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BATTLE FOR LAKE ONTARIO LW C RW GUSTAV NYQUIST HENRIK ZETTERBERG ANTHONY MANTHA TOMAS TATAR DYLAN LARKIN JUSTIN ABDELKADER MARTIN FRK FRANS NIELSEN DARREN HELM SCOTT WILSON LUKE GLENDENING DAVID BOOTH DEFENSIVE PAIRINGS JONATHAN ERICSSON TREVOR DALEY NIKLAS KRONWALL MIKE GREEN XAVIER OUELLET NICK JENSEN GOALIES JIMMY HOWARD Injuries: Johan Franzen, Tyler Bertuzzi, Danny Dekeyser Coming Soon: Andreas Athanasiou LW C RW EVANDER KANE JACK EICHEL KYLE OKPOSO SAM REINHART RYAN O'REILLY JASON POMINVILLE MATT MOULSON JOHAN LARSSON SETH GRIFFITH JORDAN NOLAN BENOIT POULIOT JUSTIN BAILEY DEFENSIVE PAIRINGS MARCO SCANDELLA RASMUS RISTOLAINEN JAKE MCCABE TAYLOR FEDUN VIKTOR ANTIPIN MATT TENNYSON GOALIES ROBIN LEHNER Injuries: Zach Bogosian, Zemgus Girgenson, Jacob Josefson, Josh Gorges Coming Soon: Pee pee slaps

I mean...yeah? I mean...yeah? I mean...yeah? I won't throw my lot in with everyone who's ever said it, because I agree that many of the people in question aren't making robust, coherent arguments and that they just like to complain for the sake of complaining and will always find something to complain about. (I can speak from experience; I like complaining about the Wings for the sake of complaining about the Wings. It's cathartic and it's a nice, comfy way to kill some time.) If your point is "Fans are silly," well, you're not wrong. Fans are dumb. It's a truism. However, I'm not going to agree with you that "DO SOMETHING!" is not at all justified. You can tell me about how hindsight is 20/20. You can tell me about how we didn't know Smith, Sproul, Kindl, et al. wouldn't become cornerstone defensemen. You can tell me about how in an alternate timeline we sign Ryan Suter and win the Cup in 2013. You can tell me about how making trades for the sake of making trades is a stupid man's game. You can tell me about how people who look for things to complain about will always find something to complain about. That's all well and good. I won't dispute any of it. But I can be mostly on-board with what you're saying while at the same time maintaining that Holland really should've traded for a defenseman or two by now. I'm not pushing a radical notion here. I didn't start clamoring for a big trade only when it became clear that the Cup window had closed. I've been saying we should make a big trade right from the moment I learned Rafalski was retiring, when we were still a legitimate Cup contender. I had wanted Brent Burns. I didn't want to count on Suter signing with us. I didn't want to count on "Kronwall-???" being anything more than a stopgap first pairing. I've always believed trading was the way to go. If I'm guilty of anything, it's being too focused on winning one more Cup before the Cup window unequivocally closed. We could see the overall decline on the horizon as far back as 2011, but until somewhat recently I was of the opinion that a big trade or two could keep us in the hunt. I'm fine with drafting and developing. I'm fine with not making trades left and right. But Holland has gone out of his way to avoid trading roster players, and that bothers me. Our D situation has steadily degraded since losing Rafalski and Lidstrom and all along the way I've been saying, "Y'know, a trade might not be the worst idea in the world, especially if we're genuinely trying to remain truly competitive and genuinely trying to avoid a long rebuild." But, alas... "We lost Rafalski, but it's alright, we'll think of something." "We lost Lidstrom, but it's alright, we'll thinking of something." "Kronwall isn't an ideal 1D and Smith and Kindl aren't really panning out like we'd hoped they would, but it's alright, we'll think of something." "Not one of our prospects has become a solid top-three NHL defenseman, but it's alright, we'll think of something." "Kronwall's not getting any younger, but it's alright, we'll think of something." "It's looking like DeKeyser is probably nothing more than a second-pairing defenseman, but it's alright, we'll think of something." "Kronwall has no cartilage in his knee, but it's alright, we'll let him play 20 minutes a night. We need him." And now we're back to "We have some prospects, it's alright, we can kick the can down the road." I don't like that it's gotten to this point. I don't think bringing in a Haydn Fleury and/or a Jared Spurgeon would radically alter our fortunes, but at least we'd be helping our D situation. Having a more capable back end could at least clear up the picture a bit. The way things stand right now, we look like a team that's going to have to suck for a long time (if we're being brutally honest). But what if we flip some non-essential pieces for a couple of talented defensemen and the addition of those defensemen makes the team measurably better? Maybe our breakouts improve and our transition game improves and our power play improves and our shot attempts increase and our forwards start scoring more goals and we discover that we actually have a very capable forward group? And maybe the trade value of several of our forwards increases and that opens up a world of possibilities? Maybe Howard and Mrazek start looking like all-stars because we're spending less time in our zone? It might not play out that way, but at least we'd have a better sense of where we are and what we have. I don't think sticking with what we have is doing us much good, aside from helping us flirt with lottery territory.

I just came to see who next year's Tippett and Hague are. Hughes and Wilde. Got it.

Can always sign up again next month and make one. I was pretty eager to see your MS Paint offering too.

lol I call Z with the first goal.

I wonder if Svechbro's injury will hurt his stock. Maybe he slides a bit. That could be big for us.

I'd trade either for Shea Theodore without thinking twice.

I vented. I feel better now.

This is the official LGW.com 2018 NHL Amateur Entry Draft to be held June 22–23, 2018, at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas. Ok, since we are all (most) hoping we get a legit shot at the #1 pick, I figured a thread to discuss the prospects and where they rank would be a nice thing to have! We can also update draft rankings as they change throughout the season. Here is a September ranking I found of the top 93 prospects, but I'll only post the top 31. I'll add the link at the end for those of you who want to see all of them. This site also has some videos of some of the players to watch! Check it out and come back and comment! While I am officially throwing my hat in the Dahlin ring, I'd like to note that #20 has an absolute Awesome name! Also of local note, I haven't research all of the players, but #7 Hughes and #12 Wilde are both Wolverines. At #61 Johnny Gruden is from Rochester, MI. #39 Ty Dellandrea plays in Flint. Another sidenote for one of our 2nd's, Mattias Samuelsson is a huge D-man at 6'4 216lbs. at the moment. 1) Rasmus Dahlin (LHD, Sweden, Frolunda SHL) 2) Andrei Svechnikov (RW, Russia, Barrie OHL) 3) Adam Boqvist (RHD, Sweden, Brynas J20) 4) Brady Tkachuk (C/LW, USA, Boston University NCAA) 5) Filip Zadina (LW/RW, Czech Republic, Halifax QMJHL) 6) Joe Veleno (C, Canada, Saint John QMJHL) 7) Quinn Hughes (LHD, USA, NTDP U18) 8) Ryan Merkley (RHD, Canada, Guelph OHL) 9) Ty Smith (LHD, Canada, Spokane WHL) 10) Rasmus Kupari (C, Finland, Karpat Jr.) 11) Jesperi Kotkaniemi (C, Finland, Assat Liiga) 12) Bode Wilde (RHD, USA, NTDP U18) 13) Ryan McLeod (C, Canada, Mississauga OHL 14) Barrett Hayton (C, Canada, Sault Ste. Marie OHL) 15) Jared McIsaac (LHD, Canada, Halifax QMJHL) 16) Oliver Wahlstrom (C/W, USA, NTDP U18) 17) Joel Farabee (LW, USA, NTDP U18) 18) Alexander Khovanov (C, Russia, Moncton QMJHL) 19) Vitali Kravtsov (C/W Russia, Belye Medvedi MHL) 20) Jett Woo (RHD, Canada, Moose Jaw WHL) 21) Calen Addison (RHD, Canada, Lethbridge WHL) 22) Evan Bouchard (RHD, Canada, London OHL) 23) Jakub Lauko (C, Czech Republic, Chomutov Extraliga) 24) Isac Lundestrom (C/LW, Sweden, Lulea SHL) 25) Jack McBain (C, Canada, Toronto OJHL) 26) Luka Burzan (C, Canada, Moose Jaw WHL) 27) Akil Thomas (C, Canada, Niagara OHL) 28) Benoit-Olivier Groulx (C/LW, Canada, Halifax QMJHL) 29) Dmitry Zavgorodniy (RW, Russia, Rimouski QMJHL) 30) Samuel Fagemo (LW, Sweden, Frolunda J20) 31) Mathias-Emilio Pettersen (C, Norway, Muskegon USHL) https://thehockeywriters.com/2018-nhl-draft-fishers-top-93-preseason-rankings/

I was able to get you a temp login. check your pm

AA and Frk in the top 6 = Win! Bottom 6? Ugh.....

Having Howard and Coreau would probably help us in our pursuit of Dahlin/Svech. (although I believe we need Dahlin more!) Imagine this in two years: Theodore - Dahlin Cholowski - Hicketts Daley - DD Jensen/XO (if re-signed) We still have Hronek, Sarajaarvi and Sulak in the minors (Europe) that can come in when DD and Daley contracts end. I'd gladly give Mrazek away and allow him to mature in Vegas! Especialy for Theodore in return! And BTW, Yes I am hoping we get to draft a Swedish defenseman! (although at the moment he is only 165lbs. but that will change!)

Abso - ******* - lutely! 1 for 1, or maybe Mrazek and Montreal's 6th for Theodore! I was just going to post this! They don't have the cap room at the moment, but Stoner is STILL on the IR and part of his cap could be used as the difference if they chose to LTIR him. The only reason he isn't on it already is they don't need the cap relief.

Holy Sith! Jar Jar Theory confirmed?

hey, cheer up. just look at MTL and Carey Priceless ...

And the goalie war has begun for the year! Career numbers: Jimmy: SV%: .916 GAA: 2.44 Mraz: SV%: .913 GAA: 2.58 Very similar To me, they've both looked good this year. Howard has had the much better "on" games, but also the bigger "off" games. If he shakes off the past 2 rough games then he's undoubtably winning the battle for #1. We'll see. Mrazek has continued with being pretty solid (improved to me) but still has one head-scratcher goal per game it seems. When the game is under-pressure he seems to revert to sprawling Petr and takes himself out of the net or just checks out for a minute for a fluke goal. Hope he figures that out.

Quick trade a goalie to Vegas. They currently have zero goalies due to injuries.

One of those goalies has a .920% (top 10 among starters) save percentage and one has a .898% (worst in the league among starters) since 2/14/2016. But yeah, f*** it, they're the same.

There are trades to be had that can improve this team, and they don't need to be major moves. He just proved it with the Sheahan trade, but he only makes those moves if he absolutely has to. You can build through the draft and still make some moves. In fact, that's how a winner is built. You can't go almost exclusively either way. Too many draft picks don't amount to much, and trading too much catches up to you eventually. His biggest failing is over valuing middle of the road players and giving them deals that are at or near the top market value of what they'd get on the market, instead of looking for value. I don't mind Abdelkader Helm, and Glendening on the team, you need those types of players to win. But they shouldn't be on those contracts. They're all at least 2 years too long, and pay $500k+ too much. If you lose them, you replace them with a cheap vet or a rookie. Yeah, the guy you lose might be a little better, but not that much compared to the contracts. Nielsen wasn't needed with where the team was. You sign a guy like that when you have a contender and need center depth. Ditto for Daley on D. he made two trades because he had to in order to get AA on the team. Both of those moves could have been made earlier.

But when you do

More than anything, it's the inaction on the trade front, in the face of a slow and dispiriting decline, that has soured people. Swinging a trade for a really good defenseman doesn't necessarily fix the team and it probably doesn't stave off the overall decline, and maybe the trade backfires and blows up in the organization's collective face. But, personally, I feel we've reached the point of ridiculousness re: not adequately addressing the elephant in the room. "DO SOMETHING!" is not an intellectualy compelling demand, but at this point I think Wings fans are justified in voicing it, even if they don't all grasp the complexity of the Wings' situation and the pros and cons of trading x package for x defenseman. The Detroit Red Wings are in a hole. Maybe we were always going to end up in this hole, regardless of how many trades Holland did(n't) make. But I think we could've at least prevented the hole from getting as deep as it is. That's in the past, though. In the here and now, I think we have enough forward assets that we can acquire a player or two that could immediately improve our situation in a significant way without dealing a huge blow to our forward depth. We need help on D. If Holland is genuinely aiming to pull of a successful rebuild-on-the-fly, something's gonna have to give. One of Hronek, Cholowski, Saarijarvi could become a cornerstone defenseman, but I wouldn't count on it. We could get lucky and land Dahlin, but I wouldn't count on it. We're not getting Doughty or Karlsson in 2019, just like we didn't get Suter in 2012 and just like we didn't get Stamkos last year and just like we won't get Tavares next year. Maybe it's time for a significant trade or two. There are worse things Holland could do.

So far this season I actually haven't had much to complain about re: Blashill's coaching and decision-making. Tonight was the first game of the season where I felt like the other coach just straight-up owned his ass. Travis Green had a clear gameplan and the team executed it extremely effectively. We had no answer. I think this loss falls mostly on the players' shoulders, but the lack of in-game adjustments was baffling. We came out of the second intermission playing the exact same game that had put us in a hole in the second period and Blashill didn't seem to give a f***. He and the players were totally outclassed tonight and they all took it lying down. Every single play that Z made with the puck tonight was a forced, low-percentage play. Brutal. Just brutal.

We need a GM that has no ties nor loyalty to these players.

Super bummed work kept me from doing an MS paint GDT masterpiece today, I was looking forward to it all month I will feel better if we get the W tonight though LGW BOYS, FRK!