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This is the entire story right here. SY is writing the book on how much more effective it is to develop young players in mens leagues overseas. Tangent: I really do think we are living in the best timeline right now. I dont think we should look back and say "Illitch should have handed the team to SY in 2011". Best thing that ever could have happened was Holland ramming this team into the rocks for 10 years while SY cut his teeth else where. Now to return and recieve a blank slate and unlimited mandate with a refined agenda. I think we are witnessing SYs best work. His magnum opus. Hes building us a dream team. Turn of the century Wings round 2 Yzerman boogaloo.

Everybody gets a second chance now that Blashill is gone. Even if they are lazy and sucks.

Zadina, in particular, was given all the ice time a guy could ever want last season. Lots of games in the top six. Played with Larkin, Bert, Fabbri, Raymond, Vrana, Suter. Power play time. Favorable zone starts. His issue isn't lack of opportunity. His issue is that he blows. He's Mikael Samuelsson 2.0. I'm not trying to air you out or anything, I've just noticed this narrative emerging that Zadina needs more opportunity to succeed. But he's had the opportunity and has been routinely outplayed by guys with the same chances (or less). This year he'll probably start on the 3rd line with Suter and Kubalik against inferior competition and given 2nd powerplay duties. If he fails to make an impact I presume he'll be traded/not qualified.

Im excited to watch good looking, testosterone filled, hard hitting Canada vs R-Slured, Lazy Eyed, Contact Avoiding Sweden. Based Seabass Cossa vs Jesper Weenieboy Walstedt.

What are you talking about? I don't remember Franz Nielsen's contract aging badly after he was signed long term at the age of 31.

This should be Zadina's last year to show a massive improvement.

That would be good roster management. Get a haul for Bert while being able to replace him.

Like a cornfield in Iowa with a hole in the ground already dug change .....

10-4. One more year, then call it a sunk cost and dump his ass.

These are the kind of posts i come here for

A bomb by Edvinsson to put Sweden up 1-0

I agree with a lot of what you're saying but I have some issue with the bolded. You're making it seem like he's been dealt a bad hand and he's out there making the best of it. But that's not really the case. He's been dealt a pretty good hand (top six, offensive zone starts, powerplay time) and consistently done nothing with it. He's never had to earn opportunity in the same way that Joe Veleno (for instance) has. So of course he's been a good teammate/had a good attitude. Look at how everyone talks about him. When he sucks the entire conversation revolves around "how can we change the entire lineup of the team to get Zadina going". It's never "Zadina needs to work his way up from the fourth line through his play". The same thing used to happen with Brendan Smith. Without a hint of irony his slappies all thought he should play with Lidstrom/Kronwall to "get him going" without ever considering whether it was good for the team to have a loser on their top pairing.

That's not a remotely reasonable comparison. Yzerman was an offensive dynamo who mid career changed his game to a more team oriented style. It's no coincidence this happend post knee injuries and in the back half of his career. Zadina on the other hand has been a replacement level player for 160ish games... to compare the two is beyond basic.

Zadina had plenty of opportunities. What he has now is a chance to see if he can thrive under a new coaching staff. If he again fails to at least fill some nets, then it may be time for a scenery change.

You have to be careful with this XYZ player sucks thing that LGW posters have. Sometimes a player gets completely neutered when they get to the NHL, and theyre asked to do things they havent done their whole lives (play defense against the best players in the world). STEVE YZERMAN had to learn how to do this, remember. It takes time. I see guys like Zadina and Ras willing to buy in to the defense/team first mentality, and I like it. Other posters want the neutered dog to still produce a lot of puppies. That being said, if youre supposed to score goals and you dont, you better play damn good defense/win lots of face offs/board battles (Ras). We havent gotten that grit in Zadina YET. So he definitely needs to give Saul Goyzerman a reason to keep him around THIS year.

Who is Henrik Zetterberg. Wrong dude, Lidstrom was never the Captain when the Wings won their 4 Stanley Cups. 3 cups were under Yzerman as Captain and the 4th cup was with Zetterberg as Captain. Look it up.

Edvinsson and Seider is going to be a monster pairing in the near future.

I might be mistaken, but I think it depends on the league. For almost all Euros the rules are the same as they are for North American players. But in the case of Russians I think the team retains their rights longer. I'm not sure if it's forever, but longer. I remember the Wings still owned Alexander Kadeykin's rights a few years ago when he was still well into his mid-20s.

I think he'll make the Red Wings, but if he does go to GR I'm not gonna be angry. Defense is a hard position to learn to play correctly, even for top guys like him. Seider spent two years developing (if only because of the pandemic) and I think he's probably better because of it. Edvinsson still needs to work on his shot as well, so GR would give him a lot of reps doing that.

I have a feeling, this is how it will shake out, and yes, I do believe Edvinsson will start in GR, which is a good thing. Remember, even Seider played a season there. Chiarot - Seider Haag - Hronek Maatta - Oesterle Lindstrom Walman and Pysyk injured and Kampfer to GR. Up front I believe Smith is out. Once Zadina signs, that'll be 13 forwards, with a 14th spot up for grabs. I believe that will go to one of Berggren, Veleno or Andreasson. Sodorblom has a chance, but I am betting they want him seeing more minutes in GR. I apologize, I didn't want to turn this into a Lines or Roster thread, just adding to the debate of who will be our D to start the season.

Guy Lafleur was born in France, but trained in Canada. So doesnt count.

Why are u doing this? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicklas_Lidström Lidström was the first European-born-and-trained captain of a Stanley Cup-winning team,

I laugh at everything Scott Wheeler posts. Even if it is just reporting.

It could be just that Draper was banging the table harder for Cossa and maybe Hakan didnt have much of an opinion on the 2 goalies. Im sure there are Swedes that HA wants at every single pick but SY/KD obv arent taking all Swedes every draft.

I suspect that scouts saw something in Walmart's technique/style that they had concerns about. Cossa seemed like the bigger boom/bust pick at the time, and still does now.