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Here's my argument AGAIN... There are stars picked every year at or after the 7th pick. We can find a star player wherever we end up picking. That's not to say we will, just that we "can"... Please explain what you disagree with there... Now here's where we do disagree. I believe there is skill involved in making these selections. Of course no one knows for certain which players will boom or bust, but based on hours and hour of watching these kids play, meeting with them and their parents several times, the better scouts can use this information to better determine what type of player / person they will develop into. You think it's pure luck. Whatever...

Be like the NFL and just cancel a contract at any time

The issue with Howard is his injury history. He gets hurt every year, and most of the time is terrible after he comes back. Maybe a GM will believe this year was the norm going forward though. The other issue is Sit On His Hands Holland. I don't see him trading Howard. Sent from my LGLS676 using Tapatalk

Skating seems to be his biggest issue. Here's a quote from Brock Otten: "Raddysh is an excellent two-way defender. He doesn’t possess elite athleticism or size, which is likely why he has never been drafted. His skating has improved a lot over the course of his OHL career, to the point of it being average now. His straight line speed and acceleration will never be elite, but he’s worked hard to improve his overall mobility to make himself one of the better defenders in the OHL. His gap control and defensive awareness is excellent and he plays with a lot of moxy, be it battling in the corners or putting his body on the line to block a shot. Offensively, he has one of the best stretch passes in the entire OHL and has fantastic vision. His ability to start the breakout is a major asset, as he’s always got his head up, looking to get the puck to Erie’s high powered, skilled forwards. Again, he’s not a dynamic skater and isn’t the type to be a major factor leading a rush deep into offensive territory. Instead, he uses his passing skills, vision, and intelligence to carve apart gaps in the defense. He excels as a powerplay QB for this reason as well." I watched a couple Erie games this year to watch Sambrook and both stood out in a positive way to me. One of the games I watched was a blowout where Darren scored a goal and added a couple assists and looked dominant in all three zones. His skating didn't appear to be that off to me. I'd definitely be okay with giving him a contract. Still disappointed we didn't draft his brother Taylor in last years draft though. Of course Yzerman snagged him late in the 2nd round... EDIT: Beat me to it Nondescript...

Here's some info on him...sounds like his skating is an issue. Teams want guys that can lug the puck and he sounds like he lacks a bit in that regard. https://canucksarmy.com/2017/04/03/a-closer-look-at-chl-free-agent-darren-raddysh/

Thats true. But the argument being presented is that we will be unable to select a "real star" with the 7th pick, which couldnt be further from the truth.

Instance 1) A player calling out team-mates that he plays with every single day, saying that some players "got their money and stopped working" Instance 2) A fan with extreme opinions, hammering on select players and making them scapegoats for all that is wrong. The worst being the absolute bashing of a player who has suffered many many many concussions and calling him every name in the book. (which is when fan with extreme opinions lost credibility to most on this board). In short, not the same thing.

Racist

I'll tell Kucherov to f*** off too if he starts calling out individuals to whom it clearly doesn't apply just because of their nationality. In fact, I'll tell him to f*** off anyway, because I think he's full of s***. Players have s***ty years all the time, regardless of contract status. Attitude certainly can play a role, but blaming a contract is a cheap cop-out. Humans aren't that simple.

Purple/pink jelly beans suck dude

I'd be a little disappointed with Liljegren to be honest. I feel like we have two very similar style / size players in Hronek and Saarijarvi. I'd prefer to draft one of the many forwards that will be available and trade for a defenseman over the summer. Either way, can't wait to see where we end up on Saturday. Then the speculation will really begin to heat up...

Sure. I guess I'm just saying we don't currently have many (any?) forwards who are firmly LW or firmly RW. Tatar can play either side. Mantha can play either side. Nyquist can play either side, and he's a former centerman. Abdelkader can play either side, and, if memory serves, he's a former centerman. Zetterberg can play any forward position. Larkin can play any forward position. Athanasiou can play any forward position. Helm can play any forward position. Sheahan can play any forward position. Glendening can play any forward position. Svechnikov can play any forward position.

I'm not suggesting I or anyone on the forums personally knows more about these positions than the people currently in them, but I do think there are way more people that are accepted into said positions based more on the fact they played in the NHL than any other merit. Yzerman wanted to be a GM. They immediately made him special assistant to the GM to learn directly from Ken Holland. I wonder if the same offer would have been handed to a guy with years of managerial or actuarial experience who expressed the same interest. Osgood wanted to be a tv analyst and was immediately given the job. I wonder if the same opportunity would be given to the intern who's been studying the field all through college and invested years of time and money and effort to being the best he can be at it.

just noticed the schedule for the second round and can't understand why did they put both series in each conference played the same day. Caps/Pens and Rags/Sens are pretty much at the same time. It'd have been better to have one game from each conference instead, so one wouldn't miss out on either. Bad call from the NHL in my opinion.

Eh, I wouldn't really say we're deeper on one wing. Pretty much all of our forwards can play either wing. I would like more right-handed shots in our forward group, though.

What? This never happens, ever! Well at least that's what I'm told over and over and over and over again. No player, regardless of nationality, gets their money and coasts through the rest of their contract....never happens. Funny when an actual star NHL player says it, all of a sudden there must be some substance to it..if a super fan says it, f*** off, it don't happen.

I was thinking about this. In soccer over in the UK players contracts can reduce if the team gets relegated to the next division down. If the waiver rule can make it easier to send players down to the minors I'm sure a lot of bottom line players would work harder to keep their place. Currently 4th line players work hard as they're in the direct firing line, but 3rd and 2nd line players should feel that pressure too.

How many times around the league has this happened where a team signs a player to a big long term contract based on their performance from seasons prior,(some players best seasons are curiously the ones in which they are upcoming UFAs) and then the very next season they give a half ass effort and stop doing the things that earned them that contract in the first place. The Wings have a few of them. All contracts should be somewhat performance based. You get a guaranteed amount for just playing, but you can earn a huge bonus every season if you accomplish a certain goal set out by management. Would stop a lot of the players from becoming lazy floaters after they get their contract.

This entire argument obviously depends on your definition of a "star player", but there are currently more All Stars playing in the NHL that were selected 7th overall or later than in the top 6. There are also more players in the Hall of Fame that were selected 7th or later.

It's like getting a free draft pick. I think that's worth getting excited about. He's only 1 year above draft age. If he were 1 year younger and put up those numbers, we'd probably be talking about picking him in the middle to late rounds. Now we might get a late-bloomer without giving up any assets. I don't see any reason to throw a wet blanket on this thing. The tier II league is a consideration, but he lead that league by 5 points in what was his first full pro year. That is something. http://stats.swehockey.se/Players/Statistics/ScoringLeaders/7157 And FWIW, Elias Patterson is from the same league and he's listed #2 in central scouting for European skaters, is in many top 10 draft rankings and I've seen as high as #5 overall. Ejdsell is obviously 3 years older, but he did outproduced Patterson and they were both in their first full pro year. Ejdsell's story seems to be that he was in the system of Farjestad (tier I SHL) and he did play in the SHL, but after they only gave him 22 games over a year and a half, he went to the lower league for more opportunity and broke out. Maybe just a late bloomer? Younger tall player sometimes do have to get used to their size. Maybe Farjestad overlooked him or buried him? Or maybe maybe he's nothing but an AHL player. Hope he signs so we can find out.

It's a free asset. If he turns out to be a dud, who cares, move on.

Stars selected after the seventh pick Lundquist (205) Keith (54) Seabrook (14) Parise (17) Getzlaf (19) Burns (20) Perry (28) Bergeron (45) Weber (49) Pavelski (205) Byfuglien (245) Green (29) Rinne (258) Kopitar (11) Rask (21) Letang (62) Quick (72) Bishop (85) Yandle (105) Giroux (22) Marchand (71) Couture (9) Shattenkirk (14) Subban (43) Simmonds (61) Benn (129) Karlsson (15) Holtby (83) Tarasenko (16) Faulk (37) Gaudreau (104) Forsberg (11)

Nurse, Schiefele, Skinner, Suter, Dumba, Voracek, Okposo I'd be more than happy with.

Toews sucks