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Depends. Which hand has it gotten completely out of, left or right?

People always talk about changing overtime format, shootout format, powerplay format, etc. to spice up the game.... But what if we just made every player play the opposite handedness that there used to for one season? s*** would be wacky AF and I would watch every second

Sounds like Green will be re-signed and Hicketts will take Ouellet's spot. Hronek will be #1 call up unless Cholowski can steal that from him. The Wings rarely ever insert a new young player without that player first spending a year as the so call designated call up (Hicketts job last year). Hronek will probably get his first taste of NHL hockey this year. Lindstrom is on loan to the Swedish team Frolunda next season Smith will probs be a Griffin, but it sounded like they had some clear issues with his conditioning. Hopefully he works hard this summer. Do you talk to your posts?

Wait... If Vegas wins the cup, doesn't that mean the Red Wings will be the first team ever to select a player in the first round at 31 overall? The latest first round pick ever? HISTORY WILL BE MADE

First Rybar, now Kotkaniemi? What doesn't spook you? THE FACE OF THE DEAD WINGS

LOL I somehow want him even less now...

Just a personal preference I guess. I'd prefer any of the other 5 or 6 players before him. This will be our highest pick since 1990 (Primeau), I don't want to trade back unless we're guaranteed one of the top guys, and even then, only if it's for a significant return. We need to add some high end centers, but Kotkaniemi has played significant time on the wing. He may develop into a center, but I see him as more of a winger at the NHL level. The last thing this organization needs is another left-handed winger. Always go best player available, but all things being equal, take the defenseman or center over the winger.

Kotkaniemi is the one player I really hope we don't draft. I'd be good with any of the 4 defensemen or Wahlstrom at 6. My order assuming the top 5 are Dahlin, Svechnikov, Zadina, Tkatchuk, and one of the defensemen, would be Bouchard, Wahlstrom, Boqvist, Dobson, Hughes, Veleno, Kotkaniemi...

We need a RH'd scoring winger for sure. If they go O, then Wahlstrom has to be the pick. I'd pass on another LH'd C, especially one that isn't projected to be a franchise #1 center. Jesperi may have risen in the rankings, but he is not what we need. We need D and we need a high scoring RH'd winger. If not one of the D talked about throughout this thread, then Wahlstrom. IMO, if they draft Wahlstrom at 6, they'll then be moving some assets for a top line D. I could deal with: 6. Wahlstrom 30(31.) Bokk 33. Samuelsson 36. Addison ...we could then trade AA and Svech to Carolina for a top D.

To be completely fair to the kid though, he was only allotted 5-8 minutes a night and hardly ever on the powerplay. That's a HUGE reason why he didn't do much while called up. Oh, and linemates make a big difference, too... He was paired with Witkowski on some nights. Talk about being tied to an anchor. And as the one scout pointed out, he was doing the little things right, so he's on the right path. Hicketts also had a train wreck of an AHL season, yet posted 3 assists in 5 games when called up (because he was actually given minutes and powerplay time).

Nowhere does it say Rybar scares me. I said Holland being typical could be scary.

I've never forgotten Roberts punching Frazen in the head his first game back from a concussion. I hope that scum bag feels guilty about it.

Why not just nine times?

the Wings were halfway between Cup wins in 2005. When you are in contender mode and you give up draft picks to be more competitive, you have fewer picks to score with. This is exactly the scenario where you should be "swinging for the fences." You can afford to take chances at that point. You play it safe when you are in rebuild mode, like now. I hate hindsight. If only I had picked numbers 1, 21, 31, 45, 49, 21 I would have won the last powerball and 60 million dollars. I didn't, so I will over-analyze my number choices and ridicule myself for picking what I should have known would be the wrong numbers.

My personal view, too many folks on this forum underestimate how much of a "one off" this Vegas thing is. You run the expansion draft 100 times with the same rules, and I think Las Vegas's success this season never gets repeated. It was brilliant GM'ing, briliiant coaching, some magical chemistry and plenty of luck.

This, so much. Give the kid an opportunity with skilled players to see what he can do. Some people won't admit that this organization has in the past, mismanged players. They have, and if they're not careful, Svechnikov will be the next to go by the wayside...

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."

The thing is, no one is saying Svechnikov is awesome or irreplaceable or anything close to that. Most see him as a middle six winger, which is probably where he'll end up. Are middle six wingers replaceable? Absolutely. But that doesn't mean we should trade every future middle six winger in the system. I'd trade him, but not just to get rid of him. If he can be packaged with another piece to fill an area of need (defense), I'd do it in a heartbeat. I'll give you credit for calling some of the past duds, like Smith, Jurco and Mrazek, but let's hope Svechnikov doesn't follow the same path... All three of those guys had the raw skill, but couldn't keep their head on straight for one reason or another (not getting into that again). The difference with Svechnikov is that he has the raw skill, the hockey IQ, and desire to get better every day. He's a big body that moves well, isn't afraid to go to the dirty areas, has soft hands and a quick release. In a lot of ways he reminds me of Jurco. So again, hopefully he can break through and actually become what most of us expected from Jurco, a solid middle six winger...

I hope that each one of you some day meets a girl or guy that looks at you like Blash looks at Rasmussen