Leaderboard

All the lucky charms laid on the altar of draft Rabbits foot ...check 4 leaf clover ...check Horseshoe...check Lucky dice...check getting live chicken later today to sacrifice @ 8

a) I'd love to see Yzerman come back to Detroit. But unlike most, I'm also okay with Holland staying in Detroit. It killed me when he went to Tampa 9 years ago, so I'd be lying if I said it wouldn't bother me to see him go to another organization again. b) I'll be a little disappointed if we don't win one of the three lottery spots, but I know the odds are against us, so it's whatever. But when it comes to dropping from 4th to 6th, it wouldn't really bother me much at all. I think regardless where we draft outside the top 2, we're getting a really good player. c) I hope we don't do anything of significance on July 1st. I think we should stay far away from any and all free agents. d) I'd like to see a trade or two, but I'm not expecting any, so whatever.

Yzerman made over $65M in his playing career. That's not including anything he's made in endorsements and post playing career. He's made $2.4M per year as general manager of the Lightning. He's NOT hurting for a dollar... There's no way his annual expenses is anything close to $5M... He definitely owns everything, and has minimal bills / payments. He's also 53 years old (54 next month), and getting to the age where most people start counting down the days to retirement. Besides all that, he has stated that he's moving home to spend more time with family. I'm sure he'd be quite content to take a step away from the game for a year... Not saying that's what he will do, just that he could do it...

Not at all. I've hated the draft lottery (or more so "tanking") for years, and that wouldn't change if Detroit won it. Fans cheering for their team to lose, or even worse tuning out altogether is terrible for the league. If we were in Ottawa's position I would still be clamoring for the "Gold Plan". With a mere 18.5%, I'll bet every time that the last place team doesn't win the lottery. I'd have the same mindset if we were sitting in dead last. Hence why I hate tanking and the current system in general. ALL games would be much more exciting down the stretch. Imagine the last game of the season between two bottom teams and winning gets the first overall pick. Much more exciting than hoping your team loses so they have a couple percent advantage in getting the first overall pick... This would also change the way teams approach the trade deadline. Teams would maybe be a little more reluctant to trade away rental players, putting a premium on return. In my opinion, something needs to change with the current system, and that won't change if we happen to win the lottery tonight.

Quiet. Everything is entirely Holland's fault and no amount of basic reasoning will convince me. It's his fault we lose, but it's also his fault we don't lose enough. REEEEEEEEEEEEEE

You're wrong. See below... 1. DET 2. NYR 3. LAK 4. OTT COL 5. NJD

Don't forget your mask...

I don’t know if those are dealbreakers. The schedule thing is somewhat of a weak argument. Injuries don’t seem like an issue either as it doesn’t really deviate much from the current situation where said team is going to have higher lottery odds for finishing lower. And the development factor? Honestly, I think that can sometimes be an advantage. Young guys playing to impress and hoping for a spot next year can inject some energy that a vet or regular worn down from a losing season might not bring. I don’t think it’s hurt us in the past at the very least. It’s definitely an interesting idea, though I can see where you’re coming from and generally agree that it’s going to be tough to get anyone to really agree on this, but I think they need to explore ways to add some excitement to the end of the season for non-playoff teams and reward teams for finishing strong. As much as I wanted to lose for the better odds at a high draft pick this year, the whole charade felt so ******* stupid. It’s definitely more fun to cheer and hope for wins, and if there was more reason to be excited about it, I think that’s good for the game as a whole. Hell, maybe there should be a playoffs for non-playoff teams to compete for the draft picks. We’ve got the shootout now. They’re talking about possibly bringing the shootout to the playoffs. Why not?

I really like the idea of play to win the pick makes it like playoffs for losers. Games remain meaningful the WHOLE season vs tuning out in March hoping for losses. Not sure why the owners would be against it. As an owner if my team is out of the playoffs but has a chance for the 1st pick maybe seats get filled. We went to the last game debacle and in the lower bowl we were surrounded by empty seats. If I was an owner I want every seat filled as 1 or 3 beers per seat or someone buying some food is more revenue for me. Not to mention our attitude once Buffalo went up was sadly YAAY we have more % points. I would have preferred to be pissed off that we lost and missed 1st pick for instance. If I am Ottawa I would be a wee bit happier as i wouldn't be handing the Avs the potential first pick. Now that situation would cause a reverse tank in the play for the pick. I fully expect Kenny to pull this off tonight right after we get the 1st pick. If not he needs to be GONE cause any half brained GM could do that trade!!!

Am I the only one that doesn't really give a crap if: a) Yzerman goes elsewhere b) we draft 6th c) do nothing of significance on July 1st d) don't make any trades ? I hope Holland sticks around and finishes this. Continues to be patient. Also, I have a feeling the rebuild will be decided by this team's ability to strike gold with one of these multiple 2nd round picks.

P.S. Kakko sucks.

Say your prayers to the hockey gods, use all your good luck charms, follow every superstition in the books, and bring on that Hughes boy! Happy draft lotto day!

I never got it why people thinks that it was Holland who wanted the streak alive or not wantning to go into rebuild. The owners set the course. Its their team. If they want to try to keep winning the GM’s doesn’t get to say otherwise. A GM’s jobb is to execute the orders from owners and if they don’t do that and, say, plunge the team into rebuild without consent of the ownership they will lose their job and probably not find a new one in the NHL.

Truth be told, I've always been irrationally bitter over that trade.

I'm pretty sure Holland abused the emergency recall system in order to get half the Griffins roster into our lineup (all at the same time). I'm also pretty sure all the "deadweight" players -- Abdelkader, Helm, Glendening, Kronwall, Ericsson, Daley, DeKeyser, Nyquist, Nielsen, Green -- have gotten lots of ice time. Holland knows the value of a Dahlin and a Hughes/Kakko, but he also knows the value of not becoming a Buffalo or an Edmonton. And EVEN THEN, even with all of his principles and all of his talk of "winning culture," he STILL magically swapped out half the Wings' roster for half the Griffins' roster. Point being, again, the dude fully understands. He's iced really bad teams for three straight seasons now. The teams just weren't quite bad enough. Mind you, we could've finished 31st last season and not won the lottery, so "The teams weren't quite bad enough" is barely even a thing.

Calle Jarnkrok is a 3C. He's literally not a big loss at all and would not have had any significant impact to our current situation. Same with Janmark. As much as everyone freaked out when those guys were traded, it hasnt changed anything. We made the playoffs both years (which was the goal) and neither "prospect" turned out to be a difference maker anyway. So I dont get the animosity over it. Truth be told, I just heard someone on NHL network the other day comment on the Wings 25 year playoff streak. It is a thing whether fans want to agree with it or not because it was a significant accomplishment. The streak was older than my wife. She, like a lot of fans, had never seen the team miss the playoffs their entire lives. That's not "meaningless".

Totally Holland's fault.

Third straight year. Congrats, coach! Go USA!

2017 Penguins Stanley Cup D: Schultz - Cole Maatta - Hainsey Daley - Dumoulin

All of the nerves. More nervous about this than any game this year. Feels like the playoffs but crueler...

C'mon - I can dream - can't I ?

Received this email this morning...Found the bold quite interesting... 'The Red Wings have the fourth-best odds (9.5%) of landing the No. 1 overall pick and a 28.8% chance of getting a top 3 pick in the upcoming NHL Entry Draft. Tune into NBCSN tonight at 8:00 pm. as this June's draft order is revealed. By most accounts, this year's draft has an abundance of talent up front with a consensus that the top three players on the draft board, including American center Jack Hughes, are in a class by themselves'.

Yep. Also IMO, this goes against strategy of trying to create consistent parity within the league. The way it is now, the poorest get the best chance to get significantly richer. If they changed it to "play for the pick", then it changes the equation to: the poorest will likely remain poor because as stated, they were the poorest and shouldn't be expected to miraculously become better in the final stretch of the season to win the highest or very high draft pick. They are the poorest/worst team for a reason and the league has a vested interest in making sure these teams have a fighting chance at becoming rich in the future. Last thought...playing for the pick might actually cause teams to "fake tank" ...."lying in the bushes and wait" until the "play for the pick" sweepstakes begin...then they kick it in gear and suddenly look like the best of the worst teams and win the highest for a very high draft pick.

I know Abby’s not getting bought out, but I don’t know what role he’s going to justify holding on to for too much longer with so many guys set to come up in the next few years. He’s too mediocre now let alone as we improve.