaningful situations. If not, let's try to upgrade the defense by packaging Tartar and a few draft picks for Mike Green or Tyler Myers. I have a lot of respect for the Management team but our decisions are not consistent. 

Let's go with youth, trade the prospects and try to win now with Z and Datsyuk are the end of their primes, or a middle path of losing a prospect or two to shore up key deficiencies on the team (read defense). The Wings seem to be rudder-less; although, cap space is still a non-issue and a trade may be in the works.

ssuarez

July 12th, 2014 at 4:05 PM ^

promised this to cleary last year when he accepted less money.

the wings have an immense amount of young talent on offense, defense and in net.

the Quincey signing was awful, this one wasn't and the future is bright.

hail2mich

July 12th, 2014 at 7:08 PM ^

Holland should have let Cleary walk if he really was offered more money from Philly last year. It was a dumb move then and it is a worse one now. Making secret promises about future contracts to your buddies is not a good way to run an organization.

The Quincey signing made some sense after they struck out in the market. He's not good but they had to fill the void. Now the amount of money they gave to Quincey was too much, but they were really out of options defensively. I don't think the prospects are quite ready for the NHL.

The Wings do have enough forwards who are ready for NHL experience or they could have picked up somebody (anybody!) that is better than Cleary for less money. There is absolutely no reasons to resign the worst player on the team last year who is past his prime by 5 years. Last year Cleary blocked Nyquist half the season and this season he will block Jurco/Mantha. It's ridiculous and I'm afraid the Wings will be stuck being a first round exit. Such a shame for players like Zetterberg and Datsyuk.