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It's that time of year again, College UFA signings coming up! I wonder if there are any on Yzerman's radar?

Edvinsson

I still see potential in Zadina. I dont see any flaws in his game that cant be improved on thru hard work and experience. He may not ever achieve his full potential, but I am not ready to give up on 22 yo just yet.

Guy deserves his own thread. 6'8" 250 lbs <---- (that's insane) We basically just drafted the forward version of Chara He's now Frolunda's first 20 goal scorer in 5 years, and he's only 20 years old. Frolunda had to have contractors come into the stadium and redo all the doorways because Soderblom was hitting his head on them. HYPE this s*** I see him joining this team very soon

Here's a fun video of a dude the size of Moritz Seider taking a run at Sodorblom with predictably hilarious results...

I know right, Pretty much thinking the exact same thing, He's a monster and a beast.

I don't agree with a few of your premises 1) The whole "you can't trade him because he sucks" argument is circular logic. If you shouldn't trade him when he's bad, and there's no reason to trade him if he's good, then you'll never trade him. This, I assume, is the point for Zadina apologists. There is literally no scenario in which they think he should be traded. But it's bad business. Imagine if Yzerman had never traded Drouin because he was only 22/value was low/just scratching the surface/didn't have EIGHT (lol) better forwards/etc.? He'd be stuck with a bum and would have never gotten Sergachev. 2) Plus, you don't need EIGHT better wingers at all. Saying so means that you think Zadina and Gagner (for instance) are competing for the same jobs. They aren't. There are different roles on a hockey team, some Zadina is suited for and some he's not. Zadina is a (supposedly) a scoring foward. He's competing with Bert, Raymond, Fabbri, and Vrana for top six minutes and powerplay time. He's being BADLY outproduced in those roles by the guys I mentioned (other than Vrana who no doubt will). None of them are old and all are better in that role. He's not competing with Ras, Veleno, Rowney or Stephens because those guys are centers. So to win a bottom six winger role he'd need to kill penalties/play defense/hit/block shots/chip in a little offense/etc. better than Namestnikov, Erne, Gagner, and Smith. He doesn't kill penalties, he's bad defensively, and at least two of those guys are scoring more as well. MAYBE he's better than Smith for that role, but not by much. 3) If you think Berggren plays like Zadina you've pretty obviously never seen Berggren play much. They're nothing alike. Berggren is a WAY better skater, and the hallmark of his game is passing (which is elite). He's an absolute force as a playmaker on the powerplay. His coaches (even from his days in Sweden) had to beg him to shoot more (which he's finally doing and improving significantly). I'd say he's a better playmaker than anyone in the Red Wings organization, including Raymond. He's also a nightmare in transition because of his skating. Zadina is slower, a worse passer, and a nonfactor on the powerplay. But he's got (right now) a better shot and he's a bit bigger than Berggren. Both are good forecheckers but don't have a ton of defensive value otherwise. Berggren will easily, and I mean easily, score more than Zadina in the NHL based on his passing alone. He's got line driving upside as a playmaker, similar in style (not in ceiling) to guys like Panarin or Gaudreau. Right now Zadina is, at best, a 3rd line winger. Those guys are totally replaceable and none of them are untouchable. If the right deal comes along he should be gone. I think the Zadina/Leddy deal to Edm I proposed makes a lot of sense for both teams, but there are definitely other deals to be make I'm sure.

Isn't CRL supposed to be the contrarian on this board? Jack is a great actor. I don't know how you could think that he plays the same character in Cuckoo's Nest and As Good As It Gets.

I'm reading through the comments of the reddit thread about Zadina being a trade target. Every last comment: "Big mistake, he shows flashes of brilliance, and is about to breakout, I can feel it" Normie casuals are the worst fans. I'm no professional hockey scout, but I've dedicated enough of my freetime to watching this sport to say I think I at least have an educated opinion as far as s***ty message boards go. I have not ever seen Zadina do anything "brilliant". I see a player with A LOT of problems. The guy kills more plays than the infamous Mikkael Samuelsson. Weak on the puck. Weak on the boards. It goes on and on. I feel like I'm in the twilight zone reading through the reddit comments. "About to break out" god it's like the Brendan Smith saga all over again. Brendans 27 and 300 games into his career! He's about to go to from 15 pts a season to 40! Don't pay attention to the way he plays just trust me!

Nevermind Lucas Raymond, he's getting outscored by offensive juggernauts like Pius Suter, Vlad Namestnikov, Sam Gagner, and Michael Rasmussen. If this guy is actually good I don't think it's asking too much for him to be the 5th most productive forward on a non-playoff team. But even by that INCREDIBLY modest standard he fails. Also, if you're comparing Zadina's developmental path to a 4th round pick (Nyquist) then I think you've basically already conceded that he blows.

I'm more of a Derek Meech guy

Leddy makes me miss Ericsson, Quincey, and Daley.

Folks were shocked SY reached down and grabbed Seider at 6th overall in 2019 Now in 2022 it's abundantly apparent that Seider would 1st overall in a redraft.

Kassian can be the new McCarty. That guy coach points at and says "that's what happens if u don't cool it" when Raymond shows up to practice hungover.

To Edm: Zadina + Leddy (50% retained) To Det: Holloway + Kassian (cap dump) + 3rd

Leddy and Names aren't going to fetch amazing returns. You know SY is on the prowl for another Mantha type big deal shakeup. It's Zadinas time to go. Hopefully a cap crunched team will take a swing on him. Ken...

I am literally watching all of the games again because of Seider. Youre gonna be really excited when they put him with a good LHD.