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GM RW40 talks draft, expectations and trades with Ken Holland
Topic Started: Jun 15 2011, 01:45 AM (311 Views)
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After Ken Holland decided to resign as GM for the Detroit Red Wings, RW40 wasted no time in getting his opportunity to manage the Red Wings. A few days ago, RW40 caught up with Ken Holland and had a brief discussion about the draft, expectations, and trades.

Ken Holland: Hey, RW40, good to see you, how is everything going?

Rw40: Everything is going great, waiting for some gameplay and from there I will look to see what I should do with this franchise and what changes are deemed necessary for me to make.

Ken Holland: I see you drafted Datsyuk with your first pick, and you put him on the top line with Franzen and Hossa. Can you talk about that and the draft as a whole?

RW40: Even if I had the first pick of the draft, I was going to pick Datsyuk . The guy plays some ridiculous offense and it’s not just that got me into him, its his ability to change a game around with his defense and offense. His skillset impresses me and anytime he is on the ice, he is an oppoising team’s worst nightmare. Now, I put him on a line with Franzen, and Hossa to get some chemistry back. They haven’t played together in a while, but I expect them to produce from the very first game of the season. Now, I didn’t make the picks of Marian Gaborik, Nicklas Backstrom and Kris Letang. I had to take care of some business outside the hockey rink. I left the choices up to head coach Andy Roddick. I had a chance to talk with the 2003 U.S. Open champion and he told me that he felt Gaborik’s physical presence would help the top line and Nicklas Backstrom would be an excellent line 2 centerman. As far as for Letang, he told me it was about time to go defense since the best d-man were getting taken off the boards and Letang was the best choice left. As far as for the rest of the draft, I paired Backstrom with Shane Doan and Teemu Selanne. Backstrom is known for setting up Ovechkin a lot, but now he has got two good goal scorers to set up in Doan and Selanne. For my lines 3 and 4, I went with guys who are physical, can score when needed to, and can play time on the penalty kill. My mindset was to get Helm and Moore. My insurance picks were Ray Whitney, Mikael Samuelsson, Ville Leino, and Wayne Simmonds. All are great players and can scare teams with their ability to score. Helm and Moore are two of the best penalty killers in the game and if you pair them, I can’t see how teams can score on the PP. I then paired Datsyuk and Doan for the line 2 PK. Datsyuk is great all around player and I was impressed with how Doan played in the playoffs with Phoenix, especially on the PK. Him and Datsyuk make a great pairing. With my picks, I, not only went with the offensive ability, but their ability to play both offense and defense.

Ken Holland: You have solid group of defenseman on your team. However, I believe this is going to be the biggest question you’re going to have to face. Can these guys help protect your netminder?

RW40: Believe me Ken, I am asking myself the same question. My guys on defense can shoot the puck and all 6 are capable of playing the blue line on the PP. I originally drafted Kronwall, Ryan Whitney, Demers, Hjalmarsson, and Wisniewski. As I said, Letang was chosen by Roddick. Their ability to defend is going to be tested this year with teams like San Jose, Chicago, Colorado, and other teams’ dynamic offenses. This is when I felt that I had to make a move a grab a d-man who plays defense mostly and not a lot of offense.

Ken Holland: You pulled off the first trade of the KHL season with the acquiring of Hossa and Hamhuis. Talk about that.

RW40: From years before, GM JS of the Sharks was always the type of guy where he would look to rip you off on trades. So, I go like let’s see if he is a whole new GM now or the same guy. I called him up, gave him an offer and right away accepted. I was very surprised since he once offered Byron Bitz in exchange for Ryane Clowe years before. So, I gave up Gaborik and Ryan Whitney for Hamhuis and Hossa. Like I said, I was looking for a d-man who plays defense and is not a much of an offensive threat. Hamhuis was my guy and would be excellent on the PK. As far as for Hossa, I felt that Gaborik’s salary was too much to handle and a guy like Hossa can replace Gabby automatically on the top line and re-unite him with Datsyuk.

Ken Holland: What are your expectations for the upcoming season?

RW40: I expect my team to compete with every team from right when the puck drops to when the clock hits zero. I expect my PK to be one of the league’s best and make teams earn their goals 5 on 5, not 5 on 4. I expect good goaltending from Henrik Lundqvist and good defense to be played in front of him. As far as for season standings, I expect my team will finish in the top 3 for Yzerman Conference and earn a trip to the playoffs.

Ken Holland: You know, RW, I am glad you took over. You seem to have that poise to gain that success of being a GM of a sports team. I wish you the best on the upcoming season and Good Luck!!

RW40: Great seeing you Ken. Take care
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