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TBH, I'm not 100% versed in exactly how this lotto is gonna work. All I really know is 1) the farthest we can slide is 4th and 2) some teams are going to get to participate in the playoffs (even if we're not calling the play-in round part of the playoffs, it basically is) while also being eligible for the draft lotto if they get knocked out in the play-in round. That second part is what pisses me and a lot of Wings fans off. The Wings are coming off a horrific season and the NHL's contorting itself to help bubble teams.

Pietrangelo ain't happening; I'm sure there are about 25 teams he'd rather play for, and at 30 years old (31 in January), he's probably not worth the kind of contract we'd have to give him to convince him to join our s***show. And Yzerman would probably have to sell him on a quick turnaround, which would mean making other big moves, which would mean replacing Holland with Yzerman was kind of pointless. In theory, though, I would overpay for a (slightly younger) Pietrangelo type. But when I talk about the possibility of Yzerman being aggressive this offseason, I'm not really thinking of the cream-of-the-crop UFAs. I'm thinking more along the lines of Robin Lehner, T. J. Brodie, Erik Haula, Craig Smith. These aren't gamechanging players, but, point is, they're better than the players that most people are expecting Yzerman to acquire this offseason (Filppula 2.0, Nemeth 2.0, AHL goalie 2.0). To be clear: This hypothetical aggressive offseason is predicated on us getting Lafreniere and next season being truncated. Mostly Lafreniere. No Lafreniere means we stick to The Plan 100%. Lafreniere means maybe we treat ourselves a little this offseason, within reason. Lafreniere + shortened 2020-21 season means maybe we shoot for the playoffs, within reason. So, like, I don't think we kick the Taylor Hall tires if we don't get Lafreniere. And I'm not sure we kick the Taylor Hall tires even if we do get Lafreniere. But I think getting Lafreniere makes Hall a more plausible target, because getting Lafreniere would immediately change the conversation from "We're a one-line team and there really isn't much we can do about that right now" to "We're now one stud winger away from having one of the deepest winger groups in the league." If you add a truncated 2020-21 season on top of Lafreniere, I think Yzerman would be tempted to ice a team that's genuinely capable of winning more games than it loses.