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I'm certain his parents are proud of his accomplishments...

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Thing is, pretty much all those players were drafted by organizations that are icing actual NHL teams. As in, like, actual NHL forward groups and actual NHL defense groups and actual NHL power plays. I don't look at any of those players and say, "Yeah, this guy is the reason why his team is an actual legit NHL team. He's driving that bus. They'd be wallowing in the gutter with the Wings if they didn't have him." Would I take Hughes in a redraft? Sure. But let's be clear on what Hughes is right now (and possibly forever), which is a super-sheltered all-offense defenseman who pots half his points on the power play. Is he a top-pairing defenseman on a Cup-winning team? Can he do heavy lifting and consistently win matchups against the league's best players? I'm not so sure. Maybe if he's paired with Victor Hedman or Alex Pietrangelo – but that's sort of my point. If he needs a Hedman, he's more Rafalski than he is Lidstrom. (The elephant in the room, of course, is Seider could end up being That Guy you'd love to pair with Hughes. But hindsight is 20/20.) As for Veleno...I don't think he's shown much, tbh. We're a team with 1 centerman yet it's taken Veleno this long just to get his cup of coffee. (Granted, COVID played a role in that.) He's probably gonna start next season in Grand Rapids and get a half season of NHL play in and then he's probably gonna take at least another half season to really get his feet under him at the NHL level. So, if we're down on Zadina for putting up 37 points in 86 NHL games, let's note that Veleno has put up 1 point in 5 NHL games.

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I'd rather roll the dice that Cossa will be there at 23... but respect the POV!