Detroit Red Wings: Ken Holland’s Obsession with the NTC

A few thoughts on the Detroit Red Wings; the past & future of Ken Holland.  The dog days of summer afford us time to review the history and look towards the future.

The Past;

The feeling in Detroit has become; ‘thanks for coming, but see your way to the exit sign, please.’  A lot of folks would volunteer to show Mr. Ken Holland the door in Detroit right about now.  Ken Holland has created a salary cap cluster for the Detroit Red Wings.

Ken Holland did win a Stanley Cup in the salary cap era.  He can hang his hat on that, BUT although it was in the cap era, Holland to his credit already had Pavel Datsyuk, Henrik Zetterberg & Nicklas Lidstrom in place.  At the time of the Stanley Cup Championship in 08, Detroit had arguably three of the top 15 players in the league.

The knock on Detroit league-wide was always; “Detroit bought their championships.”  In 2001/02 it can’t be disputed.  Yes, they had an owner willing to spend money.  You can’t place blame on Ken Holland for that.

During the 1990 glory years, a lot of the core players were drafted and served as the foundation for the Detroit Red Wings.  That’s not precisely buying championships.  The Wings developed a good number of players; Steve Yzerman, Sergei Fedorov, Niklas Lidstrom, Vladimir Konstantinov, Vyacheslav Kozlov, Chris Osgood, must we go on?

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Brendan Shanahan put the Wings over the top when he was added in exchange for Paul Coffey, Keith Primeau, and a first-round draft choice.  Ken Holland inherited these players as General Manager in 1997/98 yes. But Holland was part of the front office group when all these players became Red Wings.

Of the three championships, Ken Holland has won as a General Manager, one was bought, and two were built, period.

What has transpired over the last ten years;

Ken Holland has the Detroit Red Wings salary cap, held hostage with all his BAD long-term deals.  He has no-one to blame but himself.  When he looks in the mirror, he must hold himself accountable.

The contract extensions he awarded Gustav Nyquist, Tomas Tatar were suspect at best. Significant extensions were given to third line talent, both of whom are streaky scorers.  Admittedly so, when they were hot, they produced as top six forwards should.  As often as they got hot, they could fall into a long-lasting slump, both going into long stretches without being able to contribute what so ever.

What about the Jonathan Ericsson 6-year deal?  Basically, a  lifetime contract at the time of the signing with a no-trade clause attached.  Ericsson is entering the final two seasons of that contract, and his no-trade becomes “modified”, he’s become virtually untradeable anyway.

Or the Frans Nielsen long-term deal?  Nielsen signed a 6-year contract, which has 4 years left with a modified no-trade and a no-movement clause attached to it.  Nielsen makes 5.25 million per season and recorded 33 points last season.

How does Justin Abdelkader get a 7 year deal with a no-trade clause attached? Granted the back three years it becomes a “modified no trade” but again another NTC.

Danny DeKeyser received a 6-year deal worth 5 million per season with guess what… A no-trade clause.  Darren Helm, yep, a full no-trade attached to his long-term contract.

What about Stephen Weiss?  The guy signed a long-term deal with the Wings, then forgot how to play hockey.  The Wings are still sending paycheques to the Weiss residence, just so you know.

Are you beginning to see a trend here?  Ken Holland went on a streak where he was giving out no-trade clauses as if he were Oprah  giving away cars.

It seems Ken Holland was sitting in his office waiting for players to walk by so that he could yell out “And You Get A No Trade Clause.”

Ken Holland has tried to right the ship, his latest contract extension with Dylan Larkin does not have any no trade or movement clause until the final year of the contract.  The last year of the deal has a no-trade attached.

The contract extensions with restricted free agents Anthony Mantha & Andreas Athanasiou this past summer both have no restrictions attached to them.

It’s almost as if Ken Holland has realized the hole he’s dug himself into and is clawing at the sides and yelling up for someone to throw down a rope so he could climb out.

The Future;

Keep an ear open moving forward regarding Ken Holland and an expansion team in Seattle.  When the news about a franchise expanding Ken Holland’s name circulated as a front-runner for the job it shocked some Wings fans.

This Ken Holland?  Our general manager?  Do they want this guy?  He would be willfully escorted out-of-town by the majority of Detroit Red Wings fans.

Holland recently signed a two-year contract extension this past spring.  Let’s hope he can finally commit to a rebuild rather than trying to limp into the postseason and be abruptly eliminated.  Ken Holland is the perfect example of “what have you done for me lately.”  It’s been ugly the past 8 or so years, and that’s all we will remember.

The hope is Holland has realized his mistakes although he may never admit them.  Hopefully, Holland doesn’t inflict much more contract damage to the franchise, and Detroit can start to progress in a positive manner with its youth and prospects.

In the 2000’s Ken Holland was considered a top executive in all of professional sports.  A year ago hockey-graphs.com ranked Holland 29th out of 31 NHL general managers.  Detroit deserves better, Detroit needs better.   Christopher Ilitch needs to see improvement before again rewarding Ken Holland with another contract extension in two years.