kipwinger

Big if true: I'm trying to find the tweet now to verify its authenticity but I'm told that Rogle's number one center is injured and on the shelf for the season. Could be a HUGE opportunity for both Neiderbach and Kasper. Edit:

I do understand the allure of watching a Red Wings prospect torch a bunch of Canadian teenagers, but he already played in the World Championships against men (including NHL players) and had 2 points (assits) in 7 games. At this point I don't really see a need for him to play in the World Juniors. What's he going to prove there that he hasn't already proven by contributing (and producing) in the SHL, the Champions League, and the World Championships against top men's league competition.

I saw that too. I’m fine with it. The WJC will be a good tune up for Edvinsson, who’s trying to make the team at training camp. Kasper isn’t competing for a roster spot so he does t really need the tune up.

Update: This article came out today and says Edvinsson is playing the WJC. https://www.nhl.com/redwings/news/red-wings-prospect-simon-edvinsson-vying-for-nhl-roster-spot-in-2022-23/c-335019320

Big fan of Helm. He's a culture guy (like Glendening and Abby). Good professional who can teach young guys how to eat, train, and live the life of a professional player. Every team needs a few of those guys, but the caveat is that they shouldn't get paid beyond their capabilities and they should never play higher in the lineup than their talents allow. 4th line Helm is a great player and great addition to a young team.

Ugh, I feel bad for the guy. Addiction is hard and relapses are common. He seemed to be sincerely trying to beat alcoholism and I'm sure he felt about as low as humanly possible as he sobered up in a jail cell. I hope he's able to start again, learn from this, and be more successful next time.

I saw that too, and it conflicts with what Edvinsson said earlier this summer. He may have changed his mind but I hadn’t heard that from anyone except Button.

Not that you're wrong about the things you've said here, but I'm much more inclined to compare Kasper to Larkin than I am to compare him to Veleno. I'm glad that Larkin is young enough to really push Kasper when he makes the team. I see no reason to think Kasper doesn't have Larkin-esque upside.

Savoie is a b*tch. I don't understand the love for that guy? He had an ALRIGHT offensive year, while splitting time on the wing. People talk about how he's this offensive wizard but I don't see it. He had 90 points. For comparison's sake, that's 11 more points than offensive superstar Joe Veleno had in his draft year. It's 30 fewer points than actual offensive superstar Marco Rossi had in his draft year and he is similarly sized. If the idea is that you sacrifice size for offensive upside, then wouldn't you want a player who had shown he's capable of the offense? Kasper is the guy. I think you're looking at a Bo Horvat or Ryan O'Reilly type center here. He's a horse. I love what SY is doing here. He's got absolutely studs down the middle, on defense, and in goal. And he's surrounding them with guys like Raymond, Vrana, and Perron to score the goals. Love it.

Typically I'd agree with this, but I'm not sure I do in this case. Berggren is more than ready. McIsaac/Hagg/Oesterle are probably AS capable as Maatta. Remains to be seen on Sodorblom and Johansson, but given that they've performed really really well in pro-leagues already they could be ready to step in at the deadline. Obviously SY isn't going to trade key pieces if we're in the hunt, but I can easily see a scenario where someone like Kubalik or Zadina could be moved (if the price is right) and replaced by Berggren/Sodorblom without any big loss to the team's momentum.

I agree with the bolded. Somebody has to kill penalties. Seider can, and probably will, but you need more than that. Remains to be seen whether Edvinsson can do it at this level but he was quite good at it in the SHL. I don't agree that we won't beat Toronto. Toronto sucks. I think we'll split with them in the regular season and we'd wreck them in the playoffs. They've got a terrible defense, terrible goaltending, and no depth. F*ck Toronto. I think we'll have a comparably good record to Toronto and we'll probably be better than Boston (and Washington). We're solidly a Wild Card team (Washington sucks too). It's not just that we added a lot up front (we did), but we're bound to have a better powerplay (and PK), our goalies are better, we'll have a full season of Vrana, and we'll be better overall defensively both A) because we're deeper and better defensively up front, B) addition by subtraction on the back end. Totally agree with selling at the deadline though. Especially if guys like Berggren, Sodorblom, Jahansson, or McIsaac are playing well in Grand Rapids. You could pretty easily trade guys like Suter, Zadina, Kubalik, Maatta, etc., replace from within, and come out with a better team AND draft picks.

As if Scott Wheeler of The Athletic wasn't a big enough clown, here's his top 15 prospects: 1. Owen Power 2. Luke Hughes 3. Shane Wright 4. Simon Nemec 5. Logan Cooley 6. Matt Beniers 7. Kent Johnson 8. Cole Perfetti 9. Matt Savoie 10. Juraj Slafkovsky 11. Jake Sanderson 12. Brandt Clarke 13. Mason McTavish 14. Simon Edvinsson 15. Quinton Byfield North American bias much? Kasper, Wallinder, Sodorblom, and Johansson didn't even make the list of top 50 despite playing at a very high level in one of the best professional leagues in the world. "Sure Elmer Sodorblom was a top 10 goal scorer in the SHL, but how would he do against 16 year old Canadian kids?". Lol Also love how Savoie is higher rated than Slafkovsky despite being significantly lower ranked on Wheeler's own draft ranking (which are only about a month old).

For sure. If you're totally out by Thanksgiving you've got almost no chance of getting back in because of the number of teams you'd have to leapfrog to get back in (and because if you're out by then you obviously suck).

I'm looking forward to seeing how Edvinsson looks at the World Juniors in August. If that kid is as dominant as he looked a year ago, and has a few weeks of competitive hockey before training camp, then I think he makes the big club. But just like SY said in his presser, Edvinsson looks bigger and thicker. Check out his chest and shoulders, he's a big dude: I think he makes it. And that might not even be the best thing for him. A part of me wants to see him stay in GR and develop his shot (which is the only weak part of his game). The D-corps will look like this: Chiarot-Seider Edvinsson-Hronek Maatta-Lindstrom Hagg (Oesterle waived) We'll be a Wild Card contender (even if we don't quite make it in). Edit: Low key favorite part of the Edvinsson interview is when Art Regner asked if he's a big as Elmer Sodorblom, Edvinsson replies "He's taller, and bigger...he's a Mountain". F*ck yes.

I think Cossa is more than a couple years out. He's definitely got work to do. At the Wings' development camp he was getting torched by older/better shooters. He needs to tighten up his game in the AHL for a couple seasons. I'd re-sign Ned.

We'll be expecting a full scouting report on Kasper, Niederbach, and Wallinder complete with video and quotes from the coaching staff.

Correct, but if you did that last year (for example) you'd have more "playoff" teams than playoff spots. Which is why it's technically true when broadcasters say "If you're in by American Thanksgiving you're likely to be in by the playoffs". But it doesn't mean much because lots of teams are still in by American Thanksgiving. It a no-brainer that some combination of the 12 Eastern Conference teams still in the playoff picture in November made it in last year. But it was very un-true for Detroit, Buffalo, the Islanders and Columbus (who were all still right there in November).

Whom?

Rumor has it you’re being pedantic? Edit: Also, by asking “why” it’s a rumor you’re accepting that it is. If you were questioning whether or not my response WAS a rumor the correct question would have been “HOW is this a rumor?”. Why’s that for pedantic eh?

This is true, but probably not for the reasons you think. It's a function of sample size. By American Thanksgiving the season is only a month and a half old. Enough games haven't been played to create real separation in the standings. So in any division most teams (like Detroit last year) are still in the playoff picture if only because they haven't played (and lost) enough games to be completely out of the picture yet. And those teams that are SO bad that they're already completely sunk were obviously not going to make it anyway. So last year (for instance) 12 teams in the east were still in the playoff picture at Thanksgiving and (obviously) 8 got in. So one could say 100% of the teams in the picture at Thanksgiving made the playoffs, but that's only because there were more teams in the picture than playoff spots. Conversely, you could say 0% of the teams who were obviously out of the playoffs ended up making it, but that's also a truism because a team like Montreal would have had to leapfrog 9 teams in the standings to get in (despite being abjectly terrible). Last year, Buffalo, Boston, and Detroit were all only separated by a game or two in the standings by Thanksgiving. Boston obviously finished with 30+ more points than either of the other two teams by season's end. In short, its not really indicative of anything and is basically a logic trick.

There’s gotta be a rule against it right?

Tkachuk for Huberdeau, Weegar, a 1st and a throwaway prospect. Good work by Treliving on the return but it's not as much of a fleecing as prognosticators are suggesting. For starters, Tkachuk is a better player than Huberdeau (just perhaps not a better scorer) and Florida got caved with their "all offense" approach last season so something had to give. With that said, even if Tkachuk and Huberdeau were a wash, the contracts make all the difference. Florida is getting Tkachuk for his prime 8 years. Calgary is getting Huberdeau and Weeger for a season unless they can re-sign them. But clearly they have a problem re-signing players because they just failed to get Gaudreau and Tkachuk under contract. Additionally, the 1st is likely to be somewhere in the 25-32 range. The winner of this trade depends entirely on whether Calgary can get these guys under contract (a tall order). Otherwise they'll be traded at the deadline (or lost for nothing) and you're looking at trading one of the best players in the game for a bunch of late 1st or 2nd round picks. If I were Calgary I would have preferred to get some quality prospects with team control in return rather than UFAs and picks, but I think Treliving did the best he could given the constraints he had.

Kirill blew his shoulder out and has been rehabbing for a year. I'm actually pretty excited to see if he can gain a little traction in the AHL now that he's healthy. He's a really weird player to watch with his herky jerky playing style.

Agreed, too rich for my blood. Hronek, Zadina/Berggren, 2023 1st, 2025 1st is my final offer. The picks are premium assets, the players are B level assets (but young). That's competitive. Particularly when you consider whatever team he goes to has to A) have the assets to acquire him, B) have the cap space to sign him, and C) be in the U.S.

I don't see any scenario where we land Tkachuk without moving Bertuzzi. I'd love to have both, obviously, but I just don't see it. That said, I'd still pursue the trade. Something like Bert, Hronek, Zadina/Berggren, and a 1st would get you pretty close. At which point I'd go sign Klingberg and we'd be all set. Edit: UNLESS...Calgary wants the draft picks more for a rebuild. I'd throw them two 1sts in a heartbeat. Hronek, Zadina/Berggren, 2023 1st, 2025 1st. As deep as our prospect pool is, we could easily eat that loss and still come out perfectly fine.