SwedeLundin77

Could also be a move for when we, maybe, trade Howard at the deadline. In any case, it doesn't hurt. Pickard has good AHL numbers, won a Calder Cup.

Depth signing. He'll probably be down in GR with Larsson.

My money is on Veleno or Zadina being up... I think Cholowski needs a good chunk of time in GR to work on some stuff and Rasmussen could benefit as well with playing top-line minutes.

Stick to your guns, I like it. They had their eyes on this kid and didn't want to let him go. Must have seen something special if they were willing to take him this high. From everything I've read about him, seems like he is a very safe pick and the lowest he projects is top 4 defensive defensemen with offensive potential. A shutdown guy who has top back skating speed and can keep up with the rush. Oh, and he rarely makes mistakes or lapses on defense. Oh, and he has a good first pass.

Wait, is KRS TLGTrico now?

A lot about Zadina will depend on how hard he works this off-season and how he looks in the preseason. There's a chance he could be up come October.

Sounds like a solid pick where questions existed for the 2nd tier of players.

Let the whining commence. I'll trust professionals and lifelong hockey minds over the lot of the whiners here. Go Wings.

RE: Maltby

Interesting... this topic is 2019 Draft.... yet there is a WHOLE lot of talk about the 2018 Draft... Get back on the topic already.

Did anyone glean how long Yzerman is signed for? I haven't been able to find any details on that. Holland apparently signed a multi-year extension in his new position and it sounds like he is staying put, but I could see him moving on to Seattle if they come calling in 2020sh. I think a big part of it is that he and Yzerman are really good friends, so that has to be a nice reason to stick around in an executive position. I just hope Yzerman is allowed to spread his wings, so to speak, and not be hampered by Holland/Illitch on whatever direction he wants to go (trading players, buying out players, signing players). Obviously, Holland will have input, but it better be Yzerman's show to run and make decisions. If this team doesn't take a step forward and show player growth again this upcoming season, I hope he has the latitude to fire Blashill, if he deems it appropriate.

It's simple, they need to find a way to trim the fat off of this roster: Move Abdelkader (not going to happen because it's a terrible contract) Move or buyout Ericsson Move or buyout Daley Do not re-sign Vanek Hope that Kronwall decides to retire (unless we can move one of the D I mentioned above) Try and move Helm

Madison Bowey, Mike Green, Filip Hronek, Luke Glendening, Thomas Vanek, Luke Witkowski, Alec Regula, Lane Zablocki, Ryan O'Reilly, John Adams, Cole Fraser, Reilly Webb, Vili Saarijarvi, Seth Barton, Martin Frk, Dylan McIlrath, Gustav Lindstrom, Patrick Holway..... That's just current players on the team or in the system.

I don't care for Holland, but what are you going to do? Not go for two of the top college forwards available because they're not righties?

Don't forget that they have three 2nd round picks so there is the potential to trade up. I'm unhappy we didn't get a pick and prospect but at the end if the day it's a player that they hopefully won't sign again and they can start moving forward.

Nice to see Abdelkader on an appropriate line. Athanasiou on the third line makes zero sense. Rasmussen may be a healthy scratch tonight for Ehn. They're considering sending him down to juniors so that he can play in the AHL playoffs. Really confused as to why Nyquist isn't on the top line to showcase him and hopefully move him. There is no reason to keep him beyond this season, especially since you'd be banking on him having this kind of production continue, which is very risky.

Matt, I messaged you earlier but haven't heard back. Any spots left?

A big question mark is going to be goaltending. They need one of those young guys to develop and show up strong.

Blashill is not a good coach... plain and simple. And on topic, it'll suck to lose Z, but I think it's time for the team to start forming a new identity with Larkin leading the way.

Given the fact that he actually can skate and scouts have said as much since there was some doubt when he was drafted means all these comments about his skating ability are negative fandom BS. Knock it off.

That's a good signing. He is the future Captain and should be a perennial 70+ point player starting this upcoming season. $6sh million is the sweet spot for a 60sh point player, so he already fits that criteria with room for growth.

Isn’t this old news? He was seen golfing this past weekend and it’s up in the air.

Solid deal for Mantha and makes you scratch your head that Athanasiou only makes .3 million less. Should be making 2.25-2.5.

I like this lineup, although I think it was the Athanasiou-Nielsen-Vanek line that absolutely tore it up when we had Vanek 2 season ago. I also would hope for Nyquist to get traded.