Edited (The day after yesterday - 11:58 AM): Good comments so far, I failed to accurately paint the picture that Ken Holland was put in with Lil-ja coming back from his bleeding brain.   It was a tough situation and admittedly Ville deserved to be let go with his play at that time.  I still think that one of both Meech or Lebda could have been traded/beaten with a stick till they couldn't have played anymore, but it's easy to guess the lotto numbers the day after the drawing isn't it? Plus I hate Meech.  (Also, the article title is bullsh!t.  What the hell was I thinking, I'm a joke.)

A good article just came out today in a Philly paper about Lieno and how Holland didn't really want to trade him, but had to in the situation.  Also Matt at On the Wings has a good response at his site.  I think he goes a little bit overboard with the "blackmailed his way on the team" thing, but he makes good points.

Ville Lieno sucks.  Well, at least he did this year in Detroit.  However, eVille is having quite the resurgence over in Philly, especially in their extended playoff run.

The M'er F'er is good again.

Lieno has 11 points in 10 playoff games over in Philly and is on quite a hot streak lately, scoring six points in his last three games.  He scored a measily seven points with the Wings this year in 42 games. We essenially got nothing in return for him.

Did Ken screw this one up?  I hate to say it, but it looks like it.

Anyone who watched him both in Grand Rapids and in his brief stint in Detroit last season would have agreed that the kid has talent.  Hell, he had nine points in thirteen games last season with the Wings. He was supposed to take Hudler's place in the line-up and noone really doubted this would be a problem for the 26 year old rookie, who paid his dues in GR last season.

However, sometime around game six this season, something broke in the angry looking Fin's head and he was easily the most snake-bitten player on the team.  His hands became stone and his release on his shot became slower than Holmstrom on a breakaway.  And I'm pretty sure he tried to lay Babcock's wife, because Ville, deserving or not, was regulated to the bench and/or scratched a majority of the games, even when it appeared that the Griffins had replaced the Wings during this injury ridden season.

So when the trade deadline came and Lieno off and went, really nobody cared. I didn't really like it, especally with the zero in return we got for him, but I was too concerned with the team's playoff situation to really get too worked up.  Still, it felt weird to see Kenny giving up on some who had shown so much promise, so quickly.  That's not his style.  See Jimm(ah) Howard.

Sure his hustle was questionable, but that can be taught and the Wings are the team that can do it.  Skill doesn't disappear.  Confidence does, but it can reappear as quickly as it goes. It appears that he might be the second line center we thought he could be.

So why was he thrown away so quickly?  You've got me, you'll have to ask Mr. Holland himself.

Even so, In Ken We Trust (IKWT).

Anyways, that concludes my time as your resident Monday morning quarterback.  I hope Ville keeps it up throughout this playoffs, as Philly has been making me quite a lot of money so far.  Screw you Vancouver.

Comments (18)

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written by The Centerfielder, May 19, 2010

Watching Leino last fall I noticed two things. The first is that, while a nifty skater, he was never real solid on his feet. Any contact and he'd fall down. The second is that when he had the puck he never looked very sure about whether he should shoot or pass, resulting in his holding for longer than necessary and either giving it away (see aforementioned falling down on contact) or screwing up the timing of whatever play might have happened.

In Philadelphia, in the Eastern Conference, those two things don't matter. Everybody's smacking each other and falling down, so when he falls down it's nothing out of the ordinary (and he still does, I've noticed). The second is that in Philly he's not being asked to fit into a Red Wings style offense, with nifty passes and all. Except for when he's paired with Briere, there's no one more skilled than he is to pass it to, so he might as well just shoot. So he is. And it's working.

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written by Escanaba is better, May 19, 2010

If he wasn't working out here, how is trading him a mistake? He had 7 points in 42 games, so they weren't going to get anything for him, and if you didn't think you could use him, then why keep him?

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written by Garth, May 19, 2010

So why was he thrown away so quickly? You've got me, you'll have to ask Mr. Holland himself.

What kind of selective memory is this?

Holland didn't have a choice.

It was a salary cap move, plain and simple.

He had to dump salary in order to be under the cap, and Leino was pretty much the only choice to move. Who else do you move instead of Leino? Bertuzzi? No, he was producing. Williams? No, he was injured. Miller? Helm? Eaves? No, if for no other reason than they had smaller cap hits. Nevermind that if you asked ANY Red Wings fan, they would've said to keep either of those guys over Leino.

And let's not forget that the only reason, the ONLY. Reason. That Leino is even PLAYING is that Jeff Carter and Simon Gagne went down with injuries.

If those two don't get injured then Leino is watching from the press box. End of story.

So yeah, if you wanted to keep Leino and hope that Datsyuk or Zetterberg goes down in the first round just so that Leino can get a chance to sign, I guess it can be seen as a mistake.

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written by DetCapC19, May 19, 2010

And let's not forget that the only reason, the ONLY. Reason. That Leino is even PLAYING is that Jeff Carter and Simon Gagne went down with injuries.

If those two don't get injured then Leino is watching from the press box. End of story.

He's right. Leino was a healthy scratch most of the regular season with the Flyers and to begin the playoffs as well.

We've all seen him get hot for small stretches. Whether or not he can do it for 82 games remains to be seen.

I wish we could have kept him to see if this was just a rough year, but the cap had us tied (thanks Gary. Ass.).

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written by Harwell, May 19, 2010

Just because Leino wasn't very good in Detroit doesn't mean wouldn't be good somewhere else. Look at Cleary...he had multiple lackluster seasons with the Coyotes, Oilers, and Blackhawks. He signs with Detroit and is doing great.

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written by Jeff Michalak, May 19, 2010

I dont know if Leino would have ever been good in Detroit.

I still think the trade was for the best for both sides. The Wings did get a late round pick and we know how those tend to turn out for the Wings.

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written by Moorecha, May 19, 2010

What kind of selective memory is this?

Holland didn't have a choice.

It was a salary cap move, plain and simple.

He had to dump salary in order to be under the cap, and Leino was pretty much the only choice to move. Who else do you move instead of Leino? Bertuzzi? No, he was producing. Williams? No, he was injured. Miller? Helm? Eaves? No, if for no other reason than they had smaller cap hits. Nevermind that if you asked ANY Red Wings fan, they would've said to keep either of those guys over Leino.

And let's not forget that the only reason, the ONLY. Reason. That Leino is even PLAYING is that Jeff Carter and Simon Gagne went down with injuries.

If those two don't get injured then Leino is watching from the press box. End of story.

So yeah, if you wanted to keep Leino and hope that Datsyuk or Zetterberg goes down in the first round just so that Leino can get a chance to sign, I guess it can be seen as a mistake.

Selective Memory? Nah, I understand the decision, just don't like it.

Two things:

1.) Agreed, except you forgot one person. Derek f'ing Meech. And Bwret Webda (in Kim Jong Il voice).

2.) Lieno wasn't playing at first, agreed. However, I think he's secured himself a spot in the Philly lineup.

3.) He fit in pretty well last season with those 9 points in 13 games and pulled off a decent 82 games season with the Griffs. No reason to think he couldn't have done that had his confidence came back.

4.) I just felt we gave up early on the kid who had a lot of potential (see Meech.)

Counting is overrated.

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written by Twig, May 19, 2010

there was nothing holland could do. people keep mentioning meech and lebda. anyone know of a team that was in the market for a blazing fast turnover machine? or a slow turnover machine that can play the wing if needed?

omg, big deal! he can play the wing! i play frigging right wing and i suck so bad, my skating makes holmstrom look like brian boitano.

it had to be leino because of his salary and the fact that there was hope that he would be good. philly gambled and won. if there was no salary cap, leino would be a red wing.

it happens.

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written by Amerinadian, May 19, 2010

The Wings might have been able to trade Meech and/or Lebda, but who's to say that those 2 guys were wanted by other teams? We all admit that Meech has not been great, and his upside was less than Ville's. There's no question the trade of Leino was a salary dump, but Ville had potential, unlike anyone else on the team. It's not like the Wings have ever been quick to give up on a player.

Like Harwell pointed out above, maybe Leino just needed a change of scenery like Cleary did. It's disappointing that he couldn't have done that in Detroit, but sometimes these kind of things don't work out. Kyle Quincey anyone?

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written by Moorecha, May 19, 2010

Threw in a little edit at the top. Called myself a joke for questioning Kenny.

Good point about Quincey. I don't think anyone ever thought he would be as good as he was though in LA and Col. Ville came with a bit of fan-fair.

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written by breakaway, May 19, 2010

These comments are making me feel better about having to hear Ville Leino's name all over the place recently. Thanks, guys!

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written by DannyJames1684, May 19, 2010

The Leino trade was not a mistake. Even if it wasn't a salary dump, the guy was killing the flow out there. It seemed like we just kept watching, waiting, for that break out goal. Here's the killer though, I don't care if you go through scoring droughts, it happens. Or maybe it turns out he wasn't a scorer at all, just got some good breaks last year. No big deal. But the effort (or lack there of ) from Ville was the disappointment. Bodied off the puck as if he was playing against a team of Brock Lesnar's, no fight in the corners, and even less back checking.

Was this trade a mistake? Absolutely not. I am glad to see Ville succeeding in Philly, no hard feelings at all. But he was definitely no longer an asset to Detroit

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written by Garth, May 19, 2010

Lieno wasn't playing at first, agreed. However, I think he's secured himself a spot in the Philly lineup.

But "at first" I think you mean "consistently throughout the year". He didn't play his first game in Philly till a month after the trade. He played in half the games he was eligible to play in while there. He started the playoffs on the bench. He ONLY got in because of injuries.

Maybe he HAS played his way onto the roster, maybe he hasn't. He performed well in small bursts in Detroit too, but when he GOT a spot on the roster, he played himself back OFF the roster.

Again, revisonist history and selective memory. They didn't trade Steven Stamkos in the middle of a 50-goal campaign for a fifth and a warm body, they traded a guy who wasn't performing. In any other year he might've (and would've and should've) gotten a chance to prove himself, but this was not any other year. This was the year we struggled to get into the playoffs AND struggled to stay under the cap. This was the year that the team was playing for their playoff lives 20 games before the playoffs started.

Sure, it's easy to look at Leino -playing on a top-six line, playing minutes he would NOT have gotten in Detroit- now and say that a mistake was made, but there was nothing indicated in the first half of the season that he would've done anything.

AND, this is what, ten games? Eleven? Means nothing. Means exactly as much as the thirteen games he played for us last year, impressing us all.

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written by Moorecha, May 19, 2010

Garth,

Take it easy bud. I addressed it above in the post. I simply never thought Ville got a real fair shake here and was disappointed to see him go (while keeping Meech). I think he's playing to potential now and wish that the Wings would have hung on to him. A guy who can score is rare, even if it is streaky.

Still I understand where Holland came from on the decision. Apparently I'm in the minority on this subject. Mistake might be an overstatement, but yeah, that's how I feel.

And I'm a huge Bertuzzi fan too. You can hate me for that one as well.

Chris

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written by Garth, May 19, 2010

Yeah, I responded before reading the whole thing.

My only problem was the "mistake" thing, I just didn't feel like you took the entire situation into account.

No hard feelings.

And I agree with you on Bert.

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written by Eric B, May 23, 2010

The nice thing as Red Wing fans is we can look back on the Leino trade as a good player who we let get away, yet we won't really miss him.

Between this and the Quincey trade, Holland's made some miscues here and there. However, it's moves like Eaves for $500K after getting waived by Boston and picking up Drew Miller off waivers from Tampa that make up for said miscues.

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written by Garth, May 23, 2010

It's not a miscue to trade the guy who's doing the least for your team and is regularly a healthy scratch when you need cap space.

Sorry, but it isn't.

Wow, Leino showed up when two of Philly's top six forwards went down. Before that, he was a healthy scratch for half his time in Philly and the first several playoff games.

Let's not pretend it was a bad move, especially because a move HAD to be made.

As for Quincey? Big deal. We'll see if he ever wins anything...

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written by TheDickson, June 18, 2010

A comparison that i find interesting is Guillame Latendresse and Benoit Pouliot, both struggling players.. Get traded, and I think both ended up with career highs in points. Sometimes a trade just flares a guy up. I wish Leino was still in a winged wheel, but unfortunatly, it just isn`t meant to be.

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