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Like I said, there's risk there. Personally, though, I don't feel Lucius is significantly more boom/bust than a lot of the other candidates. You could argue that a guy like Johnson is more rounded and therefore has a higher floor, but to that I would say if Johnson doesn't live up to his potential, he's going to be a run-of-the-mill bottom-sixer. Would that be more valuable to us than a goal-scorer who can't score goals? I mean, I guess...? Then again, this assumes Lucius does not in fact have much else to offer, which isn't necessarily true. He's good on faceoffs. He's got great hands, as mentioned. He's not an elite playmaker, but he can thread passes and make plays that the average Wings prospect can't. Great stickhandler. Can hold the puck and run a cycle. Likes to drive the net, buzz around the net. Not afraid to battle along the boards. His defensive shortcomings are more an "I'm a goal-scorer and my team needs me to score goals, so of course I'm gonna cheat and fly the zone early" thing than they are a "I don't know how to play defense and I don't want to learn" thing. The Wings have drafted lots of rounded players, lots of pass-first playmakers, lots of great skaters. One thing we've been sorely lacking is players who just flat-out know how to put the puck in the net. Our power play has cost us countless games over the past several years. Not being able to find that one goal in the third period has cost us countless games over the past several years. An inability to seal the deal in OT has cost us countless games over the past several years. So we definitely have an organizational need there. If we can trade down and add Lucius at, like, 11OA? To me, that sounds great. But I'm not Steve Yzerman or his scouts.

He is a poor man's 1C. He is not elite, but certainly better than your average 2C. If we could draft and develop a center better than Dylan Larkin and drop him to the 2C spot, that would be great; but the idea that this team HAS TO, is problematic. If we had 2 Larkin caliber centers on the top 2 lines, this team would be fine. You can win with that, so long as you have the complimentary wingers to go with them (presumably we do). The knock on Larkin's scoring is also biased. Do even his biggest critics think he wouldn't be a top 15 or 20 scoring center if he had Patrick Kane on his wing? And yet he finishes in the 30's in points among centers without ever having a winger eclipsing the 25 goal mark, and he's a 2C? The way I see it, he's a 2nd tier 1C. Larkin is not elite, and will never generate a lot of scoring on his own. But give him at least one bonafide scorer on his wing, and he will be a perennial 65 to 70 point center. And the same could be said about a good portion of NHL centers deemed worthy of the title "1C".

The concern with a prospect like Lucius is that if his offense isnt there at the NHL level, he has little else to offer. It's not like he can be used like a Dan Cleary or Kirk Maltby type then.

Thanks for the info. While I feel skating is important - sometimes it’s prioritized over other important assets such as offensive prowess in the forms of shooting and creativity.

Where Johnson (LHC/W) is more a playmaker than he is a finisher, Lucius (RHC/W) is a pure goal-scorer. Lucius's skating and defensive game are lacking, but his scoring prowess is undeniable. Like Johnson, Lucius has great hands and a flair for the dramatic. He missed most of this season due to an injury, but his 2019-20 season was outstanding and he was great in the dozen games he played this season. So, yeah, there's some risk with Lucius. But, as a Wings fan, I really like the potential reward, which is a flashy, exciting, RH goal-scoring 1C/2C.

I bet Eklund ends up as a frequent source of trade rumors. E4

Except it's been done for years already. High sticking? 2 minutes. Blood? 4 minutes. And a hit doesn't have to be both dirty and illegal. I dont think the hit was dirty, but it was against the rules that protect players. According to NHL Rule 42, a charging penalty: Shall be imposed on a player who skates, jumps into or charges an opponent in any manner. Charging shall mean the actions of a player who, as a result of distance traveled, shall violently check an opponent in any manner. A "charge" may be the result of a check into the boards, into the goal frame or in open ice. Said the NHL of its decision to suspend Scheifele for charging: "This is a player who has traveled a considerable distance, is moving with exceptional speed and is fully aware of his momentum, who chooses to charge into a vulnerable opponent with a high, predatory hit that causes an injury." While I disagree with the term "predatory", I agree with the rest of the statement and the decision to suspend. What is so hard about this to understand?

The league won't do anything. Seider doesn't charge, Seider doesn't head hunt. He plants his feet and dishes out clean hits that don't out guys in hospital beds. Either that or he puts a guy on the ice who tries to hit him. Very clean hitter. He doesn't skate the length of the ice to take guys out.

What makes Chaz Lucius more intriguing than Kent Johnson? Forgive my ignorance since I know next to nothing about these prospects.