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Larkin Nazar Eichel (My mistake, I didn't look closely enough and assumed that was his draft year) Hughes Other notable Development program centers: Zegras: USHL: 1.48 ppg USDP: 1.45 ppg Keller: USHL: 1.6 ppg USDP: 1.7 ppg The point of all this? Nazar is a very good center whose offense is in line with some of the better centers in the world (at the same age). If you can get this guy at 10-15 in the draft you don't overthink it.

Oh, I don't disagree at all. Like, I don't wanna see any sort of regression. And I'd rather push for playoffs than finish in the basement. But if I had a crystal ball that said if the team sucks one last time, Bedard is a sure thing, I'd allow it. It's all fantasy, I know.

All the better if we pick earlier, but we're closer in points to the teams above us than the teams below us. We have a pretty tough schedule for the next little bit, but it evens out over the rest of the season. Down the stretch we play: Bad/Mediocre teams: Ottawa (three times), New Jersey (twice), Vancouver, Seattle, Philly, Columbus, Arizona, Winnipeg, NYI, and Edmonton. Lower End Playoff Teams: Pittsburgh (twice), Boston, Calgary, Rangers (twice) Lots of winnable games coming up against bad/mediocre teams. And we maybe will go .500 against the lower end playoff tems. Quite a lot of those bad teams are going to be in tank mode at that point too (whereas we'll only really be losing Leddy and Namestnikov). I think it's more likely that we gain a few more points in the standings than lose ground to the teams that are worse than we are, but that's just a guess.

Fun thought: When Lucas Raymond is 24 he’ll basically be Kirill Kaprizov.

Outside of Seider the D is trash and Greiss and Nedeljkovic are getting exposed.

Here's what I'd do if I'm Yzerman (barring trades for similar type players): Acquisitions/Promotions: 1. Push hard for Trocheck or Hertl. Trocheck is the local guy so that would be my preference (to help get a better deal) but either will do. Carolina is up against the cap and have a few decent players to re-sign, including Necas (who is essentially Trocheck's replacement as 2C). Hertl is almost certainly hitting free agency. Contract: 7.5 mil X 5 years 2. Sign Gustafsson and Kulak. Both are on dumpster fire teams and would both be getting top four minutes in Detroit. Overpay a little if necessary. Contract: 3 mil x 3 years 3. Sign Brayden Holtby. Good track record, bad year, bad team. Contract: 5 mil x 3 years. 4. Promote Berggren on ELC 5. Promote the better of McIsaac or Edvinsson: ELC 6. Promote Sodorblom: ELC Total Money In: 18.5 mil (roughly) Trades/FA losses: Nemestnikov (trade at deadline): 2 mil Gagner (UFA loss): 850K Rowney (UFA loss): 825K Leddy (trade): 5.5 mil Dekeyser: 5 mil Staal (trade/FA loss): 2 mil Stetcher (trade): 1.7 mil Greiss (FA loss): 3.5 mil Total Money Out: 21 mil (roughly) This leaves you about 14 mil over the cap. Sit on this money, the next offseason you have to re-sign Larkin, Bert, Suter, and (maybe) Lindstrom and Veleno. Lineup: Bert-Larkin-Raymond Zadina-Trochek/Hertl-Vrana Berggren-Suter-Fabbri Veleno-Stephens-Ras Sodorblom Gustafsson-Seider Kulak-Hronek McIsaac/Edvinsson-Lindstrom Oesterle Ned Holtby