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Well, that's tricky right ? If I'm reading this guy's message clearly he thinks Svechnikov is playing a responsible game already, doing all the little things right, and therefore he deserves more ice time. I think that's a little different than Jurco or Pulkkinen, for instance, in that they didn't seem to be doing all those little things. And I tend to agree with him, a young guy who's playing the game the right way will rocket up the depth chart in Detroit (see Bertuzzi and Larkin), guys who are doing it part of the time will get part time minutes (see Mantha and AA), and guys who never learn to do it won't play. That's probably the way it should be.

For what it's worth, here's a view of Svechnikov from a scout that writes for The Athletic: " Evgeny Svechnikov As a first-round pick in 2015, Svechnikov is going to be looked upon to be a big piece of Detroit’s future. At first glance on video, he’s one of those guys that as a scout you say: “He looks like a hockey player, he smells like a hockey player but is he a hockey player?” All the tools are there. He’s big, he can skate, he has skill and can handle a puck really well. While watching him skate up and down the ice, it certainly looks like he belongs. But looking at the stats and doing some research, it sounds like the kid is having a tougher transition this year. As a 21-year-old, that can happen. Lately, he has looked more and more comfortable in a Red Wings uniform the more games he has played with the big club. He had his best game against the Philadelphia Flyers and was rewarded with a goal. His biggest strength is in his puck protection. As a big body, he does a really good job using his size to protect the puck from defenders. He made some nice plays in the corners bringing pucks to the net, and by playing a big-man’s game he scored his first career goal by getting to the net. Check out the clips below: I saw some little things that he does well too, details of the game that coaches love from their players. A lot of times, it takes young players a really long time to buy in to these little details (see: Andreas Athanasiou), but they are a huge part to winning games. In the clips below, you’ll see Svechnikov getting pucks out, getting pucks in, making good decisions at the bluelines, good defensive positioning (and nice skill hitting the puck out of mid-air) and finally sacrificing his body to block a shot: I’d love to see more of Svechnikov. If this is a guy that you are planning to have as a big part of your future, the Red Wings should play him more and play him with better players. He has yet to hit 10 minutes of ice time in a game or have more than 15 shifts. He has been playing with Luke Glendening and Marty Frk. I’d love to see him on the wing with Dylan Larkin and Anthony Mantha, instead of Darren Helm … or with Henrik Zetterberg and Gustav Nyquist instead of Tyler Bertuzzi. I understand that you have to earn it, as coach Jeff Blashill has pointed out after games. That’s the Red Wings' mantra. But with two weeks now left in the season, let’s see what the kid can do in an elevated role."

I've seen all of Hughes, Boqvist, Bouchard, Dobson in person. I've also seen Wahlstrom, Tkachuk, Zadina, Svechnikov, Dahlin in person. I've also seen Smith, Wilde, Veleno, Farabee, Noel, in person. Et al. Not that that confers any degree of expertise on me. But, point is: I SEEN SOME S***. The highlight packages you can find for all of these players on YouTube are, by their very nature, kind of misleading. If you only knew Boqvist through one of these videos, you'd think he's the next Doughty, or at least the next Gostisbehere. If you only knew Bouchard through the highlights, you'd think his shot is the only thing he has going for him. "Truth" is, Boqvist, when he's not making pretty plays in the o-zone, spends a decent amount of his time not really getting much accomplished, sometimes getting worked over in the d-zone because he's small and slight (though, to be fair, he's only a month away from being eligible for the 2019 draft, so he's quite young). There are definitely times where he seems more Kindl than wunderkind. With Bouchard's highlights, all you see is him scoring goals with well-placed shots, and that actually sells his overall game quite short -- while, admittedly, also neglecting the fact that he often tried to do way too much by himself this season and it often bit him right in the ass. Every one of these four defensemen (and Wahlstrom, and Zadina, and Svechnikov, and even Dahlin) has his strengths and his shortcomings. Of the four defensemen, the safest pick is probably Dobson, as he appears to have the highest floor of the four while also having very real NHL top-pairing potential. But I slightly favor Bouchard over any of the others. Why? Because I feel his best qualities match up almost perfectly with our most pressing needs on the back end, needs that have fundamentally and fatally handicapped our team in the absence of Rafalski and Lidstrom. The post-Lidstrom Wings struggle mightily on the breakout; Bouchard's first pass is "elite, elite." The post-Lidstrom Wings struggle mightily to string passes together; Bouchard's passing is "elite, elite." The post-Lidstrom Wings struggle mightily just to hold the offensive blue line, especially on the power play; the o-zone is Bouchard's kitchen, his office, his house The post-Lidstrom Wings struggle mightily to run a precise, consistently effective power play; Bouchard is a masterful PP QB. Maybe more than anything else, the post-Lidstrom Wings have desperately needed a true go-to guy on the blue line, a cornerstone player, someone who plays a ton of minutes and plays in all situations. A non-ancient leader. An engine. Someone who isn't just a skilled specialist. Someone who can help lift a team out of mediocrity instead of just being along for the ride. To me, Bouchard checks these boxes, and that's a really big deal. He was the London Knights' offense this season. He was counted on to lead a team that had just lost top talent to the NHL draft and he responded by owning the captaincy, playing big minutes, playing in all situations, being (mostly) accountable on the defensive side of the puck, and putting up 87 points in 67 games in the OHL. tl;dr we're getting tkachuk

Exactly what I've been saying... I'd trade him in a package for almost any of their defensemen.

I just think he'd be overvalued around the league right now. Carolina might want him to pair with his brother... maybe hes the piece that nets us Faulk or something?

Although we were talking about Vancouver, I was kind of thinking about it from the Wings perspective. Maybe I shouldn't have, but I did because I have a much better idea where we're at than I do where Vancouver are in their rebuild. I'm not exactly sure how quick they want to turn things around. I know the Wings shouldn't be looking for any quick fixes, and Vancouver probably shouldn't be either. So no, I wouldn't trade the 6th (7th) overall pick straight up for Faulk. In the position we're in, I'd take the 18 year old (Bouchard) that can hopefully grow with the rest of the young core, into a top pair defenseman, over the 26 year old (Faulk), who will be a UFA in two years. I've always been a big Faulk fan and have advocated trading for him in the past. However, I don't think it's the right move to trade for a 26 year old, soon to be UFA. We're nowhere close to contending (neither are Vancouver), and by the time we are, Faulk would likely be in his 30's. I agree on Skinner. Definitely not. Hanifin was not brought up, but yes, I'd definitely trade the 6th or 7th overall pick for him. Prime age that can learn and grow with the young core. Again, we were not talking about Hanifin, we were talking about Faulk and Skinner. So no, I would not trade a 21 year old Boeser for a 26 year old Faulk or Skinner. Yes, I probably would trade him for a 21 year old Hanifin.

I remember everything. Thought you noticed it when I quote people’s old posts to expose them.